What Star Wars can teach us about the UX?

Have you ever thought that UX Design may be considered as a mysterious force that binds people and objects together? If you like to inspire yourself from other sources, like books or movies, this may be useful tips for you.

Star Wars Saga is now completed, and I decided to gather some quotes that may teach us something precious about the UX.

Grab the mug of your coffee, and enjoy the article!

Star Wars Thoughts for UX Designers

 

“Do or do not. There is no try.”
-Yoda

Build, Ship, Validate, and Learn. This way, you may design better products. If you only try to make them by pushing pixels, you will never know if they are matching user needs.


 

“You must unlearn what you have learned.”

– Yoda

As designers, we learn patterns and build design systems. They become our routine. However, to match users’ needs, we have to keep a fresh eye and emphatic with them. Sometimes it is even necessary to break patterns. Only this way we can create something better.


 

“The greatest teacher, failure is.”

– Yoda

Everyone makes mistakes, but this is an opportunity to learn something. Even if the first iteration does not work well for users, observe them, and enhance it with data from the research.


 

“Pass on what you have learned.”

– Yoda

If you are building a big solution, you cannot do this alone. Teach your team members, build a design system that you can share with other designers.


 

“If there’s a bright center to the universe, you’re on the planet that it’s farthest from.”

– Luke Skywalker.

We sometimes think that to make the greatest products, we have to work in Silicon Valley. However, it is not about a place, but being a smart, hard-working human being that connects with others like you. Even Luke Skywalker came from “nowhere,” but through his determination, he changed the entire galaxy by helping to destroy the evil empire. 😉 In the real world, look for talented Teams working remotely (Sketch, InVision, Basecamp, etc.). They shape the digital industry with people working with them all over the world!


 

“You want the impossible.”

– Luke Skywalker.

I think that you may have spoken this way to your clients or stakeholders 😉 At first, some of their ideas seem to be hard to achieve, but sometimes these crazy ones can change the entire industry. Try to figure out the way you can help to design the thing by discovering a real purpose or a need. Remember the first iPhone? Lots of “wise heads” leading large corporations did not believe in this device. You know what happened next.


 

“The Force is not a power you have. It’s not about lifting rocks. It’s the energy between all things, a tension, a balance that binds the universe together.”

– Luke Skywalker

Let’s try to remake the quote this way:
“UX is not the power you have. It’s not about pushing the pixels. It’s the relation between user and product, a balance that binds users and businesses to help to accomplish their goals.”

 

“That Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity.”

– Luke Skywalker

Let’s remake this quote:
“That UX does not belong to the Designers. To say that if the Designer is not part of the Team, the UX is not shaped, is vanity.”

To sum up the above two quotes. We often think that we designers have “powers” to create user experience. This is mistake, the user experience is always present! What’s more, were are not lone heroes that fight with “bad UX” to shape something delightful by ourselves. As designers, we have to help all team members face obstacles and find the right solutions. This way, our products gain unique synergy between business, technology, and user needs. We all have the ability to create good UX.


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“You’re going to find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.”

– Obi-Wan Kenobi

We often tend to use the same patterns everywhere. However, copying the navigation from Amazon to your local store website may not be the best choice. What works for Amazon may not work for your client. Always do the right research and discover the “truth” and the right solution.


 

“Who is more foolish? The fool or the fool who follows him?”

– Obi-Wan Kenobi

I remember the hype for “side menu”, when everyone has placed this type of pattern because one famous app has implemented it. Unfortunately, it was not so good for users. They could not find lots of features. A few years later, this app validated the idea and changed the pattern, but still, there are lots of solutions using the side menu without reflection.
Remember to validate even popular patterns on your own!


 

“Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.”

– Darth Vader

Lots of businesses rely on top technology. They think that the technology used to build the product will be the core advantage. However, if the team will forget about shaping good UX or will sacrifice it only to focus on tech – this product will fail.

We have seen it many times – Microsoft was the first who build a modern tablet, but the UX of the software was not adjusted to it, and only a few people remember about that. However, we all remember that Apple introduced the iPhone and iPad that worked excellently, and they revolutionized the industry.

It is necessary for the product to have good UX to succeed. Tech should adapt to the UX never opposite.


 

“Your Focus Determines Your Reality”

– Qui-Gon Jinn

There are many situations that we spend time on solving the wrong issue. It is because we did not focus on finding the right problem to solve. When we focus on one thing, we forgot about the wider perspective, which is crucial for shaping good UX.

 

 

To conclude

All of these quotes from Star Wars are also relevant if you think of UX Design. I hope you have found them useful. If you seek for more inspiration feel free to subscribe the newsletter

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Thanks for reading!