As a product designer, one of the most significant lessons I've learned is the importance of focusing on outcomes rather than outputs when creating new features and how user-centered design helps in solving the right problems. This story is inspired by my work as a product designer on a help center creating plugin for Confluence, where my dedication to user-centered design has led to meaningful improvements that truly address user needs.

Understanding Outputs vs. Outcomes

I learnt this by reading the book Lean UX when I was in the need to focus on quick but effective small improvements I can give to my team and oru users. First, let's clarify the difference between outputs and outcomes. Outputs are the tangible products of our efforts – the new features, updates, and changes we implement. Outcomes, on the other hand, are the real-world impacts these outputs have on users – the improvements in their experience, the resolution of their pain points, and the overall value added to their interactions with the product.In essence, outputs are what we produce, and outcomes are why we produce them.

While outputs are easier to measure and often prioritized in project timelines, it's the outcomes that truly matter. They reflect the success of our design decisions and their alignment with user needs.

The Case of the Byline Update

A clear example of prioritizing outcomes over outputs is the byline update in our product. Initially, the team presented me with a solution for our users problems: a complete redesign of the byline item, featuring tabs and various new elements. However, the real challenge laid in understanding why this redesign was necessary. Through user research and discussions with our customer support team, I discovered that the confusion stemmed from how users managed certain tasks in Confluence. The proposed redesign was just an output – a change that might look good but didn’t address the core issue.

By focusing on the outcome, I identified five small UI adjustments that resolved 70% of user inquiries related to the byline right away. We created Jira tickets right away and they were implemented on the next release. This outcome-driven approach not only reduced support tickets but also significantly improved user satisfaction.

Designing with User Journeys

Another crucial aspect of focusing on outcomes is designing with user journeys in mind. This feature was just a part of the customer's flow in featuring their pages in the Help Center and did not fix the holistical problem, but just built a more advanced interface to confuse the users. When adding changes to the theme editor, we didn’t just aim to add more features. Instead, we considered how users interacted with the editor and what obstacles they faced.

This user-centered perspective led us to create toggleable sections with clear descriptions, ensuring that the interface was intuitive and aligned with user workflows. By mapping out user journeys, we identified key pain points and designed solutions that provided real value. The outcome was a more seamless and enjoyable user experience, rather than just a collection of new features.

Implementing Advanced Customization

Our work on advanced customization features also exemplified the focus on outcomes. The goal wasn’t just to offer more options but to ensure these options genuinely enhanced the user experience. By leveraging tokens in the front-end code, we provided greater flexibility in styles and layouts, catering to diverse user needs.This approach ensured that the customization options were not just outputs – additional features added to the product – but outcomes that enriched the user experience by offering real, usable value.Phased Redesign ImplementationWhen managing extensive redesigns, it’s easy to get caught up in delivering outputs. However, dividing the redesign into phases allowed us to prioritize outcomes effectively. We focused on implementing changes that would have the most significant positive impact on users first, ensuring that every update contributed to a better overall experience.

Enhancing Discoverability

Lastly, making new features discoverable is essential for achieving desired outcomes. We didn’t just release updates; we ensured users were aware of them and could easily adopt them. Through onboarding processes and interactive highlights, we made it simple for users to see and try new features, driving better engagement and satisfaction.

Conclusion

In user-centered design, it’s crucial to remember that outputs are only a means to an end. True success lies in achieving outcomes that enhance the user experience, resolve pain points, and add real value. By focusing on outcomes, we create products that are not just functional but truly user-centric and impactful. This philosophy has been born on working with Viewport, and it continues to guide my approach to product design. When we prioritize outcomes, we move beyond just building new features – we build solutions to the problem we created with features we already have.