User-centred design (UCD) is a design approach that puts the user first rather than the product.
User-centred design attempts to make a product that meets the needs of its users, rather than a product that forces users to change how they think, work or live.
A user-centred approach to website planning and design includes:
- eliciting requirements by understanding who will use the website, what they want to achieve, and the context in which they will use the website
- specifying requirements by starting from user goals, thinking about what the website must do to meet those goals, and testing assumptions by asking and observing users
- designing the website with user participation, e.g. discussing and jointly developing paper prototypes or automated prototypes
- evaluating the usability of the completed website with user-based assessment techniques
International standard ISO 13407 (Human-centred design processes for interactive systems, 1999) describes user-centred design activities throughout the development cycle.
Donald A. Norman's book, The Design of Everyday Things, discusses the philosophy of user-centred design in depth.
