user-centered design
(noun)
A new product development strategy where the needs of the end users are given the most attention.
Examples of user-centered design in the following topics:
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Strategy
- Here, the needs, wants and limitations of end users of a product are given a great deal of attention at each stage of the design process.
- The main element in this process is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing users to change their behaviors to accomodate the product.
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Trends in Social Media
- Brands like The Gap and Express have Twitter pages where people can read about new designs and sales.
- Facebook soon followed suit with its "Live Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens.
- Foursquare gained popularity as it allowed for users to "check-in" to places that they are frequenting at the moment.
- Clixtr, another photo-sharing service based in the real-time space, is also a location-based social networking site, since events created by users are automatically geotagged, and users can view events occurring nearby through the Clixtr iPhone app.
- Others companies, such as Monster.com, have been steadily developing a more "socialized" feel to their career center sites to harness some of the power of social networking sites.
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Buying Centers
- A buying center is a group of people within an organization who make business purchase decisions.
- The stock market is an example of a buying center.
- In a generic sense, there are typically six roles within buying centers.
- In this process, top management, the IT director, IT professionals, and other users collaborate to find a solution.
- Users - The users will be the ones to use the product, initiate the purchase process, generate purchase specs, and evaluate product performance after the purchase.
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Consumer Penalties
- Penalties, in the form of fees and restricted user access, exist for consumers who violate terms in contracts.
- Penalties, in the form of fees and restricted user access, exist for consumers who violate terms in contracts.
- Certain websites are noted for having carefully designed terms of service, particularly eBay and PayPal, which need to maintain a high level of community trust because of transactions involving money.
- , can change their terms of service without notice to the users.
- In serious cases, the user may have his or her account terminated.
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Consumer Privacy Issues
- Consumer privacy issues revolve around the legal (and illegal) use and extraction of user data on websites and social media platforms.
- Many advertisers have an opt-out option to allow users to remove behavioral targeting advertising from their user experience.
- Some websites use numerous advertisements like flashing banners to distract users or feature misleading images designed to look like error messages from a user's operating system rather than advertisements.
- Some sites attach malware to the computers of unsuspecting users.
- Some malware programs are designed to gather sensitive information from users without their knowledge.
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Support and Help
- Product support personnel can access any computer to provide support despite the end users' or technicians' location.
- Some companies develop extranet sites, or customer websites that allow users to log calls and report incidents.
- Some online communities, which are moderated by product users, have emerged to give support where manufacturer support is lacking.
- These experienced users may provide advice and assistance with problems, or offer work-arounds to fellow users unable to find solutions on their own or through the vendor.
- Examine the role of support and help programs as a differentiating factor in product design
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Design and Feature Set
- During product design, engineers and designers must consider factors such as cost, producibility, quality, performance, reliability, serviceability, and user features.
- For example, the development of digital cameras would include defining the feature set; designing the optics, as well as the mechanical and ergonomic aspects of the packaging; developing the electronics that control the various components; and developing the software that allows users to view and manipulate photos, store them to memory, and download to them to a computer.
- Other companies might use the "80/20 Rule", where more basic product variations might support the needs of about "80%" of the users.
- Thus, the bulk of end-users are not subjected to the complexity (or extra expense) of features requested by the remaining 20% of users.
- Outline the concept of design and feature sets as differentiating factors in product design
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Functions of Intermediaries
- Intermediaries make it possible for a company to deliver its products to the end user without needing to own the whole supply chain.
- Their main job is to represent the producer to the final user in selling a product.
- Wholesalers rarely sell to the final user; rather, they sell the products to other intermediaries such as retailers, for a higher price than they paid.
- Whatever their size, retailers purchase products from market intermediaries and sell them directly to the end user for a profit .
- Retailers sell the products to the end user.
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Targeting Consumers Where They Spend Time
- The World Wide Web has become a key commercial center, and thus, an increasingly important place where companies target potential customers.
- Social media sites have further aggregated user content around similar topics, tasks and people, creating online communities that have proven to be lucrative targets for online advertising.
- As of December 2012, Facebook boasts over 1 billion active users, with over half accessing the social network via a mobile device.
- Personal information ranging from birthdays and profession, to family photos and multi-user gaming yield insightful intelligence for marketers looking to improve promotion to niche and hard-to-reach markets.
- The growing legion of mobile users, as well as the increasing sophistication of online purchasers and their preference for relevant, digital content, will continue to push marketers to produce targeted, messaging for the web.
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Decision-Making Units
- In some cases, the buying center acts as an informal ad hoc group.
- In other cases, the buying center is a formally sanctioned group with specific mandates, criteria, and procedures.
- The user buyer - This position influences the buying decision at the user level and decides whether the organization will achieve its financial objectives through the purchase.
- For instance, if end users provide negative feedback about the product, or demonstrate that the product is hard to use, then the economic buyer will determine whether the purchase will prevent the company from reaching its economic goals.