Incentive Distortion: Reward vs Value

Misaligned incentives cause systems to optimise for metrics instead of meaning. When rewards outpace real value, performance looks strong but purpose erodes.

Lost Cycles: The Hidden Debt in Productivity

Top-down view of a young designer slumped at her desk, surrounded by scattered pens, sketchpad, and coffee, embodying the weight of a lost productive cycle.

Productivity debt doesn’t always show up as hours lost. It creeps in through broken cycles — wasted momentum, missed opportunities, and energy drained by dysfunction — until you realise your progress has been quietly taxed away.

When Promises Outpace Resources, Dysfunction Wins

A weary middle-aged man sits in a crowded hospital waiting room, staring ahead in frustration with a large clock looming behind him.

Dysfunction doesn’t arrive fully formed — it seeps in when the translation from need to outcome breaks down. Whether it’s a product backlog or a hospital waiting list, the pattern is the same: promises outpace resources, and dysfunction takes hold.

Normalised Dysfunction: The Quiet Crisis in UX

A professional in a striped jumper stares in disbelief at a laptop screen, illuminated by a cold blue glow.

Outlook’s broken search isn’t just an annoyance — it’s a case study in how dysfunction becomes normalised. We adapt, expectations drop, and poor UX becomes the quiet crisis of modern work.