How Analogous inspiration was used to make systems design and drive innovation
Stronger system design is an essential component of any product/ service industry. It enables designers to expect the unexpected, find unmet needs, and optimize the tech interventions for future service offerings. It becomes even more important in the new and increasing AI-driven product solutions.
A good UX is not built overnight. The product must go through multiple iterations overtime before it finally reaches the sweet spot that works well for both the business and its primary users. This then becomes the underlying logic (System): the product is continually improvised to add nuances that meet the growing needs of a dynamic user base.
By definition, systems design is the process of defining the architecture, modules, interfaces, and data for an interconnecting network to satisfy specified functions in order to solve a problem/s.
A good systems design will have a flexible structural hierarchy (Information Architecture) that can handle a lot of complex and diverse use cases through carefully designed functions. Without this, designers will continue to iterate blindly, and their solutions will only create further problems. This cycle, then goes on, until it becomes too expensive and cumbersome a process to fix. And this is why User-Centered Design Research plays a vital role in product development. The truth is, there can be multiple logics or systems to solve the same problem. This is what differentiates a product from the other in a similar area of business.
A common mistake made by many amateur designers is that they start solving the problems with the screens and devices they are working on, right away. Some of them do not even make an attempt to understand the larger scheme of things. However, a system is independent of the devices. It is always easier to solve a problem irrespective of the devices and then translate the solutions on to different screens. User Experience is not something that is trapped inside of digital devices. It is ultimately what the users feel while interacting with these devices.
Owing to a lack of awareness, many clients and recruiters today get fooled easily when amateur designers fill their portfolios with photographs of sticky notes, complex looking diagrams, and well-animated interactions. However, I believe, that psychology and social sciences should instead be the foundation of User Experience Design and not one’s ability to use the imaging software.
A great product should have a good UX. It is impossible …
To read the complete article, please visit this link. Thanks to Dhaneesh Jameson for penning this article.
