What role does UX design play?

Hi!

Sorry for the radio silence. Since we last spoke, I took some time off from work and it only made sense to take time off from the blog too. Also, we bought a house!

I’m back and I have a couple of great posts (if I may say so myself) lined up for the next couple of weeks.

Here’s the first one.

What would happen if we gave the user full control of the design? If you answered "chaos", you'd be right. While everyone certainly can recognize good (and bad!) design, that doesn't make everyone a designer. So, where do we draw the line? Believe it or not, Homer Simpson might have something to say about this.

Read Structure, Not Design By Committee

But enough about me, how are you doing?
Hit reply and let me know what you’re up to.

Anton

---

What I’ve read

• Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed
  But the 8-hour workday is too profitable for big business, not because of the amount of work people get done in eight hours (the average office worker gets less than three hours of actual work done in 8 hours) but because it makes for such a purchase-happy public. Keeping free time scarce means people pay a lot more for convenience, gratification, and any other relief they can buy. It keeps them watching television, and its commercials. It keeps them unambitious outside of work.

• All The Right Words On Climate Have Already Been Said
  Let’s give the article she was starting to maybe think about asking me to write that I was wondering if I could write the absolute biggest benefit of the doubt and imagine that people read it and said, “Wow this is exactly how I feel, thanks for putting it into words.” What then? What would happen then? Would people be “more aware” about climate change? It’s 109 degrees in Portland right now. It’s been over 130 degrees in Baghdad several times. What kind of awareness quotient are we looking for? What more about climate change does anyone need to know? What else is there to say?