Design in product feels like it’s at a strange intersection. On one hand, we’re being asked to deliver at pace - consistently, accessibly, on brand, and with the user in mind. On the other, we’re expected to innovate, to bring forward new ideas in a landscape that increasingly feels homogenised. Familiarity benefits users in many ways, but it also raises the question: how do we create space for the new?

For me, the answer lies in craft. In giving designers the time and space to reflect on their impact and focus on what’s specific to their role. It’s in the detail - the pixels, the hierarchy, the choices that build taste. These things are hard to articulate in a business setting, and they always have been, but they’re the difference between “good enough” and work that truly elevates.

We need to empower our teams to show and make space for this. To talk about the miniature, the subtleties, the decisions that shift the quality bar upwards. Because it’s often in those quiet details - not just the big, shiny launches -where the real change happens.