Jony Ive Reminded Me Why Joy Still Matters in Design

Lately, I’ve been staring at the digital world around us and thinking one thing: where the hell did the fun go? Everything looks clean, minimal, and polished. But it’s also cold. Empty. Like we designed all the joy right out of it. It's like the spirit of play got squeezed out by a corporate vice grip in the name of efficiency.

I’m clearly not the only one who’s feeling this. I recently watched the latest Stripe Sessions on YouTube, where Jony Ive was in conversation with the Stripe CEO. His words hit hard. He spoke about a time when design had flavor, when minimalism didn’t mean lifeless. Think of those OG iMacs that looked like Pixar characters. Or the iPod socks. Whimsical? Sure. But they made you smile. They had soul. They didn’t just serve a function. They made a statement.

Jony called out what’s been bothering me for a while. Too many people think simplicity means removing things until there's nothing left. What you get is what he called a “desiccated soulless product.” That line? Brutal. And spot on. Real simplicity isn’t about stripping joy away. It’s about cutting the clutter so the real character can shine through. Simplicity should reveal depth, not erase it. It should amplify essence, not mute it.

He took a shot at the culture of Silicon Valley too. The mindset that joy equals something silly or not important. That humor and fun somehow make you less serious. But here’s the truth. A designer’s mindset flows straight into the work. If you design with joy, that joy becomes part of the product. If you build with soul, people feel it. The personality of the creator leaves fingerprints on the final experience, whether you want it to or not.

This isn’t just theory. This is the damn foundation of what we do. We design for humans. Not for metrics. Not for KPIs. For people who feel, grow, and want something that sparks connection. The problem is, corporate thinking worships what it can measure. Speed. Cost. Weight. Timelines. But you can’t graph delight. You can’t calculate magic. And yet, those are the things that stick. That make people come back. That create brand loyalty. That make someone talk about your product over dinner.

Jony even took a swing at lifeless office spaces. He called most meeting rooms soulless and depressing. And he’s right. If you're boxed into gray walls under fluorescent lights, how can you possibly create something that inspires? You can’t breathe life into your designs if you’re surrounded by environments that suck it out of you.

Reading his words felt like a rallying cry. This isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about reclaiming what matters. Design isn’t just problem-solving. It’s experience-making. Memory-building. Emotion-crafting. And yes, it should be fun. Because if you're not creating something that stirs emotion, why are you even doing it?

We need to challenge the current culture of creative sterilization. Start questioning every decision that’s justified by “efficiency” or “best practice” if it leaves people numb. Beauty and character shouldn’t be considered extras. They’re not polish. They’re purpose.

So here’s my message to every designer, every product thinker, every builder out there. Stop designing for the checklist. Start designing for the soul. Bring back the weird. Bring back the wonder. Inject joy, even when no one’s asking for it. Because that’s what changes everything. That’s what makes design timeless. That’s what gives a product its heartbeat.

No more sterile. No more soulless. Let’s put the damn fun back where it belongs. Let’s build things people love, not just use.