We confront the uncomfortable truth that the systems we build to improve things often make them worse, starting with Dora Czerna's argument that human-centered design's blind spot for environmental cost turns user comfort into a driver of unnecessary consumption. As Julia Hansen and Jeff Gothelf reveal how rigid frameworks fail to create genuine value, we also navigate the messy reality of r/UXDesign where ageism and unchecked AI features threaten to swallow the very design work we strive to protect. This episode asks whether we can finally admit we are part of the problem before we can hope to fix it.
