The 7 Deadly Sins of UX/UI Designers
A practical guide for avoiding common UX/UI pitfalls
No matter where you are in your design career, you’ve committed one of these sins. UX/UI design isn’t an easy job, and it takes a lot of time to train yourself to have the right mindset. There are endless
The seven sins of UX/UI Designers
After more than a decade of working in design, I have identified seven common sins of early-career UX/UI designers. To activate a more senior perspective, start by eliminating these sins from your design practice.
Sin #1: They don't question the brief.
Design briefs help to align projects with the company or client's goals. If well written, the design brief contains all the details you need to guide your project work. If poorly written, you might find yourself talking to the wrong users, solving the wrong problem, and delivering within the wrong scope. Newbie designers are excited to get their first brief and show off their skills. Still, if you don't carefully inspect what's written in the design brief, your solutions won't be effective.
Do Instead
Next time you get a design brief or sprint card, try this:
Send Slack messages to the main stakeholders in the project and ask them to explain what they want in their own words
Look for anything you can find internally that relates to the project or user involved and organize it into a document
Add your thoughts to the brief and tag relevant stakeholders to keep all of the relevant information in the brief
Questioning the brief is really about ensuring you have all the information and that you've checked with the source. If you start projects with it, you'll avoid blind spots later.
Sin #2: They jump to high-fidelity solutions.
Meme by Jeff Humble
New designers are often more excited about solving problems than identifying the right problems. It's good that they're excited, but often they end up solving the wrong problem, which can waste lots of time. Even if they value upfront discovery and research, many companies don't appreciate it, and they force juniors to deliver without giving them time to discover. The full design process can be a difficult thing to get into projects.
Do Instead
To make sure you don’t jump to the develop and deliver phases, try this:
Follow the Double Diamond Design Process to make sure you're getting the first diamond in your projects
Do thirty minutes of desk research to see if someone has already solved the same problem and how they did it
Give yourself a buffer by increasing your time estimates to ensure you have time for a proper discovery phase
Sin #3: They get too attached to their ideas.
Designers see opportunities, whereas others only see difficulties. Designers' ideas are often innovative and creative, but that doesn't mean those ideas are better than a developer's or a marketer's. Working designers must learn to "kill their darlings" and let a democratic product process determine the ideas built.
Do Instead
To avoid being too attached to your ideas, try this:
Look to past research and internal knowledge for inspiration for your ideas
Make sure your idea matches your target user group rather than a flashy trend you found on Behance
Facilitate a group brainstorming with your team and use those ideas rather than your own
Ideas aren't nearly as important as their execution, so don't put too much weight on any one idea, especially your own.
Sin #4: They don't ask for feedback early enough.
by Jeff Humble
When designers are new to a company, they want to impress people. Understandably, they want to make sure that their designs are perfect. The problem is that by the time their work is "perfect," they've already gone too far down the UI rabbit hole (see below). If they get any feedback on their "perfect" designs, they won't have time to implement them unless you ask for feedback early.
Do Instead
To make sure you share before you get to high-fidelity designs, try this:
Get feedback on wireframes and sketches
Make sure your stakeholders agree on the approach you're taking before you ever touch a color or a font choice.
Understand that no design solution will ever be perfect and that design is an iterative process.
Sin #5: They overcommit and miss deadlines.
The desire to please can be the biggest issue for designers early on in their careers. Just because a new designer wants to do a lot of work doesn't mean they can deliver it. They want to seem capable in planning meetings, giving themselves days to complete projects when they should be giving themselves weeks. They say yes to anyone who needs something because they genuinely want to help their teammates. As they miss more and more deadlines, people will begin to doubt their abilities.
Do Instead
Take your last time estimate and double it. Trust me. It will help. To give better estimates and avoid unnecessary tasks, ask many questions before committing to anything. Here are some examples:
What problem are we trying to solve with this task?
Can this task be broken down into smaller tasks?
What work should I stop doing to have time for this task?
Be respectful as you ask these questions and remind your colleagues that you need context to become a more productive designer.
Sin #6: They don't communicate their design decisions.
by Jeff Humble
The thinking you put into your designs doesn't happen by chance, but newbie designers often don't share the hidden insights into a visual solution. The whole industry suffers if designers can't communicate how they arrived at a solution.
Do Instead
The next time someone questions something that you’ve thoughtfully designed, try this:
Refocus their inquiry on the problem rather than the solution
Walk them through your process
Be open to new ideas as long as they don't cause you to miss deadlines
Sin #7: They don't have a design process.
When designers are fresh out of a boot camp or university, they don't know how designing in the real world feels. They haven't trained their instincts, so they lose themselves in projects without direction. Even if they follow a design process, they don't adjust it for their needs and follow it blindly regardless of the results.
Do Instead
A design process is simply a guide. Use it to ensure you follow all the steps, but understand that design is not a linear process. Try this if you've never used a design process:
Find a design process model that is written by a reputable source like a school or an established design agency
Understand the mindset behind the model and read examples of how to use it in a real-world context
Iterate on the process until you make it your own
It’s never too late to repent
No matter where you are in your career, the temptation to commit these sins can be overwhelming. Stay aware, sinners. The devil lurks in every project.
If you see yourself in more than one of these deadly sins, don’t despair. There is hope. We have a course that is geared towards these types of challenges. It’s meant to train your real-world design mindset, and it’s jam-packed with insights to help you activate a more senior design practice.
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