Pessimism is good for design
Think negative: why assuming the worst leads to the best design.
I love spending time with others who think positively. Optimistic people are inspiring. They find joy in the trivial. Their attitude is contagious. As an optimist myself, I hope I never change. But when it comes to my UX work, I’ve needed to do just that. This post is to tell you that optimism leads to mediocre design. Pessimism leads to great design. Let me explain.
When we’re optimistic, we tend to design for best case scenarios and in the process, we can create our own blind spots. We become incapable of seeing some of the most crucial things an application needs. So when you sit down to design, you’re better off adopting a cynical mindset and assuming the worst. Here are some good (pessimistic) starting points:
· Always assume your app will crash.
· Always assume your app will work slow in slow connections.
· Always assume a core interaction will fail at a critical moment.
· Always assume people will type the wrong data in the wrong input field.
· Always assume your users will lose connectivity while using your app.
· Always assume something will fail to save to a database.
· Always assume people have big thumbs.
· Always assume people don’t read.
· Always assume people will use your app once a month or less.
· Always assume people are lazy.
Why be so pessimistic? Let’s break it down. If you assume your app will crash at some point, you’ll design the unhappy path that gracefully handles a core interaction. This will save the user from losing their work and they’ll definitely appreciate that at some point.
If you assume your app will get less use than you hope, you’ll consider proactive triggers to entice people to engage more often. Your design will have built-in reasons to become habit-forming.
If you assume people are lazy, you’ll make an effort to design simpler and more intuitive interfaces. You’ll steer clear of verbose chunks of text that no one has time to read. Or long forms no one likes to fill and perhaps as for the right data at the right contextual moments instead.
Assuming worst-case scenarios will force you to think of ways to overcome them. Your app will be a better product as a result.
What pessimistic assumptions do you think might lead to good design?
Share them in the comments.
If you like this, please clap and share. I am a UX Director building products and services in finance. The views here are my own. Amin Torres
