Are You Obsessed With Usability?

UX Insights - User Experience Leadership and Strategy

I bet that subject line made you think this email was going to be about the importance of focusing on usability. But actually, we shouldn't be.

Too many UX designers I meet are obsessed with making things as seamless and streamlined as possible. That’s great—up to a point. But usability isn't our entire job. In fact, focusing too much on usability can make an experience feel sterile, even soulless.

Let’s take a slot machine as an example. If you handed a slot machine over to the average UX designer, they’d probably strip it down to its most minimal form: no flashing lights, no spinning reels—just a plain screen that instantly tells you if you won or lost. Maybe it wouldn’t even require you to press a button! It could just detect when you put in money and deliver the result instantly.

And yet, we all know that’s not how slot machines work. Because they’re not just about usability. They’re about anticipation, excitement, and emotional engagement. The flashing lights, the spinning reels, the suspense—they all play a crucial role in making the experience what it is.

Learning from Customer Experience Professionals

This is where UX designers can learn a lot from customer experience (CX) professionals, especially those who design offline experiences. They understand that the way people feel about an experience matters just as much—if not more—than how easy it is to use.

In fact, this is why I often think of myself as a Customer Experience professional rather than a UX designer. I've found that embracing the broader CX perspective allows me to consider the entire customer journey, including offline touchpoints and the entirety of the experience, rather than fixating solely on digital usability.

CX professionals measure things like brand perception and emotional engagement. They think about how an experience builds loyalty. And just like them, we need to work alongside marketers, sales teams, and customer support to align our designs with broader business goals—not just usability scores.

Beyond Usability Metrics

If we only measure usability, we miss the bigger picture. Instead of just tracking usability testing results, we should be looking at Net Promoter Scores (NPS), customer service feedback, and online sentiment analysis. AI has made it easier than ever to analyze reviews, support tickets, and social media comments to see not just what users find easy, but how they actually feel about their interactions with a product.

A Restaurant Is More Than Just Food

Think about a restaurant. From a usability perspective, as long as you get seated quickly, can order easily, and receive food that meets your nutritional needs, the job is done. But we all know that’s not what makes a restaurant great.

The ambiance, the presentation, the service, the flavors—these are the things that turn a meal into an experience worth remembering. UX is no different. If we focus solely on making things usable, we risk creating experiences that are efficient but forgettable.

So, let’s stop designing slot machines that just say “win” or “lose” and start crafting experiences that truly engage people. Because usability alone isn’t enough—it’s how we make people feel that ultimately matters.