Users

There is an abundance of knowledge as well as classes at universities you could take on this, but let me throw out some ideas.

Testing methods are a great idea when you want to see how users actually use your product (which you should want, and you should want to do early instead of once the product is done). Here’s a good article on introductory usability testing and another guide on research methods.

Cognitive walkthroughs are another great tool for looking at the usability of your design or your system.

Even if your job title doesn’t include the words “user interface” (UI) or “user experience” (UX), you should still be thinking of your end user.

Who are they? (e.g. make some personas) What do they like and dislike? What situations do they get into when using your product? What are they trying to achieve? Your product solves a problem; is the user able to solve their problem with your product?

These are all great questions to answer and to test. You can’t think through all of these; at some point, you need to see the reality of how your design is being used.

We spoke about it a bit already, but it’s worth mentioning that part of designing for your users is designing for everyone - see Accessibility section.