Putting users front and center with UX design
With a growing number of User Experience (UX) designers joining Ductus in Skellefteå, we find out what this means for customers and development teams.
Identifying pain points
“In IT, too many projects have been delayed because the deliveries don’t match the customer’s needs,” says Ductus Site Manager in Skellefteå, AnnaCarin Falkman. “We’ve always aimed to deliver the best solutions for customers, even if that may not always be what they initially request. You must understand a customer’s pain point, and by bringing in experienced UX designers into our development teams, we’re improving this process.”
Laying the path for development
“Our UX designers are almost like product owners because it’s from their initial findings that we can set the roadmap for development and deliveries. Our designers work closely with clients and put a lot of focus on the end user, whether it’s a machine operator or a systems analyst.
Photo: Jonas Westling
UX offers significant value for customers as it can help us deliver a ready solution faster and lower total costs as changes to a solution can be made “on paper” at an early stage before coding gets underway. That’s not to say we don’t work in an agile manner, able to make changes as we move forward, but the foundations are set and agreed upon with clients.
It’s not only customers that benefit, we’ve also seen a positive reaction from our software engineers who appreciate the work the UX designers do to lay the path for development. And, of course, the designers don’t simply step out of a project, they have an important role to play throughout, to ensure successful delivery as we prototype our way forward in close collaboration with users.”
Utilizing UX design tools to meet users’ needs
One of the designers is Stina Olofsson, who has worked with UX at SAS, Zettle by PayPal, and Netlight, among others, before joining Ductus. “I have a background in both engineering and design, so it’s great to be able to utilize these skills here at Ductus,” says Stina.
“I’m passionate about users and giving them the greatest experience. To do this, we must understand what their needs are and where they can benefit the most. This requires thorough interviewing and problem-solving to drill down to any issues before we can develop wireframes and mock-ups, which enables customers to envisage solutions easily and allows us to quickly make tweaks and changes. Right now, I’m working on a project at LKAB, where the users are mineshaft inspectors. It’s a long way from consumers booking trips, but the UX design tools and process used are just the same.”
Getting buy-in at an early stage
Another designer at Ductus in Skellefteå is Tommy Grevfe, whose been with the company since he wrote his student thesis at Ductus, following studies in industrial engineering, system science, design, and art. “I’m a firm believer in user-centricity in everything we do,” says Tommy.
“Users know they have an issue or challenge but don’t always know the best way to solve or overcome it. And that’s where the design process provides big wins. Through our interviews and sketches we can identify the best solution – based on an integrated system view of the user operation. Working collaboratively enables us to get the users buy-in early, making eventual solution implementation much smoother. Developers also appreciate having a well-documented design plan, that way they can focus on best-in-class development.”
To find out more about our UX design team and how we can help you, contact AnnaCarin Falkman, see contact details below.
