Sometimes, at first glance a design grabs your attention — a real “wow” moment.
That’s exactly how I felt when I first saw this set of cutlery. Beautifully crafted, minimalistic, and undeniably stylish. But as I started eating, I quickly realized they were utterly impractical. The knife was blunt, making cutting difficult, and the food kept slipping through the hole in the middle. Each bite, a mini battle.
Instead of enjoying the delicious meal, I found myself distracted and irritated. It was a pretty design, but it failed where it mattered most; functionality.
This same analogy can be used in software and Product Design. It is exactly why UX (user experience) should be prioritised higher than an attractive UI (user interface).
An attractive UI might grab attention initially, but without a solid UX foundation, it quickly becomes a frustration. Bad UX distracts users from the value of your product and leaves a lasting negative impression — like that restaurant, now remembered as “that place with the annoying cutlery”, instead of “that place with delicious food”.
This is not to say that you cannot have both. But when you have to prioritise one or the other - UX must win.
Takeaways for Product Teams
- First impressions matter, but they fade: beautiful design creates excitement, but poor usability can turn that excitement into annoyance. Your product’s stickiness relies on UX, not UI.
- Bad UX distracts from core value: just like the cutlery distracted me from the food, bad UX keeps users from fully appreciating your product’s strengths. Imagine this happens within that crucial onboarding period where your user is reaching their ‘aha’ moment to finding purpose and value in your software. Customer lost. App uninstalled.
- Lingering sentiment affects retention: while bad UX might not always cause immediate attrition, it damages long-term satisfaction, maybe even lost opportunities with word-of-mouth customer referrals or longer periods in between purchases.
How do I put UX first?
- Start with empathy: understand your users’ needs, contexts, and pain points before you even begin to sketch interfaces or think about aesthetics. Use job stories and create customer journeys.
- Test early and often: perfection is the enemy of progress. Don’t wait for pixel-perfect designs to validate your concepts. Use wireframes or prototypes to identify usability issues and iterate quickly.
- Functionality first: before you worry about colour palettes or typography, make sure users can achieve their goals effortlessly. Remember: a plain knife that works, is always better than a fancy one that doesn’t (say no to egg and pesto stains!)
- Measure what matters: focus on metrics like task completion rates, error rates, and user satisfaction to understand the success of your design, rather than just visual appeal.
The restaurant I visited had excellent food, but their impractical cutlery left a lasting (and not entirely positive) impression. Similarly, your product can have all the right features, but poor UX will overshadow its value. A visually stunning design might grab attention, but it’s a seamless, thoughtful experience that keeps users engaged and coming back.
With this in mind, it’s still okay for the project brief to say, “I want to make it pop!” or “I want us to be different from our competitors”. This creates space for creativity and opportunities for customer enjoyment. However, everything must first be based on a solid foundation of functionality. Think about customer journeys and job stories, what is it that your customer needs to do? In this case, get food into their mouth.
Simplicity is always key. Less clicks, less friction points.
Prioritise UX, and your users will thank you with loyalty and satisfaction.