Writing for Interaction

Section 2. Understanding User Needs

After your team has decided on their development process and schedule, the next step in designing your information is understanding the needs, expectations, and goals of the intended users. This step requires planning and research, but the payoff will be well worth the effort as the data you gather will help you understand the scope and depth of the information your users will need. Without gathering this information, you may end up relying on the assumptions made by other members of the team—who may have never even met a real user. Trying to think like a user, without empirical observations or input, can lead you down the wrong path, where your content and information may be too complicated, overly simplistic, ...