And why it’s not AI’s job to fix it.
There was a time when UX professionals were obsessed with patterns, flows, and relationships.
We’d sketch ecosystems before screens...
Zoom out before zooming in...
Think long-term impact before short-term usability.
But lately, it feels like systems thinking has taken a back seat.
Blame deadlines. Blame org charts. Blame the rush to hand prompts to AI and hope for the best.
This issue is a call to revive one of UX’s most strategic muscles and rethink the cost of skipping it.
Why Systems Thinking Matters More Than Ever
How the Rise of AI Is Messing With Our Mental Models
5 Signs You’re Designing in a Silo
Real-World Examples of UX Systems in Action
How to Rebuild This Muscle (Even in Fast Teams)
UXCON 25 Spotlight: Big Picture Thinking in Practice
Resource Corner
Why Systems Thinking Still Matters
Systems thinking helps us:
Spot ripple effects before they break something
Design experiences that scale with complexity
Make intentional tradeoffs
Understand how humans + tech + business interact in the real world
It’s not a “nice to have.”
It’s how UX stops being a service role and starts shaping strategy.
Without it, we’re stuck designing on a feature-by-feature basis… and wondering why the experience feels fractured.
How the Rise of AI Is Messing With Our Models
AI can help us synthesize faster, automate wireframes, even generate flows.
But it can’t replace the thinking behind it.
What we’re seeing:
Teams skipping problem framing entirely
Systems diagrams replaced with prompt engineering
UXers so focused on screens, they miss the full journey
AI is a tool, not a system.
If we lose the mental model behind what we’re building…
We lose the product.
5 Signs You’re Designing Without Systems Thinking
You don’t know what happens before or after your feature
Each team has their own design language and it shows
Fixing one thing breaks five others
You’re constantly duplicating research
Users keep asking: “Didn’t I already tell you that?”
If any of these hit home, it’s not a team problem.
It’s a systems gap.
Real-World Examples of UX Systems in Action
Here’s what systems thinking can look like:
Spotify created experience principles to guide feature teams working independently resulting in cohesion without central control.
Airbnb embedded design ops early, helping teams align on workflows, not just visuals scaling design across hundreds of contributors.
Bank of America’s research team mapped cross-channel journeys (web, app, in-branch) revealing where customers dropped off during high-stress moments.
These examples aren’t just about quality.
They’re about longevity.
How to Rebuild Your Systems Thinking Muscle
You don’t need more tools.
You need more zooming out.
Try these:
Start every project with a context map
Who are the users? What are they doing before and after your feature?Create a flow of flows
Visualize how different features connect. Not just UX flows — business and operational ones too.Run scenario planning sessions
Ask “what if” questions. What happens if a user skips this? If two systems clash?Collaborate with ops
Systems thinkers love working with systems owners. Involve legal, support, data.Build living documentation
Don’t bury your maps in slides. Link them to decisions and outcomes. Keep them active.
UXCON25 Spotlight: Big Picture Thinking in Practice
At UXCON25, we’re showcasing systems thinkers who are redefining what UX can influence:
How one team aligned six departments using a single UX journey map
How another rebuilt trust by documenting trade-offs — not just deliverables
Why systems thinking helped one senior IC escape the “just make it pretty” box
🎟️ Grab your UXCON25 ticket
📚 Resource Corner
Final Thought
You don’t need a design system.
You need a design approach.
Zoom out. Connect the dots. Make UX make sense not just screen by screen, but system by system.
Because the best UX isn’t just delightful. It’s durable.