Designs are all around us, and we don’t even always notice them. When we get into our cars or snuggle up in our beds, design isn’t usually the first thing on our minds. We lead busy lives, and we often get preoccupied with other stuff. We have deep and robust personal lives, and that often takes precedence. But when we do notice, it’s usually in extremes. We notice when something is exceptionally beautiful, like stepping into a grand hotel lobby or looking at a particularly arresting handbag. We stop and appreciate the beauty and the craftsmanship. But the other time when we notice design is when it has gone wrong. 

Like Einstein once (maybe) said, after writing out times tables on a blackboard and getting the last one wrong, «Despite my answering the first 9 questions correctly, no one congratulated me. Instead, when I got one wrong, everyone started laughing.» We tend to notice mistakes. We like to relish in them because they make us feel better about ourselves. We think that we must not be so bad if there are people out there making worse decisions than we are.