Aria had always loved the design. From the moment she first sketched an interface on paper, she believed in its power to shape experiences and make life easier. With every project, she meticulously crafted interfaces, ensuring they were polished, intuitive, and aligned with best practices. Yet, something was off.
Stakeholders nodded in meetings, but their enthusiasm was missing. Clients approved her work but kept questioning its relevance. It frustrated her. The designs were functional, even beautiful — but they weren’t making a difference. The feedback she received was vague and, at times, conflicting. It felt like an endless loop of revisions that never got to the heart of the issue.
One evening, exhausted and disheartened, she reached out to me. “I don’t get it,” she sighed. “I’m following best practices. Why isn’t my work landing?”
We sat down, and I asked her a simple question: “What is design to you?” Without hesitation, she responded, “It’s the screens I create, the interfaces that make interactions seamless.” That was where the problem started.
The design wasn’t just about screens. It was about the clarity of thought, the rationale behind choices, and the ability to align with both user and business needs. The real work wasn’t in pushing pixels but in uncovering the deeper problems that needed solving.
Many UX designers, like Aria, unknowingly fall into this trap. The industry has glorified design outputs — wireframes, UI kits, pixel-perfect screens — as the hallmark of success. But true design is about problem-solving. It requires an understanding of user behavior, business constraints, and systemic challenges. Without that, even the most beautiful design remains just decoration.
She listened as I explained that design begins in the very first five minutes of a conversation, long before a wireframe is sketched. The way a designer engages early on determines the trajectory of the entire project. Stakeholders need to feel understood; they need to see the thought process, not just the output. “When you start by showing screens,” I told her, “you’ve already lost the battle.”
The best designers don’t just design — they think. They question assumptions, challenge business strategies, and shape decisions before a single pixel is placed. Some of the greatest UX minds, like Don Norman, argue that design is about human-centered problem-solving, not aesthetics. The world’s best products — Amazon’s recommendation engine, Tesla’s seamless user experience, Apple’s intuitive interfaces — weren’t built on beautiful screens alone. They were designed by people who understood behavior, friction points, and business models deeply.
Aria realized another pattern in her work. She had been treating client interactions as transactional — an exchange of deliverables rather than a collaborative process of uncovering problems and shaping solutions. She had been designing for completion, not impact. Her creativity had been tied to defending what she had made instead of challenging it to evolve.
The next time she met with a client, she changed her approach. Instead of presenting polished designs, she started by discussing the problem — digging deeper into what the business needed and why the users were struggling. She asked questions she hadn’t before, stepping away from the screen and into the conversation.
Everything shifted. The engagement was different. The client saw her as a thought partner rather than a designer for hire. The feedback made sense because she had been part of defining the problem. For the first time in her career, she wasn’t just designing interfaces; she was designing impact.
That night, she messaged me. “I think I finally get it,” she wrote. “It was never about just the screens.”
UX is at a crossroads. Some designers will remain executors, churning out screens and deliverables. But those who step beyond, who engage, challenge, and think beyond interfaces, will shape the future of design. The most successful UX designers are those who act as strategic problem-solvers, integrating psychology, business insight, and technological awareness into their work.
Aria had made her choice.
Article By: Prasadd Bartakke- Co-founder and Chief Mentor- yuj designs: A Global UX Design Company.