We all agree that if a design doesn't solve a real problem for someone, it's not much use.
It can look good, you can build the best experience ever, It can be accessible…
But if it does not solve a user’s problem it’s pointless right ?
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Finding the problem can take different paths. If it's something new, you might have to go with intuition and assumptions
But if there's something similar out there or if you already have something built, you've got DATA. This means lots of info that can help you decide how to design, build better.
But, dealing with DATA can be tricky. Should it lead the way? or Should we use it to inform our decisions ?
In today’s issue, we're looking at how Data plays a big part in designing and making products.
Data driven vs Data informed
Sherif, a product manager at Atlassian, shares insightful examples from times when a data-driven approach didn't deliver as expected, compared to instances where being data-informed led to success.
He delves deeply into the critical moments of decision-making, addressing when it's essential to lean towards being data-driven or data-informed, especially concerning Goal setting, Roadmapping, and Improving features.
Julie Zhuo talks about how she changed her design approach from just going with her gut to using data to make better decisions.
In her article, she talks about how this shift helped her, especially when dealing with big problems like the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's some takeaways:
How she moved from using intuition to relying on data in her design work.
Her main idea: Use data to find problems and design to solve them.
"Diagnose with data. Treat with design"What the COVID-19 crisis taught her about the importance of data.
Great for anyone interested in mixing creativity with data for smarter decisions.
Human input / Data input
When we design, build we build for people. So, we should always think about the people using it. We need to observe and understand why and how they use what we make.
If we only look at numbers and data, we miss out on understanding people, and that's the most important part.
Nice Find : Build with users
When should we look at data, and when should we listen to what the users tell us about our designs?
Data helps to spot the problem and identify it’s size, so checking data in the beginning can help you frame the problem better.
At the end of our process we usually need to validate a solution, Data can help here too.