The art of a mature user-based approach

How to go from practice to performance?

Behind every exceptional digital product is a solid track record based on strategy and empathy. This empathy and inspiration can lead to gathering interesting insights about our clients. This information is the result of frequent and deliberate interactions between different client segments. 

The secret to our success for our clients who have avoided these pitfalls is two-fold: systems and culture. Both components work in tandem so that teams stay focused on how their business can fit into their users’ lives. 

As a trusted consultant, we help build your user orientation strategy by: 

• Developing systems for the company that keep clients at the centre of the decision-making process 
• Acting as a cultural leader by setting the example for our teams 

Here are some questions to ask yourself to figure out if your company is user focused. 

Systems 

• How often do product managers talk to clients? 
• How often do product managers interact with user data? What about engineers and designers? 
• Do your sales and marketing teams talk with users aside from sales motions? 
• How many hours per week does your CEO talk with users? 

Culture 

• How is client information shared and referred to when interacting with colleagues? 
• Are there client champions outside the research team? 
• When does your management team talk about clients and client problems? 
• Are managers able to cite specific user problems or, better yet, specific user examples, that guide business strategy? 

Now, we don’t have “the right answer” to any of these questions. However, they may guide your thinking and help you identify small steps to reorient your business around user problems. Of course, we should all try hard as often as possible, but only you know what is realistic for your company and your teams. 

Get back on track now 

All roles, levels and teams should be user oriented. But if you’re looking to build a solid base and set a good example for the rest of the company, we suggest that you start with product development. 

Your product (or service) is the manifestation of your business’s user understanding. It’s the embodiment of your brand’s promise.  

Because it’s at the core of your business, your product development approach is the ideal area to refocus your business on what matters most. 

Most product development processes are made up of several phases, for example: 

• Understanding: thoroughly understand the users’ problems 
• Exploring: generating a wide range of potential solutions to fundamental problems 
• Fine-tuning: validating the solutions that are worth being developed 

As you can see, there isn’t one right answer or a right place to start. Keep in mind that taking any action, no matter how small, is better than no progress at all. We guarantee that your team wants to connect with your users. 

Contact us. We provide in-depth expertise across a range of fields and an informed perspective to help you overcome through all obstacles and pave an intentional way forward.