As a UX designer which is the most valuable reference point when making good design decisions? Theory or experience?
“Rely not on the teacher, but on the teaching. Rely not on the words of the teaching, but on the spirit of the words. Rely not on theory, but on experience…But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and the benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. – The Buddha”
The typical design team consists for a variety of people with different educations, roles, perspectives and experiences. And not one can stand alone and say this is what makes a good user experience because it takes everyone to make it great.
We have archives of HFI theories and principles that can instruct us on how to build effective user interfaces. Considering how wide and varied our markets and consumers are it is impossible to imagine that all we need is in a textbook.
Theory is good. Theories provides use tools and techniques to ‘borrow’ from. But theories on their own do not solve complex user experiences and business related problems. Take a look at what is happening today. The form factor supporting our computing behaviour is changing. And with that so will it’s mental models and usability conventions.
Our experiences however are a better source of inspiration and instruction. Experience comes from putting these theories into practice. Experience comes from observation and analysis on what does and doesn’t work. It is with experience innovation is created. For me, most importantly experiences builds intuition and empathy for the user that theories cannot on their own. This experience guides our decision making process.
One of my graphic arts teachers once told me you must know the rules of graphic design in order to know which ones can be broken and when to break them. If you want to design really good user experiences put yourself in the shoes of your user and keep a UX textbook somewhat close by.
