Matt LaVoie discusses the differences between developing user interfaces for yourself and being a servant designer, empathizing with customers.

Matt LaVoie is a User Experience Designer at PowerDMS, and founder of the Downtown UX Meetup group in Orlando, FL. He enjoys teaching and learning about UX, gardening and building things.

Key Takeaways

• So many times we solve problems for ourselves, we need to solve them with other people in mind
• Empathize with customers – be a servant designer
• It doesn’t matter if you know how to use it, you developed it
• Conduct usability sessions and have everyone on the team sit with the customers, including developers
• Always keep in mind that there are real people you’re writing this code for
• Watch people use the software you build
• According to Forrester Research we are officially in the age of the Customer
• It’s no longer good enough to solve a problem, it needs to serve the customer well
• Have a human centric development process
• Lean startups are about failing faster, but you dont have to launch to fail – use rapid prototyping
  • Drawing on a napkin
  • Balsalmiq
  • Invite people to use it and watch them use it
• Are you actually building something that somebody wants?

Resources Mentioned

• PowerDMS
• Forrester Research – Winning in the Age of the Customer
• Balsamiq
• downtownux.com
• mattplavoie.com

Contact Guest

• @mattplavoie

Available on People Friday and Hello Tech Pros daily podcasts