German UPA panel: Christian Korff on his UX trend for 2023

“The world is in a state of upheaval; uncertainty is a central challenge for both companies and individuals. Human-centered organizational models help us deal with uncertainty,” was the thesis Christian Korff brought to the panel. In his reflections on upcoming trends, he deliberately steered clear of common buzzwords like “metaverse” or “Web 3.” Looking back, only one thing is certain to him: uncertainty. Christian’s UX trend for 2023 stems from the pandemic, war, and economic crisis: As UX professionals, and as people in general, we must develop methods for dealing with uncertainty. It is becoming increasingly important for organizations to support their employees in this task. Salary and benefits are no longer enough.

“I believe that we all need to take a step back and reflect a little more on ourselves, asking how, or in what kind of environment, we actually want to and are able to work, and what is the true value of our work?”

At UX&I, human-centered work based on the sociocratic model is standard practice. Self-organization is a core aspect of this approach. For Christian, it is an effective way to address uncertainties. Self-organization benefits individual employees, but it also has a positive impact at the organizational level by helping the company better navigate changing market conditions.

Katja Busch, UX coach and consultant, pointed out that while self-organization might work in the privileged “digital and startup bubble,” in larger companies with traditional leadership styles it can also lead to employees feeling overwhelmed and may even increase uncertainty, since it stands in stark contrast to what is familiar and has been permitted up to now. Especially when there is intense pressure in the work environment, she noted, there would be a lack of mental capacity for cooperation and, consequently, for self-organization.

Christian agreed that self-organization cannot be implemented overnight in all organizations. Instead, he sees it as a process of taking small steps to consider how people can feel more comfortable in companies over the long term and what can be done to achieve that. A fitting guiding principle at UX&I is “Good enough for now, safe enough to try.” This makes it easy to test out individual ideas. Change within the company can be driven by the people who actually experience a problem. Lengthy decision-making processes are eliminated, and frustration is less likely to build up. 

“Truly sustainable change can only come from the bottom up. That’s why it’s important to give people the space they need and say: ‘Okay, let’s just give it a try, we’ll put your ideas into practice and see what happens.’” 

Christian explains exactly how the sociocratic model works at UX&I and what advantages and disadvantages it entails in his article: UX Mindset Meets New Work: Why We Work in a Human-Centered Way.

The entire panel discussion is available as a video recording on the German UPA’s YouTube channel.

Attachments

• German UPA YouTube video “UX Trends 2023”
• Profile of Christian Korff, Senior UX consultant at UX&I (jpg) (PNG, 1552 KB)