In our recent webinar with Chandler Tames from Rook Quality Systems, we highlighted the importance of human-centered design in medical device app development, early regulatory pathway identification to save time, and the value of thorough performance testing. Our Product Blueprint at Digital Scientists helps reduce risks by aligning research, prototyping, and validation. For more details, watch the full session.

I recently had the pleasure of co-hosting a webinar alongside Chandler Tames from Rook Quality Systems, where we explored the nuances of developing patient-centric medical device apps while navigating regulatory compliance. For those who couldn’t attend, I wanted to share some of the key takeaways that stood out from our discussion.

1. Human-Centered Design is Essential

One of the core principles we use at Digital Scientists is design thinking. This approach puts the patient at the center of the development process. In healthcare, it’s easy to get lost in the technical and regulatory complexities, but the patient’s journey is what truly matters. We need to design solutions that integrate seamlessly into their healthcare experience, considering not only the medical issue but also the relationships, tools, and information they rely on.

2. Early Regulatory Pathway Identification Saves Time

Chandler highlighted the importance of understanding and identifying regulatory requirements early in the development process. Whether your medical device app is categorized as Class I, II, or III by the FDA, this decision has a massive impact on your project timeline and resources. Tackling regulatory hurdles sooner rather than later can save a lot of headaches down the road.

3. Our Product Blueprint Reduces Risk

At Digital Scientists, we’ve developed a process called the Product Blueprint. This 8–12 week method focuses on alignment, research, prototyping, and validation. By following this structure, we ensure that our solutions not only meet user needs but are also ready for development with minimal risk. This structured approach has helped us deliver successful products time and again.

4. Performance Testing is Crucial

Both clinical and non-clinical performance testing are non-negotiable steps in medical device app development. Thorough testing early on ensures compliance, functionality, and safety, which are critical to getting your product to market. It’s much better to catch issues early in the testing phase than to face delays later in the process.

Watch the Full Webinar

These are just a few highlights, but there’s so much more covered in the webinar, from regulatory pathways to in-depth performance testing strategies. If you’re developing a medical device app or interested in patient-centric design, I highly encourage you to check out the full session here. You’ll gain a deeper understanding of how to mitigate risks and ensure your product’s success.

The post Key Takeaways from Our Webinar: Mastering Medical Device App Development appeared first on Digital Scientists.

The limitations of generic solutions

Off-the-shelf products are designed to serve a broad audience with standardized features and functionalities. They often lack the flexibility to adapt to specific business needs or to integrate seamlessly with existing systems. As a result, you may encounter limitations in functionality, user experience, and brand alignment.

The power of custom solutions

In contrast, custom solutions are designed to address the unique requirements of a business. From the initial concept to final delivery, every aspect of a custom-designed product is tailored to align with business goals, user needs, and brand identity. This personalized approach ensures that the solution meets your needs. 

Why custom solutions are worth the investment

Personalized user experience

Custom solutions are designed with the end-user in mind, resulting in a user experience that is specifically personalized to their needs. Custom solutions create meaningful interactions that enhance user satisfaction, meet business needs, and drive better outcomes.

Enhanced flexibility and scalability

Whether you’re scaling up or adjusting features to meet changing needs, custom solutions can adapt and grow with your business, providing long-term value. We often include a design system with reusable branded components and styles to scale more efficiently and ensure consistency.

Seamless integration

Custom solutions can be designed to integrate smoothly with existing systems and workflows, eliminating compatibility issues with off-the-shelf products. This integration ensures your new solution enhances rather than disrupts your current workflows.

Unique brand identity

Custom solutions translate unique brand attributes into tangible user experiences. This ensures your brand stands out and delivers a consistent message across all touchpoints. Even if brand guidelines are sparse or don’t exist, designers use their expertise to create a strong brand presence.

Designing for inclusivity

Implementing accessibility criteria not only improves accessibility for users with disabilities but also enhances the overall user experience. This isn’t always ensured in off-the-shelf solutions, which could result in usability limitations for people with disabilities as well as legal issues for lack of accessibility compliance.

Greater control and ownership

Investing in a custom solution gives you greater control over the design and functionality of your product. This means you can prioritize features that are crucial to your users and make adjustments as needed without being constrained by the limitations of pre-built solutions. User testing and iterative improvements enhance the user experience of your product over time.

Improved efficiency and productivity

Since custom solutions are customized for specific workflows, they include relevant features and functionality without the unnecessary additions found in generic platforms. Solutions are tested with users and optimized to complement their workflows.

The impact of custom solutions

We’ve experienced success stories where businesses invested in custom solutions. Clients that needed unique functionalities or complex integrations found that custom solutions provided the exact features and interactions they required, resulting in streamlined workflows, enhanced user experiences, and deeper insights.

Unique workflows

Clients often have unique needs that cannot be addressed by off-the-shelf platforms. They often resort to workarounds that are inefficient and frustrating. A customized product based on user needs can have a significant impact on workflows and efficiency.

