I've been designing UI's professionally for 30 years and have seen a lot of changes over time, but I will echo what you said and give an additional reason: design education.
When I was getting my design degree, a large majority of what you learned was how to give and take a critique. It was central to everything you did. You were also taught things like "It's not your idea, it's an idea" that allowed you to critically think about solutions to problems without falling in love with your own designs.
This was fostered at the companies I worked for in the late 90's/early 2000's. We would have intense debates about designs, play devil's advocate (sometimes against our own designs!) in order to leave the room with the best ideas and solutions to problems. It was collaborative, energetic, peer reviewed, and we produced great designs for users.
This is not taught anymore. Critiques aren't given in school so as not to offend anyone. Much of UX Design has also transitioned to boot camps vs college design degrees which focus on pumping out students who can manipulate Figma, not students who understand the process and techniques of real design.
As such, professionally it's very hard to have real debates about design without someone getting offended or fighting for solutions that are sub par because it's "their" idea they can't let go of. The critical thinking and detail that used to go into design has been replaced with vibes.
And don't get me started on the fact that many students coming into the workforce simply don't have the design chops in the first place.
When I was getting my design degree, a large majority of what you learned was how to give and take a critique. It was central to everything you did. You were also taught things like "It's not your idea, it's an idea" that allowed you to critically think about solutions to problems without falling in love with your own designs.
This was fostered at the companies I worked for in the late 90's/early 2000's. We would have intense debates about designs, play devil's advocate (sometimes against our own designs!) in order to leave the room with the best ideas and solutions to problems. It was collaborative, energetic, peer reviewed, and we produced great designs for users.
This is not taught anymore. Critiques aren't given in school so as not to offend anyone. Much of UX Design has also transitioned to boot camps vs college design degrees which focus on pumping out students who can manipulate Figma, not students who understand the process and techniques of real design.
As such, professionally it's very hard to have real debates about design without someone getting offended or fighting for solutions that are sub par because it's "their" idea they can't let go of. The critical thinking and detail that used to go into design has been replaced with vibes.
And don't get me started on the fact that many students coming into the workforce simply don't have the design chops in the first place.