THE EXISTENTIAL DESIGNER: FACILITATING MEANING THROUGH INTERACTION

Summary from the TLDR Design newsletter

Existentialist philosophy argues that meaning is not created by designers but emerges through users' choices, context, and engagement, challenging the idea of users as passive recipients of predefined experiences. Drawing on thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and Søren Kierkegaard, it suggests that overly optimized, frictionless systems can undermine agency, depth, and authentic engagement—encouraging passive consumption, conformity, or self-deception. Instead, design should support meaningful choice, visible alternatives, ethical responsibility, and even some friction, recognizing users as active participants shaping their own meaning within complex social and technological environments.