For example, we recently designed a product for a client who conducts plant evaluations at nuclear stations. They had an inefficient observation and interaction application, which negatively affected cross-operational work and internal/external collaboration. We were able to include features and functionality relevant to their workflows, improving collaboration and efficiency. They were able to eliminate all of the manual workarounds of their previous process and manage everything within a single source of truth.

Integrated platforms

Fragmented workflows are a common problem for our clients. Without a centralized platform, they often rely on multiple disparate tools, leading to inefficient, disconnected processes and scattered data. A centralized platform, customized to a client’s needs, can transform chaotic processes into cohesive and efficient workflows.

For example, we recently designed an integrated platform for healthcare coaches that consolidated their entire workflow into one seamless system. This new platform replaced the need for separate tools for managing appointments, conducting Telehealth sessions, and tracking patient notes. We added AI enhancements to help coaches quickly get summaries and improve writing. By centralizing these functions, we eliminated inefficiencies and provided a unified view of client data and insights. 

Conclusion

Choosing a custom solution over a generic, off-the-shelf product represents a strategic investment in your business’s future. A custom design not only improves user experience and strengthens your brand but also offers the flexibility to grow and change as your needs evolve. This investment pays off by providing lasting value that generic solutions can’t match

The post From Generic to Exceptional: Why Custom Solutions Are Worth the Investment appeared first on Digital Scientists.

The importance of defining and communicating a design process

We’ve witnessed success when we proactively define and communicate our process, leading to smoother collaboration, reduced misunderstandings, and more successful outcomes. On the contrary, we’ve seen projects falter when the design process is ambiguous or poorly communicated. This can result in misaligned expectations, delays, and a loss of trust. We’ve had clients come to us with the frustration of having invested time and money with other agencies but not gotten the results they expected. We’ve been able to gain their trust by clearly defining our process and delivering as promised. A well-defined and communicated design process is crucial for setting clear expectations, aligning goals, and creating efficient workflows.

Clear expectations for project stages and scope

Transparency

Each stage of the design process is clearly outlined so that everyone understands what to expect and when.

Scope definition

Everyone understands what is included, ensuring the project remains manageable and focused.

Alignment of goals and prioritizations

Goal setting

Project goals and objectives are clearly defined, so that everyone has a shared understanding of what success looks like

Prioritization

Alignment on features and elements that are most critical to project success. Typically, we lead an alignment workshop and use engaging exercises like the MoSCoW prioritization (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have).

Structure for efficient workflows and milestones

Structured approach

A defined process provides structure to streamline workflows and improve efficiency.

Milestone tracking

Clearly communicated milestones and deliverables keep the project on track and ensure that everyone is aware of progress and upcoming tasks.

Our design process

We believe in tailoring our process to fit the specific needs and objectives of each project. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach here. Instead, we carefully analyze the requirements and goals of every project to create an agile, customized strategy that ensures the best possible outcomes.

We essentially focus on four main stages: UX research, UX design, product strategy, and development. While we like to lead with UX research and design, product strategy and development are involved from the beginning, so we work in parallel.

UX research

Helps us grasp user behavior, needs, and challenges, uncovering insights that inform actionable recommendations to guide the design and strategy. The following are phases for UX research:

Research plan & objectives 

A research plan is a strategic document outlining objectives, methodologies, a timeline, and resources to ensure systematic, focused, and efficient insight gathering.

• Directs focus, reducing wasted efforts
• Guides informed decisions with evidence
• Aligns teams and clarifies goals

Research methods 

Selecting the most appropriate and effective methodologies to answer specific research questions or to achieve the objectives of a study within the constraints of time, budget, and available resources.

• Ensures precise, relevant insights into user needs
• Yields insights directly useful for design and strategy
• Early problem identification minimizes costly fixes

Interviews

A qualitative research method involving structured conversations with users to understand their experiences, needs, and challenges with a product or service to provide insights for design improvements.

• Uncovers deep insights
• Contextual understanding
• Builds user empathy
• Identify specific usability issues 

Findings and insights

Systematically synthesizing data gathered during UX research to uncover patterns in user behavior, preferences, and challenges. Reporting insights involves crafting a narrative that conveys these key observations and actionable recommendations clearly.

• Reveals user needs, challenges, and opportunities
• Guides product development
• Informs design decisions

UX design

Create visuals and interactions based on user needs that are intuitive, functional, and provide an enjoyable user experience. The following are phases for UX design:

Information architecture

Structuring complex information (labeling, navigation, hierarchies, and taxonomy) to make content and features understandable and accessible. 

• Defines navigation and captures scope
• Shows page organization and hierarchy
• Workflows that capture a sequence of actions a user takes to fulfill goals

Wireframes

A blueprint of the user interface that shows content, hierarchy, and functionality for each unique page.

• Layout of content and interactions that will appear in the prototype
• Insight into key components that will become part of the design system
• Provides clarity on scope and functionality
• Team consensus before investing time on a prototype

Prototype

An interactive representation of a product’s user interface and experience before it goes into development.

