Is designing people experiences different to other experience design work?

This great question came up in a chat I had with with Jennah Robichaud and Megan Trotter earlier this week. We landed on Yes, sharing the belief that designing for the human experience of work asks something different of us. So what makes it different?

To start with, you are designing work systems to serve multiple user groups, individual contributors, people managers, functional leads, execs etc. Each with different, often competing needs. A great solution for one group might create friction for another. Then consider that within each of these groups, you'll have multiple layers of segmentation e.g. 'first time managers vs. experienced managers'. Complex! Holding that in mind when designing is a challenge.

Then there's what I called 'Relational variability'. In the PX space, interactions between people, not just people & products, are at the core of the experience. Trust, safety, clarity & power. These shape outcomes far more than any system or interface you design, and they can be highly variable. Relationships aren't linear, even the strongest relationships have tough moments. The variability in how people interact has a huge influence on how those people experience work, and how do you design for that?

Lastly, and compounding relational variability, Work is emotional, far more than what we feel interacting with say a product. It taps into identity, belonging, safety, aspiration, and when it goes wrong, it hurts, deeply. Many of us carry these painful moments with us, waiting to resurface if something triggers a threat response.

To meet this tightly bundled nest of complexity, PX asks us to design with humility, emotional fluency, and a living systems lens. We must also be conscious of our own identity & aspirations, and how this influences how we turn up.

So yes, PX work is deeply challenging, perhaps more so than other experience design. But it's also deeply rewarding, and can be hugely impactful, at scale. It's also vitally important in this moment humanity is facing. The socioeconomic operating models our modern society are built on are fracturing, under immense pressure from an unprecedented interconnected global crises, including environmental, economic, social, and technological challenges. The status quo doesn't have answers, and we desperately need new ways of organising, collaborating & growing together as people.

I truly believe PX has a pioneering role to play in designing the future, not just work, but society as a whole. It doesn't get more meaningful than that.

This post was written by a human 🧠! I did however use AI to help me synthesise the notes from my discussion with Meg and Jennah, which helped inform this post.