UX Thinking: the mindset you need to develop (in 3 easy steps)
Quite honestly, I don’t know if anyone already used this name for another thing (or even for the same idea I’m going to describe in this post). It’s just a name I made up (cleverly using some buzzwords to get views and keep the big money flowing [jk]). So, if in a few months/years, you’ll hear about this “UX thinking” thing, remember I came up with this.
Joking aside, this is nothing crazy or really new, it’s just the name I’m using to define this particular mindset I strongly advice you to develop, in case you didn’t do yet.
UX is all around us
To me this has been a natural inclination all my life, being obsessive about how things work and why they work in that particular way and questioning whatever I found illogical or inefficient. This got on lots of people’s nerves, my dad in particular. But that’s the way I am.
Anyway, despite that, I’ve noticed that since I started diving deeper into this UX thing, I became more aware of any design flaw around me.
Nowadays when we talk about “User eXperience”, we mainly intend it about something digital, and that’s actually the environment where it was born, but in the inventor of all this, Don Norman, in his 1988 book “The design of everyday things” (very interesting, but let me tell you, not an easy reading at times) puts the basis of UX (and User-Centered Design, most of all) as something related to ANYTHING DESIGNED BY HUMANS, being it an interface, a device, a building, a service, etc.
Therefore, UX is in basically everything we interact with any day of our lives.
UX Thinking
What I mean by this is just a mindset, a way of thinking, you should try to get into to be a better product designer (or XXXXXXX designer in general).
STEP 01: OBSERVE.
Yourself: when you use something, when you push a button, open a cabinet, get on a bus, take a train, buy an ice- cream, cook a pizza… Try to keep your mind present, scan the actions you do, how you perform them, the way you use the tools. This is actually something that goes beyond design, mindfulness is at the base of zen meditation.
Others: people around you offer a different point of view to understand how something has been designed. I tend to observe people (hopefully not in a creepy way) when they do things, especially during my morning/evening commutes. Without being a creep, try to pay attention on how people interact with stuff, you’ll notice everyone has a slightly different way of doing the same actions.
STEP 02: BE HARD TO PLEASE
Whenever there’s the tiniest thing bothering you, don’t give it a pass. Notice it. Be bothered by it.
I’m not saying: go and complain about everything (that’s MY job!). I’m saying: learn to notice even the smallest bad design sign, because just by improving that, you get a better product. And many small things done better, make a whole better product that might have an edge on competitors.
STEP 03: FIND SOLUTIONS
It would be too easy (and unfair) to stop at step 2. We’re all good and complaining (especially other people’s work). Be constructive instead!
What if…
This point is the core of the exercise. As soon as you notice something (as per step 1 and 2), put your gears in motion, start thinking possible ways to make it better. Most of the times you can just do it in your head, do it on the spot if possible. Come up with 2–3 solutions as soon as you can and evaluate which one would be better, pros and cons of each one. If you really can’t do it in that exact moment (I usually do; my wife is kinda used to see me staring at nothing clearly zoned out for minutes) take a note on your phone and keep it for later.
In rare cases it might happen to have an idea that is so great that could be a new product and/or worth being a business.
The take away
It’s all about training.
Hopefully this exercise will help you get into that UX Thinking mindset. Noticing things that could be improved to make our lives easier, better, more enjoyable.
This will be an invaluable skill when developing a new product, or redesigning one. Being trained to find out design flaws and coming up with a bunch of possible solutions to start working on (even if later, with time, you’ll discard of the initial ideas. They’re a starting point) will surely make the difference.
And now…
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My new book “Designing Digital Products for Kids”! Out December the 4th!
Learn the secrets to design successful digital products for children.
You’ll find answers to all your questions regarding the industry, and its peculiarities in 📐 UX design, 🎨 UI design, 🔍 user testing, 📈 business strategies, and much more.
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Clap if you like this. And you’ll find more I wrote that might be clap-worthy here:
