While this article is a little fluffy and overstated, I do share the overarching sentiment — UIs for the vast majority of products should be at least a little fun.
“Delightful” UI/UX has become a cliché at this point, but it really does make me happy to see an element of craft and intention in the software I use, and stuff like these detailed little icons accomplishes that well!
The main point / takeaway I had wasn't whatever UI design is in fashion right now, but rather the treatment of AI tools for design:
> I treat AI as just that: a tool, not a shortcut to the final result—then there’s still a lot of room for craft, taste, and care.
I wholeheartedly agree with the author here.
Aesthetics or fun needs to be secondary to usability. If making something "fun" comes at the cost of making the design less usable, it should be avoided.
Obviously companies need to define their own image in design, but that is not an excuse for bad design.
I agree, and one issue for developers and designers alike is that often, it’s more fun to make a UI fun than it is to make it work really really well.
But that doesn’t mean we should lose sight of fun completely, which I think in many places we have!