Designing for people who didn’t choose your product

When leaving isn’t an option

In consumer products, bad design has consequences. Users delete the app, choose another shop, write a scathing review. In public services and internal tools, nothing like that happens. People simply put up with it. A confusing form costs them ten extra minutes; an unclear status means another phone call; a clumsy workflow repeats itself fifty times a day. The cost is real, but it is spread across thousands of people and never appears on anyone’s dashboard.

Design as if they could leave tomorrow

My rule for these products is simple: design them as if users could walk away tomorrow. Treat their time as precious, their mistakes as the product’s responsibility and their frustration as a signal rather than background noise. That means clear language instead of bureaucratic jargon, forms that ask only what is needed and statuses that tell people where they stand without a phone call.

Listen to the people who use it daily

Captive users are also the best source of insight, because they know the product’s faults intimately. A clerk who has used a system for eight years can tell you exactly where it slows them down. I make a point of watching these people at work, not just interviewing the managers who commissioned the project. The difference between what the brief says and what happens at the desk is usually where the real design work lies.

The quiet reward

Nobody writes glowing reviews of a tax portal or an internal approval system. But when such a product becomes clear and quick, the effect multiplies across every user, every day, for years. Fewer queues, fewer calls, less stress. It is quiet work, and to me it is some of the most meaningful design there is.