By Jon-Eric Steinbomer
Director of UX Research and Co-Founder
Progress UX Research
UX Researchers at Progress often leverage Positive Framing - an Appreciative Inquiry inspired method of intentionally shaping a conversation to focus on a desirable outcome and energize ourselves and others towards positive results. This encourages creativity, curiosity, imagination, and engagement by taking any negative, deficit-based frame and transforming it into a positive frame.
Positive Framing has three steps:
1. Name it - What is the problem, the issue, or the thing you don’t want?
2. Flip it - What is the positive opposite? The thing which you do want?
3. Frame it - What is the desired outcome if this positive thing is true?
Of course, we all want to fix problems, but it’s far too easy to get stuck in a negative-focused loop that starts with looking for all problems, trying to fix them, and then looking for more problems.
This keeps us perpetually only looking for what’s wrong and there’s lots of research that suggests that truly innovative design usually happens within a field of positive, generative conversation and ideation.
Positive framing bypasses the habitual deficit-focused way of thinking, moving us instead to a more open, solution-focused approach so that we may discover new possibilities we hadn’t yet considered.
Here’s a real-world example of how I might work with this concept in a research session with a participant. I hear the participant say something like, “I would never use this as a sign-in for this app, and I’m already turned off to it. It wants to connect with my Facebook account and import all of my contacts, my posts...everything? You’ve got to be kidding. I hear there’s lots of people out there trying to get into accounts and steal things. I don’t like it at all.”
Okay, the negative thing is pretty clear, so let’s begin with the Naming step. Using my reflective listening skills, I may say something like, “I hear that the security of your private Facebook account is really important to you and you feel like this is asking for too much permission, is that right?” I then look for affirmation that I got it right and didn’t miss anything.
When I affirm that I’ve captured what they don’t want, I move to the Flip step, where I now name the positive opposite and I might say something like, “So what I hear that you do want is a way to log in that doesn’t require access to your private accounts, like Facebook. Right?” Again, check for agreement.
So now we have a conversation rooted in the positive. I can ask the participant to name the best positive outcome, or even ideate together about it, moving into the final, Framing step. That may sound something like, “Tell me how you would like to see this work instead, allowing you to sign in easily while also keeping your personal data safe.” And then off we go, this time in a positive, creative direction, from which it’s much easier to dream solutions together.
One of the great things about this simple technique is that you can use it just about anywhere. I invite you to give it a try the next time you see or hear someone (even yourself!) approaching a UX design challenge, a Zoom conversation, or any problem from a negative, deficit-oriented place. Remember to follow the three easy steps: Naming, Flipping, and Re-Framing so that now you’re all moving into a space of possibility, of what you want, and not what you don’t want.
The effects may seem subtle at first, but the more you practice this technique, you might just see it as an invaluable way of unlocking creativity and new ways of working together in a way that is generative, positive, and creating truly innovative designs that people will want to use.
Have a sticky problem that you think could benefit from some fresh thinking or objective UX research expertise? Drop us a line and get in touch with us!