Gadi Amit
Introduce the designer selected and the reason for selection
Gadi Amit is the owner and principal designer of New Deal Design. I selected him because of his impact in wearable technology. The demand for wearable technology has recently been increasing more and more.
Describe a project in which they practiced user-centered design
Gadi Amit practiced user-centered design when creating the FitBit models. FitBits are physical activity trackers that were made with the goal of encouraging people to become more conscious of their health habits.
What user-centered design principles and methods did the designer utilize?
When designing the fitbit models, Amit made the FitBits easy to navigate and avoided overloading it with unnecessary frills that would just overwhelm the user. FitBits are also designed in a way that lets the user take charge. Each FitBit comes with several different options of displays and customizable modes for different types of exercise.
Whom are the designers target audience? What was their gender, generation, culture, and profession?
FitBits were designed for people who are active. Each FitBit has its own set of functions that appeal to people with different active lifestyles varying from people who work a nine to five job to professional athletes and marathon trainers. FitBits seem to appeal to people of all ages and professions. I interviewed people I’ve seen sporting a FitBit by asking them why they thought a FitBit would be a good fit for them. The answers varied a lot. Some people exercised regularly and wanted to optimize their training, others didn’t work out at all and just wanted to become more conscious of their activity, and a few even used FitBits because they knew they had a heart condition and wanted to monitor their heart rate.
How did practicing user-centered design add value to the project as a whole?
By practicing user-centered design, Gadi Amit was able to create a product that best fit his target audience’s needs. Designing with the users in mind resulted in a product that was optimized for the audience, leading to satisfied clients.
What are the key takeaways from this assignment?
The main things I took away from this assignment is that by keeping the target audience in mind and creating a product that appeals to their specific needs and wants can result in a very successful product. Fitbit is a product that appeals to people who are active at an level including those of both minimal and regular exercise. By doing this they maximized their target audience and created a great product everyone can benefit from.
Sources
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gadi-amit-5798444/
http://fortune.com/2014/02/28/meet-the-designer-behind-the-fitbit/
