"I think there's something quietly screwing up a lot of engineering teams. In interviews, in promotion packets, in design reviews: the engineer who overbuilds gets a compelling narrative, but the one who ships the simplest thing that works gets... nothing."
"Designers are anxious. Layoffs have not let up, AI has seemingly trivialized our magic skill of making things, and practicing designers describe the assembly-style nature of software design as soul-crushing."
"That gap between 'looking done' and 'being right' is exactly where the extra professional pressure begins to mount. This is really caused by the way we still measure knowledge worker productivity - by the sheer number of artifacts they produce, rather than the outcomes of the work."
Design and engineering face critical challenges in contemporary practice. Simplicity receives undervaluation compared to complex solutions that generate compelling narratives. Designers experience anxiety from layoffs, AI disruption, and soul-crushing assembly-line work processes. Productivity measurement systems prioritize artifact quantity over actual outcomes, creating pressure to appear productive rather than deliver meaningful results. Product ethics have become increasingly important as technology companies face political and regulatory scrutiny. The gap between appearing finished and being genuinely right drives professional pressure and compromises work quality across knowledge work sectors.
#product-ethics #design-simplicity #productivity-measurement #ai-impact-on-design #engineering-culture
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