Why you should NOT design for your users
Countless articles and books about design stress the importance of designing for real users. The concept of user-centric design is rooted in putting the user front and center and designing a product that will make the user happy.
What if I tell you that this all is wrong?
You probably won’t believe me because this contradicts a commonly accepted product design approach. But there are 3 crucial arguments that support this point of view:
1. Users don’t always know what they need
Users can describe their pain points but often struggle to articulate the best solutions. If you rely only on user feedback, you may end up with incremental improvements rather than breakthrough innovations. A famous quote attributed to Henry Ford:
If you design strictly based on user preferences, you also limit creative possibilities. True innovation comes from anticipating needs, not just responding to them. One of the best music producers in history, Rick Rubin, perfectly summarized this idea in his interview with Anderson Cooper:
“The audience comes last. If you aim to please them, you’re not doing your job.”
2. Users are not designers
Because users don’t know what they need, it doesn’t mean that you should completely ignore user feedback. You should treat user feedback as an important input to your design process, but remember that they don’t have the expertise to create effective design solutions. Your job as a designer is to synthesize user behavior, business goals, and technological constraints into a seamless experience.
3. Users may be biased by familiarity
When design presents innovative solutions, the initial after-release feedback they receive is either neutral or negative. This happens because people don’t like changes. Every change is perceived as a disruption, especially when significantly impacting the user environment. Users have to spend extra time learning how to interact with a redesigned or new product. That is why large companies that conduct a major redesign of their products are prepared for initial neutral/negative reactions from the audience.
Users tend to prefer what they already know.
If you rely solely on their preferences, you may never introduce innovative solutions that challenge the status quo. A design that is strictly based on user preferences is a design with limited creative possibilities.
True innovation comes from anticipating needs, not just responding to them.
So, What should you do instead?
Designing with users in mind is crucial, but blindly designing for them can lead to mediocre products. The key is to interpret their needs and craft experiences that go beyond their expectations.
- Design for user needs, not user wants. Identify core problems rather than just asking what users want.
- Use research and data-driven insights. Understand patterns and behaviors rather than relying solely on feedback.
- Balance user needs with business and technical constraints. A great product serves users but also achieves business success.
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