Recently I've been doing a lot of work in Figma, an application for designing websites and apps before coding them. Through this work, I've developed what I call "the eyes to see" for design. Where I once saw an app as a cohesive whole, I now see the component parts.

The best way to develop the eyes to see is to create something yourself. Through making things, you develop opinions on how things are done versus just how they are. Build a few tables and you'll start noticing design choices everywhere. Where you once just saw a wobbly table, you'll now notice the legs weren't properly braced, or that particle board was used where solid wood was needed.

Once you have this sight, you can never unsee. Sometimes this sight is delightful, like noticing a quality weld job on an otherwise ordinary pole. Sometimes it's maddening, like seeing awful user-experience choices on the IRS website. But however you feel about what you now see, you can't go back.

Most people don't want to see the seams; they want things to work and someone else to fix them when they don't. But for those who are interested in the seams, the eyes to see unlock agency. With that agency, you can stop accepting the world as it is and start making it as it could be.