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Why We Fail: Learning From Experience Design Failures
Just as pilots and doctors improve by studying crash reports and postmortems, experience designers can improve by learning how customer experience failures cause products to fail in the marketplace. Rather than proselytizing a particular approach to design, Why We Fail holistically explores what teams actually built, why the products failed, and how we can learn from the past to avoid failure ourselves.
- GenresDesignNonfictionBusiness
249 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 30, 2016
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I don’t think the title is an accurate representation of the book’s content. The book isn’t really about _why_ we fail. (From the title, I was expecting a fetishization of failure and why we need to experiment, fail fast, blah blah blah.) Instead, the book contains multiple examples of digital products and services that failed. It explains why the products failed, and it explores what we as designers can learn from those failures.
The author uses a diverse range of technology products in his examples, from mp3 players to web apps to in-car navigation software. He goes into detail about why these products succeeded or failed. He focuses on the role of customer experience in the product’s failure.
I appreciate the storytelling elements and the nostalgic aspect of these case studies. The case study of Zune vs. the iPod brought a smile to my face. (I was a proud iPod owner for many years.)
The last chapter explains lean and agile methodologies you can use to avoid failure in your development process.
The author uses a diverse range of technology products in his examples, from mp3 players to web apps to in-car navigation software. He goes into detail about why these products succeeded or failed. He focuses on the role of customer experience in the product’s failure.
I appreciate the storytelling elements and the nostalgic aspect of these case studies. The case study of Zune vs. the iPod brought a smile to my face. (I was a proud iPod owner for many years.)
The last chapter explains lean and agile methodologies you can use to avoid failure in your development process.
August 17, 2021
I picked up this book because I liked the idea of reading case studies in a volume: searching for the good ones on multiple websites can be a pain. But what I didn't anticipate is that these case studies are (a) somewhat dated, (b) mainly approached from a business angle, and (c) not exactly focused on the experience of users in that their interaction with a product is pointed out and analysed (step by step). If one is looking for (a) detailed studies on professional companies, (b) lessons on business management, or (c) distinctions between successful and failed experiential products, then Why We Fail is a promising read.
October 20, 2013
I read this book in a weekend. It is filled with a number of excellent case studies on products that failed, from an experience perspective, and the cause and the takeaways.
The case studies on:
· Microsoft Zune
· Pownce
· Google Wave
Most resonated with me.
What I appreciated about the book is the case studies were done with a serious amount of investigation, but not overly so. For example we don't place ourselves in the shoes of an executive 10 minutes before an important meeting such as an HBR case. And at the same time, the superficial analysis of why products fails is replaced with a true contextually aware examination of each product.
For example Zune. How many times have you heard the product lambasted as an abject failure? Lombardi takes this same well known case and adds an new light that examines it on the merits of the holistic experience. The reality is Zune HD was probably the world's best 'digital media player'-- the challenge was it was going against and icon and never took steps in that battle. Similar battles are fought with Bing and Google in search for example.
This book about failure has really shifted how I think about success. And it's good to see a book that looks at success as not just the act of doing things wrong, but the act of avoiding things that regularly cause failure.
The author takes significant pains towards explaining the difference between an experience design failure and a design failure. While at the time it seemed tedious. Ultimately the distinction resonated with me and helped me understand a product like Wave and the unique lessons vs. a product like Pownce.
In short it was a good weekend read- made me think about about a new way to write a strategy: specifically instead of taking an initiative centric perspective, with a slide at the end outlining the risks; instead formulating the entire strategy based on the causes of failure with the initiatives and action steps that mitigate or address each point of failure.
Finally, the book broadened my default philosophy about failure and broadened my point of view regarding causes of failure.
The case studies on:
· Microsoft Zune
· Pownce
· Google Wave
Most resonated with me.
What I appreciated about the book is the case studies were done with a serious amount of investigation, but not overly so. For example we don't place ourselves in the shoes of an executive 10 minutes before an important meeting such as an HBR case. And at the same time, the superficial analysis of why products fails is replaced with a true contextually aware examination of each product.
For example Zune. How many times have you heard the product lambasted as an abject failure? Lombardi takes this same well known case and adds an new light that examines it on the merits of the holistic experience. The reality is Zune HD was probably the world's best 'digital media player'-- the challenge was it was going against and icon and never took steps in that battle. Similar battles are fought with Bing and Google in search for example.
This book about failure has really shifted how I think about success. And it's good to see a book that looks at success as not just the act of doing things wrong, but the act of avoiding things that regularly cause failure.
The author takes significant pains towards explaining the difference between an experience design failure and a design failure. While at the time it seemed tedious. Ultimately the distinction resonated with me and helped me understand a product like Wave and the unique lessons vs. a product like Pownce.
In short it was a good weekend read- made me think about about a new way to write a strategy: specifically instead of taking an initiative centric perspective, with a slide at the end outlining the risks; instead formulating the entire strategy based on the causes of failure with the initiatives and action steps that mitigate or address each point of failure.
