Think it through, and you will sleep well

Joshua Porter explains why UX designers sleep well at night:

People who ruthlessly prototype are in a big way setting their mind at ease because they’ve seen the future… they know what works and what doesn’t. That’s a pretty big deal… people work better when they are calm and fully understand the situation they’re in.

There is a useful connection here with the principle that good design is thorough down to the last detail. That sounds, at first, like a principle aimed at users: fewer gaps, fewer surprises, fewer rough edges.

But thoroughness also changes the designer’s position. Prototyping forces decisions into the open while they can still be changed. It replaces vague confidence with evidence, which is a much better sleeping aid than taste.

Good design helps users because someone has already done the worrying on their behalf.