Who is the user?

Today I would like to talk about something that when spoken of seems crystal clear, but often not implemented at most places that I have worked at. The idea of at an early stage get a clear picture of whom you are producing for should be obvious, right? But the fact that this puts demands on your product during production is like having a savings account while you are a student. It looks great at the beginning of the month but ends up quite empty at the end.

As an interaction designer, “who is the user”,  is one of the most important questions to ask. Who will use what I produce? What are his och her needs and how do I produce something that will fulfill their needs and take in consideration their “short comings”? That is why a user oriented design starts out with a User Analysis.

So why is this so hard to implement? I might have been working in the wrong places, places that are still not mature enough to understand the process. But then again, I have been working for 10 years now and I see no change. Or maybe I’ve just not been good enough at explaining the process.

As this blog has started out as a home for my quest to learn about blogs (in a rather Seinfeld kind of way), but also as a cradle for my interaction design passion,  I would like to do a User Analysis on the blog reader.  But before I go there: What are your experiences? Have you worked with User Analysis? Please add a comment! Help me evolve!

BR,

Annika