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I see a couple challenges with the future of UX design. One being that everyone has an opinion as to how something should work. Unless someone has years of wide

I see a couple challenges with the future of UX design. One being that everyone has an opinion as to how something should work. Unless someone has years of widely-recognized, valid experience/expertise in design, who's to say if one person's instincts are better than another's? The other issue I see is process taking over creativity. Soundcloud's iconic design was driven largely by the intuition of the designers and developers. What if they let 'user feedback' and 'UX research' drive the design instead? Would they have created the same interface? Maybe someone can easily knock my points down but at least thats how I see it. To be clear I think UX research is a great tool to improve features, but in general I have a hard time trusting it when it comes to conceiving a new feature.

JusticeJuice 10y ago
I've seen the argument of creativity vs process before, and I think it comes from a lack of understanding in the design process. Most design systems now use a 'double dimond' process. The first stage is researching the problem, and coming up with as many potential solutions as possible - no matter how crazy. That's the stage where creativity is part of the process. The second diamond is refining a concept - this is what most people view as "UX design" - but it's actually the entire process. If you look at design studios such as IDEO or Emapthy Design, you'll see that conceiving new feature ideas is their specialty.
- spking 10y ago
  Yes. a few years back I had the good fortune of participating as an embedded member of an IDEO design team when a former employer hired them. They spent an entire month exclusively on researching the specific problem area we were tackling, conducting in-home interviews with customers and even casually observing them browsing relevant aisles at retail stores. Actual design work didn't even get started until well over halfway through the engagement, after the extensive research revealed where the big opportunities were for a new product.
maxerickson 10y ago
Even worse, what if someone has years of widely recognized, valid experience and is also wrong? If that seems preposterous, I'd point to things like Helicobacter pylori causing ulcers. Decades of dogmatic thinking.
- dpark 10y ago
  > I'd point to things like Helicobacter pylori causing ulcers. Decades of dogmatic thinking. This is tangential, but huh? H. Pylori was never to my knowledge believed to be the only cause of gastric ulcers. It is definitely correlated and eradication resolves the disease for some patients. Eradication also reduces stomach cancer risk by about half.
  - maxerickson 10y ago
    It was the other way around. The dogma was that it was caused by excess acid and the revelation was that the bacteria were a major part of it. I was pointing to the story in general.
    - dpark 10y ago
      Ok. I see what you mean now. Thanks.
- flukus 10y ago
  > Even worse, what if someone has years of widely recognized, valid experience and is also wrong? A more practical one might be the skeuomorphic phase apple went through.
  - kagamine 10y ago
    That's actually a great example. Skeuomorphic design has it's place and can be good design, but my Calendar app doesn't need to look like a leather diary in as it did in 2014. A good example is DJ software that looks like set of decks and mixer.
nikofeyn 10y ago
soundcloud has an iconic design? the little waveform-esque view?
- Kiro 10y ago
  Yes, as someone who was using MySpace a lot for consuming music, SoundCloud's design was revolutionary.
ryandrake 10y ago
> One being that everyone has an opinion as to how something should work. Unless someone has years of widely-recognized, valid experience/expertise in design, who's to say if one person's instincts are better than another's? Test and measurement. The proof should be in the pudding. If one design converts better, signs up more customers, brings in more revenue, etc. than another, it should win. "Rely on designers' hunches" is not a repeatable process.
- contextfree 10y ago
  that approach has its own dangers (that at least need to be carefully guarded against): getting stuck in local maxima, incoherence, user attention fatigue, vulnerability to disruption, etc
kagamine 10y ago
I think you don't understand the design process. Not being bitchy, so let me explain. Instinct should be 1% of design if anything. Design isn't about colors and pretty, it's about a detailed process that includes data structures, mapping processes, analysis of users' behavior and removing all instinct and subjectivity from the process of design. It should include a minimum of guesswork wherever possible. It always amazes me, for example, that shared hosting comes with awstats as standard on 99% of shared hosts, but designers and web-developers alike ignore all the data sitting there available for analysis, to use just one example of how designers aren't using the tools available to them (and you have to know what to do with the awstats data too). My prediction for the future of UX is that the army of self-taught pseudo-UX 'experts' are going to have to up their game, get some real training and stop being intuitive if the industry is to continue to grow. Would anyone on HN hire a full time software tester/QA who didn't have some training in that field? Probably, but you'd be better off with a QA who is certified.
- Razengan 10y ago
  > it's about a detailed process that includes data structures, mapping processes, analysis of users' behavior and removing all instinct and subjectivity from the process of design. Ugh no. Please, no. Don't do this. I'm saying – pleading – this as a user. Apple didn't do it (but maybe now they do, and it's starting to show in some of their products as a sort of creeping clinical sterility). Steve Jobs didn't do it [0]. And yet the UX set by them has been admired, imitated and aspired-to for over 30 years. Plenty of other examples can be seen in the UI of Japanese games versus Western games. I'm sorry but relying on "data structures, mapping processes, analysis of users' behavior" means you suck at UX design – like reading books on how to be socially adept – and the best you're going to achieve is a functional but sterile, neutral, gray block of clinical equipment, devoid of personality and soul and color and warmth ...if you sneered at these words, then I for sure wouldn't want to be stuck using your products. In any case, if data structures, mapping processes, and analysis of user behavior are your primary skills then you'll be replaced by AI within a decade anyway. :) [0] http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technology-alone-is-not-enough http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technolog...

