There is the noise outside, and then there is the inner voice telling everything to shut up. We wrote about this recently, telling designers to stay in their lane, focus on the practice, and generate revenue the only way we know how.
This has turned out to be correct. 95% of recent projects fail. A new model comes out; the collective reaction is akin to a deflating balloon.
I can’t blame anyone for not believing the skeptics, though. This cycle was loud. It really did feel like the future for a minute there – maybe by sheer force of will, but it was there. There were moments when even I doubted whether my practice would continue to be relevant.
It turns out that making money is relevant.
It’s premature, of course, to say we told you so. But it’s always important to look at any new technology for what it is, not what others think. Hold the thing in your hands. Use it a little. What can it do? What are the trade-offs? Is it useful? In what specific ways does it need refinement?
Did anyone ask these questions over the past two years?