Results

For businesses fighting the tide of the economy, spending money on user-centered design seems like an illogical thing to do. However, that is exactly what a recent webcast from Human Factors International suggests. The well-known usability company is helping businesses prepare for slow economic times by focusing on connecting with users through great design. Some of their suggestions include:

• Adopt “wide-angle lens” thinking

To weather a rough patch, businesses should focus on long-term goals and stay the course on projects that will extend beyond a short-term slowdown. As the webcast pointed out, most recessions in recent years have lasted just 17 months or less, and many businesses have development cycles much longer than that. By keeping an eye on the ultimate goal, you can ensure that you will be prepared with the best offerings once the situation improves.

• Spend where it counts

According to a recent Forrester report, top organizations across industries are spending money to improve usability and make online customer interactions more enjoyable. While it may seem counterintuitive, laying out a little money on research can make a big difference during economic times. Unfortunately, this is often exactly where companies cut back. However, by getting to know your customers better and investing in their needs, you can help stabilize profits and revenues by keeping loyal users and attracting new ones.

• Innovate

One sure way to avoid the pitfalls of a recession is to innovate a new product or service that gets consumers excited. Our economy is largely based on faith, and if consumer confidence increases, so does consumer spending. A revolutionary new product or service can gets users buzzing and spending, and it can uniquely position your business to survive a slowdown intact.

• Align across teams

Many businesses streamline their employee structure during recessions, often with layoffs. This does not have to be the solution if you can foster communication and organize teams to perform at a higher level. Just as geese fly in a V-pattern to reduce drag and improve efficiency, you can align efforts to reduce overlap and improve workflow. One way to do this is through collaborative tools like WIKIs and online document sharing. Give teams the ability and incentive to share knowledge, work together, and improve performance; this will eliminate duplicative efforts and save you money and man-hours.

• Validate and measure success

While this is an important development step for any product during good economic times, it becomes doubly useful during a recession. Test features, gather user feedback, and apply metrics to help with future upgrades. By continually improving your service and features, you ensure that customers will continually find new value with each visit or interaction. This builds loyalty and excitement for your product and gives users the assurance that their needs are recognized and implemented.

Though we all must make changes during an economic slow-down, it is possible and even essential to keep the value that your users require. By thinking long-term, investing in user experience, providing innovative products, cutting down on internal overlap, and continuously improving products, businesses can ensure that a recession does not sink their prospects. Visit Human Factors International for more information and additional webcasts.

Friday, May 2nd, 2008 You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

By Haley January Eckels