JusticeJuice 10y ago

I've seen the argument of creativity vs process before, and I think it comes from a lack of understanding in the design process. Most design systems now use a 'double dimond' process. The first stage is researching the problem, and coming up with as many potential solutions as possible - no matter how crazy. That's the stage where creativity is part of the process. The second diamond is refining a concept - this is what most people view as "UX design" - but it's actually the entire process. If you look at design studios such as IDEO or Emapthy Design, you'll see that conceiving new feature ideas is their specialty.

spking 10y ago
Yes. a few years back I had the good fortune of participating as an embedded member of an IDEO design team when a former employer hired them. They spent an entire month exclusively on researching the specific problem area we were tackling, conducting in-home interviews with customers and even casually observing them browsing relevant aisles at retail stores. Actual design work didn't even get started until well over halfway through the engagement, after the extensive research revealed where the big opportunities were for a new product.

maxerickson 10y ago

Even worse, what if someone has years of widely recognized, valid experience and is also wrong? If that seems preposterous, I'd point to things like Helicobacter pylori causing ulcers. Decades of dogmatic thinking.

dpark 10y ago
> I'd point to things like Helicobacter pylori causing ulcers. Decades of dogmatic thinking. This is tangential, but huh? H. Pylori was never to my knowledge believed to be the only cause of gastric ulcers. It is definitely correlated and eradication resolves the disease for some patients. Eradication also reduces stomach cancer risk by about half.
- maxerickson 10y ago
  It was the other way around. The dogma was that it was caused by excess acid and the revelation was that the bacteria were a major part of it. I was pointing to the story in general.
  - dpark 10y ago
    Ok. I see what you mean now. Thanks.
flukus 10y ago
> Even worse, what if someone has years of widely recognized, valid experience and is also wrong? A more practical one might be the skeuomorphic phase apple went through.
- kagamine 10y ago
  That's actually a great example. Skeuomorphic design has it's place and can be good design, but my Calendar app doesn't need to look like a leather diary in as it did in 2014. A good example is DJ software that looks like set of decks and mixer.

nikofeyn 10y ago

soundcloud has an iconic design? the little waveform-esque view?

Kiro 10y ago
Yes, as someone who was using MySpace a lot for consuming music, SoundCloud's design was revolutionary.

ryandrake 10y ago

> One being that everyone has an opinion as to how something should work. Unless someone has years of widely-recognized, valid experience/expertise in design, who's to say if one person's instincts are better than another's? Test and measurement. The proof should be in the pudding. If one design converts better, signs up more customers, brings in more revenue, etc. than another, it should win. "Rely on designers' hunches" is not a repeatable process.

contextfree 10y ago
that approach has its own dangers (that at least need to be carefully guarded against): getting stuck in local maxima, incoherence, user attention fatigue, vulnerability to disruption, etc

kagamine 10y ago

I think you don't understand the design process. Not being bitchy, so let me explain. Instinct should be 1% of design if anything. Design isn't about colors and pretty, it's about a detailed process that includes data structures, mapping processes, analysis of users' behavior and removing all instinct and subjectivity from the process of design. It should include a minimum of guesswork wherever possible. It always amazes me, for example, that shared hosting comes with awstats as standard on 99% of shared hosts, but designers and web-developers alike ignore all the data sitting there available for analysis, to use just one example of how designers aren't using the tools available to them (and you have to know what to do with the awstats data too). My prediction for the future of UX is that the army of self-taught pseudo-UX 'experts' are going to have to up their game, get some real training and stop being intuitive if the industry is to continue to grow. Would anyone on HN hire a full time software tester/QA who didn't have some training in that field? Probably, but you'd be better off with a QA who is certified.

Razengan 10y ago
> it's about a detailed process that includes data structures, mapping processes, analysis of users' behavior and removing all instinct and subjectivity from the process of design. Ugh no. Please, no. Don't do this. I'm saying – pleading – this as a user. Apple didn't do it (but maybe now they do, and it's starting to show in some of their products as a sort of creeping clinical sterility). Steve Jobs didn't do it [0]. And yet the UX set by them has been admired, imitated and aspired-to for over 30 years. Plenty of other examples can be seen in the UI of Japanese games versus Western games. I'm sorry but relying on "data structures, mapping processes, analysis of users' behavior" means you suck at UX design – like reading books on how to be socially adept – and the best you're going to achieve is a functional but sterile, neutral, gray block of clinical equipment, devoid of personality and soul and color and warmth ...if you sneered at these words, then I for sure wouldn't want to be stuck using your products. In any case, if data structures, mapping processes, and analysis of user behavior are your primary skills then you'll be replaced by AI within a decade anyway. :) [0] http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technology-alone-is-not-enough http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/steve-jobs-technolog...