Digital
Strategy
Technology
March 28, 2025
Group dynamics and the construction of digital products with human-centered design
The way people behave can give clues about possible paths in the construction of digital solutions
Make payments, shop, schedule a meeting, search for restaurants, calculate how many calories were consumed in the day. There are many possible tasks using applications and, the easier and more intuitive they are, the faster they will be accepted. This is because most people do not like to spend time and energy learning new systems; they want to download the app and solve their problems quickly.
In his book “Don’t Make Me Think”, Steve Krug says that the vast majority of people do not read the content of a page, but are browsing like sharks looking for keywords or key passages that will meet their needs. Bringing this thought to the context of applications, it is necessary to create interfaces with direct communication, without unnecessary texts, that help people find their way to solve their problems on their own.
There are several challenges when it is necessary to build a scalable digital solution that reaches many different audiences. What tone of voice best suits the person who will use it? What is the best way to create a menu where people can find what they are looking for? Where is the best place to insert a certain function, so that it is found quickly, but without leaving the interface with too much information? Notice that the deeper the questioning, the more complex the answer can be.
In order to find answers to questions like these and in the eagerness to be as assertive as possible in decision-making, I believe in the power of human-centered design, which takes into account how people behave, giving indications of some possible paths that can work out. In his book “User-Centered Design”, Travis Lowdermilk says that User-Centered Design (UCD) is a methodology that assists designers and developers in the software development process, as this practice ensures applications with good usability.
Understanding the importance of building digital interfaces easy to be used by people — that help them with their daily tasks — and following the rationale of DCU, we have a clear direction to involve people in the development process of digital products. But what is the best way to do this? There are many tools to involve people in the development process:
- Structured and unstructured research with users during a conversation to obtain important information and details (such as people’s usage preferences, for example);
- Usability testing (to analyze how people behave during the use of a specific application);
- Forms (likely you have already answered at least one);
- Group dynamics , among others.
Each context and need serves as a guide for the best tool. Often it is necessary to use several, while in other situations a single tool can help with a large part of the answers. There are some important variables for the choice of the right tool . One of them is the time available for carrying out the activities, as often the project needs to move quickly, and the application of many tools can delay or make it impossible to deliver the project within the stipulated time. Another important variable is the number of people able to participate in the activities, since these people need to be within the product context, and it is not as simple as it may seem the task of finding people willing to give time to help in the process of improving a product.
As a UX designer, I have already achieved many important results in my projects by involving people in the process of designing digital products, especially in the initial discovery stages, as this gives direction to the work, helping to answer most questions, from communication doubts to tone of voice, what words to use, text sizes, colors, button titles, and layout issues — such as the quantity of elements, what the information hierarchy will be (e.g., menu arrangement), and icon usage. All this and much more can be discovered by talking to the people who use or will use a digital solution.
Group Dynamics
Of the tools mentioned, the one that always brings important elements for problem-solving and the acquisition of new ideas is group dynamics. In addition to contributing a rich amount of information, the tool also clarifies some user behaviors, all in a single moment. Whether in person or online, I always follow a step-by-step process to avoid mistakes in the dynamic: I choose who will be the participants (it is important to analyze the context to understand which people can really contribute to the project), I make the invitation and explain the context and the importance of their contribution to the process; this generally makes people engage more, by genuinely wanting to help.
The second step is to register this invitation: I usually use the Outlook calendar, as it registers the commitment in the participants’ calendars, but it’s important to check with the person what the best way is to register the commitment in their calendar.
A common question is about the ideal number of people to participate in a group dynamic. A parameter that yields results is what Jacob Nielsen (an expert in digital interface usability) presents in his article “Why You Only Need to Test with 5 Users”, about the learning curve in usability testing. According to him, with five users, it is possible to extract practically 80% of the learnings, so I import this number into my dynamics and always try to have at least five people actively participating.
The third step is the organization of the dynamics; evaluate if the chosen one is the most assertive or if you need to look for other options. Performing an internet search can contribute a lot before settling on a dynamic that is already known, so use search engines to find articles from other designers that can contribute.
It is important to create a file to record all the details and a roadmap for the activity execution; I usually use the Notion tool (notion.so) as a repository. During the activity, I ask for permission to record the audio (guaranteeing confidentiality of information for the participants), as I later use artificial intelligence to transcribe the conversation and extract the main insights, which ensures a faithful record of what was discussed and a bank of ideas. Google Studio (aistudio.google.com) handles this task.
One of the dynamics that most contributed to my work was Event Storming. With the development teams and subtitling projects gathered, we were able to map the possible events of the journey of a user of an existing system, with the main objective of building an information architecture.
The initial forecast was to carry out the activity in a three-hour meeting, but as the dynamics unfolded, I realized we would need more time. We ended up having another three-hour session. This shows that often, depending on the choice, the activity can take more or less time, it all depends on the experience with the tool, the time available for completion, people’s availability, and the perception of how much the moment is contributing to the project.
Event Storming contributed to the main objective, but, besides that, I was able to understand several other important nuances for the project, such as the need to create a glossary with terms used by users to standardize internal communication and assist in the programming process.
There are no guarantees of success when including people in the digital product development process, but certainly the possibility of getting it right will be greater than if this inclusion does not happen, since the decision-making will be directed towards the public, attentive to the behavior and reality of the final consumer, making the application or system easier to use and contributing to problem-solving.
This content was produced by:
Bruno Henrique Martimiano
UX designer at Skylar, works on all stages of the brand’s product development process. Previously worked in sales at companies in the financial sector, but switched careers to the digital product niche. Is passionate about cultural diversity, human relations, and the business world, and is always attentive to technological innovations.
Who wrote this column
Skylar
