3 ways Human-Centered Design Helps You Grow as a Developer
As an engineer, it’s easy for you to fall into a rhythm of grabbing tickets, coding to requirements, adding unit tests, and moving on. But grinding out code without knowing what problems you’re actually solving stunts your growth, and makes for mediocre products. A basic understanding of design helps you become a better technologist.
Leveraging human-centered design processes (HCD) in your workflow helps you understand why your team is building something in the first place. Users are the lifeblood of a tech company, and it’s important to understand their needs not only in the strategic architectural decisions, but also the tactical every day of feature development.
Human-centered design is a problem-solving process that produces innovative solutions by starting with a deep understanding of the people you’re designing for.
HCD benefits you in three big ways:
1. Efficient architecture
2. Improved UX/UI
3. Prioritized features
Efficient Architecture
HCD processes like immersion and user interviewing tell you what users need so you can optimize your architecture to meet those needs. it helps in three ways:
- Architecture conversations become more collaborative and focused on helping users rather than debating technology
- Clearer definition of an ‘MVP’
- Reduces over-engineering
To clarify, a full HCD process isn’t required to improve architectural decision making. A few simple user personas, secondary research about users, and 2–3 user interviews are enough to clarify the foundational needs, issues, and wants of your users.
Better UX/UI
You should understand the users you’re building interfaces/experiences for. Knowing common workflows, customer issues, and use cases makes it much easier to work with designers and give feedback to team members (e.g. product owners) that increases the product’s value. At Headstorm we share documentation, analytics, and user screen captures with all team members to spread design awareness.
Prioritized Features
HCD processes like service blueprints tell you exactly where your product is most effective so you can spend time where it matters most. This helps you deploy impactful releases earlier. It also shows you the tasks you have time to work on as they won’t be needed until a later date. All this informs better roadmaps and development strategies.
HCD processes direct your development efforts towards a better app for the people who actually use it. Remember — you don’t need an entire design team when you’re first starting. Start by learning about the basics of HCD, and always look for opportunities to be mindful of your users.
