Focus must be given on understanding users’ behaviour, tasks and goals, their physical and cognitive characteristics and the context of use. How do you achieve this? The most insightful way is to conduct some qualitative research: observations in situ, interviews and even diary studies. Based on your research findings, create personas. Try to avoid any stereotypes and let the research findings speak. After the primary persona is chosen, design for his/her needs first. In the worst case scenario when there’s no budget for user research, try to get hold of internal stakeholders that might know your target audience well. It’s likely that there are people in the client’s organisation that often get in touch with the target audience or they might have done some research in the past. Find these stakeholders and interview them.