06-25-2026SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

Are designers to blame for our tech dystopia? It’s complicated

Addictive apps. Persuasive features. Deceptive patterns. Is Big Tech’s ‘defective design’ really a design problem? A legendary UX designer explains how we got here and what the AI age could bring.

[Source Image: Cali6ro/Adobe Stock, Sabbir’s World/Adobe Stock]

Should designers have known better?

That’s the question I’ve been asking myself over the last few months, as the infrastructure of the modern internet has been increasingly—and rightfully—called into question.

It’s been a rough year for technology, and the people who build it. Social media age restriction bans are picking up steam. Prediction markets are under fire. AI platforms are battling existential perception problems. 

And then, of course, there are the lawsuits.  

Earlier this year, courts in California and New Mexico ruled that social media........

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