Of UX and Hair Styling

Last week, as I was having a haircut at the saloon near the office, I realised how similar UX design and hair styling are, despite the obvious difference of one of them being focused on hair.

As I was sitting in front of the mirror, awkwardly avoiding staring at myself, I focused on the amount of hair Jac (lets call him Jac) was cutting from the back of my head. “More! Cut More!” I screamed inside my head, “If you don’t, I’ll have to spend a lot of time ironing it every morning!”.

My requirements were simple: Cut lots from the back (so I don’t have to iron it for a while), cut just the necessary from the front right (I don’t mind ironing that bit) and cut a lot from the front left (but don’t forget to give the right shape around the ear).

Jac was being a professional, demonstrating all his expertise in cutting and styling hair, but he still wouldn’t listen to my requirements and eventually cut more from the back of my head. That’s when it occurred to me: “If Jac listens to my requirements I won’t have to work too hard every morning to get my hair as I like it”. Just like my job: if I do a good job and listen to my customers’ requirements, they won’t have to work too hard to get the results they want. And I realised haircuts have a lot in common with UX:

  1. We both want a happy customer, one who returns and brings some friends along. A happy customer is more likely to stay loyal and recommend our service to her friends. I wouldn’t recommend Jac for someone who wants short hair on the back of their head
  2. We both think we know what’s the best for the customer, from our experience, but the only way to know for real is talking to her and paying close attention to her requirements
  3. If we focus on our customers requirements and needs, we’ll contribute to a happier customer with less complexity in her life

As per my haircut, Jac did his work using his experience and professional judgement, but this means I have to iron the back of my head every morning. User requirement not met, so I’ll have to get another haircut sooner than expected, probably not by Jac…