Michael Hinshaw: The Importance of Human-Centric Design in Digital Transformation
VOICE OF EXPERTS
Michael Hinshaw: The Importance of Human-Centric Design in Digital Transformation
Companies are investing heavily in digital transformation, with a Research and Markets report projecting the global market to be just over $1 trillion USD by 2025. Why? The top reasons include increased operational efficiency, employee productivity, and the ability to deliver better customer experiences.
At heart, digital transformation is about preparing a business for the future, with the help of technology. But technology is just a tool. The magic happens when you focus on the people who will be using it. That’s why digital transformation starts with people.
Unfortunately, it’s common for businesses to get caught up in the technology without fully considering its impact on the experience.
When that happens, it results in experiences designed for the people who created it, not for the people who use it. This means inefficient, friction filled, and frustrating experiences… resulting in unhappy employees and customers, negative perceptions, and loss of value.
To avoid this trap, companies need to keep in mind that most digital technology exists to help companies better serve customers… or to make it easier for their employees to serve customers.
Which is where human-centric design comes in.
Human-centric design puts people at the center of decision-making.
Human-centric design is important because it changes the focus from the technology to the people impacted by and using that technology. It’s a design discipline that puts the customer (or your employees) at the center of the decision-making process, with the goal of developing solutions tailored specifically to the needs of those using them.
In other words, it prioritizes people in the design process, by understanding users and using those insights to inform solution design.
Because we’re not just talking about enabling technology that’s “easy to use” or “meets people’s needs.” We’re talking about designing digital experiences that are intuitive, relevant, and personalized.
By putting people first in the design process, we create digital experiences that don’t just meet expectations, they exceed them.
Transforming the ways we work, and how we interact with our customers.
Digital transformation isn’t just about adopting new technology or transforming the ways we gather, analyze and leverage data; it’s also about transforming the ways we work and how we interact with our customers.
The promise of employee productivity and better customer experiences won’t be fulfilled by focusing on the technology alone; if it was that simple, the failure rate of digital transformations would be far less than the 70% quoted by McKinsey.
In other words, what it comes to digital transformation, the “digital” is both less important and easier to do than the “transformation”. And that transformation starts with understanding the humans behind the data, and on the other side of our systems.
By prioritizing human-centric design and utilizing technology to enhance experiences, companies can revolutionize the way they design and deliver experiences. They’ll also be better equipped to create more innovative products and services that better meet the evolving needs of their customers, employees, and partners, and will radically increase their chances of success.
Human-centric design is a critical aspect of this transformation, ensuring that the digital experiences we create are intuitive, easy to use, and meet the needs of the people using them.
New technologies will always be available, but the challenge remains the same: planning for and deploying them in ways that meet or exceed the needs of the people affected by the change… and that result in a better future for our organizations, our employees, and our customers.
Michael Hinshaw is a veteran digital and customer experience strategy consultant, author and speaker. He is the Founder and President of McorpCX, a customer experience consultancy and services firm based in the San Francisco area, working with enterprises across the globe. An innovative executive, speaker, and best-selling author, he has been recognized by leading analysts as a digital transformation and customer experience pioneer and has been named to over a dozen “Global CX Thought Leaders” lists.
