Making decisions for your users leads to frustration, especially for people with disabilities who will waste a lot of time trying to figure out how to undo the decisions you made if it is not what they wanted.
Start with paid user research conducted by research professionals with live potential users. While paid user research requires investment, it’s crucial to remember that this approach is far more cost-effective than having to rewrite your software due to a lack of user input.
The best approach is to offer users flexible settings within the software. These settings allow your users to tailor their experience to their preferences, enhancing user satisfaction and inspiring continuous improvement in your software.
– Don’t angst over what font to chose. Let the users chose their own font.
– Allow users to set close captioning always on for videos.
– Designers think voice input fields clutter the design? Display them only when the user chooses that option.
The list is endless. Settings should always be associated with a login, so your users don’t have to make these choices repeatedly. Bonus points if you also track these settings in cookies for users who are not logged in.
Alt: Never make decisions for your users. Either make decisions with your users, or build enough flexibility that your users can make the decisions for themselves.