Fear of Uncertainty in UX

Eyal Yeruham
Jul 20, 2017 · 2 min read

People dislike uncertainty. People want to be in control, knowing every aspect and detail of a situation. For what possible reason, you ask? When knowing all aspects, variables and corralations, it is simpler to make an educated guess and it’s how executive decisions are made.

This degree of control people seek though, if following the process correctly, they will not find within UX at first. The reason for this is, that UX sets to find out what the unknown is and then conquer it.

My classmates and I were dreading our Service Design for Social Innovation coursework, where there were multiple unknowns and challenges for us to face.

  1. The end product was to be a real-life service, with no software aspects to it. Something completely new and unfamiliar to our whole group.
  2. Working with and satisfying multiple stakeholders.
  3. Saving an English Heritage building in Loughborough, which locals did not even know existed.

Since we followed the Double Diamond Design Process, we did not even get to ideating for solutions about 2 months into the project. Researching and analysing all your data can be cumbersome, but is necessary if you want to think of solutions that will make a lasting impact on the surroundings.

You should never expect to know the real problem until you have finished with the Define stage and even then, you might have to go back to do additional research in order to fill in blanks as they appear.

Double Diamond Design Process

If you feel like you’re drowning in the unknown, don’t look around you for someone to throw you a life-vest. We’re all in the same boat. The rest of your team will find out the insights and opportunities the same time you will.

The best thing to do, is to embrace the unknown. Treat it as a riddle, a puzzle — this is your chance to practice your famous Sherlock detective moves! Most importantly, patience might be the second most important trait after empathy for a UX designer.

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Eyal Yeruham

Written by

Previously UX Designer @StudyPortals, looking for new opportunities👨‍💻🚀 | Portfolio: eyalyeruham.com | Behance: eyeruham | Dribbble: eyeruham

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