Design for your users

These tools allow all kinds of new things, but don’t get too carried away. It’s about what people will feel comfortable using, and whether it helps them do what they actually want to do.

Some technology will be intuitive for your users from the outset; others will require preparation, the right context or even training. YouTube is a cheaper, more far-reaching way to broadcast video, but Genesis still felt a DVD would be appropriate to get the message out to their community. And if you want people to make videos, you may need to supply equipment and training unless they are already producing videos for themselves. Don’t expect people to use online collaboration tools like wikis unless they are familiar with the tools, comfortable with the rest of the group, and very clear on what they are trying to do. Tailor your technology to fit the skills and mindset of the people you want to engage – otherwise your first task will be to persuade and even retrain them.

Get to know what technologies your users are familiar with already, and build on what they know. You should have a clear idea of who your users are throughout the design and development process. Create sample profiles of your key types of target user, outlining their likes and dislikes, how much time they have, how often they use technologies and what kinds of technologies they’re used to, what they trust and don’t trust. Better still, use actual people as your sample users: profile them and get to know them, but also ring them up and ask them questions, show them screen designs, find out what they actually think of your system. You can save yourself a lot of grief and expense later if you take a bit more time to engage real people in the development of your platform.

You should also always have a sense of the real activities your users will use your tools for – what they will do with the technology, and where these actions will fit into their lives. You should have clear ‘use cases’ – narratives for what a user will do with your site and what your site will do in return – outlined before you start designing the software, so that you can focus on making the practical paths your users will take through your platform as smooth and satisfying as possible. Even if you are considering your users, if you aren’t considering what they’ll actually be doing then you will build something that doesn’t help them achieve it.