I have been designing experiences for far too long (since 1997), always with a bit too strong a focus on how I will be improving people’s lives. Starting from the developers all the way to the users and even the business stakeholders. While many of us know why, the meaning of design for most people seems to have shifted drastically towards outputs. The mock-ups, the clickable prototypes, the divs and classes, for instance. Or maybe the Design System NPM package and the accompanying json. Yes outputs are important, but essentially as a means to communicate and facilitate the change that we need to bring. As designers our job has to be to change for the better what is existing, to improve someone’s life. Why else do you believe interest in ’empathy’ grew so rapidly in the last 15 years?
When did we stop thinking about outcomes?
What drove the need for investment worth possibly billions of dollars into software to make wireframes? Something we can do just as well on a piece of paper or whiteboard.
I will be updating this post later. As I prefer not to save drafts that I would never come back to, I am publishing this little thought bubble.