• A tangible product to evaluate and refine
• Brand alignment and consistency
• Gain valuable user insights
• A valuable reference for developers

Design system

A customized collection of reusable design components and styles.

• Reusable UI elements and styles 
• Consistent user experience
• Improved collaboration and handoff between teams
• Empowers designing and scaling a product efficiently

Product strategy

Strategy that secures user adoption by meeting their needs while reaching business goals, reducing risks, and ensuring quality. The following are phases for product strategy:

Product vision 

A product vision outlines a product’s purpose and future direction.

• What is the future state of the product?
• How are we going to help our users?
• How do we define success for this product?

Jobs to be done

Jobs-to-be-Done Theory provides a framework for defining, categorizing, capturing, and organizing all of a user’s needs.

• Simple “needs” statements
• Helps prioritize features
• Helps define the categories of features (epics)

Epics & user stories

User stories are short requirements or requests written from the perspective of an end user. Epics are larger bodies of work that can be broken down into a number of smaller stories.


• Ability to manage sprints and align around features and tasks
• Manage the backlog of items, current sprint’s priorities, with visibility into the status of those tasks, including bugs
• Ability to manage story points and manage development velocity

Product roadmap

A product roadmap is a shared source of truth that outlines the vision, direction, priorities, and progress of a product over time.

• Shared plan of action
• Short- and long-term goals
• Ability to visualize main deliverables and milestones

Development

Creates a clear development roadmap based upon designs and specifications, focusing on seamless integrations, system behavior, and infrastructure. The following are phases for development:

Requirements

Outlines what the product aims to achieve and how it interacts with users and other systems. It outlines what the product should do from the user’s point of view and its technical needs, focusing on security and legal standards.

• Prioritization and sequence of actions: A clear inventory of requirements enables effective prioritization
• Addressing non-functional requirements early, including security and compliance, diminishes legal and operational risks

System architecture

The structural design of the product is defined. It describes the component architecture, selecting specific technologies, frameworks, and 3rd party services used to build the product (the technology stack), and outlines how data is stored, accessed, and managed across the system.

• Provides a unified blueprint, aligning everyone with the system’s structure and objectives
• Helps in avoiding delays and inefficiencies that could arise from making these decisions later on
• Serves as a common language among stakeholders, making for faster understanding and implementation when things change

Behaviors & integrations

Focuses on the product’s dynamic aspects and its interactions with external systems. It covers third-party integrations and APIs the software will connect with, detailing any complex behaviors such as authentication flows, scheduled tasks (crontabs), and other processes that require detailed explanation to ensure smooth operation and interoperability.

• Ensures a clear understanding of product behaviors and external interactions
• Facilitates seamless system integration and interoperability
• Highlights security considerations for safe data exchange

Infrastructure & deployment

Defines the necessary infrastructure for product support, encompassing server specifications, cloud services, etc. It also explains the deployment strategy, articulates procedures for rolling out updates, and ensures the implementation of continuous delivery and integration practices, with consideration for QA/testability.

• Defines the capacity and scalability of the infrastructure to meet future demands
• Details deployment strategies for streamlined and efficient product updates
• Ensures infrastructure robustness for reliable product performance
• Ensures that the product infrastructure supports thorough testing and quality assurance processes to maintain high standards of reliability and performance

A well-defined design process serves as the backbone for delivering exceptional results. It facilitates clear expectations, aligned goals, and efficient workflows. By focusing on four main stages: UX research, UX design, product strategy, and development, we create an agile, customized strategy based on the requirements and goals of every project.

The post Process-driven design for improved outcomes appeared first on Digital Scientists.

A centralized platform, customized to a client’s needs, can transform chaotic processes into cohesive and efficient workflows.

The benefits of a custom, centralized platform

Integrating workflows into one centralized location has many advantages.

Improved efficiency and productivity

Eliminates the frustrating, time-consuming task of juggling multiple tools to stitch together workflows. We recently designed an integrated platform prototype customized for healthcare coaches where they can manage all of their workflows. This will eliminate their current need for two tools for managing and taking notes during their patient appointments, another tool for setting and managing appointments, another tool for managing telehealth, and a lack of client data and insights.

Enhanced collaboration and communication

More visibility and opportunities for inter-departmental collaboration and insights. We are currently developing an integrated platform for nuclear facility inspections that allows them to leave comments, track updates, receive notifications, and communicate with their team and facility managers. This will eliminate numerous emails, shared printouts, and the lack of transparency and historical data that they currently resort to.

Increased relevance and value

A custom solution eliminates unnecessary features in existing platforms and gives clients functionality tailored specifically to their needs. We’ve seen users overwhelmed by the number of irrelevant options in their current tools, as well as frustrated by the inability to customize certain features that are relevant to their workflows.

