Different thinking hats, the key to an impactful design
Wearing different hats from time to time provides you with another point of view and perspective to face the same challenge; this may allow you to discover an interesting turn-around, find constraints not yet considered, or even figure out that there are new paths to explore. Recognizing these different points of view can improve the quality of your deliverables by making you think about potential issues that might occur, and possible solutions that could resolve them.
Moving out of our comfort zone and questioning ourselves is important to ensure that we understand all the impacts that our decisions have and the reasoning behind them. The Hats key to address each topic from different angles; by using this technique we can ensure that we are not being too optimistic to create a solution that is too naive, or that we are not avoiding being open-minded to wild ideas to build a solution that is too conservative.
For me, these are some of the hats every UX and Product Designer should wear:
1. The Idea Generator
Open your mind and let wild ideas flow! Explore things, even if they look impossible at the beginning; maybe there is something that you can do with those crazy ideas. Break the mold and question the problem statement, and be open to different possibilities and alternatives to solve your challenge.
2. The Optimist
The sky’s the limit! Encourage new ideas to overcome the difficulties. Believe that everything is doable and follow the best-case scenario or the happy path. Be convinced that the product will work perfectly and trust that the users will perform the right actions.
3. The Pessimist
Something will go wrong. Be observant of all potential risks that can be found, and be especially interested in the edge cases, and what happens when the user does something unplanned. Be mindful and attentive to some of the troubles that a user can face. Try preventing end users’ frustration by highlighting what can go wrong with the ideas or proposals that are being created.
4. The Rational
Relate to what you already know. Research, learn, and use data and facts to base your design decisions on what already exists, allowing you to continue on the secure path. You can rely on the support from other team members, both designers, and non-designers, to ensure that you understand the root causes or the main needs that have to be addressed.
5. The Practical
Ideas are nice, but are they feasible? Connect with your technology partners to ensure that your plans are realistic and that any technical issues are solved. Gather feedback and include it in your designs and deliverables to make a proposal that is doable from an empirical point of view. Learn or understand what are potential constraints should be considered and focus on how to overcome them.
6. The User Advocate
You are on the side of the user more than ever! Be sure to be 100% focused on the users’ needs and what they are actually looking for. Defend the needs and interests of the users, and make sure that any decisions and changes represent what clients want in your product.
Wearing all hats at different stages of your project ensures that any issues are addressed from different perspectives. By doing so, you can be prepared to address any setbacks and the results are usually more successful.
Even though the hat's technique is not infallible, it brings fresh ways to approach any challenges you may have. This also doesn’t mean that you can do everything alone; you still need to connect with fellow team members and discuss potential improvements, feasibility, business impact, and other important topics that will shape your solution.
Every hat (perspective) has its own responsibility and plays an essential role in analyzing your solution and validating it under different lenses.
Final Thoughts
It’s a good practice to revisit your initial approach or proposal while wearing a different hat. Perhaps you will find an uncovered edge case or a different way to overcome the project constraints, or maybe you will discover a new user flow, a missing feature, or a way to simplify your solution.
The only way to ensure that your solution is addressing all the project requirements and constraints is by looking at it from different perspectives.
