I have been thinking about this phrase today. It comes to me from a lesson imparted to campers at the summer camp I attended as a boy and worked at into my twenties. Here’s how it is presented there:

Be kind. Do at least one act of unbargaining service each day.

I have always really liked this notion, which I take to mean something along the lines of “service without regard for reward.” It is about doing things for others that they need done, and in such a way that they’re not obligated to take any action in response. They are just simply better off. Without a sense of being beholden, they are actually freer.

Today, I’ve found myself wondering how this concept might fit in with UX, trying to figure out what it means in that context. I don’t have a great answer yet, but it feels like there is something there. After all, generally we want users to take an action, and we craft experiences that making doing so as seamless as possible. If our goals align with the users’ goals, then theoretically everybody wins.

And if they don’t? I suppose unbargaining service would be to put user goals ahead of our own. That can be a tough sell. In this context, unbargaining service starts to sound like charity. But what if it’s not? What if users notice how you provided them excellent, selfless service, perhaps even at the expense of your bottom line, and they appreciate it, and they develop an affinity for you? What if that affinity keeps them coming back?

Of course, working this thinking into a strategy immediately kills the “unbargaining” aspect, since now you’re banking on pure stewardship reaping dividends down the road. Nothing too selfless about that. And now we’ve landed on the business philosphy of every high-end hospitality organization. Think turned-down beds and servers who remember your favorite drink.

Maybe it’s enough for unbargaining service to be front and center in the UX designer’s mind. We always have opportunities to do helpful things for users that gain us nothing. Sometimes they are tiny, sometimes larger. If we can increase the number of those we act on — to, say, one each day? — it’s a safe bet we’ll all be better off.