Mindsets for better UX

Mindsets That Will Help You Thrive as a UX Designer.

Working with people is hard. In our UX journey, we will all at one point or another find ourselves in a tense team environment. It is simply unavoidable due to the group nature of our profession. Not everyone on our teams will get along. Some will have clashing viewpoints or personalities, and in stressful project sprints, these tensions will be inevitably surface. Sometimes we wish we could just work alone but at the end of the day, we cannot do it alone and we need our team to move forward. This article highlights tips and mindsets that will help you be a better teammate and a ultimately, a better UX designer.

Adopt a Growth Mindset

Understand that you will make mistakes but take them as opportunities for learning and growth. Do not dwell on them. Do not beat yourself up or tell yourself that you will never get it right. Acknowledge your failures, communicate them to your teammates, and then see how you can fix it or do it better next time. Owning up to your mistakes is respectable. Getting defensive and hiding them from your team (or yourself) is counterproductive. Be honest with your shortcomings and recognize that you can improve upon them. Adopting a growth mindset is key to not only growing professionally as a UX designer but also as a person.

Cultivate Your Creative Confidence

I’ve encountered teammates who were too afraid to voice their thoughts because they felt like that their ideas would be rejected. Even if an idea is truly terrible, don’t be afraid to share them with your team. It’s all part of the UX process — ideas are constantly iterated and sometimes, we just need to get the bad ideas out to get to the good ones. If you are confident in your work, your teammates will be more likely to listen to you and provide you with helpful feedback to help you further improve.

Practice Active Listening

Miscommunication is the main culprit for conflicts within teams. It could be that not everyone is on the same page or in tune with what is happening in the project. One way to avoid this is through active listening. Really listen to what your team members are saying so that you’re not lost or confused. If you’re not sure what your teammates are talking about, simply ask. Do not assume things or jump to conclusions because that will lead to further misunderstandings.

Exercise Empathy

Lastly, as all UX designers learn to empathize with users, learn to empathize with your teammates no matter how at odds you are with each other. A little bit of empathy will go a long way even in the most stressful of times. It can be easy to forget to put yourself in another’s shoes when you’re passionate about your own view but if you take the time to exercise empathy, you will be able to better understand and communicate with your team members.