Finally, the book broadened my default philosophy about failure and broadened my point of view regarding causes of failure.
January 8, 2026
This book was written 13 years ago, and it exclusively covers UX/UI and digital design so with that age a lot of the references are dated. For example, Google+ was still relevant at the time of publication as a major social media platform, but to be honest I remember Google+ as a little blip at most.
However, I love folding the scientific method into the design process because *ahem* that's how the design process should work. I've been suggesting the validating of prototypes with users for years for a number of reasons, but I experience still so much personal bias in Design, or even outright dismissal of anything that looks like a process or method in favor of personal perspective / taste / feeling, etc. It's pretty childish and naive.
Also, *gets on soap box* I wish we could all use clear language to discuss different design disciplines and specialties. "Design" should not by default mean a particular flavor and should not imply one as default. "Product Design" is still confusing because it could intend to imply digital products or physical products. I'm also a little tired of the logic of Oh, all of these examples are about digital product design but the theory is relevant for physical product design so don't get too hung up on details. Well... I think it's lazy and misleading to extrapolate that much. Keep digital product design examples with digital product design insights and digital product design philosophies because it's a wildly different universe than physical product design. *steps off soap box*
However, I love folding the scientific method into the design process because *ahem* that's how the design process should work. I've been suggesting the validating of prototypes with users for years for a number of reasons, but I experience still so much personal bias in Design, or even outright dismissal of anything that looks like a process or method in favor of personal perspective / taste / feeling, etc. It's pretty childish and naive.
Also, *gets on soap box* I wish we could all use clear language to discuss different design disciplines and specialties. "Design" should not by default mean a particular flavor and should not imply one as default. "Product Design" is still confusing because it could intend to imply digital products or physical products. I'm also a little tired of the logic of Oh, all of these examples are about digital product design but the theory is relevant for physical product design so don't get too hung up on details. Well... I think it's lazy and misleading to extrapolate that much. Keep digital product design examples with digital product design insights and digital product design philosophies because it's a wildly different universe than physical product design. *steps off soap box*
May 19, 2020
The most accurate rating would be 4.5 ;)
First of all, I like the way the books from Rosenfeld are composed and written. Reading it feels easy and pleasant.
Secondly, (it's hard to describe it) usually books give knowledge about how to do something. This book gives something like professional experience.
I think that listening about successes is just boring because it doesn't teach us much – while listening about failures teaches us a lot. The book presents several different failures and most of them were not obvious to avoid.
First of all, I like the way the books from Rosenfeld are composed and written. Reading it feels easy and pleasant.
Secondly, (it's hard to describe it) usually books give knowledge about how to do something. This book gives something like professional experience.
I think that listening about successes is just boring because it doesn't teach us much – while listening about failures teaches us a lot. The book presents several different failures and most of them were not obvious to avoid.
July 3, 2021
Good to read, but it is somehow outdated
For readers born after 1995 onward, all examples mentioned in the book they will have no idea about it
However, the concept of the book and the content is valid till today
For readers born after 1995 onward, all examples mentioned in the book they will have no idea about it
However, the concept of the book and the content is valid till today
August 27, 2017
Explicaciones muy obvias con el diario del lunes. conclusiones poco aplicables
September 25, 2013
A lot of learning about failure is just being exposed to different things and why they fell short, so you can start looking for similarities in your own thinking. This book is basically design case studies of things that went wrong. You don't usually see a lot of these and I wish I'd read this in college.
April 20, 2014
Learn why some products Google Wave, Nokia Symbian, BMW iDrive, Microsoft Zune failed... You can lean more from failures than success that's the point of this book. These failures have mostly something common regarding to user experience. It was my first book related to UX and i enjoyed it a lot. Very inspiring.
May 18, 2014
Enjoyable, if a little short. The stories are tragic each in their own way. The author attributes their failure to lack of experience design, but it feels like it is partially the hubris of trusting our gut over the market, or the market over history, or history over reality. Full of lessons for all work.
August 1, 2013
Pros: a real-quick read; arguable examples that make me think. Cons: the ending chapters are lacking.
August 15, 2013
See my review in LinkedIn under the Rosenfeld Media group. Titled:
A review of WHY WE FAIL: LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE DESIGN FAILURES, by Victor Lombardi
A review of WHY WE FAIL: LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE DESIGN FAILURES, by Victor Lombardi
August 31, 2013
Another great Rosenfeld book. I wouldn't mind reading every book by this publisher. Although I felt the last chapters of this book weren't quite as compelling as the case studies.
December 8, 2014
This is interesting, since it gives advice on failed products and the reasons behind, mostly focused on User Experience.
May 7, 2015
Very interesting stuff about companies that failed as a company o specific projects. The last part of the book is a very light review on Agile methodologies.
April 28, 2015
Greatest value are the examples and stories around failures.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews