Design for Humans

In partnership with

Introducing the first AI-native CRM

Connect your email, and you’ll instantly get a CRM with enriched customer insights and a platform that grows with your business.

With AI at the core, Attio lets you:

• Prospect and route leads with research agents

• Get real-time insights during customer calls

• Build powerful automations for your complex workflows

Join industry leaders like Granola, Taskrabbit, Flatfile and more.

👉Try Attio Pro for free

Hey, it’s Kushagra. Welcome to this week’s AtlasMoth drop.

AI is getting more human-like.
UX needs to remember the human it left behind.

Hot take: We need to stop designing for users.
We need to start designing for humans.

💬 Building for people beyond borders? Book a call to explore more

How We Got Here

Somewhere along the way, “user” became the word we couldn’t stop saying.
It gave UX credibility in tech. It made us sound sharp, strategic, and data-driven.
But it also made us… a little soulless.

“User” turned people into flows, funnels, and friction points.
We stopped seeing the mess, the emotion, the beautiful chaos that makes us human.

Meanwhile, AI sprinted ahead, learning tone, empathy, and even humor.
It’s wild: while UX got more user-like, AI got more human-like.

AI now talks, persuades, remembers, adapts.
It understands context and even mood.
And here we are, still perfecting button clicks.

If we’re supposed to be the voice of the human in the room,
We’ve got work to do.

The Trap of “Good UX”

We’ve all heard it: “Good UX means smooth flows, fast feedback, and minimal friction.”
Sure. That’s the baseline.

But if your product feels predictable, not personal, you’re not designing for humans.
You’re designing for tasks.

Humans aren’t just trying to “complete flows.”
They’re trying to accomplish something that matters.
And how they feel while doing it is part of the outcome.

The real question isn’t:

“When I press X, what happens?”

It’s:
“Why does this moment matter to them?”
“What emotion is shaping this action?”
“Where does this fit into their real, messy, complicated day?”

That’s where design stops being utility and starts being meaning.

Designing for Humans, Not Users

To design for humans, we have to start with better questions.
Not “What’s the pain point?” but “Why does this pain exist?”

Not “They’re frustrated” but “Are they anxious? Excluded? Distrustful?”

Not “This flow has friction” but “Is the friction technical, emotional, or contextual?”

Humans aren’t binary. They’re layered.
And a design that forgets those layers stops connecting.

The future of UX isn’t smoother screens.
It’s systems that understand intent, emotion, and context
and respect all three.

Master ChatGPT for Work Success

ChatGPT is revolutionizing how we work, but most people barely scratch the surface. Subscribe to Mindstream for free and unlock 5 essential resources including templates, workflows, and expert strategies for 2025. Whether you're writing emails, analyzing data, or streamlining tasks, this bundle shows you exactly how to save hours every week.

Subscribe for Your Free Bundle

Why We Drifted

UX didn’t lose its soul on purpose.
We fought to be taken seriously.
“UX” sounded more strategic than “design.”
It got us in rooms where decisions happened.

But the trade-off was real.
We became fluent in KPIs, but forgetful about people.
We optimized for usability, not empathy.

UX became branding, and branding worked.
But it came at the cost of clarity and connection.

If you tell someone outside tech that you work in UX,
you have to explain it.
But if you say, “I design how people and technology interact,”
They get it instantly.

That’s the clarity we need back.

Find out why 100K+ engineers read The Code twice a week.

That engineer who always knows what's next? This is their secret.

Here's how you can get ahead too:

• Sign up for The Code - tech newsletter read by 100K+ engineers

• Get latest tech news, top research papers & resources

• Become 10X more valuable

Join 100k+ engineers

Reclaiming the Human

So yeah, it’s time to kill the word user.
Not because it’s old,
but because it shapes how we think.

If we keep saying “users,” we’ll keep designing for clicks.
If we start saying “humans,” we’ll start designing for meaning.

Because here’s the truth:
AI might act human.
But it’ll never be human.

That’s our domain.
That’s our edge.
That’s the future of design.

Takeaway

Stop designing for users.
Start designing for humans.

AI is mastering tone, empathy, and memory
But it can’t feel.
Your edge isn’t your wireframes or workflows.
It’s your humanity.

Design for the mess, the mood, the moment.
Because when AI sounds human,
your job isn’t to compete, it’s to connect.