User Experience (UX)

Why inclusive design matters

Have you ever benefited from a tool or product you initially perceived as being for "someone else?"  For example, sometimes I've begrudgingly accepted a large print book from the library just because the conventional copies are all checked-out. But guess what?  My eyes get less tired and thank me for the break.

This makes me think about the importance of considering edge cases in product design. An edge case is a concept in user experience research and design that refers to an occurrence that falls outside of the "typical use" of a product. When a product design is focused on "typical use" it can further marginalize users who may already be in the margins, such as people with cognitive impairments or physical disabilities. Designing inclusive products for more possible users and what might go wrong for those users trying to use the product ultimately benefits ALL users.

Learn more about inclusive design and edge cases from June UX or UX Toast

Watch the video below for a quick snack about what I learned from a math lesson about the importance of inclusive solutions:

*Disclaimer: I am not a certified teacher and not an expert in math pedagogy. Observations based solely on interactions in a volunteer capacity. 

Decision-making with just enough data

Teams and organizations sometimes make decisions, convinced that they need more data. However, more data can add noise and obfuscate a path forward. To quote Erika Hall from her book Just Enough Research, instead of more data “focus on gathering useful insights in order to meet real-world goals.”


Thankfully as product people, we are genuinely trying to solve real-world problems, not publish a research paper in a prestigious peer-reviewed journal. Therefore, our standards need to be different.


In your day to day, how do you equip your team and stakeholders with “just enough” to make decisions? 


Learn more about how to move forward with just the right amount of research/data:


Watch the video below for a quick snack about what I learned from my daughter's path to more independence:

Big problems, little problems

Finding, understanding, and defining user problems is essential to the product development lifecycle. Sometimes problems are given to us and sometimes we have to go find them. Here's my process for creating clarity around user problems:

Talk to your users. Is the “problem” the perspective of someone internal to your team or is it truly a problem experienced by your customers? If the problem is truly a user/customer problem, is the demand and market opportunity enough to justify solving it?

As a wise poet once said, “one user, two users, red users, blue users.” Quantify the scope of the problem: how many users/customers, revenue impact, up time/down time, etc.


Learn more about problem validation from Mind the Product. 


Watch the video below for a quick snack about the inspiration for my approach to user problems: