Issue 11: Do you have good taste? That's debatable.
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During Config in 2024 Figma, Co-Founder Dylan Field spoke of product taste and more recently the Shopify CEO, Tobi Lütke spoke of "taste" as being positioned as a product differentiator. He says they operate on taste and intuition rather than KPIs. I love that business leaders talks about design and craft like this on large platform that reaches a wide audience of product builders. That's progress, and it's also compelling.
But, like with anything that sounds good, knowing who it is coming from (much easier to say as a CEO than an IC) is essential. Everyone's about to start talking about taste—and I mean taste as if it's some newly discovered cheat code. So, let's pause for a second. What is taste?
A casual observation
As a millennial, I've experienced growing up before the digital and information age, when things were highly crafted and curated before hitting the masses. The word taste was reserved for those who had an ear for music or an artist before it broke or those in fashion who could see the next trend coming because we were still consuming content on static physical media like magazines, CDs, and network television.
It was a mix of expertise, instinct, style, and swag. Taste wasn't just about knowing something looked good it was about seeing it before anyone else did. There were even people called 'tastemakers,' purveyors of good things…maybe.
On the flip side, it could also be used against people as a lack of refinement or as putting people in their place on the merit of subjective and often questionable critiques. You can only imagine the number of people who didn't get their shot because of this.
It's a perfect mix of prestige and gatekeeping, and since then, it has almost been somewhat democratized with the rise of influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, where trends tend to be set by the public (dancing videos and mashups aside).
I have only ever seen "taste" used as a bludgeon to elevate one designer's opinion over another (or over research data) without justifying it. "I can't do accessibility because accessibility is ugly" is a common variation on the theme.
The "taste" think popping up now is a reaction to the "UX is dead" discourse, by designers who can't articulate their value in any other way. Unfortunately, the business doesn't care about "taste."
-Pavel S.
We've got to be careful about turning "taste" into just another careless buzzword we throw around in meetings to sound like we know what we're doing because it carries some weight and it might come off as pretentious to people you’re trying to influence.
Developing intuition
From my experience taste and intuition are closely tied together. Making decisions is all about gathering what I’ve learned, testing ideas in real life, and seeing how they play out. Over time, that process sharpens my intuition and turns it into a solid guide or hunch. But I know my gut feelings aren’t formed in isolation. They come from understanding the situation at hand, leaning on my industry experience, organizational politics, human interactions and doing my research. All of this fuels my confidence when it’s time to act.
Its not a buzz word. Its actually a complex mixture of intellect and emotion working together seamlessly and simultaneously.
Its basically intuition, but for Linkedin purposes we call it taste as it sounds more hard skill. Its both hard and soft skills combined.
- Sebastijan S.
That doesn’t mean I rely on intuition alone. I usually float an idea, observe how people respond, and adjust if I need to. If it clicks, I’ll keep going. If it doesn’t, I’ll shift direction, reframe, or pivot. I’ve realized there’s no single formula—it really depends on the situation, and sometimes I just have to carve out my own path.
Ultimately, while we might rely on frameworks and theories, our personal journeys play a huge role in how we make choices. It’s about trusting what resonates, being willing to take calculated chances, and evolving as we see the results.
Balancing taste with practical outcomes
With that said I can't imagine walking into a room of executives and saying, "This direction is better because of taste.” If we’re talking about a better user experience, just say that. If we want a simpler interaction or a more delightful flow, call it out. Clarity builds trust; vague “taste” talk doesn’t.
At this particular moment, on social media design bubbles, I think “having taste” means that prominent design influencers like your stuff on Twitter 😂
But more honestly, to me the term can have some synonymous qualities with discernment, craft, and “having a trained eye”. Which comes from sponging up a lot of good design, understanding why it’s good, and then practicing yourself with those design ethos in mind.
So it’s a buzzword, and it’s meaningful. And the forecasting of that becoming a vital piece of your design offerings in the upcoming era (where the floor of bad/mediocre design is being raised by AI significantly) is valid, in my estimation.
- Zach S.
I don’t have a perfect definition of taste, but I have a hunch about why it’s trending: businesses that get it see it as a differentiator. It’s easier to say in hindsight when there’s success is tied to it, there’s product-market fit, and there's a certain reverence. Users not only enjoy what they’re using, but they’re willing to pay for it and yell to the masses because it brings them real value, it satisfies their jobs to be done in a delightful way.
In the AI era, where anyone can spin up hundreds of variations of anything in seconds, designers who can pinpoint the ones the resonate—who bring instincts, sound judgment, and experience—are going to stand out.
But let’s not go overboard. Don’t throw it around in rooms where design maturity is low and trust is fragile. If the person you’re talking to doesn’t get it, you’ve already lost them. Worse, it can make design feel like a black box, which doesn’t help you build influence or credibility—only confusion and alienation.
Yes, taste matters—just beware of waving it around in rooms where design maturity is low and trust is fragile. Without clarity and real evidence, your secret sauce becomes just another empty buzzword.