"When the UX doesn't consider all users, shouldn't it be called 'Some User Experience' — or SUX?" — Billy Gregory
There are many considerations in designing the optimal user interface and user experience, but the paramount one is simple: it must meet the needs of the end user — not the needs the product manager imagines the end user has.
When working with a point-of-sale software company, the legacy UI was firmly rooted in the 1990s — because it had been designed in the 1990s. But the install base was over 400 independently operated stores across the country, and the users had spent years developing keyboard-based workflows around this interface. For many, the ability to complete a transaction without ever touching a mouse was not a quirk — it was a professional skill.
Adding mouse-driven navigation would have slowed transaction time and frustrated a user base that had never asked for it. The printing output had to remain compatible with legacy label printers, cash drawers, and handheld scanners.
After weighing all of these considerations, the decision was made to preserve the legacy UI and UX. Protecting the existing revenue base was more important than attracting new revenue. This is not always the right call, but it was the right call for this client. What is always the right call is making the decision deliberately, with all of these tensions named and evaluated — not by default.
Roadmap Considerations
◆ Optimize for speed and efficiency above all else — every unnecessary interaction is a tax on the user. ◆ Design for scalability; the UI must accommodate new features without requiring a full redesign. ◆ Treat mobile as primary. The mobile web is not a secondary consideration — it is often the primary one.