The People vs Henry Ford

The People vs Ford

You have probably heard about ux-principles like “you are not your user” and “the user is always right” ment to make sure we creatives get out of our own heads and focus on the pains and gains of the actual user.

Good thinking when it comes to identifying problems and tracking the trends and needs of existing users. But sometimes these principles are insufficient as stimulants for groundbreaking new solutions. I believe we designers need to take responsibility for innovation and make sure we bring fresh ideas and solutions not directly asked for. Like Henry Fold (allegedly) said:

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

And he didn’t go about breeding horses, did he? No - he acknowledged the need for faster and less hay-dependent transportation but invented new and affordable CARS along with efficient ways of manufacturing and distributing them. So:

Let’s learn all about our users but let’s not count on them for doing the innovation for us.