The Process Conundrum


Are you obsessed about the UX process?
 
Does the product matter over process? Fact - Users give a damn to your process, unless you're selling that over the product.

Every UX designer goes through this phase of being obsessed with the design process. At times we even fight endlessly to diligently follow a process, even in uncalled scenarios. (I have been there too) Well, there is no doubt that the design process is immensely important in designing a product and delivering the UX promise. However, excessive process importance over context, business and user value only kills its efficacy.

There is no product sans process. However most clients don't pay you for the process nor the user buys or uses your product based on your process diligence.

If you're working for a services or a consulting firm, all your clients care about is the end outcome of how the product solves the problem in the best possible manner.

The questions that matter to client are, does it grow the business and improve brand equity? Does this disrupt a market or capture a new market? We could financially account for our process, however this should be reasonable to suit the project context and justify the hours within budgets.

If you have the time, nothing like it! Ideal worlds?

The same applies even for product firms. We must keep up with the agility of the product development process and avoid causing any kind of domino effect on sprint plans, connected teams and the overall delivery roadmap.

Time is money! The more time we invest in design, the more accountable we ought to be to business, users and stakeholders. If you can, great! An incremental innovation approach of design fast, test early, fail fast strategy, makes more sense today.

Do users care about the process?

Before we answer that question, the fundamental question is do they even know that a process exists? All they care about is the value they get in using or paying for a product or a service.

UX Designers should care about what really matters when faced with an ethical dilemma in tricky situations and do whatever it takes to deliver value, rather than whining on the limitations like methods, time and resources.

While UX is less of art and more of a science, there should be a logical and evidence based approach to all decisions in arriving at the final solution. Fixating on fancy frameworks will only act as a deterrent, if you don' know how to adapt to the hour.

No business is going to wait for you to systematically finish your 4/6/8/16 phase or 2 diamonds or 3 steps framework to deliver. You got to figure and work within the constraints to deliver solutions and stop being obsessed about the process.

Our ability to adapt will make us real creative problem solvers.

Don't let rules stop you. Focus on the value you intend to generate for your customers.

I think we should just go with the flow, knowing what a business wants. Embrace reality and learn to make sensible design decisions when it comes to designing a process, product or both. The smart ones design both.

What say?

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