Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine | Page 32

User Experience Design Makes Innovation Possible By Cynthia Rando, Sophic Synergistics, LLC [email protected] In a decade of “Innovation” everything, our culture has consistently utilized the term as a criterion of success and as organizational goals. What we often misunderstand is that a focus on being innovative doesn’t directly translate to product, process or service success. Similarly, an innovative idea doesn’t automatically equal a profitable or impactful product. This is why several great ideas or seemingly innovative products fail. How do things become innovative? It’s not a naturally occurring state, it requires the interaction of several conditions. However, everyone has the ability to be innovative if the right conditions exist. One of the primary components of innovation is the human. It is a misnomer that a company leads a market because they are innovative, they lead because they focus on the human user, their needs, and the interactive experience effectively. That means that innovation is not the condition or catalyst, but it is the end state realized when the human element is effectively considered as part of the process. This is referred to as user experience (UX) focus and design. Depending on the application, UX incorporates elements of several domains: Human Factors Engineering, Ergonomics, Cognitive Psychology, Industrial Engineering, Organizational Psychology, Human Computer Interaction, and Usability.The impact of a UX methodology on a company’s bottom line is exponential. Specifically, for each dollar invested in UX research and design you can expect a return of 2-100X the investment. When a company incorporates a UX design approach, the benefits extend far beyond an increase in profitability including: reduction in time to market, little to no design rework, streamlined operations and development approaches, lowered customer acquisition costs, increased user acceptance and customer retention, increased innovation potential, reduced risks associate with human safety or product liability, and reduced need for aftermarket support and customer service costs. The concept of innovation has no inherent value unless it provides a solution to a real world problem. When you do achieve an innovation it is due to your ability to solve a user need within a way that optimizes the human experience. Innovation should never be used as a requirement or criterion, rather focus should be placed on delivering solutions that address latent user needs or problems within the world. When the human interface is optimized through UX design, it delivers a successful user interaction, addresses true needs, and delivers a positive experience, resulting in innovative outcomes. 32 MOMENTUM / Summer 2016