Issue 144

WELCOME

Being Designerly 144 explores what remains undelegatable as AI reshapes work: accessibility as a non-negotiable foundation, the hidden psychological costs of AI adoption, the rise of Humorphism as a philosophy of human judgment and meaning, and the growing risk of cognitive surrender in a world of frictionless answers. Across design, decision-making, and inclusion, the real advantage may be less about automation, and more about preserving human responsibility.

PROMPT

WCAG 2.2 Reference GPT

This CustomGPT by Taylor Arndt is a reference for WCAG 2.2 web accessibility guidelines.

CURIOSITY

The Psychological Costs of Adopting AI

New research shows that “psychological debt” can materially suppress AI adoption and erode ROI. The solution is to deliberately design human-AI interactions—introducing friction to preserve thinking, ensuring explainability and autonomy, reinforcing human expertise, and normalizing AI use socially and culturally.

CRITICAL THINKING

AI and the danger of cognitive surrender

AI won’t just change how we work. It may change how quickly we stop thinking. The real risk isn’t cognitive offloading, but cognitive surrender: people stop thinking independently. In a world of faster answers, critical judgment may be one of the most undelegatable skills left. Possible paywall for this link.

ADVOCACY

Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Thursday, May 21, 2026, marks the 15th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD)! The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital access and inclusion, and the more than One Billion people with disabilities/impairments.

COLLABORATE

Humorphism

Move aside skeuomorphism, glassmorphism, and other -orphisms, hello humorphism. Amazon’s humorphism proposes a design philosophy for the AI era: as systems automate more execution, human value shifts from making things to making meaning. The real competitive advantage is no longer just speed or scale—it’s designing with judgment, taste, and responsibility in ways machines can assist, but not author.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

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