Bret Victor’s rant made me realize how passive we’ve become about the future of design. It’s not just that we’re stuck with screens, but that we’ve stopped questioning them. Everyone seems satisfied with touchscreens and voice assistants, as if that’s all interaction could ever be. What bothered me most is the lack of imagination. For a field that’s supposed to be creative, interaction design has become weirdly repetitive.
What stood out in the responses is that Victor isn’t against progress — he’s against settling. He points out that the tech world keeps selling the same ideas with slightly updated hardware, but very little actual vision. That feels especially relevant now, when even “futuristic” designs are just smoother versions of old things. I found myself wondering how often I do the same in my own projects. Am I just remixing what already exists, or am I really thinking about what interaction could become?
This made me think more about risk. It’s easier to build something people already understand, even if it’s a little boring. But real design, the kind Victor is asking for, takes more risk. It asks what else we could be doing, not just what works today. I want to start asking those questions earlier in my process, not just at the end when everything feels finished.