Question
Everything.
No matter how much
you love it.
An idea. A pressure. A choice.
Decide what you would do.
Then question what it costs.
The decisions
What would you do?
Four hypothetical situations. No score. Explore the trade-offs and compare your response with mine.
The principles
The questions
I work by.
01Question the pattern.
Understand why it exists before deciding where it belongs.
Patterns give me knowledge to build on. I should neither repeat them without thought nor reject them to prove my creativity. Innovation begins with understanding what a convention contributes and where it falls short.
In practice, I will
Compare a pattern with an alternative and test whether the change improves understanding, task completion, or enjoyment.
I will challenge
Decisions justified by “everyone does it”, including my attempts to make something different without a purpose.
02Question my attachment.
No matter how much I love it.
My enthusiasm can influence how I interpret feedback. Confirmation bias can lead me to favour praise and dismiss evidence that challenges an idea. Loving a feature gives me a reason to explore it, but does not prove that it belongs.
In practice, I will
Seek feedback that challenges my assumptions, record evidence that supports and contradicts the idea, and use both when deciding what to change.
I will challenge
Testing that seeks approval and excuses that protect my preferences from scrutiny.
03Question the effort.
Give people a reason to engage, not a reason to give up.
I want expression and efficiency to support each other. An interaction can invite discovery, but its demands should contribute to the experience. When friction discourages participation, I must reconsider what I am asking people to do.
In practice, I will
Observe where people hesitate, make mistakes, or abandon a task. I will investigate the cause and revise the interaction when its demands outweigh its contribution.
I will challenge
Effects that delay tasks, controls people cannot understand, and friction defended as creativity without evidence of its value.
04Question the agreement.
Trust begins before someone says yes.
People should understand the costs and conditions of a service before committing to it. An interface should help them make that decision. Their interest in a product does not give me permission to conceal what they are agreeing to.
In practice, I will
Explain prices, payment frequency, and conditions before agreement, and make the action that authorises payment distinguishable from browsing.
I will challenge
Charges without consent, payment obligations concealed until checkout, and wording that disguises a commitment.
05Question the pressure.
Make the case for staying. Honour the choice to leave.
A business should retain people through the value of its service. Explaining what a subscription provides or offering a downgrade can support a decision. Persuasion crosses my boundary when it prevents someone from acting on their choice.
In practice, I will
Keep cancellation findable, allow a downgrade offer, and let people complete cancellation after declining it.
I will challenge
Concealed exits, repeated offers after refusal, and cancellation processes designed to wear people down.
06Question the collection.
If we do not need it, why are we asking?
Information collection should have a purpose tied to the service. Its potential value to the business does not establish that the service needs it. People should understand what is required and why before deciding whether to share it.
In practice, I will
Identify the purpose of each information request, explain its use, and remove requests that cannot be justified by the service’s needs.
I will challenge
Collection for unspecified uses and assumptions that joining a service amounts to consent.
07Question the consequences.
What does this design encourage?
My work influences behaviour. I cannot judge its success through engagement or revenue without considering what produces those results. I do not want my work to compromise privacy, encourage addiction, or promote violence and harm.
In practice, I will
Examine what a feature rewards, discuss its risks with the team, and propose alternatives when business goals depend on causing harm.
I will challenge
Treating time spent as proof of value and using business targets to excuse harm.
08Question who pays the cost.
Look beyond the screen.
Design decisions affect communities and consume resources. My perspective cannot represent everyone who encounters my work. The benefit of a feature should be considered alongside its demands on people, devices, data, and energy.
In practice, I will
Seek feedback from the communities a service addresses, question assumptions in language and imagery, and reduce data transfer and processing that do not contribute to the experience.
I will challenge
Treating my circumstances as everyone’s default and adding resource demands without examining their purpose.
My position
No matter
how much
I love it.
Xander Poalses
Design position statement
I believe design carries a responsibility to question. Patterns, client requests, trends, and my preferences deserve scrutiny. I want to understand why something belongs before deciding how it should look or behave. That includes questioning ideas I love.
For me, design is a space for creativity and invention. Following a pattern without questioning its purpose can mean missing an opportunity to improve it. I want to make waves, not ride them. But innovation requires purpose. I should be able to explain what a change contributes and how it helps the person using it.
I want people to enjoy what they see while understanding what they can do. Expression and efficiency should support each other. A pattern can provide familiarity, and a departure from it can create discovery. I will question both. If an interaction creates enough friction to discourage people from using it, my attachment to that interaction cannot be its defence. I must listen, investigate, and reconsider.
I am accountable to the people who use my work and the organisations I work with. When their interests conflict, I will challenge the request and propose alternatives. A business should earn people’s decision to stay through the value of its service. It can explain that value or offer a change of subscription, but it must honour someone’s decision to leave.
Trust requires transparency. I will explain costs and conditions before asking people to agree, and I will not design charges that happen without consent. I will question each request for information: does the service need it, what will it be used for, and does the person understand the exchange? Their interest in a service does not replace their agreement.
My responsibility extends to the consequences of what I help create. I will question decisions that compromise privacy, encourage addiction, or promote violence and harm. I must question my confirmation bias: the tendency to favour evidence that supports what I believe. When testing an idea, I will seek feedback that challenges it and consider that feedback when deciding what to change.
“Question Everything” is a commitment to examine my reasons, respond to evidence, and take responsibility for what I choose.