Better data management and insights

Centralized data allows more flexibility for gathering and tracking valuable insights, as well as for managing this data. The ability to gather insights from data is a significant issue for a lot of our clients. For many, this is critical to gathering insights and gauging performance.

Simplified training and onboarding processes

Streamlining processes into one location focuses training efforts. This saves clients a lot of time, is less overwhelming for users, and eliminates a lot of effort in managing multiple tools.

A user-centered process for designing a centralized platform

A well-defined and communicated design process helps align expectations and goals.

Define clear goals and objectives for the platform

Collaborate with stakeholders to understand their business objectives and needs. We often begin with an alignment workshop, which includes engaging exercises such as the MoSCoW (must have, should have, could have, won’t have) method to categorize and prioritize requirements and project scope.

Conduct user research to understand needs and workflows

Interview users to gather insights about their needs, goals, and pain points. We synthesize themes and insights to share findings with stakeholders and recommend design improvements.

Evaluate current tools and processes

Evaluate the products clients currently use and how they fit with their workflows to recommend technical integrations and features for the new platform.

Information architecture to organize and structure content 

Visualize workflows to confirm alignment, help guide design and development scope, and align with platform features. Also, organize and structure content into a visual representation of a site map to show hierarchy and relationships between sections of the product.

Iterative design and prototyping to ensure usability and functionality

Design wireframes, essentially blueprints of the user interface, to quickly communicate content, hierarchy, and functionality for each unique page. This sets the foundation to design a clickable prototype with brand attributes and build a design system with reusable UI components and styles. A clickable prototype provides a tangible experience to validate with users, gather feedback, get stakeholder alignment, and guide development scope and efforts.

Key considerations for designing a successful centralized platform

A unified dashboard for a prioritized view of tasks and data

A dashboard is the first page users encounter, and the most valuable content to prioritize is tasks with the most urgency, notifications, and essential data. This may also include shortcuts to content or functionality that users use most often.

Seamless integration with existing tools and systems

Based on scope and needs, there may be existing mature tools that aren’t worth rebuilding but instead integrate into the centralized platform. The important thing is to design the platform so that this integration provides a seamless user experience and prioritizes features that provide value to users.

Relevance and prioritization

Based on understanding user needs through research, prioritize features that are essential and beneficial. Avoid feature creep, which complicates user workflows. Keep features and interactions simple and intuitive.

Data visualization for reporting and analytics

Centralizing data allows more flexibility for gathering and tracking valuable insights. Use the power of data visualization as an engaging means to communicate complex data. Including customization features can also provide valuable flexibility for users.

Generative AI for added value

There may be ways to simplify or add additional insights to user workflows by using generative AI. There are some things that it currently does really well, such as summarizing large amounts of content. We recently designed a centralized healthcare platform where generative AI summarizes large amounts of clinical notes to provide healthcare coaches with a summary of each patient’s condition and progress. This is in response to the healthcare coaches pain point of the time-consuming task of reading through a repository of patient clinical notes.

Design for all users

Keep the abilities of all users in mind and follow global accessibility guidelines for designing for people with disabilities. Designing a custom platform provides the opportunity to not depend on the usability shortcomings of other platforms. Read our insights on research and design for accessibility.

A design system for consistency, efficiency and scalability

Concurrently designing a design system with reusable UI components and styles, either beginning from an UI kit or from scratch, helps design smarter. It will ensure the look and experience are consistent, provide clear guidance to developers, and help design and scale the product faster.

Feedback and iteration

Use an iterative design process to refine and improve the product based on user feedback and testing results. Initially, a clickable prototype is indispensable to communicate the experience of the platform, gather feedback, and quickly explore updates.

By integrating all workflows into one centralized platform, you can significantly enhance efficiency, productivity, and collaboration. A user-centered design approach, which includes clear goal setting, thorough user research, evaluation of current tools, and iterative prototyping, ensures that the platform aligns with user needs and business objectives.

The post From chaos 
to cohesion: Designing a centralized platform to streamline workflows appeared first on Digital Scientists.

Understanding UI vs UX Design

The terms UX vs. UI design often come up in discussions about digital design, yet they are frequently misunderstood.

• UX design refers to User Experience design, focusing on how users interact with a product, ensuring the journey is as intuitive and seamless as possible. It encompasses the overall feel of the experience, guided by how easy and satisfying the product is to use.
• UI design, or User Interface design, on the other hand, delves into the product’s visual design aspects and how users navigate through it. It’s about making sure that the interface communicates the right message and facilitates a pleasant user interaction.

The Role of UX Design

UX design is all about enhancing user satisfaction by improving the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product. It involves a comprehensive understanding of the user’s needs, values, abilities, and limitations. UX designers create the scaffolding of digital products through practices like information architecture, creating user flows, and testing different approaches to solve user problems. The aim is to solve the right problem in the most efficient way, often encapsulated in the phrase “good UX.”

