1. The prehistory of UX design

2. Recently, I was lucky enough to
experience a once-in-a-lifetime
trip with National Geographic to
explore the prehistoric cave
paintings of France and Spain.

3. The backdrop was
breathtaking.

5. The caves themselves were magical,
massive, and millions of years old.

7. We visited the sites where our
modern ancestors emerged from
prehistory.

9. We saw that they looked just
like us.

11. And they had rich cultures—
with language, music, trade,
technology, ritual, art—just as we have.

12. And they had art.
Art that reveals principles applicable
to any UX designer today.

13. The prehistory of UX design

14. 1—Iconography & Symbols.

15. The common design language of cave
art breaks out into two areas:
images and icons (“tectiforms”).

16. Images predominate—including the
majestic, massive animals of the Ice Age,
human hands, and human-animal hybrids.

18. These images from 40,000 years ago
—they are still all around us today.

24. Incredibly, tectiforms (symbols and
shapes) have been discovered to
form a common, global language.
In other words, the same symbols
and shapes were used—in cave art
around the world —for 30,000
years.

25. That’s 30,000 years.
The span of recorded
human history so far?
5,000 years.

26. The Tectiforms

27. But these tectiforms
are still with us today.

28. Just look at your keyboard…

29. How many
prehistoric tectiforms
can you spot in our
modern icons?
(The longer you look,
the more you’ll find)

30. The takeaway for UX designers?
Icons can (often) be more
powerful than words
because they are also deeply
human in nature

31. 2—simplicity

32. Unlike what many people
expect, not all cave paintings
are bright, elaborate, or large.

33. Many are hidden, intimate, delicate
—mere wisps of the core idea.

34. Like these famous mammoths from
deep within the Rouffignac cave.

36. These weren’t unfinished paintings. They
were simply all that was needed to convey
the idea.

37. The takeaway for UX
designers?
Strive for simplicity
in conveying an idea or
designing a task.

38. 3—AdaptABILITY.

39. The ingenuity of prehistoric
cave painters went far beyond
conveying an image.

40. They often searched the shape of
the rocks around them, looking for
what formations naturally seemed
to evoke that of an animal.

41. Like this famous crouched bull
from Altamira cave in Spain.

43. From afar, it looks flat.

44. But from the close distance a cave painter
would have stood, the unique form of the
rock wall brings the painting to life.

47. The takeaway for UX designers?
Match content to context.
Look for ways to adapt content to
its context and platform, to
enhance its value.

48. 4—Perspective

49. We often don’t see cave paintings in
the right light.

50. Literally.

52. While most of us see cave paintings
exposed in direct lighting,
the artists themselves would have
experienced their art very differently,
bathed in the light of small lamps in
otherwise complete darkness.

53. And they worked with the
interplay of light and shadow.

55. In direct light
from modern
sources, the
lower half of this
bull appears
almost
monochromatic
with the top half.

56. But with the
flickering light of a
prehistoric lamp, the
shadows cast by the
rocky overhang add
a sophisticated
depth of color—and
dimensionality that
modern eyes often
fail to perceive.

57. The takeaway for UX designers?
The end-user defines the experience,
not the designer.
Design ultimately is in the hands of the
end-user, who may find unintended
ways to experience the work.

58. 5—Utility

59. What would an exploration of our
prehistoric ancestors be without
understanding the tools they used
everyday?

61. Though seemingly intuitive and simple in
design,
they actually were nuanced and complex,
capable of a diverse array of functions
and were perfectly adapted to a mobile,
nomadic lifestyle.

62. Sound familiar?

63. As a core tool was being
shaped, chips were
created in an intentional
way—so that they, too,
would be usable as tools.

65. It was the first
modular design.

66. Sound
familiar?

67. The takeaway for UX designers?
Beauty, portability, and modular design
enhance utility.
When these three elements come together,
you have the kind of customizable tool
that can shape societies.

68. 1. Remember icons can (often) be more
powerful than words
2. Strive for simplicity
3. Match content to context.
4. Accept that the end-user defines the
experience, not the designer.
5. Enhance utility through beauty, portability,
and modular design.
5 UX Takeaways of Prehistoric Design

69. Thank you.
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