Designing for user agency
Designers don't always directly solve problems for users. Often times they create better tools for users to more effectively engage with tasks and challenges.
Coffee pods use the "fix-it" mentality. People want coffee to be quicker and easier to obtain than homemade drip brew, but without spending excessive amounts of money at Starbucks. Pods fixed that but at the cost of proprietary compatibility and tons of waste.
Single-serve coffee makers appeal more to user agency. They solve the same problem with slightly more effort than pods, but with the freedom to use any coffee, adjust brew strength and without causing excessive waste.
The "fix-it" mentality can overlook adaptability, personalization and cognitive capabilities of users. Instead, designing for cognitive affordances can allow users to discover solutions themselves and by their way of doing it.
This mindset is also the path to designing products that are easier to repair or improve upon by users. It aligns with adaptive ergonomics, like assistive devices that improve someone's mobility or communication with others. It promotes learning by tinkering with an Arduino to turn lights on and understand code.
Fostering user agency means designing flexible, dynamic ecosystems so people can solve their problems better with their own ingenuity and resourcefulness. Where power is shifted away from organizations and given to the people.
