6 Questions that help me make better design decisions
Hey there! I’m Raika, a Senior UX and Conversation Designer at Amazon. If you’re new here, welcome! You can subscribe to my Secrets to Great UX Design newsletter for weekly insights. I share actionable ways to create great experiences, grow your career and more… for designers and non-designers.
Happy December! And a big welcome to our new subscribers! Before we dive into today’s post, do you agree or disagree with the following?:
Great design can encourage out-of-the-box thinking and innovation.
Great design can help break down complex problems into manageable, effective parts.
Great design can improve usability, accessibility, and the overall experience.
Great design can make products, services, or systems more functional and user-friendly.
But one of the toughest design challenges is staying focused and ruthless with design decisions.
I’ve found in my work that the broader or more vague the problem my design is attempting to solve, the more difficult it is to stay focused. My litmus test:
What pain points or problems am I solving for my customers? And how concisely can I articulate them?
Let’s be honest, sometimes no one can even really articulate what the customer's problems are. The business problem or objective is often far easier to articulate:
We need to increase sales.
We need to decrease lapse.
We need to monetize.
All important, but the way to address the business problems is by understanding why customers are failing to purchase, lapsing, or unwilling to pay. And what specific pain points we can solve for our customers.
Products that solve narrowly defined problems are often hallmarks of great UX, as they cater precisely to the user's needs without unnecessary complexity or confusion.
“Our failure to take time in the moment to get down to what really matters sets us on the path to complication. When we opt time and again to add more to what exists, we wind up with a web of complexity we can’t even begin to fathom.” ― Lisa Bodell, author of Why Simple Wins
Design artifacts like problem statements help me in the early phase of the design process. They act as a compass to guide the direction of efforts to find a solution.
To write a design problem statement, I say what we need to fix, why it's important, and who we're helping.
Example for Smartwatch (Wearable) Users:
When running or working out, it’s challenging to track progress, understand performance, and stay motivated to achieve my goals. My smartwatch captures lots of great data but the small screen is challenging to navigate, especially when in motion.
A perfectly crafted problem statement isn’t the goal. In my statement, I refrain from injecting a personal point of view and instead focus on clearly observable facts.
Once I have my problem statement, I set off to find solutions to those problems.
I write down the core objective of what I’m designing for, and then I question my designs again and again to deliver better experiences.
Six questions I’m constantly asking of my designs:
How is this solving the problem?
Is this (part of the design) adding or taking away from the solution?
Is this helping address the root cause or key contributing factor of the problem?
What feedback, insights, or data do we have to support my design decision?
What alternative solutions exist, and why is this option preferable or superior?
How can I simplify this?
The cost to add this or that may seem low, but everything has a cost. And as a UX designer, it’s my job to make sure we strike the balance between simple and valuable.
Keep bringing things back to the customers.
Keep asking the tough questions.
Invest the time it takes to clearly define the problems you’re solving for. As Charles Kettering put it,
“A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.”
Great UX comes from products that solve specific problems with simple, intuitive designs.
Favorite Quote and Photo of the Week
“If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise; whatever you do, don't just stick there scowling at the problem. But don't make telephone calls or go to a party; if you do, other people's words will pour in where your lost words should be. Open a gap for them, create a space. Be patient.” ― Hilary Mantel
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading!
Until next time,
raika
Good questions, Raika, especially #6. People have made great careers and even great companies by asking "How can I simplify this?" See Jobs, Steve.