This manifesto is a declaration of principals curated by UX Designers around the globe. We should hold them dear in order to champion the needs of the user.
By borrowing from the principle of bidirectional search we can achieve a higher quality product in a shorter period of time if we test broadly and refine our solution rather than trying to solve the problem first time of asking.
Hypothesis over assumptions
Assumptions lack a falsifiable test that you can use to demonstrate it's value. Always add rigour to your ideas through experimentation.
Small over large
We can solve big complex problems by breaking it down into smaller working systems. By using Gall's Law we're able to deliver small continous improvements.
Collaboration over Specification
A team that has a shared understanding through strong collaboration trumps siloed individuals handing detailed specifications to one another.
Learning over delivery
Borrowing Lean Startup's 'validated learning' we can master the art of work not done, only building outcomes that deliver for the user.
Share early and often
Just as shipping early and brings a tight feedback loop between the business and the customer so too should your work between UX and the rest of the organisation.
Everyone does design
Even when your not in a cross-functional team people are making design decisions that ultimately impact the user's experience. Embrace it and evangelise the user's needs to help everyone make better decisions.
Conversations are expensive, keep them short, do them often
Some organisations spend so much time talking they never start building. By bringing insight to a conversation and ending a conversation when you need insight you will stop talking around the thing and move towards building the thing.
Having face to face conversations create meaningful connections between people but only between those present for as long as they can recall. Create records of your interactions as if you were in a remote team to reference and build a shared understanding across your team.
(in)validated learning is our primary measure of success
As the owners of the discovery track we should celebrate the failures that we save the business from. Only when the best solutions pass our rigorous testing can we be satisfied that we have reduced the risk of failing to meet the desired user outcomes.
The innovator's bias is well documented, it impacts how we value ideas we've curated much like the Ikea effect. By using first principles we can temper our ideas against objective measures. By testing our ideas with users we can retrain ourselves to serve the user and not our own mental model of their problems.