Product innovation doesn't start with sketching interfaces. It starts with structure.
Real innovation isn't aesthetic – it's structural. Start with objects, relationships, and actions before you sketch a single screen.
When UX designers are asked to innovate, they often jump into sketching – wireframes, screens, and arrows connecting components.
That creative spark is real. But real innovation needs a stronger foundation.
Before you jump into sketching interfaces, open a doc and ask:
- What are the core objects users care about?
- How do those objects relate to each other?
- What can users do to or with each one?
These are the building blocks of any product system. When we start here, innovation becomes more than aesthetic – it becomes structural.
Here's a real-world example from Airbnb, where innovation could fix a current UX flaw between two disconnected objects.
Say you're searching for a place to stay in Berlin. On the map, you see neighbourhood names like Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer Berg. Neighbourhood names are actionable objects – click one, and you'll see a carousel and photos of the area. Great.
But there's a problem: you can't explore listings within that neighbourhood directly from it. There's no clear connection between the neighbourhood and the listings it contains – even though, in the user's mental model, that connection is obvious. That's a missed opportunity.
A simple structural link between neighbourhoods and listings could unlock a smoother, smarter discovery experience.
The point of innovation isn't adding more features. It's making smarter connections between the ones you already have – that's how you build products that actually matter.
Don't ship more. Ship smarter.