We've read Don Norman's musings, and Jacob Nielsen's assertions that the user is king, but how does this affect a design process? Can the process really affect usability? When the audience and technology varies from one area to another, how does user-centred design help maintain a consistent experience whilst also addressing the specific needs of each audience?

Here at Splendid, we work on the methodology of user centred design, which focuses on the needs of the user to create a useful, uniform experience based on the users desired workflow, not the needs of the system. This provides us a framework for design that is inherently flexible, based on the target audience for each product, the complexity of their needs and the method of delivery.

At the recent Microsoft Mix08 conference in Las Vegas, we displayed a project that clearly reflects their user-centered approach. In what we called a '360? design solution', we sought to address the design challenges in three areas of the Aston Martin experience: Exploration (car configurator), Purchase (in-dealer configurator) and Ownership (In-car system). These use a variety of hardware and software, ranging from Microsoft's web-based Silverlight technology, through the XNA gaming platform to the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

In the case of Aston Martin, the challenge we faced was to design for several audiences, from children who are fans of Aston Martin and want to build their ideal car, through to owners and their in-car experience. There are obvious differences in the needs of a fan versus a customer. We assess each user type and ensure we understand their needs, and address them accordingly. We take time to study data on who is using a given product, and the client's needs in terms of who they believe their customer to be. Often, these are at odds, but by assessing both we arrive at a true understanding of who the users are.

Understanding the users goals is the next step. In the instance of Aston Martin users, this ranges from 'create a pretty car' to 'exactly WHICH trim do I want on my foot-well carpets?' We then assess the workflows that user needs to follow in order to achieve those goals.

Once the workflows are understood, we engage ourselves with optimizing the workflow, and assessing the merits of various potential solutions. Once the functionality is defined, we skin the project in a way that respects brand guidelines and is visually pleasing and appropriate to the user.

For an Aston Martin customer, the journey begins as soon as the user enters the Aston Martin website. The configurator is a prominent link on the homepage, and upon clicking the link to launch the configurator the user is taken seamlessly to a 3D environment in which the car is their canvas. The surrounding navigation remains familiar, allowing the user to leave the process at any point. As the user is guided through the configuration of their car, they are also free to explore further content of the site such as video, text and images, whilst always remaining flexible in terms of their place in the process.

While a linear tract can be followed, flexibility and exploration are encouraged. No-one spending that kind of money on a car wants to feel out of control of the situation. Similarly, many customers will attend the factory in UK in order to see their car being built, or even prior to build to help them determine their configuration having seen those of other customers. However, with over 70% of Aston Martin's orders coming from overseas, most customers aren't fortunate enough to be within such easy reach of the factory. For those customers, a realistic configurator is a boon.

This fear of disappointment can guide many customers to opt for more conventional, tried and tested colour schemes that provide a better resale value. This is, in itself, at odds with the ultimate configurability of the car itself. The challenge to Splendid was to provide a configurator in which customers had enough confidence to explore more daring configurations. Our solution allows that flexibility in the sheer quality of the product. The 3D model of the car shines as an example of the level of realism that anyone spending that kind of money on a car should expect, while the interface encourages exploration in a way that should not scare even the most inexperienced web user.

Then there are the textures. Aston Martin offer a variety of surface textures for their interiors, which, until now, could only be represented as real swatches of material. Microsoft Deep Zoom technology allows users to zoom in to the surface materials of the car and get a real feel for their configured interior.

The appropriate nature of the configurator was no accident. We worked to understand the nature of similar products in order to understand where they succeeded or failed. We then assessed users of the current configurator to understand our user-base. Once you truly understand your user, and can stand in their shoes, you understand their frustrations and desires. Designing to accommodate them then becomes a personal obsession, you're as involved in the process as the customer is.

Having configured their car (or even before), they can arrange a dealer visit. From here the dealer takes control with a hand-held 'remote control configurator', that displays the car on a plasma screen on the dealership wall. This device allows dealers the ultimate freedom they require in helping customers configure their cars. In interviewing dealers, we uncovered that their biggest fear is configuring a ?120,000 car only to discover that their initial vision of the colour and material combinations fails in real life, leaving a customer unhappy and with a car the dealership can't shift if the customer trades it in for a more conventional configuration.

Our split-screen response focuses both dealer and customer on the configuration in equal measure, providing the perfect forum for open discussion and collaborative working, at a time when the customer generally wants their hand held through their configuration. Once the car is configured, the dealer is able to avoid another current pitfall: the order placement.

The salespeople surveyed told us that order placement was often a contentious point, customers placing orders then changing spec in the few days between configuration and factory receipt of the order via the post. An immediate order placement system would help to imply importance of order placement, and also to promote confidence in the brand... as well as looking efficient to customers."

But this is just half of the experience. The best is saved until last, when the user takes delivery of their Aston Martin. An ingenious in-car system that sets the standard for Aston Martin's competitors to follow.

The in car system provided an enormous challenge in terms of hardware. Aston Martin control screen-based interaction via a hardware joystick and 'Menu' button. A touch-screen system would have been easier to design for, but would not have supported Aston Martin's user-centred design in giving the user the most intuitive and least intensive interface possible. We don't want them taking their eyes off the road.

Allied to this, the system uses groundbreaking GPS technologies to track the precise position of the car to within 6 inches, allowing the system to support racetrack use and to map progress on a real0time 3D map, even on a racetrack, where timing is also supported. This is real 'James Bond' technology for the masses.

Given the physical hardware of the car, the in-car system couldn't follow the same visual design as the configurators and also remain in keeping with the elegant interior.

We worked with the Aston Martin design center to create a unique brushed aluminium appearance for the in-car system, that perfectly complemented the centre console. The screen is barely noticeable in use, and replaces all other in-car systems in a space that was previously dedicated only to GPS equipment. The result cuts the number of interface elements the user has to be aware of by half, again allowing them to focus fully on the road ahead. This isn't just an interface concern, it's a safety feature.

Across the suite of products created, we had to maintain crucial brand elements, yet appropriate each interface to the intended audience. The result is an understated blend of style and function, the user experience a consistent journey through use of multiple products across a single brand. The transition between each piece of the Aston Martin lifecycle is elegant, platform transitions unnoticed by all but the most discerning user. Maybe this 'User Centered Design' stuff isn't all nonsense afterall.