Putting customers’ needs in product or solution design first has become one of the boldest trends of recent years. Many tech creators brag about solutions that make users’ lives more convenient, but we all need to ask ourselves an extremely important question: what elements should we consider in building products that meet particular needs? The answers are eye-opening.
- What does customer-centric design mean?
- The ideals and the dark side of data
- Uber
- Amazon
- Other solutions
- Uncertainty of our times and care crisis
- The future needs to be human-centric
Let’s say you start developing a product or service with your team that will aim to solve a certain problem. What do you do initially? You often listen and pose the following queries:
What is the issue or difficulty?
Why is it essential?
What can be done to address the issue or develop a solution that will improve or facilitate the current situation?
Who is necessary for it to happen?
What equipment may be used for it?
We all have a tendency to get very focused on creating technological solutions that can enhance the world (or at least a single action) and are entirely moral and ethical. The fact is, there are a lot of things we don’t consider when first, but we should unquestionably.
In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of customer-centric design, we would want to join forces with Phil McKenzie and his guests today to go more into the subject.
What does “client-centric design” actually mean?
Customer-centric design, which has lately gained popularity, is a process for creating technology, goods, and services that are tailored to the demands, problems, and preferences of actual consumers. It all comes down to that particular moment in the design process when you determine that your product should not be what you, as the creator, think it should be, but rather what your consumers actually need.
To fully grasp the situation, you decide to actively listen to their prior experiences, anxieties, expectations, and advice. You will ultimately produce a product that best meets their demands.
A lot of data may be gathered by centering your efforts around the client and utilising CRM. A complete picture is painted and improved customer experience design is made possible by specific knowledge about your consumers and their conduct.
What’s Most Important in Contemporary Customer-Centric Design
The evil side of data and idealism
The myths and tales we tell are discussed in the 62nd edition of The Deep Dive podcast, “Speculation, Truth, and Technological Fantasy.” Philip McKenzie and Sun-ha Hong. Not only technology, but also the very nature of truth. What is how does this affect the society in which we live and thus support numerous inequalities?
Technology offers us information and even, as Sun-ha Hong puts it, the mythical realm of certainty in a society that is so heavily data-centric. Our logical brains anticipate that the vast volumes of data we collect and analyse each day will be used rationally.
However, the fact is that technology frequently causes us to stop considering what we are making or measuring. Tech developers frequently seek to conceal various defects and unfairnesses from their consumers. As a result, more consumers who have developed sensitivity to all types of disinformation and deception want fact-checking and complete transparency from the solutions they use. Here are some instances of how technological solutions
Don’t be fair to all parties involved.
Uber
As an illustration, even in the future, when flying automobiles and widespread telepathy are projected, we still have conventional taxi services like Uber. It is fabricated to be less expensive, which is really handy for the clients but seriously defective for the drivers. Creators of new technologies strive to demonstrate to us how their products magically make our lives better.
Amazon
Spend less is its adage. Amazon is another example of a technological advancement that offers quick e-commerce services on a worldwide scale. Artificial intelligence, automation, cloud computing, and internet streaming (Amazon Prime) are all widely used. Customers may smile widely when their purchases are delivered quickly and affordably throughout the world, but the warehouse staff scarcely has any reason to be happy.
“Amazon forces individuals to behave and think like robots through its automated procedures. Because they must move in such an unusual way—bending in and out, grasping things, and attempting to keep up with machinery that were not made for them—warehouse pickers talk about a variety of mental and physical concerns, according to Sun-ha Hong.
Additional options
Sun-ha Hong and Philip McKenzie present a few other instances of blemishes on the idealised view of technological solutions:
facial identification that has to practise seeing black faces equally as clearly as white ones in order to be impartial and prevent injustice;
social media behemoths like Facebook, which omits to provide any evidence for its claim that it has reduced hate speech on its platforms by 80%;
Due to its “clasified” status, the inventors of the new surveillance technology utilised in the Snowden and NSA scandal to track digital terrorist activities refuse to describe how it operates instead asking hackers to spread the word about it;
FBI investigators conducted an IMB poll to look for terrorists in the community. Its low behavioural indicators and flimsy predictors confirm, for instance, bearded guys playing paintball or laser tag as suspects in a terrorist event.
our time’s uncertainty and the care crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic’s outbreak has shown to the entire globe that there are situations that are utterly unforeseen and inescapable and necessitate global reforms. The 49th installment of The Deep Dive podcast, “Viable Futures of 2021,” with Philip McKenzie and Indy Johar, discusses COVID-related topics.
Surprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed an issue that had already existed: we were all affected by the care crisis as individuals were increasingly treated like machines.
Technology was given the potential to play a key part as the stress associated with the ensuing lockdowns broke our aspirations and possibilities for the future, affected daily life, and had an influence on mental health. It turned into a tool for caring.
In addition to providing psychological care by connecting with counsellors in novel ways—via real-time video calls, voice messages, or text messages—tech providers focused on healthcare and intelligent remote care, ideas related to remote contact, work and entertainment, or e-commerce with safe delivery.
The future must be centred on people.
The necessity for both customer- and human-centric design is increasingly becoming more and more obvious. Philip McKenzie discusses time ideas with Puruesh Chaudhary in episode 67 of The Deep Dive, “The State of the Future.” They talk about the many lenses—gender, religion, spirituality, career, relationships, etc.—through which we, as distinct people, experience time, envision the future, and perceive ourselves.
In the nations where we reside, we have various structures, identities, and legacies. Since they were reared as global citizens and were born into a digitally advanced society, young people bring entirely unique viewpoints to the table.
Diverse viewpoints bring with them various narratives and demands for the present and the future. Every voice matters when it comes to developing technological solutions that will benefit people all across the world.
Therefore, there are a few things to keep in mind if tech suppliers want their concepts and solutions to take off in the future:
Keep in mind the viewpoints of all parties when creating.
Be alert and prepared for significant, unexpected changes that occur on a global scale.
Be adaptable and sympathetic, since the most successful individuals will be those who can cope with the new reality while still putting people first.
Always prioritise people above machines in your ideas so that the latter won’t feel forgotten or excluded.
Utilise technology as a tool for care. The only sensible option is to practise care economy.
WHO THE AUTHOR IS
The Deep Dive is a podcast on culture and insights with anthropologist Philip McKenzie, who offers advice to businesses on how to succeed in a complex and unpredictable world. Philip meets the most important individuals on a deeper level once a week.
The podcasts are accessible here.