The Importance of UI Design

While UX is about the overall feel, UI design hones in on the product’s visual elements and how each component interacts visually with the user. UI designers create the look and feel of the product’s interface, including button styles, typography, color schemes, and layout. They ensure the product’s interface is attractive, visually stimulating, and aligned with the brand’s goals. In essence, UI brings to life the product’s visual and interactive aspects.

UX vs. UI: A Collaboration

It’s crucial to understand that UX and UI are not in opposition but are complementary components of a product’s design. The UX design vs UI design debate is less about versus and more about collaboration. While UX designers map out the blueprint for how the product operates, UI designers fill in the visual details that make this blueprint appealing. Together, they ensure the product is not only functional but also visually compelling.

Why Both Matter

In the digital age, where countless apps and websites vie for attention, both UX and UI are crucial for success. A product with good UX but bad UI might be usable but fail to capture users’ attention or convey the brand’s message. Conversely, a product with stunning visuals (good UI) but poor usability (bad UX) will frustrate users, leading to high abandonment rates. Digital Scientists understands that the synergy between UX and UI is essential for developing digital products that are not only innovative but also intuitive and aesthetically pleasing.

Careers in UX and UI

For those interested in a career path in digital design, understanding the difference between UX and UI is vital. While the job titles may vary, the focus is clear: UX designers are tasked with making the product logical and efficient, whereas UI designers ensure that these functionalities are delivered with an attractive and cohesive visual design. Both roles require a keen understanding of users’ needs and the ability to collaborate closely with product managers and development teams to bring digital products to life.

The Digital Product Lifecycle

In the lifecycle of a digital product or service, UX and UI play critical roles at different stages. From the initial concept to the final product, UX designers ensure that the product is designed with the user in mind, focusing on usability, accessibility, and satisfaction. UI designers then work to ensure that the product’s visual identity supports this vision, making the interaction not just usable but enjoyable. This collaborative effort is what leads to the creation of digital products that stand out in a crowded marketplace.

The Bottom Line

The distinctions between UX and UI design are crucial for anyone involved in creating digital products. While UX focuses on the overall feel and functionality of the product, UI is concerned with the visual aspects and how users interact with it. Together, they ensure that products are not just functional but also visually appealing, providing a seamless and satisfying experience for users.

At Digital Scientists, we pride ourselves on our expertise in both UX and UI design, recognizing that the success of any digital product depends on the careful integration of both disciplines. Whether you’re a product manager, a designer, or someone interested in pursuing a career in digital design, understanding the difference between UX and UI is the first step towards creating products that truly resonate with users.

Ready to create an intuitive user experience?

The post UX vs. UI Design: What’s the Difference? appeared first on Digital Scientists.

The main objective of conducting accessibility usability testing is to understand how assistive technology affects the experience of using the product and to ensure that the system
operates similarly for disabled individuals as it does for non-disabled individuals.
There are many forms of assistive technology; for example, individuals with visual
difficulties might use screen readers or magnifiers, while people with auditory disabilities
rely on captions or hearing aids to experience multimedia.

Important aspects to consider in accessibility usability testing

01. Recruiting a larger number of participants. 

Why is this important? Five individuals might share a diagnosis but have completely different experiences. For example, individuals with the same hearing loss may use very different communication modalities. Some individuals might use a hearing aid to speak, others might communicate with sign language, and another participant may prefer only visual captions. 

Another reason to recruit a larger group is that you might have a group all with the same diagnosis and using the exact same accessibility software, but despite this, you will also find an array of experiences. Some individuals can have years of experience using it, while others will be new to using the tool and are still learning it or adjusting to their own preferences. 

To truly represent and cater to all people when doing accessibility testing, it’s crucial to understand and incorporate a larger range of testers and assistive technology to impact your results. 

02. Reach out to Communities 

We seek to establish connections with community partners with the necessary expertise to cater to their community’s unique requirements. To this end, we have worked with non-profit organizations serving people with disabilities. Other community partners we have considered are online communities and advocacy groups. One of the major advantages of partnering with these communities is that they not only have key informational materials that help our education, they also have specialists to go to for support and consulting, and often have assistive technology specialists on hand who can provide us with additional support when testing products in a usability test.  

03. From start to finish, ensure an accessible experience

At Digital Scientists, we love to use a journey map to plan our usability testing sessions. We suggest using one to plan an accessible usability testing session to ensure that the participants’ full journey (before, during, and after) is accessible. 

Every touchpoint where you have contact with your interviewees is carefully planned. It is important for us to make our participants feel like we have actively thought about their experience. Some key aspects of the journey to consider are:

Accommodate for different communication needs 

Prioritize accessible communication and consider the needs of interviewees by offering clear descriptors in emails, easy-to-access passwords, and carefully researched communication platforms that accommodate various accessibility needs. Additionally, express that participants should bring their own hardware and proactively inquire about any specific requirements they may have.

Offer location alternatives

When conducting usability tests, we offer remote and in-person options. For remote testing, ensure the platform is accessible and allow participants time to install prototypes onto their software. If opting for in-person testing, offer flexibility to accommodate the participants’ accessibility needs. This includes selecting a location based on their requirements or/and testing at their home. In either case, communicate with them beforehand to ensure their specific needs are understood and where they would feel most comfortable.

