What does the future hold for user-centred design?
Since the 1980s, user-centred design has gained influence and most designers now claim to be user-centred or to carry out user research. This may simply mean testing design solutions in the latter stages of design projects but there is increasing understanding of the need for research in the early stages of a project in order to inspire design. Many design courses now include introductions to user research so newly qualified designers should be increasingly aware of its benefits.
Market research agencies, many of whom have previously dismissed user research (especially ethnographic research) as not having adequate coverage, are now including it in their repertoire of techniques.
User-centred designers are concerned to increase the effectiveness of their research and to develop techniques that are appropriate to design development. The 'cultural probe' research techniques (see glossary), first used by Bill Gaver and Tony Dunne at the Royal College of Art in the 1990s and still under development, are gaining influence in design research. These techniques encourage people to express thoughts and emotions that might not be revealed through standard observation, but which may be highly inspirational for design work.
As user research becomes mainstream within design there will be a need for clarity about what research is being done, what its goals are and how its outcomes are integrated into subsequent design. User research usually has most impact when research and design processes are enmeshed. It requires flexibility on behalf of designers and researchers to ensure the two work together. If research becomes a rigid hoop to jump through in designing there is a risk that its actual influence could be diminished.
As most products, and many services, are designed for international use, research needs to cover the range of markets in which they will be available. Contexts and conventions vary significantly across countries and designers and manufacturers need to understand and respond to this variation if their products and services are to be successful.