Avoid Jumping to a Solution
Often not as easy as it sounds
One of the hardest things I had to adapt to when designing for people was to avoid answering the problem that I was trying to solve.
Growing up I was often taught that if there is a problem the obvious first step is to attempt to solve it independently. If solving it yourself doesn’t work out then do some research and try again with some new insight. If the research fails you then it’s time to go ask someone for some help whether it’s your peers, teachers or parents.
Even though I’m aware that designers should avoid jumping to a solution, I still find it very difficult to stop that very human urge of trying to figure out a solution as soon as someone comes to me with a problem.
I suspect it was a strong survival instinct for our ancestors to be able to quickly come up with a solution to a problem, you don’t exactly have time to do surveys when getting chased down by a sabertooth tiger.
So here are some of the strategies I have picked up to avoid immediately hitting that solution button.
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Identify & Eliminate Bias
After studying science at university I realized how many biases humans can have when doing research or coming up with arguments, and again we were taught to try and eliminate potential biases by first recognizing them and then conducting experiments in such a way as to mitigate bias.
By understanding the bias that you inherently bring to the table when solving a problem it can help you realize that you need to do research, and start asking users about the problem. Instead of trying to figure it out by yourself.
Write Down Your Assumptions
You know what they say when you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.
This is pretty similar to understanding your bias, but by writing down all the assumptions about the product I find that it helps me both better align with the issue on the table as well as wrap my head around potential pitfalls in the design.
This can include assumptions about the user, the team or even the product. One of the first ones I write is that assumption that people are actually going to use this product. By writing them down these assumptions can lead to questions about the product or the user which hopefully can be used in turn to create a more user centred design.
Focus On the Questions
Good questions are often the way that you get good answers. Some of the best interviewers focus on asking amazing questions because that’s how you really get to understand the problem or the person.
Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
– Voltaire
During the early stages of a project, I try to stay away from answering the questions and instead write the biggest questions down and keep them on my desk. By keeping them close by physically it helps me focus on what I should be trying to solve.
Think About Answers, Once You’ve Researched
Obviously you can’t put off solving the problem forever, and eventually, you need to start working on a solution.
It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.
– Sherlock Holmes
I tend to start thinking about solutions only after I feel I have a holistic understanding of the environment surrounding the problem space, now I realize it’s very hard to know everything about the problem space but as designers, we should be trying our best to understand the ecosystem our solutions are going to fit into.
So ideating on solutions only happens once I’ve done a reasonable level of both secondary and primary research into the problem space.
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Hopefully, the next time you’re working on a project you can fight those lizard brain tendencies of jumping to a solution because it’s something I still have to struggle against when I pick up a new project.
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Hope you enjoyed and if you want to get in touch or see some of my work you can find me here at my home on the web.