Good UX design starts with empathy, but empathy can feel vague until you give it a face. One of the simplest and most effective ways to do that is to design with your mum in mind. Not because she represents every user, but because she helps you notice the small moments of confusion that designers often overlook.
When something works for your mum, it usually feels calmer, clearer and more human for everyone else too.
What this way of thinking really means
Designing with your mum in mind means stepping outside the world of product teams, roadmaps and patterns. Your mum probably does not work in tech, does not keep up with design trends and does not want to learn how an interface works. She just wants to get something done without feeling stupid or stressed.
If a screen assumes too much knowledge, uses unfamiliar language or hides important actions, she will feel that friction straight away. Often, she will blame herself rather than the design, which is exactly why this mindset is so powerful. It highlights problems that real users quietly work around or give up on.
Why it makes products better
Many digital products are built by people who spend most of their lives online. That creates blind spots, even with the best intentions. We learn shortcuts, recognise patterns and forgive complexity because we know how things usually work.
Designing with your mum in mind pulls you back to basics. It forces you to question whether something is genuinely clear or just familiar to you. It encourages you to remove unnecessary steps, avoid clever tricks that save space but cost understanding, and focus on what someone actually needs at that moment rather than everything the product can do.
Words matter more than we think
Language is often where UX quietly succeeds or fails. If your mum has to reread a sentence, stop and think, or ask what something means, the experience has already slowed down.
Clear UX writing sounds like everyday speech. It explains what is happening now and what will happen next, without jargon or internal terminology. “Complete the onboarding flow” becomes “Set up your account”. “Submit” becomes “Save changes”. These small choices reduce effort and build confidence.
I often ask myself a simple question when writing interface copy. Would my mum understand this without asking me to explain it.
Clarity beats cleverness every time
Your mum should never have to guess where to click or what a button will do. When layouts try to be too creative, they often create hesitation instead of delight.
Good UX design guides attention gently. It makes the main action obvious, keeps supporting options quiet, and uses familiar patterns so people do not have to learn something new just to move forward. When everything competes for attention, people freeze. When the path is clear, they move with confidence.
Design for real life, not ideal behaviour
People make mistakes, misread things and change their minds. Your mum will too, and so will everyone else.
Designing with this in mind means accepting that errors are part of the experience, not edge cases. Error messages should explain what went wrong in plain language and show how to fix it without judgement. Systems should prevent mistakes where possible, but respond kindly when they happen. A calm “That did not work, please try again” goes much further than a technical warning that feels like a reprimand.
Accessibility becomes obvious
When you design with your mum in mind, accessibility stops feeling like a separate task and starts to feel like common sense. Text needs to be readable without squinting. Colours need enough contrast to be clear in different light. Buttons need to be large enough to tap without precision.
These choices help people with access needs, but they also help tired users, distracted users and anyone using a device in less than perfect conditions. In other words, they help real people.
Test with people who are not like you
If you only ever test designs with designers, developers or stakeholders, you will only ever design for people who already understand digital products.
Testing with people like your mum can be uncomfortable, because they will say “I do not get this” without the vocabulary to soften it. That honesty is valuable. It shows you where your design relies on assumptions and where it needs more clarity or guidance.
Simple is not the same as basic
Designing for your mum does not mean stripping away personality or intelligence. It means doing the hard work of deciding what really matters and what does not.
Simple design is the result of careful thought, not a lack of ambition. It comes from removing distractions, explaining only what needs explaining, and letting the important things speak for themselves. That kind of simplicity takes time, empathy and restraint.
A final thought
If your mum can use it without help, without frustration and without feeling lost, you have probably done a good job.
Design with empathy. Design with clarity. Design with your mum in mind.
