Centric Not Exclusive
What type of a solution do you think would result if you focused exclusively on user needs and nothing else? You may have seen the episode of The Simpsons where Homer designs an automobile exactly to his needs. The excessive use of resources spent on an exclusive solution drove the automobile manufacturer out of business. All needs must be questioned, verified and framed with context.

User needs influences the design, with some user experience being more intense than others (games, entertainment sites, etc.). However, revenue and business goals of the site owners will also influence design. Being clear at the outset on all goals and subsequent directions will turn the design stage from a balancing act to simple and logical execution.

Needs Questions
Let’s say circumstances appear to call for sales, marketing and product/project managers to throw together client dictated needs into a hastily assembled requirements document, then handing them off to development. Should this happen, a critical step for needs-driven screening questions by designers and engineers to influence targeted deliverables, is missed. This should never be the case in any industry.

Try building an airplane without taking design into consideration. Let’s take this unlikely scenario. A client approaches an aerospace manufacturer to build a plane. They meet with a product manager and decide they need the following and even sign a contract to begin work.

Needs for Airline as conceived by client (and product management might include): Plane will hold 100 passengers Must maintain altitude of 35k feet plus Flight range to be between 100 and 1700 miles Passenger loading door to be at a height supported by most landing ramps Each passenger must be able to have carry-on and storable luggage Food will be served to passengers while in flight Music, movies, magazines and refreshments will be supplied to pass time

Continuing with this hypothetical scenario, after the meeting the manager puts together a 200-page requirements document describing these needs in detail with a timeline for development and delivery. It is then handed off to the manufacturing team (with a note saying a prototype might me a good idea), where the designers and engineers see it for the first time.

The exaggeration here is deliberate. No aerospace, automotive or software company will begin a build, if all the influencing factors are not first reconciled by designing engineers. The reasons: false starts and time consuming prototypes cost considerable sums.

A more likely scenario would be a product team assembled with manufacturing designers and engineers to specifically ask needs-related questions before requirements are formed. Again, using the above example, manufacturing knows they can only build an 80 or 120 passenger airplane without a costly, exclusive development effort. Even the 100-passenger requirement must be questioned. As for altitude, they must first question altitude duration and expected life cycle before choosing a cost effective alloy for maximum durability to minimum structure fatigue. Will most flights be long or short, since fuel storage, weight, and engine size will influence design and cost? What airports are to be used, since most landing ramps are adjustable except for regional or small airports? Where’s the passenger study? Vacation travelers carry more luggage than business people. Will a kitchen be needed to prepare food or will the food be pre-packaged?

Unless the product team works for a company that delivers pre-packaged solutions (and even correctly positioned pre-packaged solutions require lots of up front legwork), questions about requirements and initial specifications cannot be properly fielded without designers and engineers present. Otherwise, concept, costs and delivery schedule will be guesswork.