If it doesn’t feel weird, you’re not doing it right.
Steve Portigal, one of my favourite speakers from conferences past, has started writing a regular column for Core77. Needless to say I was ecstatic. And his first post hasn’t let me down:
Lunapads or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Discomfort
Steve, from his very UX, but also male perspective, uses the example of feminine product marketing to talk about how we encounter similar (although not “same”) discomfort in our daily UX work as we try to move through the steps:
Label the need » Frame the user » Frame the solution
My favourite quote:
“One of the coded phrases we hear is “That’s not our customer.” This is the designer’s version of “Some of my best friends are Jewish” - always said politely, earnestly, and with an intelligent conviction that purports - but ultimately fails - to dilute the harmful closed-mindedness. Of course companies have segments to market to and design for, but the opportunity to spend time with a real person and explore at how they are conceiving and solving (or not) problems, that’s a gift.”
Steve’s overall issue is about addressing corporate culture in an attempt to effect change that will encourage adoption of UX values.
