Designing User Experience Ethos with Karen T. Lin

10 snips

Nov 25, 2024

Karen T. Lin, Chief Experience Officer and advocate for ethical UX, dives deep into the evolution of user experience design. She discusses the shift from usability to a holistic UX approach, emphasizing the importance of human-centered design over mere profit. Karen critiques dark patterns and the manipulative tactics in modern UX, promoting genuine user engagement. She also highlights the ethical responsibilities designers hold and the need for collaboration to foster meaningful connections in tech, urging listeners to rethink their role in shaping user experiences.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Original Ethos of Usability

Usability initially aimed to make products easier and life better, not primarily to maximize profit.
Profit was expected to follow when people were happier with their products, putting people first in design.

INSIGHT

Shift in UX Ethos

User experience (UX) originally encompassed total user interaction, beyond just usability.
Contemporary UX has drifted, sometimes focusing on profit at the expense of users through dark patterns.

ADVICE

User-Centered Done Criteria

Define 'done' and acceptance criteria based on actual user or customer input.
Avoid letting agile processes overlook true usability and user satisfaction in product completion.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

The original goal of those in the field of usability was pretty simple: to make products and environments that were more usable for those who were interacting with them. By looking at how to make better products, there was the potential to make life better as well. If greater profitability could be gained through these efforts, then great. At the same time, this was not necessarily the primary goal. Profit was not to be done over people. Rather, profit would happen when people were happier with their products.

There has been a shift in usability, however. Part of that shift lies in the name itself, which is now known as user experience (or UX). Coined by Don Norman during his time at Apple, UX went beyond just how ‘usable’ a product was. Rather, it referred to the totality of the experience that a user had with the product (which could include usability but was not limited to it). Still, though, the goal was to make things better, if just in a larger scope.

Some things have changed when it comes to UX. Don Norman has criticized contemporary UX as not being ‘real’ ux in the traditional sense. There have been other critiques as well, especially around what is known as ‘dark patterns.’ This kind of UX work uses social science and design to create environments that are manipulative and aimed primarily (or solely) on profit. Or, what might be considered to be the antithesis of UX.

Karen T. Lin also has some thoughts on the direction of UX today, and what might need to be done to fix it. Karen has worked as a Chief Experience Officer and Head of UX for startups and financial institutions. More importantly, in my opinion, she initiated the #StopUXErasure effort which is aimed at restoring UX, as well as reducing the tech supremacy which impacts our lives in negative ways.

We talk about a range of issues related to experience design and user experience, including:

Product dictatorships – uphill battle in UX in terms of advocating for human-centered design in a company. A lot of the battle is with the power in the company (IT or development). Trying to convince them, if you give up some of your control or power, does that allow us to find out what people actually want
Profiting because of positive experience rather than at the expense of experience
What does it mean to have a human and user centered ethos
The power and politics inherent in design processes, and why it is important to act on behalf of those who are at risk from negative intent