Critical Thinking for UX Designers

Critical thinking can be defined as deliberately analysing information to make better judgements, and well-informed decisions. This includes using logic, reasoning and creativity. It is a broad skill that can be applied to various scenarios. It has a wide range of applications. It can be used in UX design strategy, time management of projects, DesignOps, DevOps, business strategies and effective decision making in UX design studios. Critical thinking also helps you on an individual level to become a high performer, giving you a competitive advantage.

It is an intentional process, a goal oriented thinking. Without goals, it is just over-thinking.

Critical Thinking = 1. Observation   2. Analysis   3. Synthesis

It is essential for you to be curious in order to be good at this skill. Ask a lot of questions, before jumping to any conclusions when gathering data and observing events. Gathering data helps you gain access to a bigger picture. This helps you simplify or understand any complex issues.

These skilled individuals are essential to teamwork, as they are mission-driven, open-minded and empathetic. Being solution focused these people can naturally be categorized into being rational, thoughtful and insightful. These people serve better in roles that demand data-driven solutions, objective analysis and evaluation.

Here are some fundamental questions that can be asked for any situation: What is the hypothesis? Why does it exist? What are other aspects to this hypothesis? Who is this beneficial to? What is the context of this hypothesis? What else? What if?

This is an acquired skill. Here is how one can improve the skill:

• Question everything. Do not make any assumptions, evaluate the data gathered for relevance and truthfulness.
• Keep your actions aligned with your purpose. Always keep a track of your actions by identifying their relevance in terms of your goal. The purpose acts as a guideline for all your actions. This way you can also be able to predict possibilities. Keep checking these predictions with the outcomes, so that you are better equipped in the future.
• Be aware of your thoughts. Human mind is a complex system to understand. A lot of times, the mind works by using heuristics/ thumb rules. These rules are mostly influenced by biases. Hence, hindering the skill essential for objective, productive work. Be aware and switch to more comprehensive thinking.

Critical thinking essentially boosts your success graph in all aspects of life. This is another reason why it is an important requirement to become a successful UX designer -

1. An essential aspectof the design thinking process.
2. It serves as a balance within the experience design process without suppressing creative design process.
3. It will help at the analysis and synthesis stage after the research. where the designers can easily differentiate between signal and noise. And take out insights from the all the information they have gathered.