The seminar today suggested that for design to be successful, it had to meet the needs of its users. The class were encouraged to consider the Hierarchy of Needs (Maslow, 1943) and how this may be applied to project work and the study proposal. Class discussion revealed that although Maslow’s theory was a good reference point, it did not necessarily prove a definitive theory on which to produce design. Maslow structured his theory in a pyramid, with the needs of the bottom layers to be met before the layers above, however this ideology does not comply in every situation. There are instances of those who will endure the barest necessities to realize self-actualization and self-expression, such as those working in the artistic fields.
Another aspect of Maslow’s theory does not account for specific design aspects, as the pyramid layers do not account for intricacies in design. A complex app or website may benefit from a theory such as Web Qual Model (Longstreet, 2010), which looks more intimately at user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design with an attribute list, that can be scored by the developer.
Maslow’s theory is useful but broad in its application and therefore can overlook some important design issues especially those set by international organisations. The International Standards Organisation (ISO 9241) for accessibility and inclusion and United Nations Sustainability Goal 8, which focusses on inclusivity, sustainability and economic growth.
The Hierarchy of Needs may be used as a starting point on which to base the overall needs of design and basic user requirements such as functionality, accessibility, security, confidence and aesthetic appeal.
References
Longstreet, P., (2010) “Evaluating Website Quality: Applying Cue Utilization Theory to Web Qual” Proceedings of the 43rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences – 2010
United Nations, (2020) “Sustainable Development Goals” https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/