Not because something broke. Because of how it felt when it broke.

Sometimes the biggest problem with a product isn’t its complexity.

It’s the feeling of helplessness it creates when something goes wrong.

Not long ago, I used a service where login relied entirely on facial recognition.

Everything worked perfectly.

Until it didn’t.

The facial recognition stopped working.

There was no alternative way to verify my identity. No one-time code No option to log in from another device.

That was it. They lost me as a customer.

Later, I got a new phone and technically could have used the service again.

I didn’t. And I won’t.

Not because something broke. Because of how it felt when it broke. The moment I needed help, the system left me with no way forward.

Huge companies might be able to afford losing a customer here and there. Most of the companies I work with can’t.

That’s why even when I’m brought in for a UX Review, Design Review, or Design System work, I always look beyond the specific screens and components at the broader user journey.

Because users don’t experience components. They experience the whole system.

And what they remember most is often what happened when that system stopped working.