The UX of the Irrational or The Blue Sock Dilemma

The number two question I'm always asked is, "Why do we need UX Research?" The number one question is, "Why is Gamora?" But I digress.

Colleagues new to UX think it's all just a matter of "making it intuitive" or "applying common sense." After I'm pulled off these people and sedated, I use the Blue Sock example (which I cleverly made up myself, based on my choice in socks).

Humans like to think of themselves as rational creatures. But by and large, we aren't. We can be, if needed, but it isn't our default mode. We live our life based on impulses, instincts, and arbitrary actions.

Imagine you have a drawer of only blue socks. Same color blue. It's all you wear. Every day you pick a pair of blue socks to put on.

How do you determine which pair to pick? They all look the same, they all go with your clothes equally well. They're virtually identical.

You make an irrational decision. Maybe one calls out to your spirit animal. Maybe one just happens to be closer to your hand. Whatever. It is not a rational decision. In my case, I sometimes take a full minute to decide. Why? No idea.

Now pretend that you are the manufacturer of blue socks. You want your socks picked instead of a competitor's socks. How do you do that?

You watch people picking their socks. You change the location of the socks to see if that has any impact. Folded or unfolded. Does logo placement matter? Oh look! If you put a small red thread in the toe, the user selects your blue sock 25% more often. We have a recommendation to improve adoption!

Maybe that result would have been"common sense" to someone. Maybe it wouldn't have. Maybe a different color will end up improving selection time. You use the research to make better, data driven decisions about how to influence the way the user interacts with your product and your story.

Common sense can only take you so far.

Thanks for reading!