Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Successful digital projects need to provide a user-focused experience. Users are no longer passive consumers of information, but active participants in generating the content and quality of the information experience. “Design Thinking” methodology helps companies to clearly define goals, validate assumptions and decide on project roadmaps before a single line of code is written. Design as a professional discipline has undergone a tremendous evolution in the last generation from a practice focused mainly on aesthetic style to one with a clear and explicit focus on the user. By understanding your users, designers are able to work toward outcomes that meet those needs more successfully. This user-experience approach, Design Thinking, enables designers and others to address a wide range of complex business and social issues. In today’s marketplace, design is measured by how well it fulfills a users’ needs. When Designers shift the conversation from one about features and functions to one about users and user outcomes, a more useful, usable, and desirable solution is delivered. More importantly, by doing so the design earns the trust, respect and repeat usage from the users. Through this workshop, participants will gain methodology on how to answer critical questions through rapid prototyping and user testing. This workshop will help facilitate your team to reach clearly defined goals and deliverables and gain key learning outcomes quickly. This process will also help spark innovation, encourage user-centered thinking, align your team under a shared vision and get your product designed for the user.