8 philosophies of Fight Club applied to UX design

David Fincher’s brilliant Fight Club got a bumpy reception when it burst onto the scene in the 90s. However, its stature has only grown in the years since, and the film retains its power to influence to this day. If anything, it’s even more relevant today than it ever was. As one of my all-time favourite films, I think it has a lot to teach us all, and can even lead to a more robust and rewarding life.

For reasons of full disclosure: I was 23 when Fight Club came out, so I was slap-bang in the middle of its target demographic. So I guess I was predestined to love this movie. Chuck Palahniuk’s philosophies, as channeled through protagonist Tyler Durden, spoke directly to me then and still resonate now, nearly 20 years later (jeez, now I’ve thought about that, I feel old!).

As well as helping you become a better person and enjoy a more fulfilling life, Tyler’s life philosophies can also be applied to my chosen career, UX, in a myriad of ways. Let me present: Fight Club UX.

1. Only when you’ve lost everything are you free to do anything.

Tyler gives us this little nugget while burning the narrator’s hand with a toxic chemical. This is basically his version of no pain, no enlightenment kind of thing. He’s certainly got an extreme way of demonstrating his point, but his words resonate.

While I wouldn’t quite endorse losing everything, there is something to be said for decluttering and refining. There is that giddy feeling of excitement and endless possibility that comes with starting again with nothing. It can also be a bit scary. I should know, I moved to the other side of the world in my thirties, ditching most of my old possessions along the way.

Applied to UX, Tyler’s philosophy means removing everything unnecessary, superfluous or merely trinkets. Anything that gets in the way of the user achieving their goal is flotsam. Every element in your design should work hard and have a purpose.

Or as another great writer, Antoine De Saint-Exupery, puts it:

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

2. Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken!

This is essentially Tyler telling us to be true to ourselves. Don’t try and be something you’re not.

If you find a terrific solution that someone else has implemented, but it’s very specific to a particular audience or demographic, don’t just try to port it to yours without thinking about it. Whether it’s a certain interaction paradigm or navigation structure, think through the vital questions of why, who, how and when it’s going to be used.

3. The things you own end up owning you.

What we do isn’t the be all and end all of people’s lives. Ok, if someone really loves what we do and spends their every waking moment interacting with it then great. Realistically, don’t expect that. If they dip in every now and then, that is an excellent result and you should be proud. After all, our users have got lives to live.

4. Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.

Hmm. Tyler is rallying against material possessions here, which I think is even more of an issue now than it was 20 years ago. I would actually love to know what Tyler’s reactions to Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram and the like would be. Obviously Tyler goes to pretty extreme ends to make his point, but essentially he is telling us to be aware of what we actually need versus what we want.

That’s why it’s very important that we create experiences that really matter to people. Whether it’s solving a problem, making their lives easier somehow, or just simply delighting them. Take care in your work, and if you make just one person’s life a little better, be proud.

5. This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time.

Ok, this is rather depressing sentiment, so let’s look at it in a different way. Life is fleeting and our time here is short. We have to make every moment count.

We can apply this philosophy to UX in two different ways. Firstly, a user will make up their mind pretty quickly on whether or not they’ll continue to use our product or service. If it doesn’t do what they want it to, or it frustrates them, they’ll drop it and probably never come back. Why? Because life is too short to waste on subpar stuff. Secondly, it’s too short for us to waste creating anything other than excellence. If we can make our user’s life just a little bit better during their brief time on this Earth, isn’t that time well spent?

6. You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.

This one’s interesting. Tyler reminds us that we’re all the same decaying organic matter, so ultimately what does individuality matter? This one’s also a bit of a downer, so I’ll try and spin it in a more useful way.

As UX-ers, should we try and reinvent the wheel each time we begin a new project? Arguably not, that’d be stupid. It’s okay to lean on others who have come before.

Use successful solutions that are out there to help inform your work (but remember not to stick feathers up your butt). If people enjoy using a certain paradigm, then ride those coattails and utilise it to help users engage with your creation. Yes, originality is great but be careful not to create frustration and throw stumbling blocks in the way.

7. May I never be complete. May I never be content. May I never be perfect.

We want our work to be as good as it can possibly be, but if we reach that point, do we then just stop? I don’t believe so. We should constantly push ourselves and our work to be better.

One of the enablers that allows us to push ourselves further is testing. Test constantly. I try to test every 2 weeks through every cycle of our product or services design, development and delivery. This can include validating flows, elemental placement, hierarchy, etc., through to getting constant feedback once our baby is delivered and out in the world.

Which brings me nicely to the final lesson…

8. I say stop being perfect, I say let’s evolve, let the chips fall where they may.

Tyler is telling us here that it’s okay to not be, or even strive to be, perfect. If things aren’t exactly perfect, that’s fine — they won’t stay like that forever. Make the best of the situation, and appreciate and enjoy what you have.

As for UX, well, this one is pretty self explanatory. Whatever you’re working on right now might not be perfect. And that’s okay, it doesn’t have to be. Whatever you are working on can evolve, it’s not fixed. And that is exactly what good UX should do. We should always be responding to our users wants and needs and continually creating a product or service that they love.

As UXers, I say we embrace Fight Club UX and hold its philosophies and messages close, because it really can help us create better experiences.

If you’ve taken anything from this, or even think you can bring some of it into your workflow, then great, go ahead and share it, that’ll make me a happy snowflake. Oh, but let’s not forget the first rule of Fight Club UX …

By Mat Rutherford, UX Lead for Onefill.

Originally published at blog.prototypr.io on January 23, 2017.