The World of UX with Dr Darren Hood
Oct 20, 2026 · 36 min · 7 segments
Prior to 2011, misinformation was practically non-existent. Since the UX gold rush, however, it has slowly become the order of the day and is actually preferred by many. In this episode, Dr. Darren…
Prior to 2011, we really did not hear any misinformation to the extent you could pick up any book, you could listen to any presentation.
When education sort of pivoted in a bad way, when the gold rush of UX began, When people started trying to generate following, when social media really took off and people started getting paid to generate a group of followers to tap into their content, to like and subscribe, as people like to say, things started to really change and not change for the better.
We used to be able to go to conferences all the time and they were great, whether it was the content with the speakers or just those times away from the speaking.
And when you consider what's at work with my perception, my perspectives, I'm not just, as we say, talking out of the side of my neck here.
Remember, this is basically a phenomenological presentation about some things that are critical to who we are as UX professionals.
And if we do not tend to them the right way and put them in their place, again, they become normalized.
And then you have people who come into the discipline, and this is where this type of thing really gets dangerous.
When people come into the discipline and things have become normalized, they think that's the way it's supposed to be.
And then when somebody like me comes along and lets them know that it's wrong, a lot of them will practically fight you because they are just so convinced that this thing that they've been doing is the right way to do things.
And the moniker of Kool-Aid, the metaphor for Kool-Aid goes back to something that's very unpleasant, where there was a cult.
Prior to 2011, we really did not hear any misinformation to the extent you could pick up any book, you could listen to any presentation.
When education sort of pivoted in a bad way, when the gold rush of UX began, When people started trying to generate following, when social media really took off and people started getting paid to generate a group of followers to tap into their content, to like and subscribe, as people like to say, things started to really change and not change for the better.
We used to be able to go to conferences all the time and they were great, whether it was the content with the speakers or just those times away from the speaking.
And when you consider what's at work with my perception, my perspectives, I'm not just, as we say, talking out of the side of my neck here.
Remember, this is basically a phenomenological presentation about some things that are critical to who we are as UX professionals.
And if we do not tend to them the right way and put them in their place, again, they become normalized.
And then you have people who come into the discipline, and this is where this type of thing really gets dangerous.
When people come into the discipline and things have become normalized, they think that's the way it's supposed to be.
And then when somebody like me comes along and lets them know that it's wrong, a lot of them will practically fight you because they are just so convinced that this thing that they've been doing is the right way to do things.
And the moniker of Kool-Aid, the metaphor for Kool-Aid goes back to something that's very unpleasant, where there was a cult.
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