"The Decline in Design (Thinking)" by Christopher Murphy is a thought-provoking exploration of the challenges faced by design and its relationship with other disciplines. Here are some key learnings from the book:
- Design thinking has become a buzzword and has lost its original essence, resulting in a decline in its effectiveness.
- The commercialization and commodification of design have led to a focus on the superficial aspects, neglecting the critical thinking and problem-solving aspects of the discipline.
- The increasing specialization in design has hindered collaboration and cross-disciplinary learning, limiting the potential for innovative solutions.
- Designers need to reclaim their role as creative problem solvers and bridge the gap between design and other disciplines.
- The book encourages designers to cultivate a diverse skill set, expand their knowledge beyond design, and embrace a more holistic approach.
As a UX designer, this book is highly relevant to you because:
- It highlights the challenges faced by design thinking and prompts you to critically evaluate its application in your
✏️ Highlights
Design was my first love. She opened my eyes to the little things in life — how a mug handle curves to hold your hand; how a ketchup bottle stands on its lid; how you can fill a Cup Noodles and microwave it without needing a bowl. Design taught me to see things differently. Of course, I picked up other lenses along the way — music, history, economics— but I’ve recently come home to design to understand why we are the way we are.
I’ve been fascinated with the social, cultural, and public health implications of urban design — how the space around us shapes our habits to drive to work or grocery shop once a week.
There’s industrial design, such as how boxy cars from the 1960s slowly became the curved, aerodynamic cars we have today. There’s user interface (UI) design, where designers concern themselves with whether the “Accept” button is on the right or left of a pop-up menu. And I can’t forget graphic design — my bread and butter during college — where art meets branding.
designers will use to illustrate bad design: the “Norman Door.” Take a look
the “Norman Door.” Take a look at the picture above. Without the “Push” label, your first instinct would probably be to pull the door towards you. Its curved handle is practically inviting you to pull.
Design thinking may find that listeners are actually willing to pay for music if it’s more convenient than piracy (e.g., Spotify). It may find that viewers only use five or six buttons to operate a television (e.g., Roku remotes). Or it may find that consumers care more about replaceable toothbrushes rather than singing ones (e.g., Oral toothbrush heads).
Hiking has become a mainstay for city dwellers and suburbanites to reconnect with nature. The mountainous outlooks. The unexpected waterfalls. The creatures and critters. Barring the occasional binoculars or stray cooler of free water bottles, it often feels like an escape from any and all man-​made industry. That feeling is by design.
A good hiking trail, according to the National Park Service, accomplishes some key goals. It can sustain long-term use with minimal impact to the ecosystem. It takes patrons to scenic views with little rerouting. And it requires minimal maintenance, either from wildlife or erosion or water damage.
Trails may want to show off hydrological features — such as ponds or lake — or geologic features — such as large bluffs of limestone. Trails usually wander through vertical features as a method of way finding, such as large trees or rocky overhangs. And they especially want to take you to ridge lines, where panoramic views ensue over a safe and stable slope. There’s a sense of controlled risk that is nurtured through meticulously maintained routes.
Hikers like to see cool things, so construct trails that lead to tops of mountains. Explorers tend to get lost, so embed natural location markers. Private property owners get frustrated with unwanted visitors, so fence off trespassers. Designers are here to optimize experiences based on how we think and act.
human-centered design can be used to encourage exploration in safe, sustainable ways. It can simultaneously curb harmful human behavior. Designers account for our tendencies to provide a seamless positive experience pushed by unnoticeable forces.
new motion-​sensor dispensers had difficulty picking up dark skin. The infrared light — emitted with the intent to be reflected back to the sensor and trigger the dispenser— never accounted for dark skin absorbing more light than light skin.
Face ID was a groundbreaking biometric that could account for sunglasses, hijabs, and facial coverings, yet had a rough start differentiating Chinese users from one another
Google Photos, a pioneer in widely available image recognition software, takes the racism up a notch (or several) and mistakenly tags two Black teens as primates.
it begs the question of which humans we are designing for.
Of course, the human-​centered design process has built-​in mechanisms to calibrate for real world impact. They’re called prototyping and iterating — steps 4 and 5. Designers are supposed to test these products over and over again to compensate for their biases.
Design thinking has a massive blind spot — the designers.
most scissors are designed for right-handed
There are tens of TED Talks on design thinking, and they’re all the same video.
Rebecca Ackermann writes that democratizing design may have been a mistake — that these innovators or disrupters are often out of touch with reality and lack the conceptual expertise to inspire true change. That innovation agencies like IDEO sell walls of post-​it notes and fancy jargon like “radical collaboration” in order to sell executives the idea they’re delivering an irresistible new product.
That design thinking has become an odd, corporatized solution for world peace and an infallible religion for Silicon Valley startups.
