How to Create Exponential Change One UX Solution at a Time
Christina Luchkiw is a strategist and a solutionist, a designer and researcher. And she’s a true Modern Independent from the A.Team community— working for herself, consulting on Fortune 100 Health Companies’ human centric problems with UX research and design. Check out the our top 5 insights during our Modern Independent interview with Christina.
# 1 Get fundamental about the fundamentals
“I love working on projects that involve what I call fundamentals. So basically, these are the things that I consider necessary to surviving and thriving in this world. And so for me, that’s healthcare, education, environment and climate change.
Most of my work is in the healthcare space, but even on the side, when I’m working on passion projects, I’m digging into these fundamentals in other ways — because at the end of the day, innovation is all about solving for human needs. And how do you get closer to that than to study the fundamentals?
My side project is working on the things that are going to help us not just survive in the world, but also thrive in it — and also help the world around us.
And so, I actually have been noodling on some sort of new framework that goes beyond human centered design to encompass, how can we create products, systems that are optimized for the well being of the most amount of creatures on earth?
Human centered design is wonderful — I think it serves a very, very important role in the world. At the same time, I think a lot of the reason why we’re facing a lot of the climate issues and political issues is because we are so focused on humans.
So, creature centric design as opposed to human centric design. Now hear me out — Human Centered Design is wonderful. I think it serves a very, very important role in the world. At the same time, I think a lot of the reason why we’re facing a lot of the climate issues and political issues we are is because we are so focused on humans. Because we see ourselves as these entities that are interestingly independent and isolated (and somehow mightier than the rest of the world), we forget how much we depend on this planet. We need to take a step back and look at the fundamentals through a wider lens.”
#2 Good UX — it’s both an art & a science
“A question that I always get is, “How much art versus a methodical, more scientific approach is there to solving a problem with user experience?” And it’s interesting, because I was think it’s both, and it depends on what you’re trying to solve — and sometimes it’s about what part of the process you’re in.
So when it comes to the methodology, that’s something that’s tried and true. For instance, when we’re doing user research, or at least when I’m doing user research, there’s these kinds of best practices and principles. There’s a lot of that in design as well.
But when you’re coming up with a solution, are you getting your findings? And do you have your insights? And then you’re going back to the rulebook to see what you do in that specific scenario?
Or are you coming up with something totally new? Or you know, something that’s new to this sort of problem area? And when it’s the second one — that’s when I find that it’s more of this creative process. Because there is no rulebook to go back to, to give you the antidote for whatever problem it is that you’ve diagnosed. And that’s when creativity really comes into play.”
#3 UX research is about “story time”
“When you’re conducting UX research, two rules of thumb is 1.) avoid yes or no questions, and 2.) avoid leading questions. A leading question would be something like, “do you think this is user friendly?” “When does this product make you frustrated?” Because you’re implanting into their head with your question, “Ok, I’m supposed to get frustrated by this thing.” But maybe it’s a totally seamless experience. Maybe it’s wonderful, right?
Research questions are almost like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. If you choose “Yes,” where do we go? If you choose “No,” where do we go? It’s about a good follow up question.
And so what you should you ask instead, is “Tell me about your experience with using this product — walk me through your thoughts.” You could ask them to complete a task and then explain their thought process out loud.
So basically, you want story time. And you know, the more a person can share, the better. That comes from within them — without the implanting of ideas based on your question.
And when it comes to yes or no questions, this is obvious! How good is a story when it’s just one word? When you get to a point where it seems as though you need a yes or no question, that’s when you create the follow up question. It’s almost like a, it’s almost like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. It’s like, Okay, if you choose, “yes,” where do we go? If you choose, “no,” where do we go?”
#4 Behavior change is the best part about tech. And the worst.
“I’m just a deeply curious person, especially when it comes to human behavior. Throughout my studies, and my days in the research world, I found a way to actually tie this research capability, and then my innate curiosity, to a craft, that solves people’s problems — which is really wonderful.
I really love when I can, you know, uncover a problem that a certain community is facing, and then translate that into a workable digital product solution — through behavior change. That said, there’s a flip side to behavioral change.
There’s a flip side to behavioral change. So much that is tied to changing human behavior is also about manipulation and monetization of that behavior.
One of the best things that tech can do is change behavior. But it’s also the worst thing it can do. Think about “The Social Dilemma — ” so much that is tied to behavioral change is also about manipulation and monetization of that changed behavior. Part of the reason why I’m why I’m in the space as well, you know, is I feel as if I can be a voice in making sure that the behavior change is powerful in the ways that lift all of us up as humans.”
#5 The effect of good UX is exponential
“For me, in solving fundamental problems, you’re making a person’s life better And that has a ripple effect — you have no idea how making one person’s day happier is going to affect the next person, and the next person.
So, I recently worked on a project with a pharmacy where the pharmacy workers were very, very stressed out. And there was this inclination that there was something about the pharmacy workflow platform (which helps them keep track of the prescriptions), that was really causing a lot of stress.
So after spending time observing in the pharmacies and interviewing with employees, we realized that the platform — the way that the interface existed — was creating this false sense of urgency. They were thinking they had so much work to do in such a small amount of time, which sometimes was true. But other times, it was no t — and there was plenty of time left in the day. But still, everyone would see a seemingly unmanageable amount of information on their screen. So they’d run around frantically trying to get all this stuff done.
So, this false sense of urgency was the insight we used to create the solutions the platform needed for employees to feel less frantic. We put the new product in front of people, and right away, we helped them feel better about their workflow, and best of all, confident again.
Not only did that make the employee feel better, but when a customer walks in those doors, they’re automatically going to have a better experience because the person giving them their medication is in better spirits — and the chain reaction goes on.”
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