When people found themselves with more discretionary income in the 50s, they had more choices of what physical goods to buy. When it comes to physical items, the selection can be quite large, but ultimately there are a finite number of product options to choose from. With digital products, by contrast, options are virtually endless; as of 2023 there are almost 2 billion websites on the internet and almost 3 million mobile apps available for download.

When it came to visual aspects of user interaction and experience, Adobe was the early pioneer. Illustrator and Photoshop would become the core tools for visual design from their release in 1987 and 1989 respectively, and would remain dominant for the next ~30 years.

“In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. It’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” (Steve Jobs)