Oct 27, 2025
As designers, we thrive on change. We're creative people, and we’re constantly seeking improvement - new ideas, fresh layouts, cleaner interactions. But that same creativity can sometimes work against us, especially when we spend every day looking at the same interface.
If you work as a consultant, you’re often shielded from this problem. You move between projects, each with new challenges, stakeholders, and user needs. You rarely stay long enough to get “tired” of a design.
But as an in-house designer, it’s different. You live with your product. You see it every single day. And at some point, you’ll start feeling bored with it. That’s when the dangerous thought appears: “Maybe we should redesign”.
We’ve all heard the saying:
“Don’t change what’s not broken”
It’s very good advice. If your users are comfortable, efficient, and emotionally connected to your product, changing it for the sake of it can be a huge mistake. Familiarity builds trust, and redesigns can easily break that trust.
However, what many companies and teams forget is that design, both UI and UX, is a perishable asset. Like tech debt, design can build design debt.
Just as you can fall behind with outdated code, you can fall behind with outdated interfaces. Trends shift, user expectations change, competitors raise the bar, and suddenly your product feels “off.” It still works, but it feels dated.
That’s where the nuance lies:
Don’t change what’s not broken - but change it before it gets broken.
So when is the right time? That’s the tricky part, there’s no exact formula. You have to sense it. If you truly know your users and your product, you’ll start to feel when something is beginning to age. Maybe users are asking for workarounds that indicate a deeper UX issue. Maybe your interface feels out of sync with your brand’s current tone. Maybe a competitor just launched something that suddenly makes your product feel clunky.
If you wait too long, someone else will design the better version of your product. Move too early, and you risk alienating loyal users who were perfectly happy.
As designers, trusting our instincts is part of the job, but it’s equally important to challenge them. Are you advocating for a redesign because the product truly needs it, or because you’re creatively bored?
It’s easy to fall into the trap of “change for change’s sake”. The key is to continuously evaluate your design decisions through a lens of value, not vanity.
Ask yourself:
Are our users struggling more now than before?
Does the design still represent who we are as a brand today?
Is the interface still aligned with current UX best practices and accessibility standards?
Would a visual or structural refresh meaningfully improve usability or perception?
If the answers lean toward yes, it’s time to act, before things start breaking.
Good design isn’t just about building something beautiful or usable today, it’s about keeping it relevant tomorrow. Knowing when to change is as important as knowing how to change.
As designers, we must stay creative, stay curious, but also stay grounded. Because the best products evolve not when they’re broken, but when their designers care enough to prevent them from ever getting there.