I’ve been through hundreds of design reviews.
And can’t help thinking, we're liars.
Not the evil kind.
The polite kind.
The kind where we've turned meetings into performances.
"This is just a first iteration." Translation: "We ran out of time and this is garbage, but please don't roast me."
"We'll test and iterate." Translation: "We'll ship this broken thing and pray it doesn't explode."
We've created our own corporate theatre. Complete with scripts, costumes, and Netflix-worthy performances.
Users don't care about our "the design system" They care if the damn product works.
Your CEO doesn't want to hear about "exploring the solution space" She wants to know if we're making money.
But we keep performing anyway. Why?
Because saying "I don't know" feels scarier than saying "we're still validating." Because admitting "this sucks" feels worse than saying "it's a first iteration." Because calling out "bad idea" seems ruder than "we're open to all ideas."
The lack of honesty is killing our work.
Every time you say "we'll revisit this after launch," you're basically saying "we’ll never fix this."
I get it.
But shipping trash because nobody had the balls to call it trash isn't the solution.
Design is supposed to make things clearer.
The best designers I know cut through the bullshit. They call out bad ideas before they become expensive mistakes.
Yep, it's uncomfortable. But uncomfortable conversations ship better products.
And honestly, people respect you more when you tell the truth.
Even when it stings.
Read the full breakdown of every design theater phrase and what it really means ↓
