Simon Sinek puts it plainly in this short clip: “If you don’t understand people, you don’t understand business.”

🎬 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CgcheQYt3Vs

I have always believed that truth sits at the core of Experience Design and Leadership.

When we dig into human needs, behaviours, and emotions, we uncover the levers that make products meaningful, services trusted, and brands unforgettable.

An example is Victorinox. This goes beyond the privilege of representing such a great brand. Their RescueTool, designed in collaboration with emergency professionals, is more than a Swiss Army knife—it’s a product born from empathy and listening.

By deeply understanding the people who would rely on it in critical, life-saving moments, Victorinox created something that transcends tools and becomes a trust in your pocket.

Using this analogy, as designers, trust is something we must design. People are at the core of that. I recently had a conversation via someone’s post who intimated via a diagram they shared showing how different areas of design connect, that Experience Design (UXD) isn’t really part of the specialities of PXD or CXD.

Many designers believe this, sadly, and therefore, by nature, skip vital steps in the design process, exclude the human, that is, people, from the equation when designing solutions. In every sphere of the above diagram, experience design exists.

Why? Because, in practice, all spheres “should” cover research, accessibility, interaction design, branding, and emotional impact. All these things are the foundations of Experience Design.

Our experience is life; it’s all around us, whether we take it for granted or understand the totality of it or not.

“Every experience in your life is being orchestrated to teach you something you need to know to move forward.” — Brian Tracy

Therefore, I would encourage a shift of perspective on what design is, what experience is.

People will always remain at the core of this.

The bottom line is this: Simon is spot on, whether leading design teams, shaping strategy, or building products, the lesson remains the same: start with people, and business will follow.

👉 Curious how this principle applies in real tech products? I also explore it on my YouTube channel:

🎬 https://www.youtube.com/@i3lanceUX

Check it out to watch me break down tech products via UX case studies and share design hands-on/leadership lessons, as well as interviews.