During World War II, many native people encountered western civilisation for the first time. People in Papua New Guinea, New Hebrides and Fiji Islands watched westerners build airstrips so that they could land cargo planes.
To the natives, the items they brought seemed like they came from a paradise: Manufactured clothing, medicine, canned food, tents, weapons and other goods arrived in vast quantities for the soldiers, who often shared some of it with the islanders who were their guides and hosts. So the natives began to worship westerners and the cargo they brought. Over the small islands across the Pacific they became known as the Cargo Cults.
But of course, eventually the war ended and the westerners left, so the supply of Cargo stopped. Locals thought that if they wanted Cargo to return, they needed to do the same things westerners did: they copied their uniforms, paraded around, made wooden models of airplanes and built airstrips, all in the effort to attract Cargo.
Of course, it didn’t work.
We may laugh at these cargo cults, but we see examples of that every day. For example, companies that question conventional thinking tend to be more creative, and produce better work. Their ideas are exciting, their work is recognised, and even their office space tends to be different: instead of cubicles they have beanbags and “play” areas. They were really successful, so everyone else wanted to get to the same level. Suddenly every office was getting beanbags, plant walls, neon signs – anything to make them look creative. Coffee machines were installed and walls painted a different colour. Then they waited for creativity to come. But of course, it didn’t. Their work was as dull and uncreative as ever. Because, just like Cargo Cults they confused the things they could see with the things they wanted. They didn’t understand creativity and thought copying the unconventional offices will make creativity happen.
These days it happens with UX design. At its core, UX design is about solving problems, and great designers are thinkers who can separate essential from the noise. They get there through variety of tools and techniques but they always remember the big picture and the role they play. Once UX took off as an industry, I see companies and even individual designers adopt the Cargo Cult mindset: they learn every workshop technique and every process they can get their hands on. For every project they make sure they do personas, empathy mapping, and prototyping with micro-interactions. They think jargon and latest approach will solve the problem. But of course, it doesn’t. The result is a lot of noise that nobody cares about. Because, just like Cargo Cults, they don’t understand that there is more to design than picking the latest technique. Design begins with the thinking, with understanding. Not with software or workshop techniques.
Just like the Cargo Cults, they are copying the wrong part.
