Every Design is a Redesign

Principles and Pitfalls

Product designers and UX professionals often fall into the trap of confusing personal truths with universal ones, assuming that what works well for them will work for everyone else. This common pitfall stems from our human tendency to organize and categorize things, creating an illusion of rational order where it might not exist. The key to avoiding this is to recognize that while we naturally seek to solve problems quickly, overthinking can actually hinder effective solutions – especially in design work where user needs and behaviors are complex and varied.

One of the most valuable insights for designers is understanding the difference between activity and achievement, or as it relates to design work, distinguishing between process and actual progress. It's easy to get caught up in the motion of designing – creating multiple iterations, conducting endless research, or continuously refining features – without moving toward meaningful outcomes. Success comes from maintaining a clear focus on whether these activities align with critical goals and user needs, while remaining humble enough to question assumptions and maintain curiosity about what might be missing from our understanding. This balance between confident decision-making and openness to new insights is crucial for creating effective user experiences.

• The Lazy Tyranny of the Wait Calculation

• Axioms are not Truths

• Confusing Progress with Performance

• Confusing Motion with Momentum

• Confusing Debates with Decisions

• Confusing Confidence with Competence

The Great Mental Models Series by Shane Parrish of Farnam Street

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Business Frameworks are UX Frameworks: A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is analogous to a UX heuristic review of your and your competitors’ experiences. Business mental models, such as anchoring, recency bias, and sunk cost fallacy, are based on the availability heuristic — we tend to recall what is essential, frequent, or recent.

Mental Models Make Sense

A deep understanding of mental models is essential for creating intuitive digital experiences that resonate with users. These frameworks help us decode how people think, make decisions, and interact with products. The McKinsey 7S Model can guide how we structure our product teams and strategies, while frameworks like MINDSPACE illuminate the subtle forces that shape user behavior - from how default settings influence choices to how visual salience guides attention. By incorporating these insights into our design process, we can create experiences that feel natural and effortless to users, aligning with their existing mental models rather than forcing them to learn new ones.

The most powerful aspect of mental models in UX and product design is their ability to simplify complexity and reveal counterintuitive truths. They teach us that sometimes the best interface is invisible, that adding more features can actually reduce usability, and that different design approaches can achieve equivalent user outcomes. When we strip away assumptions and return to first principles, we often discover that the simplest solution is the most effective - even though our natural tendency is to add complexity. These models remind us that great product design isn't about adding more; it's about understanding deeply how users think and behave, then designing experiences that feel like they've always existed.

• McKinsey 7-S Framework

• MINDSPACE Framework

• Simply Invert, Always Invert

• First Principles and Mental Model Examples

• 7 Theories on Thinking from Daniel Kahneman

• First Principles and Analogy in Design

Systems Thinking for the Win

Systems thinking fundamentally shifts how designers approach complex problems, moving beyond simple cause-and-effect relationships to understanding interconnected networks of elements. Rather than optimizing individual components, which can often lead to unintended consequences, try "sub-optimizing" - making balanced, incremental progress while considering the broader system context. This means acknowledging that most design challenges involve multiple competing objectives and that seemingly straightforward solutions (like scaling an existing system) can sometimes worsen the original problem.

The most effective approach to systems-level challenges depends heavily on the environment you're working in. In open systems taking a bold "Mastermind" approach with comprehensive solutions can work well. However, in more rigid environments, adopting a "Systems Whisperer" mindset - focusing on subtle changes to incentives and leveraging opportunistic moments - often proves more effective. The key is to maintain continuous assessment, embrace adaptability, and iterate based on real-world feedback rather than seeking perfect solutions. Designers should remember that complex systems are never truly "designed" by anyone but evolve over time through countless interactions and adaptations.

• Optimizing Problems Can Backfire

• System Tools are Not Design Tools

• More Efficiency Leads to More Consumption

• Asking 'What's the Problem?' is a Trap

• Open Systems Aren't "Designed" by Anyone

• Honor the Complexity of Systems

• A Systems Function Can Not Be Predicted from Its Parts

About Design Reframe

Reframe from key principles.

UX and product design has always been about redesigning, often doesn’t start from zero and adapts to better address challenges.

Design Reframe is a collection of tenets, mental models, and systems thinking for (re)framing how to approach UX and product design.

Process is a tool, not a rule.

Design Reframe is another UX How Tool from Method Toolkit LLC.

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About UX How and T. Parke

UX How is a set of UX & Product Design “How To” sites with insights, resources, and blueprints for Design, UX and AI.

T. Parke is the Director of UX How with prior experience at ESPN, Disney, and Alaska Airlines. He has previously been a design leader on projects for Rolling Stone, Microsoft, Nickelodeon, and Marvel.

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