The Challenge of Expertise in Design: A Bias that Skews Communication

Designers often find that their extensive knowledge of users can become a hindrance.

During user testing, unexpected behaviours and surprising opinions frequently emerge. While these insights are invaluable, leveraging them effectively can be tricky.

You might encounter a scenario where you know an opinion about your users is incorrect but struggle to convince your team. Or you may passionately share an observation, only to be met with blank stares.

This phenomenon is known as the Challenge of Expertise, where profound understanding makes communication difficult.

If you've faced this, here’s how to tackle it.

Why Expertise Can Be a Barrier: Facts vs. Perceptions

The Challenge of Expertise often arises because you assume others have the same context or knowledge you do.

You've seen users behave a certain way, so it’s obvious to you: users do X, or they don’t do Y.

However, without direct quotes, user insights, and links at hand, an outsider might view this as your opinion.

If your insights sound like a designer’s opinion, your team might listen but not prioritize them over a product manager's or a senior executive's opinion.

Here’s a three-step method to bridge that gap.

Establish Common Ground: Clarify the "Why"

In Articulating Design Decisions, Tom Greever emphasizes the importance of establishing common ground at the start of any discussion.

This sets the stage for cohesive communication. Begin by rephrasing and summarizing the problem neutrally.

For instance, if your Product Manager says, "Users probably want to avoid accidentally deleting something, so let’s add a triple confirmation to our modal actions."

This statement has two parts, and we should focus on one:

• The problem: Concern about users accidentally deleting something
• The (suboptimal) Design Solution: Add triple-confirmation to all modal actions

Acknowledge the problem first. Instead of jumping to "No, you're wrong," show you’re listening.

You can say, “So what I’m hearing is…”

“So what I’m hearing is that there are concerns about users accidentally deleting something."

Once you establish that, delve deeper into the problem.

Frame the Problem by Asking the Right Questions

Next, frame the business problem to uncover the right design solution.

Based on the summarized problem, ask follow-up questions like:

• Why would users want to delete something in the first place? What's the use case for a Delete button?
• Can we implement a “Temporary Delete” option, like moving files to Trash?
• Is creating something complex? If so, we don’t want users to delete it accidentally.
• Does creating something involve dependencies where accidental deletion affects other processes?

These questions help you understand the business problem better and identify targeted feedback.

For example, understanding that accidental deletion is primarily a dependency issue allows you to find relevant user quotes or feedback.

You might then say:

“So what I’m hearing is that there are concerns about users accidentally deleting something. We’re mainly worried about dependencies: if they delete the wrong thing, it can potentially affect many other processes.”

Overcoming Expertise Barriers: Speak for the User, Not Yourself

Remember, communication issues often stem from appearing as “your opinion” rather than user-backed facts.

Remove your ego and think of yourself as the user’s advocate. You’re not voicing your opinion; you’re representing what the user thinks.

Clearly outline the business problem and back it up with user quotes, findings, and other insights.

For example:

“I’m hearing concerns about users accidentally deleting something. Our main worry is dependencies: if they delete the wrong thing, it affects many processes. User feedback shows they already find the process too lengthy. Adding extra steps will increase friction.”

This approach helps avoid the pitfalls of being seen as opinionated.

Simplify Your Expertise: Explain to Novices

Realize that once you start analyzing user feedback, you become the expert.

It doesn’t matter if the analysis took hours or months; your team might be hearing about it for the first time.

Always explain your insights as if your team is new to the data. This helps ensure your expertise enhances communication instead of hindering it.

So, when you hear a wrong opinion based on your user knowledge, pause before responding. Check if it’s the challenge of expertise at play.

If it is, bring more context to the table to make your knowledge a boon, not a curse.

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