Don't get Trapped in Pointless UX Debates! Book Club: Don't Make me Think - Chapter 8

Andrew Nolan

2023-04-15

Most UX arguments are a waste of time.

Web teams are not famous for brief discussion and timely design decisions. But these debates are often just people holding strong opinions and not backing down. These opinions are often difficult or impossible to prove, and their value may be negligible for the final product.

Don't spend too much time arguing over these little differences.

Different roles have different goals. An executive, a marketer, a developer, and a UX designer are all going to have different priorities about what they want on a website. These opinions are important to hear, but they will often conflict.

Do not let these differences drag discussion on.

In a design discussion, people will over generalize and strawman about what users like. It's important to remember there is no average web user. You may have a target audience, but everyone is different and expects different things. It's safe to assume the only consistent thing about your users is that they like different things.

Unfortunately, there is not really a solution to these challenges. And this is not to say design discussions are not important, but do not let them become a time sink with no provable solution. In UX, the answer is often "it depends."

If a design can solve the problem and fits the context and style of the app, it is a good design. Don't overthink it.

The arguments over the design can be never ending, however there is one way to find good answers and that is user testing! User testing is the topic of Chapter 9 of Don't Make me Think and the topic of our next blog!

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