Beyond the happy path - designing with failure in mind

[Original video] As a staff product designer at Strava, I think often of how we need to be designing products to fail. This article will unpack why it's important to consider the potential for failure when designing digital products.

Designing for the happy path

When designing digital products, Duskis explains that we often design for the "happy path". This is the ideal user experience, where users are taken through a series of steps and have a great experience. However, Duskis warns that this can be blinding to the potential for failure.

The shadow of failure

Duskis explains that every product has a "shadow" - the potential for failure. This could be anything from someone's account being compromised, to their financial information being stolen, to the product being used to gain access to deeper reserves of data.

Designing for failure

So how do we design for failure? Duskis suggests starting by thinking about second order effects. This is the impact of the product, beyond the happy path. This could take the form of a brainstorm, or a group workshop, to consider how the product could be subverted.

When considering second order effects, Duskis suggests thinking about the knowns and unknowns of how the product could be hacked. For social media platforms, this could include considering how an account could be compromised, how spam could be prevalent, and how the platform could be used to troll other users.

It's also important to consider ways for users to report when something is not working as intended. This helps to change the outcomes and impact of the product.

Conclusion

Designing for failure is an important part of creating digital products. By considering second order effects, and thinking about the knowns and unknowns of how the product could be hacked, we can create products that are secure and safe for users.