Usability research is a fundamental part of user-centered design, but it can be a double-edged sword. An increase in usability research can correspond with a decrease in creative risk-taking.
After some time working on our products, we learn what typical patterns are working well, and we start to rely on those patterns more in our design work, resulting in safe but potentially uninspired designs.
It is easy for this risk-taking aversion to sneak up on you.
When you start doing several rounds of usability research, it is most likely that your creativity begins to drop. Given that, it feels professionally validating when your work tests well and pretty discouraging when it does not.
Nevertheless, if this becomes your focus, you quickly stop “designing for your users and creating for your test sessions.
Usability research is the safeness net that allows you to be creative. It will enable you to experiment with new ideas, learn what works well, and catch what does not. However, if you always stick to tried-and-tested design solutions just so you get acceptable results, in that way, you laboriously diminish your possibility to learn deeply about the subject.
Playing it safe will not help us discover compelling new solutions that come only from daring to do something different.
So what are some easy things we can do to enable more creative risk-taking?
Here are a few points:
Welcome riskier design decisions in the design process: Aim to develop a mix of safe bets and long shots and then bring at least one of each into your research.
Get a second thought: If you think you’re playing it safe, ask a colleague to review your work. Get them to question the creativity of the design decisions and identify where you could experiment more.
Set expectations for your team and stakeholders: Do not let colleagues’ tension stay low-risk result in designs that consistently perform well during research. Instead, ensure your coworkers understand that part of the process concerns taking design risks so that you can probably learn from your mistakes.
Usability studies are not something you pass or fail: The insight gained from a design that does not function well can be as valuable as finding a design that does. It will help us make better design decisions and grow our design expertise.
The next time you’re conducting a usability study, get away from it, rethink the solution and ask yourself, Have I tried something different and creative? Am I experimenting with something new? Alternatively, have I played it safe and bypassed taking any risks?