The promise of design thinking is why we are in a deluge of innovative solutions to non-​existent problems. Did we really need a direct-​to-​consumer brewery that brews non-​alcoholic craft beers to normalize and satisfy beer cravings at any hour of the day?
They’ll tell you to admire the new benches with armrests that are replacing old seaters around the city. These features allow people to rest their arms. Never-​mind the hostile effect these design choices have on the unhoused in need of a surface to sleep on.
Contrary to what designers may write about in the Harvard Business Review or Stanford’s d.School, design is not a humanitarian endeavor. It’s just a tool. These new, disturbing urban design solutions have been seen in Vancouver, New York, and Washington, DC, working exactly as intended to exacerbate inequity and disrupt local communities.
some design choices are much more explicit about their harmful agenda. The discriminatory design of racist Robert Moses, an urban designer for New York, was so successful that it became a blueprint for segregation across America.
urban planner Robert Moses began building projects in New York during the 1920s, he bulldozed Black and Latino homes to make way for parks, and built highways through the middle of minority neighborhoods.
Moses even made sure bridges on the parkways connecting New York City to beaches in Long Island were low enough to keep city buses — which would likely be carrying poor minorities — from passing underneath.
Equally intentionally, the highway was set to travel through Black neighborhoods in West Baltimore, using eminent domain to force out home and business owners. Moses, a strong proponent of “Negro Removal,” argued that destroying more low-​income Black neighborhoods would lead to a “healthier Baltimore” in the long run.
The interstate first began construction in the 1960s, intended to quickly connect white suburbs to downtown Baltimore.
Design fails when designers are blinded, whether it be their own biases or public policy or corporate interests.
I believe that even suburban sprawl was not planned by mustache-twirling villains but by planners who got swept up in a sea of blinders.
The American Automobile Association’s new “Motordom” movement of the 1920s had begun an ideological revolution about how freedom meant that Americans should be able to move wherever they want, whenever they want, at whatever speed they want. In every direction, there was somebody telling an urban designer that new suburban development was the right thing to do. Design fails when designers don’t ask why.
design world must reconcile with its lack of diversity and its unintended or intended impacts on marginalized communities. It must refocus on service rather than disruption. Positively, the principles of design — empathizing, listening, adapting — are sound. However, the future of design and its success hinges on whether its educators and influencers can decolonize their work.
Decolonizing Design by Elizabeth (Dori)
how design has impacted Black, Indigenous, and
Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
for a bathroom-​level read, check out The Design Thinking Movement is Absurd, by Lee Visel, on Medium. His article is a whimsical, hopeful reflection on the infectious nature of design thinking
for a bathroom-​level read, check out The Design Thinking Movement is Absurd, by Lee Visel, on Medium. His article is a whimsical, hopeful reflection on the infectious nature of design thinking and the warped realities design thinkers live within.
Design was my first love. She opened my eyes to the little things in life — how a mug handle curves to hold your hand; how a ketchup bottle stands on its lid; how you can fill a Cup Noodles and microwave it without needing a bowl. Design taught me to see things differently. Of course, I picked up other lenses along the way — music, history, economics— but I’ve recently come home to design to understand why we are the way we are.
I’ve been fascinated with the social, cultural, and public health implications of urban design — how the space around us shapes our habits to drive to work or grocery shop once a week.
There’s industrial design, such as how boxy cars from the 1960s slowly became the curved, aerodynamic cars we have today. There’s user interface (UI) design, where designers concern themselves with whether the “Accept” button is on the right or left of a pop-up menu. And I can’t forget graphic design — my bread and butter during college — where art meets branding.
designers will use to illustrate bad design: the “Norman Door.” Take a look
the “Norman Door.” Take a look at the picture above. Without the “Push” label, your first instinct would probably be to pull the door towards you. Its curved handle is practically inviting you to pull.
Design thinking may find that listeners are actually willing to pay for music if it’s more convenient than piracy (e.g., Spotify). It may find that viewers only use five or six buttons to operate a television (e.g., Roku remotes). Or it may find that consumers care more about replaceable toothbrushes rather than singing ones (e.g., Oral toothbrush heads).
Hiking has become a mainstay for city dwellers and suburbanites to reconnect with nature. The mountainous outlooks. The unexpected waterfalls. The creatures and critters. Barring the occasional binoculars or stray cooler of free water bottles, it often feels like an escape from any and all man-​made industry. That feeling is by design.
A good hiking trail, according to the National Park Service, accomplishes some key goals. It can sustain long-term use with minimal impact to the ecosystem. It takes patrons to scenic views with little rerouting. And it requires minimal maintenance, either from wildlife or erosion or water damage.
