#4 - Getting comfortable in the problem space
How to make UX work that matters, and more
Picture this: your partner or friend is talking to you about a situation that is making them sad and stressed. You empathize with them and, wanting to make things better for them, start brainstorming possible solutions. However, they tell you: « Right now I’m not looking for solutions, I just need to vent!»
Our brains are wired to respond in particular to immediate threats1, which might explain why we jump straight to proposing solutions. Problems make us uncomfortable, so we try and make them go away as fast as possible. And you will see a similar phenomenon happening when UX work is involved.
When clients or managers come to us with an issue, if they are not familiar with Design Thinking (which is often the case), they will either give you a short explanation of the problem followed by their proposal for a solution, or in the worst case scenario they will tell you to design something in the specific way they ask. And to be honest with you, when I was the only UX Designer in the company, I would often cave under pressure and go straight to making high-fidelity prototypes in Figma. But if we don’t want to end up creating “glorified UI” instead of doing true UX work, we need to always remind ourselves that
It’s not about solving a problem in the right way, instead it’s about solving the right problem.
To do that, we need to get out of the comfort of our Figma file and into the problem space.
Problem space vs. the solution space
The problem space can be defined as the first stage in a UX project which is dedicated to exploring, synthesizing, and defining problems. It corresponds to the 1st diamond in the Double Diamond model. The kind of activities that you can often find here are:
Interviews with stakeholders
Interviews with users
Usability testing on the current product (if applicable)
Competitor analysis
User journeys or service blueprints
and more
To find and define the right problem, the main objective you need to keep in mind as a designer in this first phase of a project is to become as confident in the problem space as you can. How?
Step 1: Study the issue at hand until you feel like you’ve become an “expert” when it comes to the users, the problems, and the context.
Step 2: Like my Memory Psychology professor used to say, “You don’t truly know something until you are able to explain it”. In this step, start synthesizing your findings in a clear, actionable way that your stakeholders will understand even if they are unfamiliar with design terminology.
Step 3: Together with the stakeholders and your team, agree on which problem/s you wish to work on - you can’t do everything, at least not all at once!
While being inside the Problem Space might feel daunting, adopting the mindset of exploring the problem in depth first is one of the things that can truly bring you to the next level in your UX career.
Book Recommendation: Rocket Surgery Made Easy by Steve Krug
My aim in this newsletter however is to try and recommend books you might have seen before in the typical UX Book lists. You might have already heard of Steve Krug, who has written one of the most popular UX books named “Don’t Make Me Think”. Krug’s lesser-known book is in my opinion another gem. If you want to learn more about Usability Testing, this is a great start! It provides lots of useful information on how to set up tests, how to prep for them, and how to conduct them efficiently.
Follow me along at the Smashing Conference in Antwerp!
As this email rolls out, I’m currently traveling to Belgium to volunteer for Smashing Magazine’s latest conference on everything UX and Frontend. If you are curious about what volunteering at a conference looks like, follow me on TikTok at @stellauxdesign
https://www.thefountaininstitute.com/blog/what-is-the-double-diamond-design-process#what-is-problem-space