It seems that so much of “design” now is optimizing for clicks — which means the interface must be “easy to use.” But what measures as easy is just what’s familiar. So the fads and conventions of the day are reinforced, and then touted as discoveries of universal application. So we get Nielson telling us to make links blue in all circumstances. But this isn’t design, it’s just repetition — no thinking or creativity is involved. It’s got us stuck in ruts; narrowing our range of options to almost nothing. Gothic writing wasn’t hard for medieval Germans to read, yet it will fail click-through A/B tests. I guess it was a flawed system, then? Which leads us to the ridiculous and self-congratulatory vibe of UI/UX and all Silicon Valley: what we’re doing today is the bestest best innovation in all human history, and everything else is rubbish. A pit of narcissism that leads nowhere.