If there’s one lesson I learnt when I was embedded at Google’s ‘Grow with Google’ a few years back and immersed myself in the world of learning and development: Never stop learning!
It sounds obvious but as your career evolves, the very rubric that helped you start out in a discipline may have moved on considerably. I recently heard from a recruiter that a senior hire had not been chosen because they couldn’t demonstrate some hands on UX / design when presenting their interview task.
Seniority shouldn’t mean ignorance of the fabric that powers your strategy. This is why I think as leaders we should always embrace change, retool, rethink, re-educate and refresh.
As we tend to focus more on strategy, growth, and commercial outcomes — and less on the details of how products actually feel to use. (This shift is natural, but it comes with a cost), one area that often gets lost is design heuristics.
What Are Heuristics?
Heuristics are simple design principles that help make products easier to use. Nielsen’s list is the most commonly referenced: things like giving users feedback when something happens, reducing the need to remember things, making options visible, and preventing avoidable errors.
They’re not complex frameworks. Just thoughtful reminders of what makes interfaces feel understandable and usable.
Why They Still Matter
Even in 2025, these principles still apply. Most digital products today are built at speed — by cross-functional teams juggling multiple priorities. As a result, details get missed. Copy becomes unclear. Flows become fragmented. Features work, but they feel off.
Often, the root cause isn’t complex. It’s a broken heuristic: missing feedback, inconsistent navigation, too many steps, or unclear expectations.
If you’re seeing drop-off, low activation, or poor user satisfaction, these are often the kinds of issues behind it.
Why It’s a Leadership Responsibility
As CPOs, we’re not expected to write interface copy or redesign onboarding flows (But i’ll have a go – often!). But we do set the tone for how seriously these things are taken.
We can ask questions that surface heuristic issues early:
- Does this design reduce friction?
- Is this consistent with what users expect?
- Would someone unfamiliar with our product understand this?
These are simple questions that help teams stay focused on the user experience — especially when shipping fast.
Why It’s Still Useful in 2025
AI-generated designs, rapid prototyping, and component systems can speed up output, but they don’t guarantee usability. Heuristics still provide a useful lens to check whether what we’ve built makes sense to real people.
They’re not outdated. They’re just quiet. Easy to ignore, but useful when things feel clunky and it’s unclear why.
For product leaders, revisiting heuristics isn’t about micromanaging design. It’s about making sure the product still reflects the standard of clarity and care you expect.
📚 Heuristic References & Refreshers
If you haven’t revisited these in a while, here are some good starting points:
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Jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design
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UX Design Institute — Heuristics in UX Design
https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/blog/heuristics-ux-design/
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Smashing Magazine: Practical Examples of Heuristic Evaluation
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/01/ux-heuristic-evaluation-practical-examples/
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NNG Group — How to Conduct a Heuristic Evaluation
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/how-to-conduct-a-heuristic-evaluation/
These are useful not just for designers — but for any product team that wants to build with more awareness of how things feel to users.