At ShinyConf 2025, I had the joy of speaking to an audience of nearly 800 about what it means to design user-centric Shiny apps through thoughtful client conversations, intentional UI/UX strategy, and Gherkin-style user stories. In this post, I’m sharing a few takeaways from that warmly received session, along with free, customizable templates to help you bring a more human-centered approach to your own data products.