From Architecture to UX
“Form follows function”. I vividly recall these famous words, the axiom of the famous Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, as I write this short reflection upon all that I have learnt during my first three weeks into the General Assembly UX Design course.
Project 1 was a solid beginning to the course. During the two weeks of intense learning and application, we were taught formalised ways of conducting research, defining problems in an empathetic way, ideation, prototype testing and delivery. Some were skills that I had used in the past, but to have a formalised structure and guidance on how to improve my current process was both refreshing and eye opening.
The project was started by receiving a brief problem from a fellow student (client) in the course, regarding a recent problem encountered with a service they use. When I was given this problem, I had my initial doubts that this was too niche of a problem or it was in itself a technological limitation. I also immediately started to solution-ise ways to fix this problem, something that I have since learnt not to do. Looking back on the laughably bad solution that I initially came up with, I am beyond glad for the double diamond framework.
The process of fully understanding the problem through research before coming up with solutions is something that is strangely almost alien to me. Through my previous education, it was common practice to create a pretty solution before crafting a story and research to help to build a case in order to convince a panel of critics. In short, he who could bullshit best got the best mark. However this method is a one way ticket to, at best, a useless product. Thus my top down approach needed to be held back at almost every step, something that I am getting better at every day as I proceed through this course.
After conducting user interviews and synthesizing the data gathered, I found that the problem faced by my user group was entirely different to the original problem. After much stress and anxiety about whether this was correct or if my questions were structured incorrectly, I realised that the original problem need not be the one to tackle and instead, I should be focusing on the problem that my research pointed to.
This was another eye opening point within the course, where it truly sank in that I was able to decide and make recommendations based on actual user research. Too often creative professionals are given a brief which must be fulfilled at all cost, even when that cost is to the design itself.
Armed with this new direction, backed by research, I started to create a persona to help humanise the problem and give more character in order to develop an empathetic problem statement. This would help to create solutions that speak to the emotional side of a solution and truly make it into an experience.
I found this process to be the most challenging of the entire process. I personally sometimes struggle with understanding emotions and empathy. I struggle to connect to problems that seem illogical and irrational or do not concern myself. However, by working through the discovery and defining stages of the double diamond, the synthesis of research has helped me draw logical conclusions and map out empathy in a way that I am personally unable to. I know that this will get better with experience and I am excited to see how I can use these tools to tackle future problems that require more empathy than I have.
When learning about the Crazy 8s ideation strategy during class, I initially dismissed the idea as ineffective or just a way to warm up our creativity before proper, considered ideation. However, through doing this collaboratively with others, I have found this to be one of the best ideation tools/sessions I have ever had. Doing this with others helped me see solutions that I would never have thought of and flesh out parts of my own ideas that I had and would have overlooked.
My final solution was one that surprised even me, but what surprised me even more was the effectiveness of the UX framework. To go from not knowing basically anything about UX to being able to, albeit quite basically, create an empathetic solution for a problem speaks volumes about the process.
Through this project, I have learnt many new skills and discovered processes and tools that have greatly helped me to start crafting great user experiences. I am beginning to let go of old habits, for example, working with a top down approach. In the past, my workflow has been to create a solution to fit a brief and then craft research and a story around the solution in order to convince judges or clients that my design held significance. This may work within architecture (and is probably a reason for why there are so many beautiful buildings with poor programming and UX) but not in a true human centred design. I am also starting to understand how emotions and empathy play a huge part in solutions, rather than simple efficiency and logic. I am hopeful that I will one day be able to naturally factor in and create emotion from my designs while still maintaining a beautiful logic.