When redesigning a user interface (and all the more when creating a completely new one), it is a good idea to conduct user task analyses, contextual analyses and the like in advance. This helps immensely in gaining a deep understanding of the domain, users, their requirements and their workflows. For usability engineers who are regularly engaging in these kinds of activities, the benefits are obvious. Project teams that already work in the respective domain for a longer time and that are not accustomed with these analyses, can sometimes be doubtful and react with statements like "You know, we are doing this for over 20 years, we know exactly how this should work".

But then, as this TED Talk by Terry Moore shows, just because you are doing something for 20 years or more does not necessarily mean that you are doing it right or in the best possible way. Challenging assumptions from time to time and being open to learning new and unexpected stuff can make all the difference.

Twitter is not only a constant source of information, but also a constant source of opinions. With the way Twitter handles dialogs, you may at some times receive only one point of view, e.g., a link to a piece about the benefits of wireframing, but you may miss out on the other side of the story, in case it is contributed by people who you are not following.

It can often be valuable to reflect on both sides of a story, regardless of which side of the fence you are standing on. Therefore, I collected three examples from the field of UX design, which each one including two points of view that I conveniently subsumed under a catchy (i.e. simplified) heading and classified as “pro” or “con”, respectively. The individual sources are more nuanced, of course, but the headings and pro/con-distinction provide some starting point.

If you stumble across any more “UX design pro/con” stuff, let me know.

"Wireframing is a good thing"

Pro: http://sixrevisions.com/user-interface/wireframing-benefits/

Con: http://www.attackofdesign.com/why-wireframes-can-hurt-your-project/

"UX designers should be jacks of all trades"

Pro: http://www.uxforthemasses.com/what-makes-good-ux-designer/

Con: http://www.elisabethhubert.com/?p=1229

"UX and marketing go along well"

Pro: http://uxmag.com/strategy/a-designer-and-a-marketer-walk-into-a-bar

Con: http://www.adaptivepath.com/blog/2010/11/18/the-pernicious-effects-of-adverti...