The “Good Enough” Epidemic

Everyone is drooling over AI tools, high-speed productivity, and automation. And I get it. I’m adopting it too. (Claude is doing tasks for me in the background as I write this.) But I can’t shake the concern. I’ve spent two decades sweating over a craft that only gets better when you bring a certain mindset to it, obsession, intention, and a refusal to settle.

“There is a certain state of mind, a level of concern, a level of obsession that has always pushed the craft to the next level.”

I felt this shift when Flash died. Everything became standard, lightweight, static, “best practice.” We made it through, and people still pushed the needle, but the challenge changed. Back then, we’d build intricate interfaces like they were game menus, hunting for the perfect rusty metal, the right splash of blood, tiny highlights, weird little lighting sources. We’d Command-S 2000-layer Photoshop files before the pinwheel pushed your stomach into your shoes. I don’t miss that workflow, but I miss what it demanded. Care.

Then we flipped the aesthetic on its head. I adopted flat design early because I was burned out on glass buttons and gradient nav bars. My taste got questioned… until it became the trend. But even then, everything was still intentional: typography, hierarchy, pairings, systems. Motion came back when tech caught up. Designers were competitive. Sites had distinct personalities.

And then we entered the era of process worship. UX best practices became law. Research stopped being a tool and became a shield. There was a flood of portfolios that mirrored each other, perfectly documented steps, generic results. People did all the right things and still wondered why the work fell flat. Meanwhile, teams that used data as one input, alongside intuition and craft, shipped products to millions.

Now we’re at another turning point. The tools are easier than ever. And here’s the uncomfortable truth. Being great at the tool has never been the same as being great at the work.

“I’ve never looked at a designer’s output and thought, ‘This is subpar, but wow, your Figma chops!’”

Today, the bar is lower. Everyone is a designer, a developer, a strategist, a prompt engineer, 12 titles at once. The tools are incredible, but the output from most users is… fine. Not bad. Just good enough.

“The tools are incredible, but the output from most users is mediocre, another wave in a sea of sameness.”

And because it arrives fast and easy, people stop iterating. They ship the first decent thing and move on.

Browse new tech company sites right now. So many are instantly forgettable: same components, same tone, same aesthetic. And yes, content matters. But as the viewport fills with noise and competition, how you make people feel matters more. Interface. Voice. Motion. Chat. All of it.

So what now? How do we preserve the craft?

I don’t have a perfect answer, but I know it starts by refusing “good enough.” There needs to be a moment in your workflow where you slow down, zoom out, and run the work through filters again. That pause is going to be part of the job, especially while managing multiple agents. We’ll need to stop, reassess, and make sure the work has the quality and intention that sparks emotion. Because emotion still moves the needle.

With AI, the best designers I know aren’t doing one-shot outputs. They’re iterating, AI and manual edits, back and forth, until it hits. We have an idea, and we find a way to get it done. Not locked to one tool. Not worshiping process. Just making the thing better. I found myself tweaking something manually the other day, sending a screenshot to Claude, and saying, “Do this.”

It’s the best time for experimentation we’ve ever had. Just don’t confuse speed with quality. Don’t settle because it came easily. Don’t settle because you can ship more.

“Don’t settle for the first outputs because they came with such ease.”

Because the people who control the craft, the ones who refuse the vanilla plateau, are still the ones who will create the most value for businesses and the audiences they serve.

The Craft Pause

Before you ship, ask yourself:

Is it recognizable in two seconds?

If you swapped the logo, would anyone notice the difference?

Is there one intentional moment of delight?

A micro-interaction, motion detail, voice moment, or visual twist that makes someone feel something.

Did we remove enough?

Good design isn’t just what you add. It’s what you have the confidence to cut.

What emotion does this create?

Confidence, calm, urgency, curiosity. If it creates none, it will be forgotten.

Did we stop iterating too early?

Was this the first decent output, or the best version we could push it to?