Check out this blog from ScotlandIS member, Global UXR Solutions, highlighting how understanding your users can transform the success of a product or service.
After conducting unplanned user interviews, we defined product user groups and user needs. Two new user groups emerged beyond our assumptions, along with ways to engage with them, which led our client to new business opportunities.
We worked on a new food delivery platform that asked for our help in creating user journeys and wireframes for the prototype. After conducting stakeholder interviews, it transpired the product team hadn’t talked to potential users who may want to engage with the platform.
We sat down with the leadership team and suggested that, before creating user journeys and wireframes, we would need to engage with their potential users to find out what they expected from the platform and how and when they would use it.
Solving real-world problems
Engaging with potential users would enable us to identify user needs and requirements when using the product to ensure that we are solving real-world problems. Otherwise, these user journeys and wireframes would’ve based only on our assumptions, where we would’ve been forced to predict the features and functionality users expect and what kind of UI elements resonate with them.
Instead, we ran user interviews and explored real user needs and motivations when using the platform. In the end, these were quite different from our prior assumptions. We identified and defined platform user groups and even found two new user groups beyond our assumptions, determining the best ways to engage with them that created new business opportunities. Based on user needs, we then refocused product design from the app to desktop. ‘User needs’ express people’s goals, values, and hopes, referring to individuals’ main requirements and expectations when using a product or service. These can include functional, emotional, and social aspects, encompassing what users desire and find valuable in their interactions with a particular system or solution.
Higher value in the market
If a service doesn’t solve a genuine problem for users, it may struggle to gain traction or maintain the customer’s interest. Identifying and addressing real user needs is key for a service’s success, as this increases its relevance and value in the market.
Clearly defined user needs and requirements provide input to product ideation and design. User needs and requirements help to prevent designing a product that is based on assumptions, as this poses a risk of wasting time and money on solving wrong or non-existent problems. This will also help to determine the product’s features and functionality.
Achieving business success
Understanding and meeting the user’s needs both directly contribute to fulfilling the business’s objectives. After all, satisfied users are more likely to become loyal customers, leading to increased sales and revenue for the firm.
Aligning products or services with user preferences enhances market competitiveness and strengthens companies’ positions within their specific industries. As such, focusing specifically on user needs is a strategic approach for achieving business success.