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UX Design

How to create a product you don't understand

September 4, 2023 1:45 PM

Power Talk

🇵🇱 Polish

Wisła

About

The subject of the presentation is the creation of products/tools that are intended for a specialized target group. How to conduct conversations and collect requirements, how to gain the necessary knowledge to create a product, how to create a design process and concepts, and finally how to conduct tests with users. How to stimulate the imagination to understand the mechanics of the tool? How to approach a topic that is overwhelming and scary at first, if we do not understand the product from both a technical and practical point of view? How to deal with the project, if you are the only designer on the team? I would like to use the case studies - to create tools for the world of gaming.

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Talk by

Photo of Aleksandra Kowalczyk, Senior Product Designer at UX House

Aleksandra Kowalczyk

UX House Aleksandra Kowalczyk at Senior Product Designer

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From the recording

Talk in brief

Designers can work effectively on products they do not personally use by replacing assumed expertise with disciplined questions and shared discovery. In this Polish-language talk, gaming products become an example of entering an unfamiliar domain. The process begins with the business model, user problem, desired value, and definition of success; continues through admitting uncertainty, eliminating unsuitable directions, and testing options; and ends with selling the idea to real recipients. Not understanding the domain is presented as a useful position when it creates curiosity rather than silence.

Key takeaways

01
Personal use is not a design prerequisite
A designer can serve an unfamiliar audience by learning the domain systematically instead of pretending to share its habits.
Watch from 3:21
02
Clarify value before exploring solutions
Teams should define the problem, intended change, and form of return before committing to a product direction.
Watch from 5:51
03
Say plainly when you do not understand
Simple questions create shared ownership and often expose assumptions that experienced domain partners stopped noticing.
Watch from 8:16
04
Use elimination to make ambiguity manageable
When the right answer is unclear, ruling out directions that do not fit can reveal a workable set of options.
Watch from 10:35
05
Test whether the idea can be sold
Presenting the concept to likely users forces the team to hear criticism and learn whether the proposed value is convincing.
Watch from 13:04

Video chapters

1:11A designer’s route into unfamiliar domains
The opening explains how prior education shaped an investigative approach to product work.
3:21Designing products you may never use
Gaming illustrates the challenge of serving customers without sharing their product habits.
5:51Problem, value, and return
Four framing questions establish why the product should exist and what success means.
8:16Admitting uncertainty with product partners
Openly saying “I do not know” changes collaboration and creates space for shared vision.
10:35Narrowing choices by removing wrong paths
Elimination is used as a practical technique when teams cannot name the best option immediately.
13:04Selling the concept to its audience
The product idea is exposed to likely recipients and the criticism that comes with real evaluation.
15:36Unfamiliarity as a source of growth
The conclusion reframes fear and naive questions as engines for imagination and learning.

Read edited transcript highlights

These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.

Empathy does not require identical product habits

A designer may build for gamers, specialists, or other audiences without belonging to that group. The absence of personal use removes one shortcut but does not prevent good work. It makes research, domain conversations, and explicit assumptions more important. The process used for gaming can therefore transfer to any product whose users and context are unfamiliar.

Watch from 3:21

Business framing sets boundaries for discovery

Before exploring features, the team asks what problem it wants to solve, what new value should appear in the market, and what return the effort is expected to create. Return may be money, time, learning, or another strategic benefit. Naming it gives the product a direction and a basis for rejecting attractive but irrelevant ideas.

Watch from 5:51

A simple question can rebalance collaboration

Designers often feel pressure to act as if they understand everything. Saying “I do not know” or asking a basic question can be uncomfortable, yet it invites the product owner to explain assumptions and share responsibility for the vision. That honesty changes the relationship from order-taking to joint exploration.

Watch from 8:16

Elimination is progress when certainty is impossible

When people cannot say what they want, they can often identify what they do not want. Removing unsuitable options reduces the problem space and surfaces the qualities that matter. This method makes ambiguity actionable without forcing an early answer and gives the team a visible trail of reasoning.

Watch from 10:35

External criticism completes the learning loop

A concept becomes more than an internal story when it is presented to potential users or buyers. The product owner must explain the value and hear objections while the designer observes. This moment can feel exposing, but it tests whether the idea is understandable and desirable before the team invests further.

Watch from 13:04

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