Companies Just Don’t Get It

I started ranting on Twitter some time last night and realized it was apropos here.

I’m reading About Face by Alan Cooper, and Cooper writes,

If we design and construct products in such a way that the people who use them achieve their goals, these people will be satisfied, effective, and happy and will gladly pay for the products and recommend that others do the same. Assuming that this can be achieved in a cost-effective manner, it will translate into business success.

What I don’t understand is why companies are just starting to buy into this idea. As Cooper goes on to say, isn’t this quite obvious? The marketers and analysts gather data on buy-in and features, and the developers focus on making it happen within whatever environment they have to. Somebody is looking at ROI and features, and somebody is looking at coding functionality.

But who’s looking at translating customer needs effectively?

The truth is, people often don’t know exactly how they want software to allow them to complete a task. They recognize how the existing software makes them work around what they want, and they understand vague ideas like “make it easy to use”, but they may not be able to translate that into interface design. And why should they? Would a plumber expect a customer to effectively solve a problem in the pipes when the toilet overflows?

Cooper goes on to describe how this is like a Dr doing an appendectomy on a patient who says “oh Dr, I have a stomach ache, I need my appendix removed”. If your expecting your users to tell you how to design your software to meet their needs, you are asking too much of them.

If you are expecting your users to modify how they cognitively understand and use your navigation menus, you will sink yourself. Oh sure, that worked with your legacy software, designed by and for high end engineers and developers. It worked when you had no competition. But in an age where people are growing up in front of a computer, taught to use Google before being taught grammar, and have at least one if not more computers at home from childhood?

People now understand that they are smart enough to use computers, and when it doesn’t work the way they expect, it’s the software’s fault. Even more importantly, they’ve learned they need only Google it to find an easier solution. With web interfaces and rich internet applications, they need not even download files. They open a browser window and find your competitor, who just designed a great interface online, and does it better, easier, and faster than you.

If you don’t see why User Experience Designers are needed, you will when your competition wipes you out.