Solving Complex Problems with UX Design

An Interview with Neil Harner

Image Courtesy of Neil Harner

Neil Harner is Thomas Jefferson University’s Program Director for the User Experience & Interaction Design graduate program housed within the School of Design & Engineering. He is also the Founder and CEO of Inverse Paradox, an award-winning Pennsylvania-based digital agency. His work focuses on developing the next generation of UX designers.

What makes your program unique?



Our program has three unique qualities. First, our program is highly informed by industry. We’ve built close relationships with the agencies and technology companies in the greater Philadelphia region and they help inform our curriculum to make sure our instruction is always aligned to industry-demand. Secondly, half of our students are international which is wonderful to the student experience. It creates a program which provides a global view on design since the cohort becomes highly reliant on one another as they progress. And finally, our ties to Jefferson Health allow many students interested in the area of healthcare to create concentration and connections within their study if they choose.



How do you define UX Design?

Personally, I’m not a fan of the two-letter acronym because it’s become a sexy label that is often misunderstood and a lot of that is perpetuated by industry who chooses to misrepresent the discipline because they know there are many designers seeking that title. I prefer to eliminate the title as much as possible and break it down into its component parts. And if I answer the question a little more directly, that’s how I see UX. It’s a complex set of components and relationships between the components in design that ultimately results in potentially the best possible product for a specific audience.



How do you explain the field of Human-Computer Interaction?

Life. It’s amazing how much HCI drives our day-to-day lives isn’t it? We take it for granted to be quite honest. To me, the first exercise in understanding the importance of HCI is creating awareness about your own relationship with technology. I often make students do a daylong exercise where they must journal every interaction and then break down their interactions into an assessment of how that interaction benefited their daily lives. And they have to translate this into definitions of value.

What is your approach to educating students?



I treat every classroom like I’m running an agency studio. I’m their director or team lead and they are my team. I certainly provide instruction, but we take on projects which create challenges that are aligned to the real world. Students work collaboratively and execute on various tasks that drive towards a successful product.



What trends are you seeing in UX design and Human-computer interaction?

This is a tough question to answer. In terms of technology and UI trends, I’m seeing a lot of interest in Voice UIs and VR/AR. But to me, it’s taking on a very technology-centered approach where we aren’t pausing enough to say “why?” — I love the tech but all too often companies want to get a thing just to say they have it without really assessing if its needed and valuable to the people they’re intended for. On a more positive note, I’m seeing that there’s an increasing number of positions and roles in UX research, which is encouraging because this has always seemed to be the component of UX that’s rushed or completely disregarded.



Why is this work important?



I’ve always felt that a strong UX process is really about getting out of your own way. Designers, professionals, companies, etc. can all get stuck because they are looking at things through their own lens. The ability to have processes and tools to force you to really address the needs of the target audience I often discover gets you to better solutions quicker, more cost effectively and/or better quality.



How is this work being integrated with fields like data science, statistics, and communications?



Perhaps more of a general answer, I think UX is inherently a multidisciplinary field that requires a strong ability to collaborate. One of the other things that’s encouraging is that more and more companies are incorporating UX designers throughout different departments for varying projects. In my opinion, just a few years ago, many UX designers were either siloed on their own design team or things were more of a waterfall process where UX was a thing you do in the beginning of a project and then you move on. Although this is still the case in many places, more companies are pulling UXers into the entire scope of a project and working with different teams to further be integrated.



What is the role of design thinking in this work?



Design thinking really applies a framework to the overall design process regardless of the design discipline. But more importantly, I think too many people get focused on the outcome not the process. In the field of UX, its all about the journey so alignment to various design thinking models that guide the journey is a necessity. I also feel that the designers who have a strong competency for design thinking are often the people that find themselves the leaders because they are able to more successfully solve complex problems.



What is the role of storytelling in this work?



If it’s all about the journey, being able to tell the story about the journey is just as important. You can be an incredible designer and solve complex problems but if you can’t help people to understand problems and solutions through highly relatable and strong stories, you often don’t get their buy-in. Storytelling is one of the most important tools a strong designer has and the best are the ones who can take a problem or solution and quickly pivot the story to make it relatable to the audience. It’s an exercise in not only communication but empathy.



Are there design or product development frameworks that you subscribe to?



In our program we generally focus on two models for solving complex problems. We focus on the Double Diamond and Build-Measure-Learn. They are two very different approaches but training students for these generally gives them a good balance for dealing with problems of varying complexity and scope.



What skills are most important in the development of future UX design professionals?



Design thinking, strong research strategies, information architecture and a comprehension for emerging technologies.



What is the future of UX design and Human-computer interaction?



The landscape of technology and possible user interfaces is going to become increasingly dense so I foresee growth in the field as a whole which means more jobs and larger teams within UX. My sincerest hope is that these disciplines within UX/HCI and their value grow to the point that we no longer refer to things in these ambiguous umbrella terms but really respect the specificity in the roles and practices of those people. This also has the additional benefit of solutions being further collaborative in nature versus depending on sometimes a sole designer.