The Decline of Usability (2020)
UX designer here who has done nothing but design web, mobile and related UI since about 2000, mostly working for or at large consumer brands (and now thinking of retiring).<p>I&#x27;d definitely agree with the idea that change for change&#x27;s sake is responsible for a lot of usability problems.<p>But a bigger problem is the near extinction of any professional discussion or capable analysis of design by the people who are doing it.<p>Most designers I work with don&#x27;t have the vocabulary or knowledge about what makes something &quot;usable&quot; in the wider sense, let alone the ability to actually solve subtle interaction design or information display problems. With no knowledge or interest in basic heuristics, they literally don&#x27;t know where to start. So they just live in Figma playing with colours, shapes and effects, pausing only to show some variations of the same UI for &quot;user testing&quot;. It&#x27;s become a wilfully ignorant, &quot;non-technical&quot; cult of innovation that&#x27;s completely lost sight of its original purpose.<p>To say I&#x27;m ashamed of my profession is no exaggeration. We&#x27;ve failed so badly.