Winter is bearing down on us, and with it comes a tidal wave of family-friendly movies. These franchises are ripe for commoditization and endless savvy marketers across countless industries are salivating at making a quick buck. What could go wrong?

It’s dark, it’s wet, it’s cold. It’s winter. What better time to head to a comfortable, well-heated (hopefully dry) movie theater and enjoy some light entertainment. You watch with glee as the latest princess realizes the strength was within her, all along.

There’s a huge surge in said princess’ popularity, and your marketing team decides to glom onto the trend, creating a new princess character to be the company’s honorary mascot. You do some research, you make a plan, and design the perfect mascot for your business.

You spend an inordinate amount of time and money on a launch party fit for royalty and yet, after the product launch, your target audience is utterly whelmed by the new character. Sales are non-existent, brand affinity is down.

Turns out, nobody wanted a Cyclops Princess.

The critical role of UX research

With just a modicum of investigation, the issue is quickly uncovered: You forgot to ask users whether they wanted the princess to have one eye or two.

This simple oversight has you rethinking your entire product. Your product roadmap seemed perfect—how did it go wrong? What could have been done differently?

This is where the iterative, audience-centric UX research and design cycle comes into play. Giving people what they want becomes a lot easier when companies involve . . . the people!

For credit unions, this is vital. They’re nothing without their members. Member who are, typically, eager to provide insights that improve their experience and enhance their financial opportunities. Here’s how embracing UX research can help your team avoid Cyclops Princess blunders and drive successful product development.

1. Engage users from the start

The critical mistake with Cyclops Princess was not involving users throughout the design process. Whether it’s a digital solution (like a lending product) or a physical asset (let’s go big: Let’s say a brand new branch), waiting until the product is almost complete to get user feedback is a high-risk, low-reward methodology.

Instead, engage with your audience from the start—and don’t stop, even once the product’s out in the market.

Credit unions have a unique capacity to call on members through surveys, in-branch interactions, and online banking experiences. Leveraging these touch points early and often ensures member needs remain central to the design process, and can prevent or reduce fundamental oversights.

2. Validate assumptions with real users

Here they are again: Those pesky users. Extensive research means nothing if it’s not validated with the people who will use the output. What if they preferred a princess with three eyes?

Regular validation of assumptions and design and/or function decisions with real users is essential. Conduct usability tests, gather feedback, and iterate based on findings. This ensures that assumptions are correct (or corrected) and function and form elements align with user expectations.

3. Iterative prototyping and feedback loops

There are three simple rules for prototyping: Iterate, iterate, iterate. Iterative prototyping involves repeated testing of the product, and regular refinement based on user feedback.

This allows for quick identification and correction of flaws to refine and catch major issues before the final product launch, saving time and resources. This is often exponentially easier for digital-based products and solutions than any physical collateral.

4. Be flexible and willing to adapt

An iterative process fosters flexibility and adaptation. If a critical issue is identified—like realizing a one-eyed princess is not quite the hit you expected—a team trained to adapt to feedback, working for a leader who encourages flexibility and a fail-fast mentality, can pivot and adjust the design without starting from scratch.

Similarly, user needs and preferences can change, and the design process should accommodate these changes. This agility is crucial for meeting user needs and delivering successful products.

5. Measure success and iterate post-launch

The UX journey doesn’t end with the product launch. Any product launch should undergo a thorough design and development debrief, and direct user feedback and back-end data should continue to be collected and reviewed frequently.

These insights can support ongoing improvements, ensuring the product remains relevant, resonant and valuable.

UX research and design pays off

In a world of tight margins, quick turnarounds, and increasingly complex user expectations, it can be all too easy to rush product development out the door. It ticks a box, it saves money, etc. etc. But the bottom line is that adopting a UX research and design model isn’t anywhere near as costly as manufacturing those hideous Cyclops Princesses—and winning back the hard-earned brand loyalty they helped destroy.

Thinking about product development? Unsure where to start on your UX roadmap? Mission Brands can help. Reach out today and let’s build something great together.