Identifying the Barriers to Human-Centered Design in the Workplace: Perspectives from UX Professionals

Human-centered design, a theoretical ideal, is sometimes compromised in industry practice. Technology firms juggle competing priorities, such as adopting new technologies and generating shareholder returns, which may conflict with human-centered design values. This study sought to identify the types of workplace situations that present barriers for human-centered design, going beyond the views and behaviors of individual professionals. Q methodology was used to analyze the experiences of 14 UX professionals based in the United States. Five factors were identified, representing workplace situations in which human-centered design is inhibited, despite the involvement of UX professionals: Single-Minded Arrogance, Competing Visions, Moving Fast and Breaking Things, Pragmatically Getting By, and Sidestepping Responsibility. Underpinning these five factors are the dimensions of speed and clarity of vision. This paper demonstrates connections between the literature on UX ethics and human-centered design practice, and its findings point toward opportunities for education and intervention to better enable human-centered and ethical design in practice.