Customer-centered tools help to manage complexity, to control all steps up to completion and buffer the impact of unforeseen problems. They also prevent investments in services or products that don’t work for the user.

Man is the measure

First of all it is important to know your audience. The architect planning an airport might ask themselves: What do the passengers want? What tasks are they trying to complete in this building? With the answers to these questions he will find solutions for passengers to quickly check in and comfortably reach their destination. The requirements of other stakeholders such as airlines, investment partners and authorities are integrated in the process. With digital projects, too, it is essential to thoroughly analyse groups of customers and their journey.

No construction without blueprint

Before any craftsman takes up their tools, they will create a construction plan that clearly defines tasks and responsibilities. With digital projects, the UX strategy blueprint serves as a strategic foundation that provides clarity about desired goals and tasks and helps to keep an overview over the construction process.

Brick on brick

Complexity starts to rise with the first cut of the spade: All crafts involved need to be coordinated to work hand in hand. Underground engineering provides the foundation and essential infrastructure, while structural engineering provides suitable spaces and access for passenger flows. Façade construction and interior design make for an attractive finish and make sure visitors feel comfortable and find their way around. Story maps visualize the building blocks in digital projects and group them into task packages so everybody knows what they are expected to do and keep track. They also illustrate what is missing or which tasks have priority and which can be deferred. The transparent overview over the work packages reduces complexity and helps to keep an eye on the budget.

Flow charts visualise the digital visitor flows on the website and illustrate where the different users find exits, access points and shortcuts. As opposed to the physical construction site, so-called prototypes – rough constructions of digital products – can be tested for comprehensibility and usability. Each construction phase is optimised iteratively to achieve a positive experience for all users.

Modular design principles

Building with modules makes everything more effective. Many buildings consist of modules that can be copied and reassembled at will. Modular design accelerates the construction of new digital buildings and increase efficiency on site. Like this, the project can easily be scaled if required. When using the the same modules more than once, teams can work simultaneously and still achieve a consistent result. This not only makes for easy scalability, but also for a positive user experience: users recognize elements and navigate with ease.

UX Teaser 02 Infographic EN Source: https://bradfrost.com/blog/post/extending-atomic-design/

Not least, modular design keeps different players from implementing different systems that end up not working together, as was the case with the fire protection systems at BER airport. Design systems – just like flexible architecture systems – save costs and quickly lead to completion.

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.


Sources
¹ https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/flughafen-berlin-brandenburg-vier-milliarden-euro-mehr-neun-jahre-zu-spaet-die-wichtigsten-fakten-zum-start-des-ber/26205178.html