It’s Not Good Enough, make it great.

The real danger in design isn’t failure. It’s settling for “just okay.”

“Good enough” has become the default standard in too many teams and products. We ship work that meets the requirements, that functions, that doesn’t break. It’s safe. It’s responsible. But it’s also invisible.

In today’s world, where attention is scarce and sameness is everywhere, “just okay” is the fastest way to be forgotten.

From good to great.

Jim Collins’ book Good to Great starts with a simple idea: good is the enemy of great. Most organizations never achieve greatness because they stop at good.

That’s exactly what happened to design culture over the past decade. Agile taught us to prioritize speed. Startups preached “move fast and break things.” The MVP began as a smart tool to test ideas quickly, but it drifted into something else. Minimum stopped being about learning and became the philosophy behind everything we shipped.

Over time, this mindset lowered the bar. “Just okay” products became the norm. Journeys that worked but didn’t connect. Features that checked the box but never delighted. Average slowly replaced ambition.

But average doesn’t create loyalty. Average doesn’t change markets. Average doesn’t get remembered.

Good at the speed of AI.

Now add AI to the mix. With a prompt, anyone can create usable designs, decent copy, or functional code in seconds.

That sounds like progress, but it has a cost. It produces a tidal wave of average. Work that is fast, acceptable, and completely forgettable.

AI has automated “just okay.” And when average becomes free and infinite, average loses all of its value.

What AI hasn’t automated are the things that actually make design matter: taste, judgment, and meaning. The choices that turn an output into an experience. The details that make a product feel alive.

Which means the only way forward is not to settle for average, but to demand great.

What great really means.

Great isn’t about polish for polish’s sake. It’s about creating something that resonates.

Great is the product that feels effortless from the first tap. It’s the flow that makes you think, of course it works this way. It’s the detail that shows care, the restraint of leaving something out so the whole feels cleaner, sharper, better.

These moments aren’t accidents. They come from refusing to stop at “good enough.” They come from going one step further, making one more decision, caring about one more detail.

Great products don’t just solve problems. They connect. And connection is what turns adoption into loyalty.

Your advantage needs to be great

In product design, the basics no longer set you apart. Functionality is expected. Usability is expected. Every product has that.

What people remember is how it feels. Did it respect their time? Did it surprise them in a good way? Did it earn their trust?

That’s the work AI can’t do. That’s the difference between something people try and something they keep. Between a tool and a brand.

Good is everywhere. Average is invisible. Only great stands out.

And in a world moving faster than ever, great isn’t a luxury. It’s the only advantage that lasts.