From the beginning, humans have invented gods — not just out of fear, but from a deep psychological need to believe that somewhere, someone could help.

These gods weren’t abstract ideals. They were actors. Every culture created its own cast of divine characters, each shaped to match the needs, fears, and hopes of its people.

UX designers often talk about “advocating for the user.” And that’s true — but incomplete. Because the best UX work doesn’t just serve users. It advances business goals.

When you position your work as just “supporting usability” or “making things pretty,” you sideline yourself as a creative auxiliary. But when you lead with a clear design principle rooted in a business outcome, you become a partner in the company’s strategic progress.

Let’s not dance around it: the design world is changing fast, and not in that “ooh, fun new trends” kind of way. More like “entire job categories are evaporating overnight” kind of way. And if you’re still operating like it’s 2015 — crafting pixel-perfect screens, polishing design system documentation, or fighting for the best shade of gray in your component library — you might want to sit down for this.

More and more, I hear that AI is upending UX design — so much so that the term itself might not even mean anything anymore… if it ever did. Some say we’re now designing invisible agentic workflows, focused more on backstage automation than front-end interactions. Others argue that, with all these new human-machine touchpoints, UI needs us more than ever — especially since click and touch still beat voice as the primary interface.