Many products have multiple user groups. Occasionally, those users are at odds with each other. When designing it becomes a challenge to balance those groups. In this keynote for Figma’s Config conference, Sarah Wilson-Reissmann does a great job explaining how Canyon bikes audience changed over the course of the pandemic, and how they addressed the shifting needs.
Contradiction, especially in user experience, is a dynamic tension between two opposing needs / forces / actions. That means user needs are evolving, especially if the product is growing into more or new user groups. We should keep an eye on these shifts. It is important to note that this is slightly different than a design constraint, which is much more constant. Constraints have long been proven to enhance creativity, and we can take a similar mindset when approaching contradiction.
A research paper by Len Malinin, Design Under Contradictory Requirements, which focuses on physical products states: “It is shown that in many cases, the most important step is reframing of the initial problem, which can be done by listing contradictory requirements and indicating to which parts of the object / moments of time/ stages of its life cycle they apply.”
So the questions to be consistently asking when going through user requirements are:
- Do the contradictory requirements apply to the entire or different elements of the product? (Is the need continuous through the user journey?)
- Do the requirements need to be satisfied simultaneously or at different moments of time? (Does this need appear at different times for different users?)
By reframing requirements using these questions, it might limit the actual contradiction. We might find that they are not in fact wholly contradictory users, but users who prefer contradictory features at various parts of their journeys. They might not be diametrically opposed; there is a more complex interaction. Then we can work to prioritize or compromise as necessary.
STAND-UP EXERCISE
Ask your team to watch Sarah Wilson-Reissmann’s keynote above. Together, brainstorm different behavioral spectrums for users of your products. Encourage the team to think on varying levels of detail to create these. Then discuss as a team how keeping in mind these different behavioral needs fit - or don’t - with your assumptions or previously defined personas. Has something shifted that you should continue to be aware of? How can you use these new definitions to help frame features and enhancements moving forward?
