User-centred design

Start with the user

Begin with User Centred Design, the mind map that asks you to relate a product to its target audience. It prompts you to consider users’ likes and interests alongside safety, performance, reliability and usability. As you read, connect each consideration to the product being discussed.

Then look at the User-Centred Design map that describes a client interview. It connects a modern appearance and cool colors to the setting for a design. Compare that example with the first map: what does each one tell you about the people a design is intended for?

Consider stakeholders and problems

Another User-Centred Design map asks who the end users and other stakeholders are, and what they need. Use those questions to identify whose views matter in the example. The User-Centered Idea map also considers different family members, their heights and interests, as well as safety and materials.

For a different starting point, open Design Methods. It discusses understanding problems and communicating to find a solution that satisfies most people. Compare its approach with the stakeholder questions: how might asking people about their needs help you understand a problem?

Connect the maps to your study

User-centred design is a section of The Design Process unit in Design and technology. The maps let you explore that section through questions about users, requirements and design choices. The map about a transportation device, for example, lists client requirements alongside safety, durability and quality.

There are no quizzes listed on this topic page. A free GoConqr account lets you make your own quiz and save your scores. You could turn questions from a map into quiz prompts, then return to the map to review the ideas. Choose a map to start exploring.