I don’t care what Airbnb is doing. (And neither should you.)

Stephen Hay I don’t care what Airbnb is doing. (And neither should you.)

“Hey, can we do that like Airbnb does?”

Photo: Alex E. Proimos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/4199675334/

“Hey, can we do that like [insert any name from the greener grass on the other side] does?”

Design sameness. Image: Dave Ellis. http://www.novolume.co.uk/blog/all-websites-look-the-same/

We rely on conventions because they will often give us an acceptable solution with a minimum of effort.

You never know for sure. You have to follow the link to find out. We’ve made a convention for the form, but not for the content.

We’re developing expertise in choosing rather than in thinking.

As choosers of existing solutions, we’re not the ones thinking up the solutions to choose from.

Trying to be different by imitating “different” won’t make you different. There’s nothing in the comfort zone that doesn’t belong there.

Photo: Shal Farley. https://www.flickr.com/photos/99525316@N00/8464433312/

“But… my work is based on tried and true conventions. That’s good for users. What’s wrong with that?”

That’s not always true. 2. You don’t learn much from blindly using conventions.

Our work doesn’t need to be different. It should be appropriate.

Appropriate design offers creative wiggle-room. Convention, by contrast, doesn’t care about your specific problem.

Stop focusing on the solution, and start focusing on the problem.

Getting to appropriate design: one approach → Learning Critical thinking Explore/Exploit → → → Search for evidence Expertise

Learning → Expertise → → → Search for evidence Explore/ Exploit Search for evidence Be wary of information cascades

“With many individuals, with virtual certainty a point is reached where an individual rationally ignores his private information and bases his decision solely upon what he sees predecessors do. The accumulated evidence from predecessors outweighs his private information. The decision of this individual n is uninformative to later choosers. Thus, individual n+1 is no better informed than individual n, so she joins the cascade.” — David Hirshleifer, 1997.

How do they know? How do I know? How do you know?

“Misunderstanding no. 1: General, theoretical (context independent) knowledge is more valuable than concrete, practical (context dependent) knowledge.” — Bent Flyvbjerg, 2006.

Ask yourself in what ways solution x applies to your scenario, and in what ways it doesn’t. What assumptions does the solution make?

Learning → Expertise → → → Search for evidence Explore/ Exploit Learning & Expertise Write about what you learn

Learning → Expertise → → → Search for evidence Explore/ Exploit Learning & Expertise Keep a notes archive

Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten

https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/

Learning → Expertise → → → Search for evidence Explore/ Exploit Explore/Exploit Know when to explore new ideas, and when to exploit existing ones.

More time = explore Less time = exploit

Learning → Expertise → → → Search for evidence Explore/ Exploit Explore/Exploit When exploring, do zero-based (aka first principles) thinking.

Learning → Expertise → → → Search for evidence Explore/ Exploit Search for evidence, again How did your solution work? How didn’t it? Document it!

When someone asks you to follow a certain convention, get the evidence. Ask Tufte's most important question, and see where it leads you.

No matter where you end up, you will have learned. You will have sidestepped simple choosing, and followed the harder but more rewarding path of critical thinking.

Thank you! @stephenhay

Stephen Hay I don’t care what Airbnb is doing. (And neither should you.)