The Forgotten Users and Edge Cases: Designing Beyond the Perfect Use Case
In the quest to design the happiest place, the perfect user experience, it’s easy to focus solely on the ideal user — the person who seamlessly navigates through your product without a hitch. But what happens when this user isn’t the one actually interacting with your design? What if your real user doesn’t fit into the perfect use case you had in mind?
Designing with only one type of user in mind can inadvertently leave out a significant portion of your audience. Let’s explore the “what ifs” and how we can build solutions that cater to everyone, not just the ideal user.
The What Ifs: Uncovering Edge Cases
- What if a user has never encountered a design like yours before?
- What if a user has a disability that makes standard interactions challenging?
- What if a user comes from a different cultural background with different norms and expectations?
These questions highlight the importance of considering edge cases and forgotten users in your design process. It’s not enough to create a perfect experience for the ideal user; we must also prepare for those who may struggle or approach the interface differently.
Inclusive Research: The Foundation of Neutral Design
To design a solution that is neutral and inclusive for everyone, comprehensive research is crucial. Here’s how to approach it:
1. Diverse User Testing: Involve users from various backgrounds, abilities, and experiences in your testing process. This helps uncover issues that might not be apparent when testing with a homogenous group. All perspectives matter.
2. Empathy Mapping: Create empathy maps to visualize the needs, pain points, and behaviors of different user personas. This ensures that you consider a wide range of experiences and scenarios.
3. Accessibility Audits: Conduct thorough accessibility audits to ensure your design is usable for people with disabilities. Tools like screen readers, keyboard navigation, and color contrast checkers are essential.
Designing for Neutrality: Principles to Follow
- Flexibility: Design interfaces that are adaptable. Offer multiple ways to complete tasks to accommodate different preferences and abilities. Another thing early stage designers tend to miss out on is the opportunity to design responsively, so that means considering the most popular devices used, local to the group you’re designing for.
So, let’s make something up. Say you’re designing a product to be used by Indonesian students. At this point, you’d want to research the main devices used, how fast is their internet connection/date (if any), time zone, currency, tech literacy, their reaction to similar apps in the space, etc.
2. Clarity: Use clear, simple language and intuitive design patterns. Avoid jargon and complex instructions that can confuse users. Don’t overclutter any screens, keep the background a neutral color and choose fonts that adapt well globally.
3. Feedback: Provide immediate and clear feedback for user actions. This helps users understand whether they are on the right track or need to adjust their approach.
Conclusion: Creating a Truly Happy Place
By considering the what ifs and designing with all users in mind, we move closer to creating a truly happy place — a product that serves and delights everyone, not just the ideal user. Remember, the key to great design is inclusivity. When we build with empathy and foresight, we create solutions that are not only functional but also welcoming to all.
The key takeaway is: design for the forgotten users and edge cases. In doing so, we craft experiences that are actually valuable, inclusive, and genuinely user-centric.
