I used to consider failing as something to avoid at all costs. But occasionally something went wrong and I spent loads of time trying to figure out what I could do differently in the future. After years of beating myself up, I’ve come to appreciate failure. I learn something new and often it can open new avenues of creativity. This article includes a few ways to embrace failure.
Build Prototypes that can be Easily Iterated
Trying to get it right the first time isn’t a good idea. My experience with some development teams makes me think there is a school of thought that believes that getting the ‘code’ right the first time, even with the first prototype, saves on development costs. My experience has been otherwise.
If a prototype is built in html, it’s hard to change the design if something isn’t working because the code can be used in the final development. It’s harder to be innovative if the actual code used in the deployed site needs to be created before initially testing a feature.
When I build a prototype in Axure, I can make it in a few days and change it during testing without worrying about changing any final code. When a prototype has been designed and tests well with users, that is when the developers can start to plan for templates and widgets. I would argue that the small amount of time saved trying to create re-usable code does not make up for the loss of flexibility.
For example, my colleagues and I worked on the form factor design and user interface for a medical device for patients with chronic illness. In the initial interviews, we learned that patients put their existing device away when it wasn’t being used because it looked too medical. They were also not sure if the data sent by the device was transmitting correctly. For this reason clinicians received multiple transmissions and phone calls from patients checking in to make sure their data was received. We worked on this initial finding and created prototypes that included information around transmitting. We also made the device look less medical and more like an item patients already had in their home.
When we tested it with users, the feedback we received was that the device looked less medical. That was a win. However, users weren’t able to interact with it as expected. The user interaction failed because the concept worked like a typical computer interaction with scroll up arrows, scroll down arrows and a home button. This confused the majority of our users who were not computer savvy. Almost overnight we changed the interface and modeled it around something our target users seemed more familiar with: an ATM machine. It was easy to change in Axure because we didn’t have to re-code anything. We just created a couple of buttons and moved some of the content around. This concept tested well with users.
Bring Development Along for the Ride
Developers can offer some really great ideas for initial design and feedback on how to improve your designs and if they are technically feasible. Development may also provide their own creative solutions if they know it will be tested with users. Besides, including development early gives them a good idea of what to expect and start thinking about the most efficient way to implement your designs.
When working on the medical device, the developers and industrial designers gave us feedback and ideas on the product design that would help them save money on producing the device while being big enough for the hardware inside. Having this information before meeting with users gave us an opportunity to see if the product size and button placement worked with users. At the end of user testing, the overall size of the device was a win with users, but we also added more buttons for selections on the screen, and reduced the number of buttons on the device associated with playing messages, turning audio on and off and dialing 911 because users didn’t need them.
Innovate on your Mistakes
During usability testing if your idea doesn’t work well, no harm done. Seeing how users interact with a design whether good or bad can offer new ideas not previously considered that can improve on the unique experience you designed.
We had early wins with the medical device designed to look like an item patients typically had in their homes that also provided adequate feedback when they sent transmissions, but if they couldn’t navigate through some of the screens that product would have been a huge failure when it went to market. Ensuring that patients understand the user interface through a few small changes increases our confidence in the success of the final product.
I love taking user needs, business needs and technology needs and finding creative solutions that create a better experience for users. I wouldn’t have the opportunity to come up with creative solutions nor have the confidence in my final result if I wasn’t willing to fail early on. This doesn’t mean I’m ok with a project failing. I think early failures in the design and in the testing phase can lead to project success later on. The final design is 100 times better if you know that you tried a few unique ways to create a better experience for the users and you can be that much more confident that the final design will succeed.
