Solutions, not Options


As a UX Designer, are you providing solutions or options?
 
The outcome of any problem solving exercise should ideally be a set of potential solution paths. That's the primary takeaway of any activity.

However, it's a common practice for designers to just change layouts, colours, fonts and copy to create so-called variants or options and call them different solutions for a problem. This is not a sensible approach by any means.

Options are just variants of a solution family, lacking any individual and inherent merit.

Think and work on strategic solutions, not random options.  

As UX designers, we should present a range of solutions and not just options to clients or users. For example, testing is really not just about collecting data or feedback on those different button colours or copy. If they are different, you would obviously lead the participant to share a different response, however the response may not work as you're testing the taste for an option and not a solution.

Here is my hypothesis. If you present four options to someone, obviously there is a propensity to pick one, considering they don't have a choice to decline in a given scenario. Picking one makes other options insignificant and makes the mostly picked one the popular pattern, however it does not mean its the correct one.

The same logic applies to solutions as well.

However, it's not that easy to pick one based on taste alone and the evaluation process demands deeper processing and practical thinking by both participants and the tester. We moved from petty comparison to deeper evaluation in this context.

As designers, exploring diverse possibilities gives us the opportunity to draw insights from popular and diverse patterns. Once we identify merit in a potential route, we could expand further and test variants of the same.

Think solutions!

Popular posts from this blog

The Sitzfleisch Quotient

Image
The simple ability to sit in your chair for long hours and complete the envisioned work, is a great skill in itself. Developing this one trait alone, can add immense value to your life and work, more than any other trait. Sit your butt and complete the work. This perspective is all the more important and relevant in today’s, hyper-distractive world. The Germans call this sitzfleisch. Ideas are dime a dozen. While ideas do matter, what matters even more is the execution and shipping of those ideas. Deep work needs our total commitment and attention. When was the last time you just sat in your chair, ignored all distractions, endured, and completed your work? What’s your sitzfleisch quotient? This is a success trait that can radically change your life. Here are four simple steps to practice: sit, ignore, work, and ship. Sitting on your butt is a tremendous skill, we all need to develop. — P.S: Sitting for too long in a single stretch can be a potential health risk. Create a system that w...
Read more

The Three Lists

Image
Here are three important lists. A not-to-do list, a to-do list, and a done list. Start with the first one as it enables you to focus on the things that matter the most. By eliminating distractions, useless meetings or conversations, meaningless projects, and irrelevant tasks, you can easily build a highly focused to-do list. Your not-do-list is a strategic level list, your to-do list is your tactical list. Eventually you’ll arrive at the done list. The done list is your output, not the outcome. To the extent possible, decouple output from outcome. Focus on what you can control, work with what you have, and arrive at the done list. Relook into your lists on a regular basis and you'll probably see sharper focus, higher productivity and greater satisfaction from your work. I tried this for some time and it seems to work. Here’s how I do it. I visit the first list at the beginning of every week, as a daily visit can be exhausting and even redundant. Well, the idea is to say no to thing...
Read more

5 Ways to Storyboard Your Film

Image
The popular opinion is that a film is made thrice. First on the writing table, second during principal photography, and third on the edit table. However, I think a film is made four times: screenplay, storyboard, shoot, and edit. The storyboard is the next powerful thing after the script and it can make or break your film. A storyboard is the ultimate show-and-tell tool for a filmmaker to craft and share their creative vision with the crew, cast, and other stakeholders. There are numerous benefits to storyboarding your film. First things first, it helps you translate the screenplay and your vision into a visual format — one which can be understood by one and all, razing down cultural and language barriers. It helps your crew to plan accordingly for every shot, well in advance during the pre-production phase and not put them in an awkward and confused position on the day of the shoot. This saves time, money, and energy as your principal photography gains from a clear visual blueprint. S...
Read more

The Home Library

Image
“A house without books is like a room without windows.” - Horace Mann Even if people choose to invest 1% of the spiralling home-ownership cost, they can easily build a home library that can help them recover 100% cost of their home. By investing in your home library, you'll learn more, earn more, gain more knowledge, as reading and learning can open up new possibilities and opportunities in your life. The best part is everyone in the family can benefit from reading.  Did you know that in Finland, when a baby is born, the government - maternity and child health clinics give the family a bag of books. It's called the "Book Bag to Every Baby Born in Finland" program enabling parents and children to read together at the earliest opportunity, bond, and encourage the child to read for an empowering future. Government programs need to have a vision for at least a century. Programs like this can help in advancing intellectual capabilities of citizens, advancing the nation...
Read more