For testing in a common space, ensure accessibility. This includes checking for steps, elevators, door width, table height, and room size to accommodate service dogs, caretakers, or interpreters. Verify that the toilet is accessible. Furthermore, consider transportation to and from the location to ensure accessibility. In participants’ homes, also ensure that you understand their needs and that if they have any requirements for you to step into their place, you respect them.

Include time flexibility in your session schedule 

Accessibility usability testing cannot follow a one-size-fits-all approach. For this reason, we tailor each session to meet the needs of every participant we interview. Our testing process involves two task lists: a shorter one with essential must-have questions and a longer list with additional tasks we can use if the participant is willing. We allocate extra time for our team and for participants to ensure that everything runs smoothly. Sometimes software setup or unforeseen issues may cause delays. However, we remain flexible and value participants who share detailed feedback and opinions. Ultimately, we prioritize meeting everyone’s needs and ensuring the process runs smoothly.

Offer communication alternatives when moderating

Ensuring that moderation is accessible starts with making sure that all consent forms, non-disclosure agreements, instructions, directions, tasks, or forms are written and presented in clear and simple language. Provide alternative ways to communicate instructions or ideas in case participants need additional clarification. 

Additionally, handouts should be designed with participants’ preferences and need. For example, offer the option of receiving documents by email in accessible formats such as HTML, PDF, or plain text. Another important practice is to emphasize at the beginning of the test, that we are testing the website or product, not the participants themselves, to make them feel at ease.

During the testing session, we introduce ourselves and any observers in a way that makes participants feel comfortable. We briefly introduce ourselves, explain the setup, and tell participants what to expect during the session. We always reassure them that they can stop the session at any time.

04. Maintain privacy of information 

During usability tests, participants may share personal and sensitive information, such as private health information, personal stories, or sometimes protected data. We are HIPAA compliant and ensure the confidentiality of our interviewees. We make sure that they all know that they can opt out of the test or have the choice to stop at any time of the testing process for whatever reason. It’s crucial to take necessary measures to respect their privacy and safeguard all their data.

05. Be open to critique

One of the things we enjoy the most about accessibility testing is opening ourselves up to receive critique, as it allows us to improve our products and testing methods. We can improve our products and testing methods by listening to user feedback to meet diverse needs better. User feedback also enables us to make targeted improvements that address specific concerns. By doing so, we hope to continue to innovate and gain new insights that inspire us to create even better products and services.

Accessibility is an on-going effort 

For us, accessibility usability testing is a journey where we prioritize the comfort and support of all participants during our usability testing sessions from start to finish. We believe this approach benefits both our participants and our clients by leading to more accurate and valuable insights to improve their products. Ultimately making your products accessible will not only improve the experience for people with disabilities but also benefits seniors, those with temporary or situational limitations, and even users without disabilities. However, simply meeting accessibility guidelines is not enough – real usability testing is necessary to uncover usability issues and ensure the best possible user experience. Accessibility for us is an ongoing effort and integrated into the development process rather than treated as a yes/no checklist item to prioritize all users’ needs truly.

The post Improving accessibility through user research and usability testing appeared first on Digital Scientists.

In today’s market, users expect a seamless experience, and if your product feels outdated they will quickly move on to your competitors. But updating your interface is easier said than done, and it can be overwhelming to know where to start.

Over the years, we have assessed and diagnosed products in wide ranging industries with varying complexity. We understand that each product is unique, and we take the time to learn about our customer’s  business and their customers to provide personalized recommendations on initial steps they can take to modernize their platform. 

We are firm believers in talking to real users, and when we do so, we want to make sure we have a clear understanding of where the platform is today. A way we do that is by performing a UI Audit. Running a UI audit will allow our team to thoroughly and objectively identify critical design issues and establish recommendations for next steps so our customers can regain their competitive advantage.

What is a UI Audit? 

A UI Audit  is a standardized design assessment performed by our UX experts to evaluate a website, app, or product based on established industry usability principles. 

One of the methodologies we use in our UI Audit is a Heuristic Evaluation, a methodology that was developed by Jacob Nielsen. The evaluation consists of 10 key principles covering various aspects of human-centered design. To ensure consistency, each principle is rated on a 0-5 scale. A score of 0 indicates a negative user experience, while a score of 5 indicates a successful user experience. During the evaluation process, the expert identifies potential issues that could negatively impact the user experience and provide actionable recommendations to improve the design accordingly.

Who is involved in the UI Audit?

Typically our team of user experience experts is composed of one lead or senior designer, a user experience researcher, and a product manager. Our experts have knowledge and training in design evaluations, information architecture, visual design, user-centered design, user metrics, strategic thinking, and product and design principles. When evaluating design, their background and expertise allows them to understand the implications and intricacies of how these play out in the designs. Upon completing their assessments, the evaluators compile their results to share and make actionable recommendations for your product based on the importance and frequency, and severity of the issues discovered.

