My favorite quote, original in German, is: “Fragensteller sind Weichensteller.”

Askers are switchmen.

Hans Leopold Davi (Swiss bookseller and author)

Yes, asking questions should be one of the core skills of every UXer. Independent from his/her professional focus and concrete skillset. But, too often that becomes a reflex and entices you to ask too early and too often. You quickly start to question everything.

We’ve got data, experiences, heuristics—we’ve got evidence. We know supposedly, how things will work if we pull out the old but well-established concepts over and over again. When there’re new ideas rising, we fire all that knowledge against them and choke them off. That’s how to repress creativity. Hence, we’ll never know how new concepts would’ve worked. Chances wasted, no progress, no innovation.

So don’t be a caveman. Be patient, listen, understand, take a breath, and then put your questions.

Killing good Ideas can harm your Future