I work as a UX designer. It is more UX than UI. Whether a user completes a task successfully is more important the colour of the button.

And this involves ifs and buts. To imagine and optimise for all kinds of users, situations, digital states, and the interactions involved with the rest of the application. Despite having a comprehensive understanding on all possible outcomes, a prototype brings many gaps to the fore. Usability tests reveal many of those myths you once had. Further blindspots become evident during development. This is the story of UX design. At work, at scale.

But (as the title suggests), it is far from being just work. It reflects parts of my personal life. A never-ending quest to find answers to my questions: the hard, the obvious, and to the ones that keep coming. It is difficult to answer with absolute conviction. I’m always wondering the ifs and buts of my solution, while hunting for any blind spot.

Outside the area of expertise, I truly believe ignorance (and naivety) is bliss in some form. You are not happier knowing more about a topic, a place, or a person. As you build more on your understanding, your binary opinion falls apart. Everything is relative and your stance starts to fall somewhere in the middle. It doesn’t make a linear story to tell or to write; a burden to think holistically.

Food for thought: Does it apply to my photographs? Can photos inform a balanced view? Without skewing to one side or the other? While the majority try to take compelling photos, can I try to capture the ifs and buts of life?