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Sticking to UI/UX trends is a losing strategy

Published on <a href="http://ift.tt/2ncAXNg">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Ori Becker <img alt="" src="http://ift.tt/2mKPQ6E">
I was asked by someone about who owns the design (UX and otherwise) of a product. Who should feel that proud papa feeling of about a product they designed and if the original design changes by someone, does the ownership change with it?
That is an excellent question and like many things in our line of work isn’t a yes or no answer. The differences between UI and UX are a vast topic best left for another day so to better answer your question I’ll stick to a UXer as part of a product development team.
As a product person, the UXer is part of a system, a team, a family and as such we do our part. We push what we can and accept what needs to be done. We serve a higher purpose. Contrary to what is taught in school and in blogs we are not 100% user focused. We work for the user but with the company. If we don’t make money, we can’t offer solutions. To that end we do what needs to be done to get a product out, preferably in time, on budget and as close as these allow for a top-notch user experience. Our UX journey never ends and so we understand that there will be more iterations, better features and better UX as we go along. We do the best we can with what we have, what we know with an eye on the future.
<h4>Ownership of IP or in our case UXIP</h4>
We work with PMs, BAs and Devs (hopefully with user input too) to develop a user experience that serves user needs and business goals. We conduct workshops, card sorting sessions, sketch and prototype, test and validate. Then what?
Once the team is happy this solution has legs they start to develop it (this too takes many shapes but is a topic for another day). So the question still stands, who owns the virtue of the solution we came up with? Is it still our design? And what if an external designer comes in and alters then is it theirs? Since the design of the product we produced wasn’t produced in a vacuum in space that means it isn’t “our design”. We are part of a team, the business put forward its needs, the user put its needs, the devs put forward their capabilities the BA and scrum dictated the pace so with all of this in the back of our mind can we honestly say that this is our solution, our design?
Yes we (the UXers) had the vision and arranged the elements on the screen just so. It was our UX knowledge that made the sequence of events happen in such a way that the end user has the easiest path towards success. But no we do not own the design, the solution. How could we when the nature of work is collaboration and agility.
<h4>So why does it bug us when our wireframes or UI is re-done by others?</h4>
Because we are human. Because if we are not emotionally invested in what we do then we are doing it wrong. Because we too love the praise and thrive on looking at something that we created that works great.
I can only talk about myself with honesty and declare that I am a UXD not A UID so I know my own limitations. I can make things “prettier” to some degree but I know that true interface designers do it much better. More so I don’t want to spent my time polishing things and making them come to life with colours, fonts and spacing. Give me grey boxes, Roboto font 14px all day every day. We facilitate and nurture environments that allow for the best experience to come across to the end user. I rather spent time talking about journey then pigment. Prefer the above the fold navigation then drop shadows and colour pallet (though I love a properly defined colour pallet). UIDs can take an idea, suggestion and make it great, make it better. So why wouldn’t want them to?
Since we know that products are a collective of ideas, skills and solutions, we shouldn’t allow our egos / feelings / fears stop us from doing what it takes to get the best product out there. If someone comes along and makes changes to a product we’ve designed that doesn’t make it anymore theirs then ours. Furthermore, if someone adds to something we’ve been working on or even changes it completely and claim it’s theirs and theirs alone then they are misguided and just wrong. To do so would be like saying the iPhone 7 had nothing to do with the first iPod. That Brahms’ Piano Quartet №1 didn’t take from Beethoven’s 6th Symphony. We build on existing knowledge and past attempts make way from great solutions.
So in conclusion, as a UXer we must strive to do more, learn more and up-skill but make way from those who can do better when they can. Surround ourselves with better people, people who push us and outsmart us. Finally, remember that we don’t own designs or products we facilitate greatness and encourage development towards right path.
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<a href="http://ift.tt/2mLbszG">You Don’t Own Me</a> was originally published in <a href="http://ift.tt/2cAqCpx">Prototyping: From UX to Front End</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

You Don’t Own Me

You Don’t Own Me

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