What does it mean to be people-focused?

Being people-focused means putting your audience members at the centre of every decision. Make decisions based on their confirmed needs, preferences, and behaviours, not on assumptions.

Why is it important to be people-focused

When you prioritize peoples' needs, preferences, and behaviours, you create better, more intuitive experiences. That means less frustration and more satisfaction for our audience members.

Benefits of being people-focused

• Better experiences for audience members.
• Successful outcomes and results.
• Builds trust.
• Saves time and resources.

Checklist for publishing people-focused digital content

Verify you have a good understanding of your audience members. Then design experiences that are intuitive, effective, and enjoyable for them. 

Understand your audience members 

1. Gather existing research.
2. Determine where additional user research is needed.
3. Conduct user research exercises.
4. Analyze results. 
5. Clearly define your site's goals and objectives based on the results.

Take our training course, WS 103 - UX at McGill, to learn more, including:

• Introduction to UX principles tailored to McGill’s digital ecosystem.
• How to plan and conduct UX research for McGill websites.

Design great audience experiences

1. Build prototypes, menu(s) and layouts
2. Test and revise prototypes.
3. Evaluate and revise on an ongoing basis

Take our training course, WS 102 - Designing great digital experiences, to learn more, including:

• Best practices for designing user-centered digital experiences aligned with McGill’s brand and standards.
• How to apply UX insights to improve navigation, content layout, and accessibility on McGill web platforms.

Supporting resources