,
10 tweets,
4 min read
Read on Twitter
Alright, let's talk about the UX design bonbon.
Layered treat hidden under gaudy foil - what could be a better metaphor for design? But I'm more interested in the shape that the wrapper takes.
A thread.
Layered treat hidden under gaudy foil - what could be a better metaphor for design? But I'm more interested in the shape that the wrapper takes.
A thread.
All product sit within some workflow. Something triggers a user's need, the user uses the product to fill the need, and then the need is filled. User stories, scenarios, jobs-to-be-done, whatever.
A product without this usage-context is meaningless.
A product without this usage-context is meaningless.
This is the typical workflow as envisioned by a product designer. The user will give us some kind of inputs (data and clicks) and we create some outputs that have value to the user (a report to submit, a pizza to eat, a cat meme to accrue Likes on).
But that is a narrow lens.
But that is a narrow lens.
There are some additional dimensions. A UX designer might consider the user's existing mental model, and how engagement with the product trains the user's future expectations. A CX designer might consider time/money expended on acquiring the solution, and whether it was worth it.
A PM might weigh organizational concerns around the product. How much do we spend influencing the user to consider us as a solution? How much training/support is necessary before the user can use the product? What does it cost to maintain, reset, clean?
But there's still more.
But there's still more.
The reason that it's a bonbon is because the inputs and outputs both flare out. Decisions and events that lead to the product's use cascade from many actors, pinched into a singularity by the user's experience of the product. And consequences spread far beyond the singularity.
I don't think enough design practitioners currently think about the consequences end of the bonbon.
Want to make an impact? Measure your product impact in that entire green triangle, not a narrow slice of growth or profit. Value beyond immediate users pushing beautiful buttons.
Want to make an impact? Measure your product impact in that entire green triangle, not a narrow slice of growth or profit. Value beyond immediate users pushing beautiful buttons.
I know @round loves to talk about the scope of Product Design and about metaphors.
Which discipline is responsible for helping the user form a mental model through responsible use of interaction patterns/terminology? Who champions the cleaners, the maintainers who fill the gaps between the system and user needs? Who thinks about consequences to the community?
Exactly the kind of thing that I'm talking about.
