We’ve all been there—frustrated by a bad outcome, whether as a victim or a culprit of poor design. But have you noticed how our reactions differ based on the perceived fault?

When a machine fails, we dive into root cause analysis—hardware glitches, software bugs, or design flaws—and work to fix them. Yet, when humans are involved, we often default to blame: “They should have been more careful” or “How could they not understand?” Rarely do we ask if the design itself set them up to fail.

Dan Norman, the godfather of Design Thinking, challenges this mindset....