Tried and tested patterns of thought and action are no longer valid, and new ways require courage and sometimes also the readiness to experiment. Read about how the most important UX challenges can be mastered, and why error is not only human, but can also lead to quick success.

Challenge 1: Technology vs. human

Digitalisation means increasing technological complexity, yes. But technology only makes sense if the people who are supposed to use it understand how it works. People are thus the top priority in the development of successful applications. Empathy for their desires and needs leads to sensible solutions and a positive, appreciative user experience.

Challenge 2: Customer needs vs. corporate goal

User first – but that doesn’t mean you should be blindly obedient to your customer and ignore your own interests. A successful UX strategy is always a synthetic combination of your customers’ needs and your corporate objectives for the respective project. Make sure to invest enough time to develop a true understanding for your customer, and then focus your project accordingly. A strategy with a clear focus will help you to define tasks, prioritise sensibly and keep your from loosing track during long development periods.

Challenge 3: Team or solo?

Managers are used to pulling strings and controlling processes. But to understand the customer and his experience you need a variety of perspectives. Put together a team of “customer experts” from different departmens. Sales, service and support deal with customers on a daily basis and will widen your perspective. External UX specialists can support you and help you structure the process.

Challenge 4: Empathy for the customer – cost or benefit?

Customer research is always an investment at first. But even if you think you know your target group really well, the time invested in customer surveys and interviews will always mean a profit. In the digital world, customer needs change quickly, which is why from time to time, they can do with an update. But more importantly: knowing your customers well will save you from false assumptions and costly mistakes. Therefore, invest in authentic personas, personal interviews or, even better, in a user council: here, typical representatives of the most important user groups support the entire process and all steps of the development with valuable feedback.

Infographic Listicle UX

Challenge 5: Embrace the pain?

Of course, managers will always prefer to look where everything is going great – happy customers, great figures, satisfied employees. But it’s much less fun going where it hurts. What are the problems that make your customers‘ lives difficult? Where are you losing customers, or make them really angry? Where are things going horribly wrong? That’s where unused potential and opportunities for your company lie untapped.

Challenge 6: Forest or trees?

A large-scale digital project like a website can perform many tasks. Sell products, retain customers, acquire new ones. Where to start? Here, too, a clear strategy will help you to stay focused and not lose sight of the forest for the trees. What’s your corporate priority, and what are your customers’ most urgent problems? Solve the most important problems first, and then turn to the next when there’s still a budget left.

Challenge 7: To fail or to win?

Learning from users means learning to fail. But in processes that seek to improve the user experience, failure is not defeat, but a road sign pointing to a better solution. In fast iterative processes, you can visualize each development step again and again and test it with real users. Intensive testing pays off and leads to success - because it saves you from pointless wandering.

Challenge 8: Feelings vs. figures

User Experience describes people's experiences, feelings and perceptions when using a digital application. However, corporate success is not measured in feelings, but in hard figures. Is the success of the "feeling" user experience measurable at all, and if so, how? It all comes down to key figures. Tracking information such as abortion and conversion rates and return frequency initially show HOW users behave when using a digital application. The question of WHY is answered when you measure the time a user needs to complete a task, or by error rates. It is important to define key figures in advance so you can apply them to measure the change through UX. So: Yes, in UX projects, feelings can be measured in figures!

If you are interested or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us: you can reach us by phone at +49 (0) 611. 238 50 10 or by email at kontakt(at)diefirma.de.

Workshop

In our workshop "Experience Design" you will learn the essential processes and methods of experience design in an interdisciplinary environment. Using practical examples, you will learn to apply the tools and get a good feel for your users' perspectives, which you can use to successfully work on your own projects.
More information about the workshop