People can be weird, they can do and like weird things. But the stuff is only weird from the point of view of someone who wouldn’t do those things in a million years.
I like going to Disney theme parks on holiday, repeatedly. There are plenty of people who would call me weird for that, because it’s not their jam and that’s fine, personal choices are by definition – subjective.
If I went on holiday to a theme park with my family, and after we got home were asked a series of questions about how much we’d enjoyed the trip, you’d get very different answers from me and my other family members just based on the type of holiday we’d taken.
This is why when you’re creating any sort of experience it’s important to approach user research with empathy and understanding. You are not the end user, and even if you are you won’t be the only end user.
There’s another side to this, and I think this is very important to remember when you’re trying to create the perfect experience, it’s going to be a very rare thing for every member of your audience to like what you’ve created. People are individuals and putting your work out to be seen will result in some pushback.
A quick glance at UX discussions on platforms like Bluesky or Threads reveals how much of the conversation revolves around labeling experiences as “bad.” But these critiques often lack an understanding of the countless decisions, constraints, and creative problem solving that led to the final product.
Perhaps, instead of rushing to judgment, we could focus on curiosity What trade-offs were made? What needs were prioritized? If we did that we might uncover the deeper story behind the design and maybe even learn something to inform our own practices.