{"id":3361,"date":"2022-05-03T06:34:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T06:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kiwitech.com\/blog\/?p=3361"},"modified":"2022-12-26T09:53:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-26T09:53:25","slug":"the-business-case-to-stop-overcomplicating-ux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kiwitech.com\/blog\/the-business-case-to-stop-overcomplicating-ux\/","title":{"rendered":"The Business Case to Stop Overcomplicating UX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Good design isn\u2019t the cluttered one with the most bells and whistles. Instead, it\u2019s the one that solves a user\u2019s one specific issue most simply. Yet, simplicity in design is easier said than achieved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design teams get caught up in the complicated circles of modifications, adding more elements and features to the design. Meanwhile, users get overloaded with a complicated UX and never use your product as they intended to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good UX design is as much about building as it is about eliminating and reducing. Let\u2019s make the business case for an uncomplicated UX and see how you can achieve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Reading: <\/strong>Should You Indulge in Conversational UX for Your Startup?<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why does UX get overcomplicated? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many reasons why UX designers end up refining design to its detriment. Often, the idea of the \u2018perfect design\u2019 keeps designers stuck in cycles, ultimately leading to a complicated UX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Typically, overdesigning is a consequence of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unclear goals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not having clear goals defined at the beginning of your project is a sure shot way of setting your UX up for overdesigning. Without clearly identified goals, every extra element looks like it fits the purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, when you have clear goals defined, you can easily filter out new ideas and focus on only the most important aspects of the UX design, as you know what will and won\u2019t help you move forward on desired goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No ownership<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Too many cooks\u2026well, we\u2019ve heard it. It holds true in product UX designing, as every person brings a unique set of ideas and suggestions to the table. It\u2019s important to have someone in charge who can make a final call and prevent overcomplications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, the project owner would look at the previously identified goals and objectives before making decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Communication gaps<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before COVID-19, many enterprises had remote design teams. Today, all companies have had experience communicating with a remote designing team. Miscommunication can even happen sitting in the same walled office but is more rampant with diversely located designers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaps in communication can overcomplicate the UX design of a project and lead to inefficiencies along the way. A key aspect of succinct communication is to ask questions and confirm and acknowledge answers so as not to presume or assume anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea of perfect design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designers often get hung up on the idea of the perfect user experience and end up cluttering it. In pursuing perfection, it is easy to complicate a project and invest more into it than intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pareto principle comes in handy here. Only 20% of the UX effort will lead to 80% of the results. The perfect design doesn\u2019t exist. But a good one does. It\u2019s better when designers aim for the good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hyper focus on methodologies and processes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From pinpointing business objectives to analyzing competitors, pinning down the business strategy, defining the company vision, analyzing the target audience, conducting user research, undertaking usability testing, mapping user journey, building wireframes and prototypes, a lot of meaning and simplicity is lost in the UX design process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a long list of techniques that we could potentially use to solve each problem stage and areas we talked about above, but we would never use all of them. It\u2019s important to identify what answers you are looking for, if there is an easy and efficient way of getting those answers and who would ultimately benefit from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simplifying the processes and choosing only the needed methodologies can cut back on many complications in UX designing and, therefore, in the resulting UX design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possibility vs. probability design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A final common problem that leads to UX overcomplication is when designers confuse design elements that may possibly <\/em>be of use to the user against elements that would probably <\/em>be useful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If a design element or feature is probably <\/em>useful, most users will end up wanting and using it. If something is possibly <\/em>useful, this is the designer conjuring up an image or scenario in their mind. Adding possible <\/em>use cases leads to overdesigning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those are the most common factors resulting in overdesigning in projects. Next, let\u2019s see what design thinking can do to curb complications in UX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related Reading: <\/strong>How to Design User Experience for Diversity & Inclusion<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does design thinking help keep UX simple?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design thinking helps designers better understand the target user, form and test assumptions about them and design a product that addresses a real-life problem for them in the simplest possible way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Design thinking consists of these imperative stages-<\/p>\n\n\n\n