97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know

Chapter 68. Embrace Your Ignorance

Jon Robinson

In his book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry (W. W. Norton), Neil deGrasse Tyson writes, “Ignorance is the natural state of mind for a research scientist.” This quote instantly struck a chord when I first read it, and although I’ve butchered the exact wording many times in front of an audience, it’s an idea that resonated during a turning point in my career.

When I was a young designer, I thought I knew everything. Before making the jump to UX research and design, I spent more than 10 years working for creative agencies, a community that often relies on knowing—or claiming to know—what an audience wants. But the older I got, and the more experience points I collected, I found discomfort in the confidence of knowing.

Placing too much faith in what I knew only led to inflexibility. Too many failed experiments taught me that assumptions are nothing more than faulty knowledge, but being aware of the knowledge I lacked allowed me to make better, more informed decisions. How? By ignoring my pride and not being afraid to ask any question, no matter how obvious it seemed.

If you want to be a better problem solver, then you need to be more focused on learning than on demonstrating the knowledge you already possess. You can’t be afraid to ask stupid questions and challenge what others “know.” When you hide behind your ignorance—pretending ...