- Does your product or service have access to the resources necessary to perform research?
- Who is your primary audience?
- What user needs will this product or service address?
- Do you use personas or other audience segment analysis techniques to connect your solutions to different segments of your audience?
- How often are you testing with real people?
- Which people will have the most difficulty with the product or service?
- Which research methods were used?
- What were the key findings?
- How and where were the findings documented?

User Needs Considerations (USWDS)

- Start early. 
- Use a range of methods. 
- Use prototypes. 
- Share your findings. 
- Test regularly. 

User Needs Practical Actions (USWDS)

"Real user needs should inform product decisions. Whether our audience includes members of the public or government employees, decision-makers must include real people in our design process from the beginning. Then, we need to test the assumptions we make and the products and services we build with real people, to keep us focused on what is most useful and important."

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

"These design principles are intended to help teams across government align on important common goals and better use the design system — to be an evaluative lens for design and implementation decisions."

USWDS Design Principles

U.S. Web Design System

Start with real user needs (USWDS)

Trust has to be earned every time. Federal websites and digital services can’t assume it. Trust is about understanding and meeting or exceeding expectations, a process that can be established quickly and maintained over continued interactions, but is easily damaged. Be reliable, consistent, and honest. Reduce the impact of failure with solid design and engineering. Be a good steward of your audience’s data, resources, and time.

Earn Trust USWDS

"Accessibility affects everybody, build it into every decision. Legal requirements are a critical, necessary starting point, but this is only the beginning. Accessibility is about real people who use our services — it’s usability for people who interact with products differently. Everyone who works on government websites has a role to play in making federal resources accessible and inclusive. Design generously and celebrate accessibility requirements as a set of design constraints that help us create a better product for all users."

Embrace accessibility USWDS

"Minimize disruption and provide a consistent experience: throughout services, over time, and across agencies, platforms, and devices. Consistency is not necessarily conformity. Agencies, sites, and services may have different audiences, missions, and goals — and the way we implement our solutions may differ — but we promote continuity by starting from shared solutions and values. Strive to build user-centered solutions that address the whole experience, not just a user’s specific task, but the context of their journey."

Promote Continuity USWDS

"Evaluate and improve your product by listening to your audience and learning from what you hear. Continuous feedback drives continuous improvement. Measure customer experience — how well what we’ve built is working for our audience — at every stage of a project, and as projects grow and mature."

Learn Before

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