Recently in a blog post, I mentioned how it could be freeing to acknowledge that you don’t know everything. I’m going to expound upon that a little, especially how it pertains to UX designers.
When approaching a new problem or project, the lack of information and solutions can be a formidable obstacle. On the horizon looms this great cloud of unknowns. It can be tempting to become overwhelmed because we don’t have everything figured out right now.
It can also be tempting to start formulating assumptions about and solutions to our users’ problems before we even really start to dig into the research process. We want to chip away at the unknowns a bit.
We should try to view our lack of information, ideas and solutions as a source of freedom, rather than a burden to be shaken off. If we try to keep our minds open and in an exploratory mode as we conduct our research and interviews, rather than trying to put the information into categories and potential solutions as we go along, we can allow room for a more expansive set of ideas and solutions. In other words: we should do our best to suspend judgment when it comes to deciding on “final” solutions to our problem. This not only applies to the initial research phase but even in the various iterations of our projects.
Uncertainty can be a very uncomfortable feeling, one that we might rather eliminate by deciding on a solution and moving on. However, this approach can be confining and even detrimental to the overall results of our projects.
If we can reframe our mindset from “I’m not sure” (and I don’t like that) to “I’m remaining open and accepting” (which allows me to stay flexible) then perhaps it’ll be easier to lean into the discomfort that uncertainty usually brings with it.
If we become too comfortable in our own ideas and methods, to the point where anything that presents a challenge to those ideas is met with resistance, then we run the risk of valuing ease and certainty over actual innovation and results, and that’s not who we are as UX designers.
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