UX Theatre

UX Theatre, a term to describe those projects that only pay lip service to user-centered design, coined by Tanya Snook:

A few projects I’ve come across recently are doing UX theatre, not actual user-centered design. Sadly, it’s becoming more prevalent as execs learn the term UX but their teams aren’t empowered to do all the work that UX entails.

Organizations have latched on to “user-centered design” as a buzzword. In many cases, executives seem to misinterpret it as a euphemism for “thinking from a user’s perspective.” They don’t fund user research or provide project owners the latitude to create teams that include UX and service designers. For all the talk about users, there is no consideration given to including them in the design and delivery process.

June 5, 2021