🎨 Do solo makers need a UI/UX designer?

@jordan_bulk Agree. But still, I think about the core problem the product solves. When something is really necessary, users start to adapt to even the “not user-friendly and unintuitive” parts and continue using it.
It’s always about steering things in the right direction as we build something. Not overthinking, not over-polishing, and not over-agreeing with users who interact with the product differently than we do.

@adana  @jordan_bulk cheapest version of that test i have found: sit behind someone using it and count how many times you want to speak. every urge to explain is a place the flow does not stand up on its own. you are not really testing the product at that point, you are measuring your own compulsion to narrate it, and that turns out to be a decent proxy for the thing you cannot see anymore.

the harder half is the one you just named. someone using a flow differently is not misusing it. they are showing you the product you actually built rather than the one you designed. adana's point about early users lands harder if you treat the wrong path as the finding rather than the bug.

@jordan_bulk  @better_shaya  @rabnoor_s The worst part is that we all like hearing “I agree” - especially from Claude =D It gives us this specific feeling of confidence and satisfaction.

That’s why, when you and Claude decide together that something is genius, it can be pretty frustrating when real users completely reject your UX !

@jordan_bulk  @adana We are getting ready for it. We still need to design a launch page and prepare the supporting promotional material.

We developed a platform that can turn locomotive activity data from your smartphone's sensors into a personalised aging signal, and we translate that signal into retirement-planning terms an adviser can actually use in a client conversation.

@jordan_bulk  @evgeny_yakushev What an interesting product! Does it have competitors, or is it a unique solution?

@jordan_bulk  @tiffany_trboyevich  @heresalexandria Absolutely agree with this. Especially the point about balancing different user needs - that’s where good design really makes a difference.

@sansa_grey  @camilla_s_andersen Yes =( This truth definitely exists!

But it really helps you better understand and analyze the user experience.

@sansa_grey  @adana  @camilla_s_andersen the painful part is the useful part, and it is worth naming exactly why it hurts. you are not watching a person fail. you are watching a decision you made three months ago fail, in front of you, at normal speed, with no way to intervene.

one thing that made it bearable: write your prediction down before each session. what you think they will do on this screen, in one line. being wrong on paper first takes most of the sting out of being wrong in the room, and it turns a squirming hour into a scoreboard you can actually look at afterwards.

Never stopping at the first answer

If someone says they like something, I want to know why. If they don’t like it, why? What were they expecting instead? What did they think would happen before they clicked? Where did they hesitate, even if they eventually figured it out?

also try not to just test the UI. I want to test the assumptions behind the flow. “How would you normally do this?” “What would you use instead?” “What did you expect to be here that isn’t?”

And I try very hard not to explain or defend the design while someone is testing it. The second I explain it, I’ve lost the opportunity to see whether the product can explain itself.

Real users are obviously incredibly valuable, especially people who tried the product and stopped using it. But a good designer should also be constantly asking: what about this? what if we tried this instead? why are we doing it this way at all?

Basically, never stop being curious.

@jdubsss I’d phrase it a bit more naturally:

I really like those testers who don’t just reject a solution, but suggest their own way instead of simply saying it isn’t convenient without any explanation. =/

I think the curiosity you mentioned is really the key.

@ashir_murtaza1  @evgeny_yakushev Yes, right. And do you think mobile design is actually more difficult than desktop?

@ashir_murtaza1  @adana Apples and Oranges. The hardest task is to design something that looks good on both mobile and desktop. This commonly arises when building websites, but if you use a website building tool, then compatibility is largely handled for you.

However if you're building something more complex - such as integrating some sort of custom software into that website, with its own unique user interface - then there may be challenges with making it look presentable both on mobile and desktop.

@busmark_w_nika Can’t finally get familiar with Reddit!

This comment from you became the last signal. Time to do that =)

@adana It also depends what kind of product you use, I found my community in chrome extension subreddit :)

@itzhaydar Agree, of course. I think more about complex products, where involving a designer can actually help the developer ship faster and hit the goal right from the first take.

@adana oh, complex products

definitely, if it's a complex product from the very beginning, you do need a designer, and a few say 2 or 3 more experts who believe in the mission to join you and work on it together

i was thinking about building v1 to solve a specific at a small scale, validate, and later expand and bring in more features, and more experts to the team

@gsvprharsha Thanks !

@rohanparmar Happy to hear that combo works well!

And no one canceled AI usage for designers either =) They can use AI a lot too, but from their professional perspective.

@adana Absolutely! 😄 AI is useful for everyone. The real value comes from knowing how to use it with your own expertise. Designers + AI can be just as powerful as developers + AI.