From powerful to personal: Where design is heading
One of my favorite things about writing my newsletter is that it’s not one-way. Most newsletters are—let’s face it. But I get questions from readers that make me stop and think harder about things I thought I already had figured out.
Alina sent me one of those questions recently:
“From what you’ve seen, how has design as a way to serve people changed during your career? I feel that in the past, design often showed how powerful a tool could be—it was more about showing what technology can do. Now it seems design is more personal: helping people get the tool they need right away. To me, that reflects a bigger social trend of asking, ‘Who are you? What matters to you personally?’—almost a wave of psychological customization for each person.”
She nailed something I hadn’t put into words yet. And I hope she’s right—that design really is becoming more personal, more about helping people get what they need instead of showing off what’s possible.
The shift to personalization
Personalization has quietly become one of the defining themes of the last few years. And it makes sense. Once you’ve experienced a solution that feels like it was built for you, why would you ever go back to something generic?
The bar keeps rising. A personalized experience becomes the baseline. Then someone builds a hyper-personalized experience, and suddenly the old version feels stale. The only way to pull someone away from a tool they love is to offer them something even more tailored to their specific needs.
And the next phase? Tools that are proactive instead of reactive. Not just responding to what you ask for, but surfacing things you didn’t even know you were looking for yet. Showing you the answer before you’ve fully formed the question.
AI is accelerating this in ways we’re only starting to understand. It’s not just about showing you content you might like or recommending products based on your browsing history. It’s about adapting interfaces, interactions, and entire workflows to match how you think and work.
We’re moving past “one size fits all” and even past “a few sizes to choose from.” We’re heading toward “this was made for you, specifically.”
New surfaces, new possibilities
But personalization isn’t just about smarter algorithms. It’s also about where and how we interact with technology.
The Meta Ray-Ban glasses probably aren’t the next big thing. But they’re pointing in a direction that feels inevitable. Voice, gestures, wearables—these aren’t novelties anymore. They’re becoming legitimate interfaces.
Designers are going to need to think beyond screens. What does personalization look like when the interface is a conversation? Or a glance? Or a gesture you make without thinking?
This isn’t science fiction. It’s already starting to happen. And it’s going to require us to rethink what “design” even means.
Circling back
So, Alina—I think you’re onto something. Design really has shifted from “look what this can do” to “here’s what this can do for you.” And that shift isn’t slowing down. If anything, it’s accelerating.
The question now isn’t whether design will become more personal. It’s how personal it can get before we start to feel like the tools know us a little too well.
But that’s a question for another post.
Did you enjoy this article?
Join 3,000+ designers, developers, and product people who get my best ideas about design each month.