A comprehensive (and honest) list of UX clichés.

“"You are not your user"”
A reminder that you're not designing the product for people like you. Usually used as a way to encourage more user research into a project.

“"If Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, they would have told him faster horses."”
Used as a counter-argument to the previous statement, when you begin to realize that you won't have the time or money to do enough user research.

“"We're testing the design, not your skills."”
A disclaimer given to users at the start of a user testing session to make them feel better about being stupid.

“"Designers should have a seat at the table."”
When you can't prove your strategic value to the company based on your everyday actions and behaviors, and you have to beg to be invited to important meetings.

“"The options should be limited to 7 plus or minus 2."”
A nicer way of saying that the choices should range from 5 to 9, without sounding too broad. When, in reality, every good designer knows that the options should range from 1 to 2.

“"People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill bit; they want a one-centimeter hole."”
Wait, do they really want a hole? Or do they want wireless Bluetooth, so holes aren't necessary?

“"UX should be a mindset, not a step in the process."”
When you realize the deadline is approaching and you haven't been able to complete your deliverables. Used to retroactively try to convince the PM to extend the project timeline.

“"Content is king"”
A very strong argument to convince everyone to push back the deadline, because you haven't received the content that will go on the page you're designing.

“"Never underestimate the stupidity of the user."”
An efficient way to outsource your own responsibility is to give users enough context so they know what to do (also known as being a good designer).

“"I'm wondering if this breaks accessibility standards."”
Used as a last resort when you're running out of arguments to convince other designers that your design isn't working.

“"A user interface is like a joke; if you have to explain it, it's not so good."”
An easy way to kill that idea of a step-by-step assistant/explanation that your stakeholders are asking for. Be aware of the backfire: others may agree with your argument and blame you for the fact that the product isn't working so well.

“"People don't roll"”
The most offensive statement you can throw at a designer.

“"People are used to scrolling; think about the way you use Instagram."”
A polite counter-argument to the previous statement. The Instagram example can be replaced with any other feed-based product that your interlocutor might be addicted to.

“"The fold doesn't exist"”
If you can't convince them, confuse them.

“"UI vs. UX"”
Usually followed by even more clichéd analogies of ketchup bottles or unpaved walkways.

“"All pages should be accessible in 3 clicks"”
Just. No.

“Should designers code?”
A common wildcard when the audience is running out of questions in a Q&A session at a design event.

“"If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.".
A passive-aggressive way of explaining to customers that you will not lower your price. Usually ineffective.

“"You can't design an experience; experiences are too subjective to be designed."”
An argument used by coworkers who are running out of things to say, but somehow still want to appear intelligent.

“"Let the users decide"”
None of us will win this endless argument, so we should take this to the user test. But I'll still prove you wrong in the end.

“"No one enters a website through the homepage anymore."”
Popular at the peak of the SEO era (2005-2008), the argument was used to break up endless short meetings where a large group of stakeholders is trying to design their homepage by committee.

“"The only other industry that names its users as its customers" are drug traffickers.
It's impossible to explain why this exists. Widely used when the term UX emerged in the early 2000s, it's becoming quite popular again in the era of "design for addition".

“"When escalators break down, they really do turn into stairs."”
Originally used to explain the concept of graceful degradation , The quotation mark began to be adopted by developers to convince the product owner that certain bugs do not need to be fixed.

“"Mobile device users are distracted"”
Just a generalization made by someone who still thinks the primary use case for mobile devices is on the go, while shopping and simultaneously trying to tame a wild giraffe.

“"You don't know what you don't know."”
Honestly, nobody knows.

“"Leave your ego at the door."”
An inspirational quote to use before entering a user testing session or a collaborative work session with your colleagues. It looks particularly great if written in Helvetica, printed and framed, and hung by the entrance of truly collaborative office spaces.

“"Double diamond"”
Hey, we need a slide in this deck that represents our design process – can you think of something relatively simple to understand that makes us seem less chaotic than we actually are?

“"Users don't read"”
An argument that's overused to convince clients and stakeholders to cut copy length in half. If you've made it this far in the article, you're living proof that this claim is false.