Understanding Your Users: Why & How for Developers

Talk given at DevFestLagos in 2018.

The talk covered why it's important for developers to be interested in understanding the users of the software they build, and practical steps for doing so

Transcript

1. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS Why & How - For Developers b y D e a d u r a m i l a d e T a w a k
2. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 01 ABOUT ME Design Researcher Previously: CcHUB, Interswitch B.Sc. Psychology Co-organizer: Usable Founder: SheDesigns
3. WE'LL COVER User centred design Why you should care What can you do? Questions? UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 02
4. USER CENTRED DESIGN a framework combining practices to understand users so as to develop empathy creating useful and easy to use products everybody should be involved, but developers rarely have direct contact with users UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 03
5. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? user centred developers are proactive, meaning less rework and less change in focus because there is a clear sense of direction. Understand design decisions. 50% of programmers’ time is spent doing avoidable reworks*. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 04 *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94kYyzqvTc
6. WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? Developers are your users too. How might I write code that's easy to understand? for future me or the developer who'll maintain my code? Make your work and that of others easier. Create software that's easy to use - work around user constraints. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 05
7. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Be involved in research (sit in or replay customer interviews) and partcipate in synthesis. Speak with customer support. Think about constraints - internet connectivity, technical know how, browser types etc. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 06
8. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Check out analytics to understand the effect your work has. Check for bugs as you code. Test your software. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 07
9. Being user centred saves you, and the business, time and money and helps you build the best product for your users. UNDERSTANDING YOUR USERS 08
10. THANK YOU!