Why Building Taste is Crucial for Designers

When we start out as designers, we’re driven by good taste—the sense of what looks right, what feels right. But there’s a gap that we all face, especially early on. Ira Glass sums it up perfectly

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, and I really wish somebody had told this to me.

All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But it’s like there is this gap. For the first couple years that you’re making stuff, what you’re making isn’t so good. It’s not that great. It’s trying to be good, it has ambition to be good, but it’s not that good.

But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is good enough that you can tell that what you’re making is kind of a disappointment to you. A lot of people never get past that phase. They quit.

Everybody I know who does interesting, creative work they went through years where they had really good taste and they could tell that what they were making wasn’t as good as they wanted it to be. They knew it fell short. Everybody goes through that.

And if you are just starting out or if you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Do a huge volume of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week or every month you know you’re going to finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you’re going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions.

I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It takes awhile. It’s gonna take you a while. It’s normal to take a while. You just have to fight your way through that."

—Ira Glass

Read the above quote here "On taste and success" —by Kelly

Taste as Your Compass

As a founding designer, you learn quickly that taste becomes your guiding force. Without user data or clear benchmarks, you rely on your instincts to solve problems. This is where first-principles thinking comes in. It’s not just about following trends or relying on past solutions—it’s about creating something that feels authentically yours. And that takes bold decisions, rooted in your deep understanding of design and the human experience.

AI Can’t Replace Designers

AI is great for automating repetitive tasks or generating ideas, but it can’t replicate human intuition. It can’t solve for the nuanced, empathetic solutions that come from real-world experience. While AI can accelerate execution, it’s designers who shape visionary, meaningful experiences that people connect with. And that’s where taste becomes invaluable—it’s something we, as designers, do best.

Building Taste Takes Time

Ira Glass’s insight holds true: you need to do the work, the volume of work, to close the gap between where your taste is and where your skills are. As a founding designer, I’ve seen this firsthand. You don’t have the luxury of immediate feedback or data, but you still have to make decisions that will guide the product forward. Over time, the more you design, the more your work will catch up with your ambitions. It’s a process, but one that always leads to growth.

Final Thoughts

Taste isn’t something you’re born with. It’s developed through years of learning, experimenting, and iterating. As designers, we are uniquely positioned to take bold, opinionated decisions that shape products. And in a world where AI is doing the heavy lifting, it’s our taste and intuition that remain our competitive edge. So trust your instincts, embrace the process, and keep designing—because your taste will always shape what comes next.