When to conduct a UI Audit?

Our clients often express concerns about their product’s usability and feel frustrated about not knowing where to start. They understand that there is a problem but are not sure which issue to tackle first. While they may have identified certain pain points, they need help identifying specific design principles that hinder user experience. 

If you hear any of the following questions or statements, a UI Audit might be a great starting point to evaluate the design of your product:

What are the benefits of conducting audits?

UI audits are quick and accessible

UI audits offer a quick and accessible way to assess the validity of a design, particularly when resources and time are limited. Additionally, they provide a baseline assessment to identify areas for improvement and set up a well-organized plan with a solid foundation established through the UX evaluation; your team can confidently understand where to start in your plan of attack to take corrective actions to enhance the user experience and identifying specific steps that need to be taken during the redesign process to achieve significant improvements in usability and overall user satisfaction.

UI audits focus on user research and improve usability testing down the line

By conducting a thorough UX evaluation prior to usability testing, you can minimize the likelihood of encountering basic usability issues during testing and ensure that the feedback you receive from users is more reliable and insightful. When usability testing is conducted on a design that has not been adequately evaluated, the feedback received from users can be compromised. Users may struggle with basic usability issues that could have been easily resolved before the testing phase. This can lead to a less effective testing process and less actionable feedback.

UI audits help define metrics to make informed decisions and measure the impact of your redesign investment

Utilizing metrics to evaluate the design, UX assessments help determine actionable steps to get a product back on track and improve overall user experience. The use of clear metrics in UX evaluations allows for greater clarity and objectivity in determining the impact of design and determining the next steps, such as clarifying objectives, focus user testing, reallocating resources, or revising timelines.

Are you struggling to define where to begin redesigning your product for a better user experience?

At Digital Scientists, we recommend UI evaluations for anyone considering redesigning an existing product. These evaluations can help optimize the user experience and ensure that key design principles are met and integrated into your new product experience. By doing so, your company can modernize its product, regain its competitive advantage, increase sales, and become the leading competitor that others strive to emulate. If you’re interested in learning more about UX evaluations and how they can benefit your team, company, and product, let’s talk.

The post Outdated interface, losing customers: How to know when it’s time to redesign your product appeared first on Digital Scientists.

Creating products that everyone can use, is a core foundation of our mindset and process. Accessibility – designing products that people with disabilities can use, is an essential part of this.

Achieving accessibility includes following international web accessibility standards, as well as research and testing to understand our users and their needs.

International accessibility standards

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops international standards for the Web – HTML, CSS, and many more. Their Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) develops technical specifications, guidelines, techniques, and supporting resources that describe accessibility solutions. 

They create Web Accessibility Content Guidelines (WCAG), considered to be the international standard for web accessibility. In the United States, this has been adopted by Section 508 – accessibility requirements for electronic and information technology developed, maintained, funded, or used by the Federal Government.

WCAG is consistently updated. We are currently on 2.1, with 2.2 expected in Spring of 2023.

WCAG is based on four principals and 13 guidelines

Perceivable

Users must be able to perceive the information being presented

• Text alternatives for non-text content
• Alternatives for audio and video
• Adaptable content that retains information and structure
• Make it easier to see and hear content

Operable

Users must be able to operate the interface

• Make all functionality available from a keyboard
• Provide enough time to read and use content
• Avoid causing seizures or physical reactions
• Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are
• xMake is easier to operate functionality for inputs beyond a keyboard

Understandable

Users must be able to understand the information as well as the operation of the user interface

• Make text content readable and understandable
• Make pages appear and operate in predictable ways
• Input assistance to help users avoid and correct mistakes

Robust

Users must be able to access content as technologies advance

• Maximize compatibility with current and future technology

Success criteria

WCAG 2.1 guidelines are categorized into three levels of conformance, in order to meet the needs of different groups and situations.

Industry standard is WCAG 2.1 AA (which also means conformance to A).

Training and internal processes are needed to implement and evaluate conformance to success criteria. Creating documentation provides an artifact that measures things such as conformance. Documentation may be requested by clients, or may be needed to fill out a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) that details the level of conformance.

Accessibility is a shared responsibility

Accessibility should be considered from the beginning of a project. This ensures that it’s part of the process, and minimizes added time and expense of going back to fix accessibility issues.

Product Manager

Leads the product and incorporates accessibility into the process with clear checkpoints, roles and responsibilities.

User Researcher

Includes people with disabilities during research and testing, to help ensure they are understood and their needs are met.

User Experience Designer

Considers all of the ways people use a product, to provide options for an optimal user experience for all users.

Visual Designer

Makes design decisions such as color, typography, and layout, to influence how content is viewed and understood.

Content Author

Leads how content is structured and written, to improve readability and understanding.

Developer

Uses techniques such as semantic coding and ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications), to ensure that the codebase can accommodate all users and assistive technology.

