For the last 5–6 years I’ve been practising yoga and the other day while coming to the end of a session… something struck me. 

That was the realisation that there are some striking similarities between my Astanga Yoga Practice & my work as a UX Design Consultant.

I found that the following things seem incredibly comparable. You may disagree but I’ll do my best to explain, and perhaps you’ll also see some similarities yourself. These are the topics I found similar: 

• Listening
• Understanding
• Patience
• Acceptance
• Humility
• Flexibility
• Differences
• Competition
• Challenges

Listening

Listen To your body, to the tutor, to the instruction. It’s similar to listening to your product users and learning to hear what’s important to them, it’s not always obvious, and similar to yoga it can take time to learn. Time to learn how to listen, and how to hear what's really important with your body during a pose and similarly what's really important for your users. It’s not always what your users are saying that’s important, sometimes it’s down to the subtle ways they use a product to achieve their ultimate goal: 

“You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new.” — Steve Jobs, 2005

Understanding

Understanding your body… sometimes it doesn’t want to bend in a particular direction. Sometimes you won’t have slept so great the night before, which means you need to understand that it’s not right to push yourself and your body on this particular occasion.

Understanding your users, knowing what they need, what’s important to them, their wants, desires and the language they use. Sometimes it’s not as simple as listening out for the obvious, or following exactly what they say, or only taking on board the things that suit your agenda.

Understanding the business… the different departments… all running their own races and requiring different things from the user experience of the product. Pulling all this together can be a real juggling act at times, it’s very similar to breathing while in some crazy twisted tight position.

Patience

It’s always going to take you longer than you want to get into that bend, twist or fold. But, that’s just how the body is… growing connective tissue can take 10 times longer than muscle tissue, so realistically you’re looking at 6–12months before you see signs of progress. This is just a fact of our biology.

It’s similar to a product. There might be a ton of useful features you want to add for your uses, things you know will help them… things that will make their lives easier and improve their product usage. 

But, don’t forget you’re always working as part of a business. There will be deadlines, quick wins, additional features that someone further up the food chain demanding. You might have technical limitations… or perhaps not enough resource, whatever it is, you just simply have to be patient. It’s the tortoise and the hare scenario here, be patient, it’ll happen when it’s supposed too and if it doesn’t then perhaps it simply isn’t meant to be.

Acceptance

Acceptance that some days, you just don’t feel so good. Your body is tired. That old injury today feels slightly tenser than it has done in months. These are the times you have to accept the situation and do what your body is going to allow you to do today.

Acceptance that sometimes there are different priorities for the business. Sometimes the best case scenario just isn’t deliverable with your resources, and with the other tasks and requirements in this current spirit.

Acceptance that sometimes what you thought might work for your users, just simply doesn’t and there was something that you missed. It’s why we test with users as soon as we can, and as often as we can.

Humility

Sometimes you’ll be great in yoga class and other people will be looking to you for the right form and movement. But, this is always a passing moment… life is constantly in flux and they’ll be times when you feel like a ninety-year-old, someone that hasn’t moved for years.

Sometimes everything will fall into place at work, your stats with be heading in the direction, you will have done all the research you can, tested prototypes and implemented the design work with the team and everyone will be happy. 

But again… it’s just a passing moment. Things can fall to the ground in a second. Be humble and have humility. this will make the ups and downs of the world that much easier for you to ride out.

Flexibility

One of the beautiful things about yoga is the development of our own flexibility. It comes… but it comes slowly, so slowly that when it finally does start to come… it’s a truly beautiful thing to embrace and be thankful for… but you have to earn it. There’s always a price to pay. You need to practice, practice and practice.

It’s similar to UX. You’re working as part of a team. True flexibility is understanding that you are not the foundation of all knowledge. You will never be, not by a long shot. 

The best products and teams deliver through collaboration and flexibility, working together, listening, understanding, collaborating and being flexible to each other's needs. This will mean that you’re going to be able to deliver better, more efficiently for your users and the business you are working with.

Differences

We’re all different. In yoga, it’s often the case that someone is going to be better at a number of postures, or even most of the moves. This is ok. We are all different. Some moves will come more naturally to you. We all have our differences and that’s what makes us all special. We are each able to bring our differences together and help each other to deliver for our customers.

