When to push, when to listen: what being opinionated in design means

I saw an X post making the rounds lately that says: "We’ve confused polished with good design. We need more opinionated products. Designers should stop building generic UIs. Be bold. Be different."

It's a hot take. And like most hot takes, it’s provocative but shallow. Let’s talk about what being opinionated in designreally means, because lately it’s become a vague buzzword designers throw around when they want to sound deep. The problem? Most people confuse opinionated design with self-indulgence or design theater.

Being opinionated doesn’t mean designing for yourself, reinventing the wheel, or breaking from norms just for the sake of it. It means having a clear point of view on how a problem should be solved (which doesn’t come from simply having a strong opinion on something), but with the maturity to know when to follow convention and when to break it.

Being opinionated ≠ Being self-indulgent

Having an opinion in design isn’t about being a "tortured genius" who ignores feedback because "users don’t get it." That’s not opinionated design. That’s just bad product thinking.

A good designer is someone who cares deeply about users but also has a spine. What’s the difference? They don’t just design by committee or let metrics dictate every decision. They synthesize feedback, but they filter it through a strong lens of what the product should be. That’s the balance.

When you’re too opinionated, you risk building for yourself. When you’re too reactive, you end up with Frankenstein UX and no soul. Good opinionated design lives in the middle.

Where opinion matters most: the "How," not always the "What"

Let’s be clear: users don’t care if your button is 48px or 44px tall. They care whether your product helps them get something done faster, smoother, or with less frustration. If there’s a well-established UX pattern that works, use it. There’s no prize for reinventing dropdowns.

Opinionated design is not about inventing new solutions to old problems. It’s about having a strong point of view on how those problems are solved, while making use of widely-accepted methods, tools, and patterns.

For example, here are a few questions to ponder over:

• Should your onboarding process feel like a conversation or a checklist?
• Should your UI encourage exploration or minimize options?
• Should your voice be deadpan or enthusiastic?

Those are opinionated choices. They matter. But functionally, they way they’re implemented should be “boring”. Leave “fun” and “original” for brand identity.

The real differentiator: brand

Where opinionated design becomes a real strategic asset is in branding.

Most SaaS tools today use the same component libraries, same layouts, same UI conventions. And honestly, that’s fine in many cases. If you’re building a hammer, you don’t need to do much. No one’s buying your tool because your sidebar looks different. Buying deceisions are made based on a pyramid of criteria:

1. Level 1 / base: they have the pain/problem you’re solving for an think your tool or service can provide relief
2. Level 2: they trust you.
3. Level 3 / top: they resonate with who you are and align with your values and way of doing things

Most commercial solutions need to factor in all 3 levels. That trust and alignment? It comes from your brand. Brand is where you should be opinionated. Because that's where sameness kills.

Your visuals, your tone of voice, your motion design, your empty states—these are the places to inject personality. These are the levers that create memorability. If your product feels like it was made by someone who gave a damn, people feel it.

Opinionated ≠ Anti-User

This is tricky. Some designers think being opinionated means ignoring user input. They don’t say it but that’s what they do. Being opinionated doesn’t mean being anti-user. It means understanding the user deeply, and choosing which battles to fight.

Take Apple. One of the most opinionated design organizations in the world. Yet they do intense user research.

Their opinionated design doesn’t come from ignorance—it comes from conviction. The deeply understand user needs and build what’s best for them even if it’s not what they specifically asked for.

That’s different from "we’re going to build what we like."

Opinion without empathy is arrogance. Opinion with empathy is leadership.

Differentiation ≠ Randomness

Let’s address another myth, at the risk of stating the obvious: being opinionated doesn’t mean being different just for the sake of it. Differentiation is never the goal. Relevance and attention are.

There are times when being different helps you stand out. There are also times when being too different makes you off-putting. Smart designers know when to zig and when to blend in.

The bad kind of "opinionated" product is the one that:

• has a new interaction model for no reason
• invents new icons that no one understands or
• breaks mental models in the name of creativity

Don’t mistake novelty for thoughtfulness.

Patterns exist for a reason

Opinionated designers respect patterns. Because they know patterns are **accumulated user wisdom. **If your users are scanning, clicking, navigating, or filling out forms, they already come with mental models. It’s not cute to make them relearn basics. The best opinionated design builds on top of conventions, not in spite of them.

Use design patterns to reduce friction. Employ your data-backed opinions to shape the experience around those patterns.

Opinion should be in the edges

You don’t need to reinvent your app’s navigation. But you can, and should, have strong opinions in the places that matter, such as:

• how you onboard users
• how you react when things go bad (eg: error state handling)
• how your microcopy sounds
• how much flexibility you give the user
• what you hide vs. expose

These choices reflect the personality of your product and improve user experience. That personality is what people remember.

Don't let metrics dominate and erase your point of view

One more thing: data is helpful, but dangerous when taken as gospel. A/B tests can help you optimize but they can also flatten your vision and stifle creativity.

If every decision is made based on optimize a minor data point, you’ll end up with something safe and lifeless. You’ll design what ticks boxes, not what sticks.

You need a mix of:

1. Craft (what looks and feels great)
2. Feedback (what users struggle with)
3. Conviction (what you believe matters)

Good design involves all three. Not one. Not two. Why? Because:

• craft and conviction without feedback is stubborn ignorance. You’re desining in a vacuum. Looks great, but solves nothing.
• Craft and feedback without conviction is bland. You’re a people-pleaser with no backbone. Polished but forgetttable.
• Feedback and conviction without craft is a hot mess.  You know what’s needed but it’s so poorly executed no one sticks around.

Bottom line

Opinionated design is not about being loud. It’s not about being quirky. It’s not about forcing originality where it’s not needed.

It’s about clarity. Confidence. Conviction.

It’s about knowing what you stand for and reflecting that in how your product works, feels, and presents itself to the world.

And most importantly: it’s about putting the user first without becoming a people pleaser. That’s where the magic happens. That’s how you make things that last.