Users are Stupid or It's all about the user, Stupid!

Users are Stupid or It's all about the user, Stupid!

In complaining that his smart phone app was not appreciated by his target audience, I once heard a developer say, "Users are stupid!"  After engaging me on the project, it took a while to convince him that, "No, it's all about the users, Mr/Ms Developer" 

Usability, if not done (or not done well), leaves a gap that others have to fill: tech writers and trainers will have to fill the gap. A miss in design or engineering has to be made up for in the instructions, user guides and quick reference aids.

But in the end, if you can't capture the hearts and minds of the user, your genius idea will ultimately fail... some competitor who was better at engaging the user, will pick up and run with the ball.

1. What do we mean by the term "user experience" and what is the value (ROI) of engaging the user throughout the development lifecycle
   
2. The steps of engaging the user at each phase of the development
3. Integrating user study work products to guide the project to ensure success

Feel free to bring user issues from your, or your clients projects so we can discuss and address them with possible approaches to finding a resolution.

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Michael Van der Gaag is an IBM Certified Consultant and UX Strategist with experience in Product Discovery, Usability Research and Interaction (UI) Design. He mentors clients to success by adapting UX best practices qand research and testing methodology to client company culture and project team's needs.

With you and your team, he will conduct workshops that help you develop a vision of your product, create a UX strategy, analyze required tasks, and discover the minimally viable features and optimize the interaction. Throughout product or software development lifecycle, iterative user testing will ensure user satisfaction, product value and ease of use.

Coffee Sponsorships available. Contact Michael Van der Gaag at programs@rochesterconsultants.org for more information.

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