Trails may want to show off hydrological features — such as ponds or lake — or geologic features — such as large bluffs of limestone. Trails usually wander through vertical features as a method of way finding, such as large trees or rocky overhangs. And they especially want to take you to ridge lines, where panoramic views ensue over a safe and stable slope. There’s a sense of controlled risk that is nurtured through meticulously maintained routes.
Hikers like to see cool things, so construct trails that lead to tops of mountains. Explorers tend to get lost, so embed natural location markers. Private property owners get frustrated with unwanted visitors, so fence off trespassers. Designers are here to optimize experiences based on how we think and act.
human-​centered design can be used to encourage exploration in safe, sustainable ways. It can simultaneously curb harmful human behavior. Designers account for our tendencies to provide a seamless positive experience pushed by unnoticeable forces.
new motion-​sensor dispensers had difficulty picking up dark skin. The infrared light — emitted with the intent to be reflected back to the sensor and trigger the dispenser— never accounted for dark skin absorbing more light than light skin.
Face ID was a groundbreaking biometric that could account for sunglasses, hijabs, and facial coverings, yet had a rough start differentiating Chinese users from one another
Google Photos, a pioneer in widely available image recognition software, takes the racism up a notch (or several) and mistakenly tags two Black teens as primates.
it begs the question of which humans we are designing for.
Of course, the human-​centered design process has built-​in mechanisms to calibrate for real world impact. They’re called prototyping and iterating — steps 4 and 5. Designers are supposed to test these products over and over again to compensate for their biases.
Design thinking has a massive blind spot — the designers.
most scissors are designed for right-​handed
There are tens of TED Talks on design thinking, and they’re all the same video.
Rebecca Ackermann writes that democratizing design may have been a mistake — that these innovators or disrupters are often out of touch with reality and lack the conceptual expertise to inspire true change. That innovation agencies like IDEO sell walls of post-​it notes and fancy jargon like “radical collaboration” in order to sell executives the idea they’re delivering an irresistible new product.
That design thinking has become an odd, corporatized solution for world peace and an infallible religion for Silicon Valley startups.
The promise of design thinking is why we are in a deluge of innovative solutions to non-​existent problems. Did we really need a direct-​to-​consumer brewery that brews non-​alcoholic craft beers to normalize and satisfy beer cravings at any hour of the day?
They’ll tell you to admire the new benches with armrests that are replacing old seaters around the city. These features allow people to rest their arms. Never-​mind the hostile effect these design choices have on the unhoused in need of a surface to sleep on.
Contrary to what designers may write about in the Harvard Business Review or Stanford’s d.School, design is not a humanitarian endeavor. It’s just a tool. These new, disturbing urban design solutions have been seen in Vancouver, New York, and Washington, DC, working exactly as intended to exacerbate inequity and disrupt local communities.
some design choices are much more explicit about their harmful agenda. The discriminatory design of racist Robert Moses, an urban designer for New York, was so successful that it became a blueprint for segregation across America.
urban planner Robert Moses began building projects in New York during the 1920s, he bulldozed Black and Latino homes to make way for parks, and built highways through the middle of minority neighborhoods.
Moses even made sure bridges on the parkways connecting New York City to beaches in Long Island were low enough to keep city buses — which would likely be carrying poor minorities — from passing underneath.
Equally intentionally, the highway was set to travel through Black neighborhoods in West Baltimore, using eminent domain to force out home and business owners. Moses, a strong proponent of “Negro Removal,” argued that destroying more low-​income Black neighborhoods would lead to a “healthier Baltimore” in the long run.
The interstate first began construction in the 1960s, intended to quickly connect white suburbs to downtown Baltimore.
Design fails when designers are blinded, whether it be their own biases or public policy or corporate interests.
I believe that even suburban sprawl was not planned by mustache-twirling villains but by planners who got swept up in a sea of blinders.
The American Automobile Association’s new “Motordom” movement of the 1920s had begun an ideological revolution about how freedom meant that Americans should be able to move wherever they want, whenever they want, at whatever speed they want. In every direction, there was somebody telling an urban designer that new suburban development was the right thing to do. Design fails when designers don’t ask why.
design world must reconcile with its lack of diversity and its unintended or intended impacts on marginalized communities. It must refocus on service rather than disruption. Positively, the principles of design — empathizing, listening, adapting — are sound. However, the future of design and its success hinges on whether its educators and influencers can decolonize their work.
Decolonizing Design by Elizabeth (Dori)
how design has impacted Black, Indigenous, and
Indigenous, and People of Color communities.
for a bathroom-​level read, check out The Design Thinking Movement is Absurd, by Lee Visel, on Medium. His article is a whimsical, hopeful reflection on the infectious nature of design thinking
for a bathroom-​level read, check out The Design Thinking Movement is Absurd, by Lee Visel, on Medium. His article is a whimsical, hopeful reflection on the infectious nature of design thinking and the warped realities design thinkers live within.
