Understand. Integrate. Benefit.

For more than a decade, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has promoted human-centered design (HCD), usability, and user experience (UUX) projects in digitalization initiatives for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). One of these projects was the Mittelstand 4.0-Competence Center (M4CCU), which was active from 2018 to 2023. With a broad portfolio of free knowledge transfer formats, the M4CCU aimed to sensitize SMEs to the potential of HCD and UUX and to show them ways to integrate these approaches and methods. Ultimately, the M4CCU was considered a success, at least in terms of the number of formats delivered and SMEs supported. However, a qualitative study was conducted to analyze the benefits of the M4CCU activities for the participating SMEs: Ten SMEs were interviewed about the impact of participating in the M4CCU formats on their HCD and UUX-related knowledge, business activities and competitive situation. The analysis showed that M4CCU activities sensitized SMEs to the importance of HCD and introduced them to UUX. The formats also helped UUX professionals to communicate the benefits of HCD to stakeholders. Many SMEs have implemented part of the introduced HCD approaches and UUX methodologies, but face challenges such as limited time. Some reported that they had secured business deals by adopting HCD approaches. All respondents are convinced that implementing the M4CCU content could give their SME a competitive advantage.