Introduction
Picture this: it’s 2025, and you’re stuck wrestling with an interface that should be intuitive—yet you waste precious time navigating basic functions. These frustrations aren’t anomalies—they’re symptoms of systemic failures in UX design. Despite decades of progress, user experience fundamentals continue to falter.
Maximilian Speicher tackles this conundrum head-on in his recent post for The UX Collective, posing the question: Why, with all our tools and knowledge, do UX experiences still disappoint us in 2025?hackernoon.com+1
Three Core Hypotheses
Speicher outlines three key reasons the UX of 2025 still underdelivers:
Underinvestment in UX
Many organizations treat UX as a low priority—not worthy of budget or strategic focus.“UX People” Without Real Expertise
The title “UX designer” no longer guarantees proficiency in research, strategy, or usability.UX Being Sidelined Until Too Late
UX professionals are often brought in after technical foundations are set, limiting their ability to shape user-centered solutions.hackernoon.com
The High Stakes: A Trillion-Dollar Opportunity
Speicher’s wake-up call: companies that do invest in exceptional, thoughtful design stand to gain—and significantly. As he puts it, “the trillion-dollar business opportunity remains for those who choose to differentiate on actual, delightful experiences.”hackernoon.com
Recommended Reads & Tools
Further Reading
“The UX Reckoning: Prepare for 2025 and Beyond” — Nielsen Norman Group explores the shifting landscape of UX amid layoffs and AI disruption, urging adaptability and strategic thinking.hackernoon.com
“Mind the Gap — important UX research skills that are absent from bootcamps” — Elsa Ho highlights crucial, often-missing skills like project scoping, stakeholder influencing, and cross-functional collaboration.hackernoon.com
Tools to Improve UX Practice
Laws of UX by Jon Yablonski — a visually appealing collection of psychological design principles to prevent basic usability blunders.hackernoon.com
Heurix — a free heuristic evaluation tool for systematic usability audits, complete with notes, screenshots, and report generation.