What Is User Centered Design?
Building websites using the User Centered Design approach ensures that your website creates the perfect experience for your perfect patient. As a dentist, your website is a very important piece of your online marketing and using a User Centered Design framework will deliver better results time and time again. Below we outline what User Centered Design is and why it is so important for your practice’s website design process.
User Centered Design is a design approach used to create digital products that are both functional and user friendly.
That definition is pretty broad, so let’s break it down. In order to build a User Centered Design strategy for your website, you need to first understand the actions and behaviors of your ideal patient.
According to the book “The User’s Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love”, a user’s journey goes something like this:
- Engagement – engage your user with compelling design and copy
- Usefulness – provide the user with something they will actually find useful
- Motivation – motivate them to take action through design and well written copy
- Action – an action is taken when the first three needs are met for most users
- Retention – keep them around by keeping the user engaged with your brand
As you can see from the above list, each step is crucial to the process. By focusing on the user’s needs and motivations as they progress using your prodct, you’ll have a better understanding of what actions they are taking and how to guide them through the process. Additionally, you’ll want to make sure your website is easy to use and fulfills your ideal patient’s expectations.
What makes User Centered Design different from other web design and development approaches?
User Centered Design is an approach to designing sites that involves an understanding of who your users are and why they are using your site. It’s important to understand your users and their needs. This is the first step to creating a website that meets the needs of your ideal patient. It’s also important to remember that you’re not building a website for yourself – you’re building a website for your perfect patient. Imagine you’re the perfect patient and then think about what you’d want to see on your website. Would you want to see a website that looks like every other dentist’s website? Probably not. You would need to see a fine-tuned website that answers most if not all of your questions as a patient.
The goal of User Centered Design is to create a website that is easy to use and is made by prioritizing the needs of your ideal patient. This will ultimately result in a better user experience for your perfect patient and will increase the likelihood that your website will convert them into a customer in no time.
