Product innovation doesn’t start with sketching interfaces. It starts with structure.

When UX designers are asked to innovate, they often jump into sketching — wireframes, screens, and arrows connecting components.

That creative spark is real.
But real innovation?
Needs a stronger foundation.

Before we jump into sketching interfaces, open a doc and ask these:
– What are the core objects users care about?
– How do those objects relate to each other?
– What can users do to or with each one?

These are the building blocks of any product system.
And when we start here, innovation becomes more than aesthetic — it becomes structural.

Here’s a real-world example from Airbnb — where innovation can fix current UX flaw of two disconnected objects:

Let’s say you’re searching for a place to stay in Berlin.
On the map, you can see neighbourhood names like Kreuzberg or Prenzlauer Berg. Neighbourhood names are actionable objects.
Click on one, and you’ll see a carousel and photos of the area — great!

But there’s a problem:
You can’t explore listings, within that neighbourhood directly from it.
There’s no clear connection between the neighbourhood and the listings it contains — even though in the user’s mental model, that connection is obvious.
That’s a missed opportunity.

A simple structural link between neighbourhoods and listings could unlock a smoother, smarter discovery experience.

The point of innovation isn’t adding more features.
It’s about making smarter connections between the ones you already have — that’s how you build products that actually matter.

Don’t ship more.
Ship smarter.