100 example UX problems

A list of common UX problems to challenge and inspire designers and coders.

Ah… The terrifying emptiness of a blank page.

So you want to practice your design skills?

You’ve joined a bootcamp and need a problem to fix?

Hiring new designers and want to set them a challenge?

Sometimes, its harder to find a problem than a solution.

Why this list?

There are a few design problems floating around the internet, but nothing very extensive. I thought it might be useful if I collected some together and put them in one big list.

The examples here come from all kinds of places including personal experience, but I take no credit for any of them. I’ve included links when I know I saw it someplace else. I’m pretty sure a few came from my own imagination, but somebody else probably had the same idea first. It’s just the way ideas work. Still, if you want to be credited with one of these, let me know and I’ll happily link to the original.

Some further resources are at the bottom. I hope to expand and refresh the list every so often. If you have suggestions, please let me know!

How do I do this?

The challenges run from mundane to weird, and old-fashioned to futuristic, but most are kept as open as possible. It’s a good idea to limit yourself by imposing some assumptions, constraints, and a platform (mobile / desktop / tablet etc). If working in pairs, one person could pick a problem, and the partner could refine it. So choose one of the following, decide on a mobile or desktop solution, and then keep asking questions.

Without further ado…

100 Example UX Problems

1. Find your way around a new city.
2. Fill small amounts of “bored” time in your day with something interesting.
3. Split a check at a restaurant.
4. Split a check at a restaurant between vegetarians and meat-eaters.
5. Split a check at a restaurant between drinkers and nondrinkers.
6. Organize your wardrobe.
7. Keep track of messages across all platforms (whatsapp, wechat, email etc) that need to be responded to or viewed later.
8. Know where, what, and how to recycle.
9. Donate/recycle old goods and clothes efficiently.
10. Find other people to enjoy a hobby with.
11. Users do not like waiting in line for the cinema. Do something about it.
12. Be reminded to practise a hobby.
13. Find a nanny.
14. Find out about concerts in your city.
15. Know when to water your plants.
16. Create a mindfulness app.
17. Discover recipes.
18. Keep up to date on the weather.
19. Create a ticker for your favorite sport.
20. Create an alarm clock.
21. Create an internal tool that allows a major TV network to tag and organise their content.
22. Create a time tracker.
23. Create a chat-bot for financial decisions.
24. Create a music player.
25. Create a smart mirror.
26. Prompt the user to engage in a daily act of kindness.
27. Track your health with some kind of wearable tech.
28. Locate your locked bike and be informed if it moves.
29. Prevent your parked car from being stolen while you go on holiday.
30. Build a smart fridge.
31. Identify the key components of a “smart home”.
32. Design the Search/Filter section for an app that connects the user with amateur sports teams to play casual games.
33. Make it easier to donate money to charity.
34. Connect designer/developer/illustrator freelancers with clients.
35. Create an inspirational quote generator for millenials.
36. Out-uber Uber.
37. Design the ideal commuting experience in a self-driving car.
38. Help the user improve their knowledge of wine.
39. A wallet app to securely store travel documents.
40. Speed-pitching for UX designers and VCs.
41. Fitness app focussed on motivation.
42. Pick your favourite design agency. Redesign their contact page in a more user-friendly way.
43. A constantly updating list of the best software tools for designers.
44. You need certain essential items (toiletries, medical supplies etc) ASAP. Find out EXACTLY which store, area of store and shelf they are located in as quick and simple a way as possible.
45. A video editing app for a smartphone.
46. Connect lonely people.
47. Design an app that makes it safe to find the ideal roommate in a new city.
48. GoPro needs a new iPhone app.
49. Recommend a funnel management flow to Google.
50. Design a door-to-door experience that allows four business executives to make the most out of a 4 hour journey from New York City to Baltimore on a weekday.
51. Design a Mac-based editor and artist management system that allows artists to manage their presence on Spotify.
52. The cost of e-ink is now $0.00. What interfaces can you innovate at home to make living our day-to-day lives more interesting?
53. Design a compelling news site for today’s generation of news consumers. Try and put your finger on how millennials consume and share content.
