UX design is becoming a commodity — here’s how we can break the mold
How an object-oriented UX approach helps to differentiate the UI and create memorable experiences.
Working with an internal design system enables us to work fast and efficiently without considerable usability risks. But what happens when a company doesn’t have a system in place? Often designers copy and paste patterns of established competitors with little to no changes. This behavior makes our craft look mechanical, not creative. We make our work look like anybody could do it. We make our profession a commodity. If we want to stay relevant, we need to break the mold. The question is, when and how?
UX as a discipline has come a long way. And I have been lucky enough to be part of it for the past 20 years. Our profession matured from an aesthetic-focused craft to a driving force of a product’s success. We invented new UI models to display and interact with new content types. We explored new patterns to improve user engagement. We found creative solutions to distinguish our applications from competitors. Innovation and exploration enabled us to become essential in the product creation process.
However, since the advent of design systems, I hear more and more voices declaring UX design becoming a commodity. Some demand that designers set their creativity aside simply following the provided design system. Asking us only to replicate already existing patterns. Others even go as far as to forecast that AI will replace us in the very soon future. Suggesting our work comprises a set of easy-to-replicate steps. And although I disagree, I understand where they are coming from.
Why do we need to break the mold?
Design systems are great. They increase usability, lower the learning curve, and speed up the design and development process. However, it becomes an issue in the absence of your own design system. Taking inspiration from established players is good practice. However, I see more and more designers straight-up copy and paste from established players like Google, Facebook, or Apple. Deadlines are tight, and the pressure is high. Pointing at the other company’s success helps to defuse critique. It is much quicker and safer to imitate something that works.
We traded creativity for safety and efficiency, which undercuts our value in the short term and makes us obsolete in the long run.
Looking at this approach from the outside, you can imagine that UX design feels like an easy-to-replicate craft. It seems our biggest challenge is to find suitable patterns from established competitors and copy those. We trade creativity for safety and efficiency. Yet, even design systems are a product of innovation, and innovation never stops. Ignoring this core trait of our profession undercuts our value in the short term and makes us obsolete in the long run. If we don’t push the boundaries, others will.
When should we break the mold?
Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking you to ignore best practices or abandon design systems. For the majority of our applications, we should follow them. Yet, I want to encourage us to be more creative regarding our application’s unique features.
Ten years ago, when I still worked at frog design, we talked a lot about hero moments. These moments focused on the features and content that would differentiate the application. They aimed to capture the product’s unique selling point (USP). The USP and its key features differentiate an application from its competitors. We can use other companies to get inspiration. But copying a pattern from another competitor is the opposite of differentiation. It won’t highlight the product’s difference. Tinder or TikTok are great examples. Both looked at their unique characteristic and created something new and memorable. I want to encourage us to dare more for those moments and break the mold like those two.
How do we break the mold?
As I outlined in a previous article, for me, it starts with the content and its unique traits. In my experience, applying an object-oriented mindset (OOUX) helps understand and highlight its unique capabilities. Instead of focusing on screens or flows, OOUX starts with the content. The idea is to describe a system’s conceptual model via known and relatable content objects.
Furthermore, OOUX helps determine what makes each object unique, by breaking it down into ist elements:
- core content
- metadata
- related objects
- user actions.
I won’t go over the definition process. Many others have already written about this. Check out “What is object oriented UX?” from Dale Owen if you want to know more.
Instead, I want to go through some examples and explain how we can use those elements’ unique properties. I am not saying those companies used an OOUX approach, but they will help me to illustrate the mindset and approach.
Core content & Metadata — TikTok
The core content and the metadata refer to the object’s unique information. For example, an article’s core content elements would be the headline, title image, and body copy. Metadata includes additional information like the publishing date or views. Inspecting these elements helps to understand what differentiates our content.
TikTok is a great example. It shows how the content’s properties can change the UI model. TikTok is all about providing a personalized video feed. Looking at it superficially, they could have just used YouTube’s feed.
But TikTok looked at what makes their content unique. Applying an OOUX mindset, the most interesting object is the “post” populating the feed. Two things stand out. First, the videos are very short, with only a couple of seconds of runtime. Which meant the usual distinction between browsing and watching made little sense. Second, opting for a truly mobile experience, their videos would be portrait mode. This meant users could browse and watch in the same orientation, one video at a time. The design decision to merge the browse and watch experience into one stream with autoplay broke all kinds of conventions. Yet, by doing so, it created a unique and engaging experience that is even borderline addictive.
Related content — Uber eats
Related content refers to the object’s associations with other objects. In our article example, those could be the author, the category, or another article. Focusing on the relationships can help emphasize the mental model and create more transparency.
Uber Eats is a great example. Compared with other delivery services, Uber goes beyond just giving you a receipt and an estimated arrival time.
When other delivery apps’ experiences stop, Uber Eats’ is just starting. Looking at it through the lens of OOUX, the key object is the “order” and its related objects: the restaurant and the delivery driver. Uber Eats’ delivery status screen, showing the prepping, the handover, and the delivery, makes those relationships transparent. Uber Eats doesn’t actually know when a restaurant is prepping the food. It is a white lie. Yet their paradigm creates transparency and trust with users. The focus on those relationships makes an otherwise abstract process tangible.
User action — Tinder
User actions describe the interactions with the content. Think about actions like “read”, “saved for later”, or “comment” for our article example. Listing and ranking all potential user actions is a great way to understand each interaction’s priority for the experience.
Tinder is an excellent example fro user actions. It is known for its iconic swipe-right interaction. Tinder could have just followed the feed pattern of Facebook or Instagram. It is just about photos and the people behind them. “Like” or “nope” could have stayed buttons, just like Facebook’s iconic “Like”.
Looking at Tinder from an OOUX point of view, the “potential mate” and its user actions are key. Tinder understood that the selection moment is what makes them unique. They wanted to provide a quick and easy method for their key interaction to decide if a user is a match or not. The now-iconic swipe-right gesture was actually discovered accidentally when Jonathan Badeen (Co-Founder of Tinder) wiped his bathroom mirror. Together with the card stack, they created a new UI paradigm that was simpler and more engaging than other dating apps.
Summary
Looking at established players for inspiration is a good starting point. For the majority of our apps, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Yet, I want to encourage us to go beyond the beaten path for those unique moments. Our job as designers is to make applications stand out against their competition. Replicating what others already did will not do this justice. Innovation is and has always been part of our DNA.
Next time you design an app, consider its unique selling points. OOUX can help you understand your content’s unique traits. This knowledge will enable you to find creative solutions to make them stand out. At worst, it helps you to customize existing patterns and tailor them to your content’s unique properties. At best, it leads to something engaging, playful, and memorable. You might even invent a new paradigm and extend the toolbox for all of us.
Thanks to Guus Baggermans for the help and input on this article. Follow me for more thoughts about OOUX in the future. In the meantime, check out some of my previous articles on OOUX for more.
