In a famous quote, Bill Gates once opined, “I choose a lazy person to do a hard job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.” While some may disagree with this approach to problem-solving, it touches upon a core principle of UX design that every UX designer should embrace.
The Agile methodology emphasizes the importance of a minimum viable product (MVP) in validating a direction by obtaining the maximum amount of information with the least effort. In essence, the goal is to be as efficient as possible – a philosophy that resonates with many of us. For UX designers, this is a familiar concept, as each Agile sprint is geared towards achieving just the right level of functionality to launch a product. However, I believe that we can take this principle one step further.
I advocate for striving for 80% satisfaction on any project or task, as this threshold is generally good enough for most purposes. Suppose you spend ten hours working on a project and attain 80% satisfaction. Pursuing a 90% satisfaction level may require an additional five hours of work, while achieving 95% satisfaction could require ten extra hours. In such scenarios, it takes a considerable amount of effort to gain only a modest increase in satisfaction.
The main issue with this is that 80% satisfaction is often good enough to move on to the next project, where the value provided may be more significant. While it may not be perfect, reaching the 80% mark is often the cue to transfer the ticket to the “Review” column and shift focus to the next task at hand.