Réussir (enfin) à intégrer ses utilisateurs dans le processus de conception
Centra is a headless & SAAS e-commerce solution for which we are partners for France. In just a few years, the Swedish platform has built a solid reputation by becoming the partner of successful DTC brands and more than a hundred international fashion & lifestyle brands (Paul Smith, Holzweiler, Craft, Stronger, Stronger, Sandqvist, Sandqvist, Nudie Jeans, Björn Borg).
Reminding us of the importance of the end user in the design process is kicking in an open door. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons detailed below, this happens very rarely.
Even if the majority of our interlocutors agree that this is an ideal approach, the reality of resources and schedules take precedence over these virtuous intentions. Few companies experience this sweet dream of agile co-design: the availability of end users is limited (especially in B2B), methods are lacking, iterations slow down marketing, so many reasons to make it a resolution for an upcoming project.
However, having experienced it, you can try it with controlled means. In the absence of comprehensive tests, it is possible to organize a few workshops with users who are often rich in lessons at the outset of the project. Remote interviews with screen sharing can also be productive if they are well structured and guided. And contrary to what one might think, the relevance of test feedback is not directly linked to the number of testers. Bring together five customers and you can identify nearly 90% of the irritants that hinder the fluidity of your journeys. Extensive studies in this field by one of the precursors of the discipline, Jakob Nielsen, established this correlation between the volume of testers and the detection of usability problems.
My point here is not to offer shortened formulas to avoid real test phases. But rather to encourage, for lack of better, moments of exchange with customers, your end users, during the various stages of the project. Keep it simple but do it, with your team or accompanied. Integrate the approach, it can only get better over time and you will benefit from it.And as we have seen, customers really feel valued at the idea of collaborating to enrich a solution that they use regularly.