When people ask me what I do as a designer, I often say something like: “I take things that seem messy and complicated and rearrange them until they make sense and feel simple.”
That might sound abstract, but at its core, that’s what UX design is — clarifying information or visually communicating to help people complete tasks or find what they need without overwhelm.
The best way to help people understand this is often through a relatable example. And sometimes, the best examples come from the most unexpected places — like a Hawaiian fish I became mildly obsessed with as a kid.
The Fish with the Wild Name
When I was young, I visited Hawaii with my family. One night, we dined at a restaurant named after the state fish: the humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa.
The servers would proudly (and effortlessly) rattle off the name. Guests tried to repeat it — usually with laughs and very little success, “Humu… humu-nuka… humu-wha…?”
For the rest of the trip, I made it my mission to learn how to say the whole name. I scribbled it out phonetically and practiced like it was homework:
humu-humunu-kunuku-apua-a.
I thought I had cracked the code. On the flight home, I proudly recited it to my cousin, who looked at me like I had completely wasted our vacation.
The Aha Moment
A few weeks later, back in school, I caught myself daydreaming about that fish (as one does). And suddenly it hit me: The name wasn’t hard at all—I had just been approaching it the wrong way.
All I had to do was group the sounds:
→ humu-humu
→ nuku-nuku
→ āpuaʻa
Three simple chunks. Patterns. Rhythm. Once I heard the pattern, it became intuitive—almost musical. The unfamiliar had become natural, just by how I looked at it. I felt silly for making it so complicated before. It was not so hard after all!
The UX Design Parallel: Making the Complex Feel Simple
That moment stuck with me. Because, years later, I realized that good design works exactly the same way. When a user encounters a product — whether it’s a complex app, a setup flow, or a form — they can feel just like I did with that fish name: overwhelmed, stuck, unsure where to start.
As designers, our job isn’t just to make it look nice. Our job is to decode the complexity.
We break things down. We look for patterns. We group related parts. We simplify without dumbing down. And when we’ve done our job well, what once seemed intimidating now feels intuitive—even obvious.
That feeling of “Oh, of course!” doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of intentional choices, thoughtful hierarchy, and creative chunking.
If It Feels Obvious, You’re Doing It Right
When I started out designing, I sometimes felt insecure when the final solution seemed “too simple.” I felt I shouldn’t have had to have done so much work to arrive at such a seemingly obvious solution. In fact, this still happens! But now, I also understand that this simple result is the reward of that hard work.
It takes time to untangle complexity, find the rhythm, and build a structure that your users won’t even notice because it just works. If your design seems obvious, then you have done an excellent job!
Remember the fish!
So next time you’re in the thick of a complex UX design challenge, remember the fish. Look for the chunks. Make it flow. And feel proud of your accomplishments!
Say it with me:
humu-humu,
nuku-nuku,
āpuaʻa.
Happy Designing! 🐠