Beautiful Apps Keep Dying. Here's Why.
15.1K views · 2026-04-10
Design ThinkingInteraction & UX
I just got back from two weeks on the road — one week with Vercel and another with Metalab in Vancouver.
I asked both teams the same question: when AI can generate a prototype in an hour, what do you choose not to build?
It got me thinking about the growing slow web movement: software that is beautiful by craft or by principle, the builders who pulled it off, the beautiful apps that didn't make it, and what I actually think about whether craft is still a viable way to make a living.
MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:
Soleio's Fable "The Keeper": https://docs.soleio.com/keeper
Our Soren Iverson Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p0D7yCVPzc
Get the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)
Join 100,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: https://uxtools.co
CHAPTERS:
0:00 — What Do You Say No To?
2:32 — The Speed Is Real
5:58 — The Builders Who Said No
7:28 — Pietro Serianni: Slow Food vs Fast Food
7:53 — Linear: Fast and Soulful at Scale
8:32 — Josh Puckett: Uncommon Care
8:48 — The Graveyard of Beautiful Apps
11:21 — What Actually Killed Them
13:00 — Lee Black and the Cost of Craft
15:00 — The Third Lane: Participate to Change It
17:24 — Andy Allen: Students Admiring Walmarts
17:40 — Uncommon Care in Practice
18:13 — What Do You Care About Enough?
FOLLOW ME:
X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco
I asked both teams the same question: when AI can generate a prototype in an hour, what do you choose not to build?
It got me thinking about the growing slow web movement: software that is beautiful by craft or by principle, the builders who pulled it off, the beautiful apps that didn't make it, and what I actually think about whether craft is still a viable way to make a living.
MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO:
Soleio's Fable "The Keeper": https://docs.soleio.com/keeper
Our Soren Iverson Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6p0D7yCVPzc
Get the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)
Join 100,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: https://uxtools.co
CHAPTERS:
0:00 — What Do You Say No To?
2:32 — The Speed Is Real
5:58 — The Builders Who Said No
7:28 — Pietro Serianni: Slow Food vs Fast Food
7:53 — Linear: Fast and Soulful at Scale
8:32 — Josh Puckett: Uncommon Care
8:48 — The Graveyard of Beautiful Apps
11:21 — What Actually Killed Them
13:00 — Lee Black and the Cost of Craft
15:00 — The Third Lane: Participate to Change It
17:24 — Andy Allen: Students Admiring Walmarts
17:40 — Uncommon Care in Practice
18:13 — What Do You Care About Enough?
FOLLOW ME:
X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertom
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco