Yesterday, a friend asked me about UX and why do I care so much about it.
As I’ve described before in a contest entry about valuable design outcomes, I would like to believe that advocating for UX is an exercise of pragmatic idealism.
In recent years, I realized that I can’t be one of those people who can “change the world” by being an outspoken activist or by building a non-profit organization to promote a certain cause. We seek solutions to the world’s biggest problems, you see, only to find out that they’re merely band-aids.
After taking stock of what I can and can’t do, it dawned on me that in order for me to help change the world (so idealistic, yes?) using my strengths, I would have to be more realistic. Employing pragmatic tools and methodologies is a good start.
This is where advocating for user-centered technology comes in.
Technology doesn’t have to make us “less human”. The supposedly cold, soulless AIs and bots are already here, but I’m still hopeful that we can create technologies that will not take “humanity” out of us.
Man and machine working together
There’s a lot of talk about the impending man vs. machine doom, but what if we aim for man and machine working together?
The more we advocate for user-centered tech through user research, the more it will help us understand each other. Understanding begets empathy. Empathy begets kindness.
When you put technology out there with empathy as one of its cornerstones, the chances are high that people will treat their fellow humans the same way.
For instance, when you’re effortlessly booking a ride home from a tired day at work via a ride-hailing app, you’re less likely to get grumpy by the time you get home. This might mean that you’re less likely to snap back at your partner who didn’t even bother to cook dinner. In short, you’re going to be more patient and kinder.
Imagine if you were having issues using the ride hailing app. You’re probably going to project your anger and frustration to your clueless partner. And the cycle of hatred and indifference begins.
It sounds tad simplistic but I’m banking for now on the school of thought that before we seek solutions to the world’s biggest problems like terrorism, world hunger, corruption etc, why don’t we start with the idea of treating each other with compassion, kindness, and openness?
Technology is a pragmatic tool that can help us accomplish this idealistic goal, don’t you think?