I have a favourite yoga teacher and I’m often sad if she’s away or not available to attend our class as it means that we’ll have a stand-in. The stand is great, but she’s different. She’s very different in fact. She runs the class at a different pace, she doesn’t do the moves herself and she provides different cues and instructions.

This I have found frustrating as the difference can be challenging for me. But that’s all my shit. What’s always amazing about having a different teacher is, whether I like it or not. I ALWAYS, without exceptions learn something new.

Just recently for example, with the ‘different’ teacher, I did my very first supported backbend. That’s a huge win for me and a step forward that wouldn’t have come without the difference.

When you’re part of a product team. You’re one of 4–5,6 maybe more. Each person you’re working with brings with them a different insight, different experience and different values to the team and the work you’re doing together.

Across the business, you might be working with the VP of product, or Head of Sales, Head of Marketing, CEO, CFO, COO, CDO, all of whom are bringing valuable differences, its why a company structure works so well. Its the collaboration of differences that make a business unit such an incredible, powerful and sustainable thing.

This is also why design sprints work so well, with the right bodies in the room, such a vast base of knowledge can be shared, all from different perspectives and it’s through those different perspectives that valuable insights will without doubt help to improve the experience of your product.

Competition

I attend yoga with my fiancée and she’s pretty competitive, some might say I’m similar but, I understand that there are some things she can do, which I can’t. And in a similar way, the vice versa is true, but we’re excepting of that.

Equally though, that healthy competition between us helps to push ourselves a little further, as and when we feel our bodies are up to it.

It’s the same within the class, there are others within our class that we know we’d like to compete with, of course, it’s only in our heads or minds but it helps us to aspire higher, go further, hold that stretch for a little longer.

This is similar to a business. The entire capitalist world is run like this. Competition keeps us moving forwards. 

It’s great to look at your competition, what are they doing better than you, what are you doing better than them? What features could be useful for your product? What opportunities in the market place do you see, which you could use to your advantage?

Also, it’s always good to go a little further, look at the best in the market, it doesn’t even need to be within the same sector, sometimes… well in my experience, most competitors within particular sectors are still way behind where they could be, it always comes down to the focus of a business. But, I always look to the best in the field and see if there are leanings to be had.

Competition is great, it keeps us all moving forward, striving for more and ultimately bettering ourselves.

Challenges

There is always that one move, the one bend or twist that just seems like it’s impossible. It’s the challenge you know is coming up in the sequence and you just have to accept it and do your best with it.

Breathing, thinking about your form, slowly moving closer into it and stretching yourself to hopefully… one day actually meet the challenge head-on. In my opinion user experience design is the same.

There will always be challenges from this work. If it’s not with your latest design work, or the animation you're creating to share with development, or your colour palette, or the latest business requirements, or the communication of your research, or even the setting up and selling of your research.

The challenge of maintaining patience as people come over and interrupt your flow, there will always be something, a new challenge on the horizon, a new level to hit a new height which you aspire to in your career.

Just like in yoga. There are 6 series. After 5–6 years of practice, I’m still on the first series. Yes, I’ve started working on a couple of moves in the second series but it’s a life of movement, working with the body, enjoying the journey.

And, it should be the same for any career. There’s always another level, new heights, new technology, new ways to communicate, new competition from outside of the business, and new challenges from inside.

Just breathe deep, do your best and learn to love and enjoy the journey.

Who am I?

I’m a digital product designer living in London and consulting with clients all over the world. During my short time on the planet, I’ve developed a passion for finding ways to improve my own life, aiming to take on as much responsibility for myself as humanly possible. With, for example, improving my health, wellness, fitness, nutrition and finances. These have all been big focuses throughout my life.

I believe that technology is an incredible tool and something we can all use to help empower ourselves to take more personal responsibility. It’s an aspiration of mine to help people become more sustainable versions of themselves and this is becoming an ever-increasing focus of my work.

If you’re involved with digital products that help people become better versions of themselves, drop me a line I’m always interested in connecting with like-minded people. Plus, if you’re currently having challenges with improving the experience of that product give me shout, I might even be able to lend a friendly pair of hands.