There’s an old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” I not only find this sentence structure problematic, but the mentality behind it as well. In terms of User Experience Design, this attitude is the complete opposite of the goals of the design process. Designers should instead be challenged to ask themselves, “Why not fix something good that could break down?”
In Aaron Benjamin’s article “Design: How to define the problem,” he simplifies the design process into three steps: 1) Problem Definition, 2) Goal Definition, and 3) Solution Definition. He also addresses the importance of identifying problems early on, even for projects that appear to have no holes in them. While it might seem counterintuitive to “go looking for problems” as Benjamin states, it’s a necessary part of User Experience Design: “The greatest challenge in creating something is balancing how it looks and feels with how useful it is,” he writes. “A problem exists if you can find a complaint and a cause.” In looking for problems, one will likely discover that users can see beyond the aesthetics of a product or service. Just because something might be hip, slick, and cool and even useful doesn’t necessarily mean that it won’t face issues. Likewise, Rikke Dam and Teo Siang believe in a comprehensive (but non-linear) design thinking process, a process that involves Empathizing, Defining, Ideating, Prototyping, and Testing a project. The authors state that empathizing with a user will help designers better understand and define what problems could arise with the product they’ve created. Generating ideas for a solution, creating a prototype that offers a solution, and testing the prototype comprise the process of developing a fix for the original design’s problems. Being a non-linear process, it is likely that designers will need to revert back to the Empathizing and Problem-Defining steps to continue improving the new prototype. An effective way of addressing potential user issues is to develop a “meaningful and actionable problem statement,” Dam and Siang write, by utilizing information about the user, his or her needs, and insight. A great question that designers might ask themselves, is “How Might We.” For example, a law firm might ask, “How Might We utilize social media marketing to boost business?” A smoothie shop might say, “What food fads are currently trending and How Might We incorporate them into our smoothie menu?” And major tech companies like Apple probably regularly do ask, “How Might We design our next iPhone model to fit with our users’ lifestyles while also maintaining its aesthetic and edgy appeal?” Another popular tech company that has experienced rapid growth over the last few years (in large part thanks to the designers behind the product) is Uber. Founded in 2009, the Uber app is used in more than 60 countries and 600 cities around the world, with 15 million Uber rides taking place every day. As of 2018, Uber has generated $11 billion in revenue. Although Uber is banned in some cities due to the economic impact on those cities’ local taxi companies, it’s safe to say that Uber is thriving overall and won’t be going away anytime soon. All that being said, Uber is far from a perfect app. Uber has made news headlines numerous times for more than just being an innovative app. Lawsuits have been filed against the company for misleading drivers into believing that they would earn minimum wage or more for driving for Uber. Even in cities where Uber is banned, the company has disregarded the law and continued to operate anyway. Uber’s use of peak pricing has also been criticized. Additionally, Uber was forced to pay out millions for covering up a data breach in 2016. And let’s not forget about the handful of crimes that have happened against passengers during Uber rides because the company failed to conduct proper background checks on the Uber drivers involved. All these poor decisions might’ve been avoided had the key decision makers behind Uber adopted the “How Might We” mindset. Important questions that could’ve been asked include “How Might We create a background check system on our drivers to ensure the safety of passengers?” or “How Might We incorporate fair pricing that is both profitable for the company and reasonable for customers?” or the big-ticket question, “How Might We better practice the philosophy that profitability and a positive user experience are not mutually exclusive?”
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