Navigating Complex UX Projects: What you Should Know

It’s tempting to think UX research and design practice is all sunshine and roses. It’s not. While some UX projects are straightforward, others can sometimes be highly complex. Imagine you’re in a product design role and are tasked with developing a highly complex system. If you feel overwhelmed, don’t, and just read on to the very end.

Complexity in UX and Design product roles can be real. Think an inordinate number of choices every step of the way; think loads of variables, dependencies, delicate tradeoffs, alternative paths, and different expectations not only from what your customers need and want but also from what your functional partners can and cannot deliver. Those can manifest in technical and technological limitations, constraints, progress hurdles, dead ends, difficult conversations, and questions sometimes frontloaded to you — the UX PoC. How about those tight deadlines which you must meet! Your task is to carry this heavy load on your shoulders, run with it, and miraculously find your way out of this uncharted maze.

No kidding! I’ve just painted a grim picture of what handling a complex UX project may look like. But is it really the case? I don’t think so, or at least it doesn’t have to be. When faced with complexity, don’t succumb to this kind of narrative.

True. Complex UX projects come with enormous challenges, however with enormous challenges come unique opportunities, opportunities to bring all of you to act on your analytical, interpersonal, and creative faculties. Here is your chance to innovate, invent, and problem-solve. You may fail on your way, but there is nothing more refreshing than getting back up, honing your direction and view with every iteration and every attempt. With discipline, you and your team will score small victories on a collective journey to a new, undiscovered destination, which is immensely gratifying.

In this article, I’d like to share a few tips on navigating the complexities and uncertainties you’ll face as a UX Researcher and Designer so you can come out on the other side of the UX tunnel into broad daylight. Make no mistake! You may see light on your journey, but it isn’t always what you might think it is, sometimes it can be light emanating from an oncoming train you’re about to collide with (adapted from a quote by Robert Lowell).

Let’s springboard our discussion with two questions: