Do you have a solid Product Design Process? How do you ensure the best ever user experiences are delivered? Which color best suits this platform? What approach captivates our customers? How to formulate a two hop navigation within the product? Does it suit the target age group? Without the shade of a confusion it is apparent that an ideal product design approach should have solid answers to the questions of above fashion.

Indeed my last few years were completely filled with questions of this sort. A product offering the best user experience should tackle such concerns.

Studies state that not all digital products or initiatives end up successful. In most cases the failing factor is a huge gap in the user experience. To throw more light into the context let me pinpoint the words of Mr.Frank Chimero in this regards, “People ignore design that ignores people”. Apparently the user expectations are growing higher which reshaped every product we use these days. We are just a swipe away in our gadget screen to realise our sheer contribution in this evolution.

I have been noticing a term User Centered Design popping up and grabbing the attention for the past years. 

What does User Centered Design(UCD) stands for? 

The name itself describes what it is. In simple words it's a design approach that places the user at the centre throughout the entire designing processes from requirement gathering to design sign off. 

A user entered design carries a lot of clout in captivating the users and invites incredible reach in turn massive impact in the business growth. 

Having said that, let me pin-point the past experience of organizations that started with the mindset of delivering best user experience. The immature processes or circumstances turn the entire plan topsy turvy. In most cases the aggressive timeline demands to put up the design compromising the initial plan to satisfy the stakeholders. To ensure any product satisfies the condition of UCD, each stage of the design has to be meticulously defined, reviewed and signed off in general to ensure each element goes through the UCD gateway check. 

FLYCATCH PERSPECTIVE ON UCD

Building an application by following the normal course of design and development methodologies is not a big deal; bringing unconventional user experience is always a challenge.

A user experience is always a perspective. To ease confusions and concerns for different variants of users we’ve formulated a framework. This addresses the core pillars of a business revolving around the customer with maximum information flow with minimal user interactions to reach the business goals. Our framework addresses nitpick aspects of business from user perspective which may be completely unknown to the rest of the application stakeholders.This is what energises Flycatch to go the extra mile and find happiness in our customers' satisfaction.

Flycatch’s framework is a package of several aspects closely bonded to human minds and ideas. It’s a continuous improvement cycle through multiple phases of understanding the receiving end, define, organize, plan, design and review. Fundamentals of the UCD approach involves continuous life cycle of the same process in multiple iterations to attain the best in class user experience. 

Flycatch Way of UCD

Fundamentally, on embarking a product design journey, Flycatch team go through a detailed research and study to figure out whether the proposed flow and approach satisfies the user's empathy. 

The two hope process starts by formulating the low fidelity screen keeping all such factors in the middle. Post multiple iterations the process will be completed with high fidelity screens which satisfy all user expectations and demands.

Very recently Flycatch has been approached by a middle-east client to transform the current application with more than 2 Million user base. As a primary step, a very detailed study has been conducted by the Flycatch team. The initial study comprises scoping the existing system, addressing reported issues, analysing existing customer base and customer behaviour from the reports and statistics being provided etc. Post series of meetings with the client teams, Flycatch team turned the pinpointed concerns and issues into appropriate solutions.

Our presales and core creative team continuously work closely to put up a sample mock up to surprise the product owner and the rest of the client team. Flycatch’s process of meticulously considering all the above mentioned aspects in the right mix shapes up the right solution which exceeds the client's expectations.

The core success of the entire assignment is a reflection of our approach to User centric design. How easily business goals can be achieved in the most user friendly way without any leakage of information is the prime factor considered for the design. For eg: keeping the most frequently used services on the forefront with two to three hope workflows. Using appropriate globally accepted infographics or icons instead of verbose text, Appropriate size for text and icons apt for the user age group, multiple access paths for the same services from different application pages etc.

Flycatch’s creative team always researches on identifying and serving the first class user experience for all the products we are shaping up under the label of Flycatch.