# How to apply user-centered design as a Software Architect?

Often as a software architect, the focus is on technology and related software delivery areas. However, awareness and knowledge about design processes help a software architect to deliver the required business value. User-centered design is one of the design processes, which helps software architects to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams to build the end-to-end user experience. That’s why you should learn how to apply user-centered design as a software architect.

## Definition of user-centered design

> User-centered design (UCD) or user-driven development (UDD) is a framework of the process in which usability goals, user characteristics, environment, tasks, and workflow of a product, service, or process are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process – _Wikipedia_

## Principles of user-centered design

Key principles or tenets driving user-centered design are:

-   Early user engagement & collaboration
-   Continuous requirement clarification & feedback
-   Applying user feedback loop in the product life cycle
-   Iterative user experience and design process

![Principles of user-centered design](https://vedcraft.com/images/2021/10/ucd-principles.jpg)

Principles of user-centered design

## Process on how to apply user-centered design

-   The below process model is an opinionated view of applying user-centered design in any program as a reference
-   It has been categorized as four different phases to be followed iterately – **Plan, Design, Prototype, and Build.**
-   The suggestive activities, which are self-explanatroy, the typical set of activities carried out during these phases:
    -   **Plan –** Identify business needs, Conduct user research, Assess competitive landscape, and explore the brand.
    -   **Design** – Priortize & document business requirements, Create sitemap, Conduct participatory design, Create personas & scenarios, Develop experience model, and Explore visual design direction.
    -   **Prototype** – Create wireframes and functional specifications, Create high-resolution visual components and style guide, Conduct user testing, Assemble content, and Identity voice and tone guidelines.
    -   **Build & Iterate** – Build user interface, Continuous build and testing, Build and integrate with microservices, Deploy to cloud, Continously collect user feedback, and measure, track & improve.

![Process flow of applying user-centered design](https://vedcraft.com/images/2021/08/UCD.jpg)

Process flow of applying user-centered design

To conclude, the above approach on how to apply user-centered design as a software architect helps to deliver the solution closer to user-centric expectations and increases the success rate of the targeted application.

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_References_

-   [Introduction to user-centered design](https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/user-centered-design)
-   [User Centered Design Principles & Methods](https://xd.adobe.com/ideas/principles/human-computer-interaction/user-centered-design/)
-   [User-Centered Design: Principles, Process, Examples](https://www.o8.agency/blog/user-centered-design-principles-process-examples)

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