Is “UX Best Practices” another way to say stupid-people proof?

Is “UX Best Practices” another way to say stupid-people proof?
A couple of months ago we started a discussion about the user experience term of “Best Practices.” A lot has been said about it. Of course, I’m not against my fellow UX specialists, nor all the hours of research behind human interaction. But many, many times we find ourselves using “Best Practices” as another way to say “navigation stupid people proof.” Nevertheless, as these “rules” are created to help facilitate the delivery of the information to the user on a website, desktop or mobile when it comes down to user vs. Branded content, the best practices are directly opposite to the relevance of the content elevated by the experience (or story). That means that Best Practices are only practical when the site is a “boring” site such a functional or with instructional content. And just a few things are worse than being perceived as boring for a brand.
If there is nothing unique to say about the content on the website, or if its purpose is only and strictly functional, then “the best practices” condemned the experience to be as engaging as the Emergency Exit sign on any building.

All said, when designing an experience, you should understand that “Best Practices” is where you should start, not where you want to land with your design. Relevant content always helps.

Originally published at internauta.co