QA / Tester

Checks accessibility success criteria compliance before release. This may be a dedicated role, or it may include Designers and Developers checking their work, with a final QA before release.

Be apprehensive of quick fixes

Companies advertise overlays, plugins, and toolbar widgets as cheap and automated accessibility fixes. Many people with disabilities are sharing that these are not effective solutions. Some of the issues are:

• Override assistive technology settings, and force users to learn a whole new system
• Don’t repair underlying issues, therefore they don’t achieve full WCAG compliance
• Loading speed and performance are out of your control
• May conflict with your user’s preference for data privacy and protection

We’re committed to creating products that everyone can use

As the world’s largest minority, people with disabilities deserve to access digital content. Understanding and incorporating accessibility guidelines can be a complex process. Research and testing takes time. However, it’s not just about checking off boxes to mitigate legal liabilities, it’s about doing the right thing and ensuring everyone can access digital content, tools, products, and services. By creating accessible digital products we can help ensure that people with disabilities can easily access helpful information online, protect digital investments, and can have full access to a wide range of online services.

As we continue to design, build, and learn, we promise to work hard to understand the needs of people with disabilities, for the best user experience possible.

Resources

W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
Strategies, standards, and resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.

WCAG quick reference guide
A customizable quick reference to WCAG 2 requirements and techniques.

Section 508
The United States Government’s website dedicated to Section 508 and accessibility requirements.

ADA
Guidance on how state and local governments, and businesses open to the public can make sure that their websites are accessible to people with disabilities.

The post Accessibility: How to create accessible digital products appeared first on Digital Scientists.

Accessibility recognizes that people interact with technology in diverse ways and removes barriers so that people with disabilities can more fully engage with digital content, tools, products, and services.

Statistics and facts about disabilities

People with disabilities are the world’s largest minority

Almost everyone is likely to experience some form of disability—temporary or permanent, at some point in life.

— Sources: CDC; WHO

Types of disabilities

Physical

Amputation, arthritis, paralysis, repetitive stress injury

Auditory

Hard of hearing, deafness

Visual

Color blindness, low vision, blindness

Speech

Mute, dysarthria (weakness or paralysis of muscles for speech), stutter

Cognitive

Learning, neurological, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, mental health disabilities (medications may also have side effects), memory impairments, learning disabilities, seizure disorders

Disabilities can be permanent, temporary, or situational

Why is accessibility important?

01. Accessibility is part of being inclusive

The web offers valuable resources and services that everyone deserves to access, and that people with disabilities rely on.

02. Accessibility improves the user experience

Essential for some, useful for all. Anyone can experience periods of limitations, or prefer different ways of finding and consuming information. Some benefits are…

• High contrast helps during glare
• Voice recognition helps keep hands free
• Captions help in a loud environment

03. Accessibility drives innovation

Accessibility features in products and services often solve unanticipated problems. Sometimes limitations can propel us to think through problems differently and come up with unique solutions.

04. Accessibility minimizes legal risk

Many countries have laws requiring digital accessibility, and the issue is of increased legal concern. In the United States, there are two main laws governing digital accessibility – the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 508.

The ADA is a law that protects people with disabilities in many areas of public life. Title II applies to web accessibility for State and local governments. Title III applies to businesses that are open to the public.

Section 508 establishes accessibility requirements for electronic and information technology developed, maintained, funded, or used by the Federal Government.

05. Clients may require accessibility

In addition to client requirements, every federal agency or any organization that interacts with a federal agency is required to complete a legally binding Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT)—it details a product’s level of conformance with International Web Accessibility Content Guidelines (WCAG).

06. Accessibility adds value

Some clients may not realize the importance or value of accessibility. This gives us an opportunity to establish the value of our contributions to the success of their product. It may also give us a marketing edge against competing agencies.

Although accessibility adds some additional effort, it will be a much larger effort to have to go back and fix a product.

07. Accessibility may affect your reputation and marketability

Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are important to business success and reputation. People may prefer to support companies who share their values and who design products that fit their needs.

08. Accessibility positively affects SEO

There’s a considerable overlap between features that improve accessibility and SEO performance. 

• Metadata
• Image Alt text
• Link anchor text
• Heading tag structure
• Audio and video transcriptions

How people with disabilities access digital content

People with disabilities use assistive technologies or adaptive techniques to access digital content. In order to use these successfully, they rely on content that has been designed and coded following accessibility standards, and that has been tested.

We’re committed to creating products that everyone can use

As the world’s largest minority, people with disabilities deserve to access digital content. Understanding and incorporating accessibility guidelines can be a complex process. Research and testing takes time. However, it’s not just about checking off boxes to mitigate legal liabilities, it’s about doing the right thing and ensuring everyone can access digital content, tools, products, and services.

As we continue to design, build, and learn, we promise to work hard to understand the needs of people with disabilities, for the best user experience possible.

The post Accessibility: What it is and why it matters appeared first on Digital Scientists.