The inspiration behind this blog comes from a course I am taking with Kent State University as I complete my Masters in User Experience Design. We have had a week of presentations and other collateral to digest and relate to where we are within the industry. One, in particular, stood out as the most relevant. So much so, I watched it twice!
The video I referenced is a TED talk by Tony Fadell, discussing how the first step to design is "noticing the world around us." In a quick summary, he breaks down how our brains are trained to work. How the things we do every day, can first cause us frustration but then turn to habit as "this is just the way it is." As design thinkers, he challenges us to not live in this habituation. We need to look broader, look closer, and think younger.
The reason I related to this post is that I have so many people ask, "how do you get started in this industry" or "what does it mean to think about UX." Fadell's talk allows anyone with any background starts to understand how we have to think and what we need to do to change the world around us. As UX designers, we are in constant pursuit of improving our projects or the world around us. One of the aspects I love most about UX is that we genuinely care about the products we create. If we don't, we can't get in the users head or translate their actions into an effective solution.
Fadell takes this approach but speaks to his audience at a level that anyone can understand and see how we need to change how to think to see change. We all have the ability to see the changes that need to be made around us.