Summary
We'll take a look at how UX propagates within organizations using a viral model ( a modified SIR model to be more precise ). We'll look at such questions as: Does it simply need more time? Is the transmission rate/function the problem? Is part of the organization effectively "inoculated" against UX? and how, when and where to track progress While getting UX into an organization isn't as simple as solving a set of differential equations, we hope to show you that doing just that might be a useful step in getting insights into what might work and what might not.
Key Insights
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Mathematical models like the SIR viral model can conceptually map to UX adoption and diffusion in organizations.
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Exponential viral growth explains how UX practices can spread rapidly but eventually face systemic constraints.
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Combining math with humanities and social sciences research can provide powerful UX insights.
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Conceptual models (personas, journeys) are simplified system representations; math models quantify these relationships.
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Successful UX adoption often encounters competing variants, resistant groups, and super-spreaders resembling virus behavior.
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Operationally defining and measuring UX spread is essential for applying mathematical models meaningfully.
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Mathematical models can inspire new UX research questions and organizational strategies.
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Overfitting math models can produce meaningless correlations, so conceptual understanding is crucial.
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Persistence of some UX practices suggests endemic states rather than simple viral rise and fall.
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Bridging math and UX requires mutual understanding; UX researchers need math literacy and mathematicians need UX context.
Notable Quotes
"Math by itself can sometimes be misleading and full of biases, but combined with humanities it can be super powerful."
"A model is a simplified representation of a system capturing its most important characteristics."
"If you give me a grain of rice today, then two tomorrow, and double every day, it gets ridiculously big very fast."
"Exponential growth starts slow and then takes off incredibly rapidly until system constraints slow it down."
"Persona is a model, a journey is a model, and now math models are similar but with numbers."
"The SIR model from viruses can be adapted conceptually for how UX spreads: susceptible, infected, recovered."
"There are competing variants of UX, like research types competing for adoption within organizations."
"You don’t have to be a math expert to start figuring out how to connect math models to UX research."
"All models are wrong but some are useful, and that applies to math models in UX as well."
"Math models don’t just provide computational precision; they can also be inspirational."
Dig deeper—ask the Rosenbot:
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