User Understanding

What?

To understand intended and/or a potential user regarding for example values, economic resources, physique (age and body shape) and or practical life/product use context.

Why?

Understanding the user can prolong product lifespan through:

• Enhanced product/user match.
• Meeting diverse user needs.

Challenges

• It can be a challenge to incorporate users and user understanding into design processes.

Examples

• Danish baby clothing company, Vigga (now part of Circos) bases their business model on in-depth user understanding and community building.
• The Nike Flyease has been specially developed for athletes of all abilities and ages making them easier to take on and off.

Further Reading

Gwilt (Ed.) (2015). Fashion Design for Living. Routledge.

Laitala et al. (2015). Making Clothing Last: A Design Approach for Reducing the Environmental Impacts. International Journal of Design 9(2), pp. 93-107.

Lamb & Kallal (1992). A Conceptual Framework for Apparel Design. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal 10(2), pp. 42-47.