54. Design an Audiobook or Podcasting mobile app that is highly personal, highly interactive and with the ability to bring even more utility to the user than a book ever could.
55. “Highlight” audio in an audiobook, analogous to highlighting text in a book.
56. Create a calendar for somebody who frequently travels to different timezones and needs to keep track of multiple appointments in multiple locations.
57. A food tracker for somebody that hates technology and has never tracked their food intake.
58. Give the user an interface that can help them manage their waste disposal.
59. Redesign the NYC metrocard system.
60. Create a home-buyers’ comparison services for mortgages, surveys, estate agents. Try to keep it as clear, simple and user friendly as possible.
61. Improve Instagram with a new, innovative feature, which stands out from other image apps.
62. Design a file management system accessed and organised through Virtual Reality.
63. Explore multiple ways of improving the user journey when you receive a push notification for Facebook (e.g. a friend has mentioned you). What is the most user-friendly way of alerting the user on her phone? What happens next? What about in-app notification?
64. You are frequently in low-bandwidth/wifi areas. Design a minimalistic news app that provides the headlines in as simple and lightweight a way as possible.
65. Find pet-friendly locations.
66. Borrow/rent hardware equipment.
67. A train ticket display on a mobile.
68. A chatbot for onboarding the user into a shopping app.
69. A better experience for 404 Page Not Found. Don’t do this.
70. Research the demographics of different websites/apps and pick one that is used primarily by a specific audience (e.g. Snapchat is about 70% female and about 60% of their users are under 25, LinkedIn is used mostly by 35–50yr olds, Reddit is about 70% male.) Think about how it could cater to a more diverse audience while also maintaining the current user base. Implement some design changes.
71. Redesign an ATM.
72. A check-in app on a tablet for a major conference (>1000 people attending).
73. Design an interface that gives car owners the ability to get information about their car from a remote location.
74. Design an interface that gives homeowners the ability to get information about their house, via IoT devices, from a remote location.
75. A lighter replacement for google maps.
76. Design an interface for a new robotic lawnmower that uses weather data and GPS.
77. A shopping list app that keeps tracks of regular purchases.
78. A motivational app to help users stop smoking.
79. Social share buttons to add to a webpage. Could this simple experience be improved?
80. Design a complete workflow for a business card printing service.
81. An app that allows you to select a topic and pairs you in a voice chat with someone else wanting to discuss the same topic.
82. Connect people looking for a new pet with the right pet for them.
83. Drive customers to sign up for the store credit card while waiting in the checkout line.
84. With over 2500 people using our building every day, we need a better system to get each person into and out of the right elevator.
85. We’re a bespoke toy store that lets kids design toys that we build. We need a kid-friendly iPhone app.
86. There’s been a lot of noise pollution around the office because employees use their car alarms to find their cars in the parking lot. Help our employees find their cars without making any noise.
87. Improve the Costco customer experience by getting rid of long lines at checkout.
88. Our county wants to implement a blockchain voting system to ensure there is no vote tampering or registration hacking.
89. Meetup group owners want access to analytics data about their group pages.
90. Your bank wants to launch an app that will allow customers to access their account information via a chatbot.
91. A price comparison site for holidays.
92. A platform for users to learn how to cook and teach others to cook.
93. Pick your favorite art gallery. Encourage new audiences to discover the collection in innovative ways.
94. Find cool things happening close to you right now.
95. Locate car parking spots.
96. Organise your contacts and be reminded to maintain your personal network.
97. Streamline the process of ordering groceries and minimising food waste.
98. Improve the user experience of comparing political parties.
99. Initiate a transcendent experience. :)
100. List as many UX Design problems as possible within a set time limit!

Additional Resources

• https://blog.prototypr.io/product-design-exercises-we-use-at-wework-interviews-2ee1f5a57319
• https://100days.design/index.php/whiteboard-challenges/
• http://2is0.com/dailyux/
• https://designercize.com/
• https://designchallenge.xyz/

Thanks for stopping by. I hope these are useful. If you make something cool, share it with the world.