Honestly, this is kind of an arrogant response. The phrases "user error", "designer error" and "user friendly" were a direct result of the investigation into t

Honestly, this is kind of an arrogant response. The phrases "user error", "designer error" and "user friendly" were a direct result of the investigation into the B-17 mishaps, which were many, and unexplained until investigated. Yes, good design is an old phenomenon - such is the nature of technology. But the article didn't make the claim that design started after WW2 - just that the importance of the designer / user relationship became better coded in the language of industry which followed the post-war period. We had generational shifts in UI design pre-war. But we didn't have computers, which have manifested every design flaw ever, and still are pretty crap to use. The point of this article is not to make boisterous claims about contemporary design - but to point out that the user / designer relationship is still more relevant than ever. Also, people are still crashing planes, metaphorically in their user interface designs. The age of dark patterns is upon us. The B17 crashed because of dark patterns.