I once lied to my Uber driver about where I was going. And I wasn’t the only one.
It started with a well-intentioned product feature and ended with passengers lying and drivers
breaking rules — all just to make the app work for them.
This is what happens when a product turns its users into rebels.
When Good Intentions Backfire
A few years back, Uber tried to reduce driver discrimination by hiding drop-off locations until
trips began. The logic was simple: if drivers can’t see where you’re going, they can’t cherry-pick
profitable rides.
Thoughtful idea. Terrible execution.
I lived in an area drivers avoided. So they adapted — they’d call before pickup and ask where I
was headed anyway. Don’t like the answer? Ride cancelled. I adapted too. I started lying about
my destination just to get picked up.
Then came those awkward ten minutes when they realized the truth. Both of us knowing.
Neither of us speaking.
Drivers became rule-breakers. Passengers became liars. The product became a mess for
everyone.
Uber eventually removed the feature. But here’s what stuck with me: people don’t create
workarounds because they’re clever. They create them because the product failed them
first.
When users are inventing hacks just to complete basic tasks, that’s not creativity — it’s a red
flag.
Workarounds Are Warning Signals
We’ve all seen it. Product launches. Users hit roadblocks. Suddenly there’s a list of “creative
fixes” keeping things afloat.
But let’s be clear: workarounds aren’t solutions. They’re symptoms. They signal that
somewhere in the design process, we missed something critical.
And the cost of missing it? That grows exponentially.
The 1-10-100 Rule
Here’s why timing matters:
● Fix a problem during design: costs 1x
● Fix it during development: costs 10x
● Fix it after release: costs 100x
Beyond money, post-release fixes mean late nights, blown deadlines, and burnt-out teams
patching what should’ve been caught early.
One overlooked perspective at the start can snowball into months of rework later.
The Missing Voices
Most gaps trace back to one thing: the right people weren’t in the room when decisions
were made.
The ones shaping your product aren’t just decision-makers or end-users. Support teams,
operations, compliance, marketing, IT — they all see different angles of the same experience.
Skip them early? Their pain points surface later as expensive fixes or frustrated users.
Two Real Examples:
The Win: A fintech team held a 2-hour workshop with support before redesigning their
dashboard. One label change caught early reduced support calls by 30% — before any code
was written.
The Fail: A travel platform redesigned without consulting travel agents. The “simpler” flow
removed bulk booking. Agents couldn’t process group trips on launch day. The fix? Three
months.
A Simple Playbook
You don’t need complexity. You need intention:
- Run short workshops — Diverse voices, early input
- Map journeys together — Multiple perspectives expose blind spots
- Prototype fast and cheap — Fail while fixes are affordable
- Ask the 1-10-100 question — What will this cost if we miss it now?
The Bigger Truth
Sometimes the gap between a great idea and a great product is just one missing perspective.
One unasked question. One voice not in the room.
When we listen early, design openly, and question often, we don’t just avoid workarounds — we
prevent the friction that creates them.
It’s always easier to build products that work with people than to clean up after ones that
work against them.
