I have stopped my research on Information Interaction and Meta representation/ visualization (with prototypes for evaluation and user testing) because of business reasons. There is a point in UI/UX design where if you are introducing fundamental change to the mass adopted paradigm, the proper way to deliver results requires serious testing and rapid changes based on collected data. This is expensive and funding for those kind of projects is non existent. Pushing forward UI design can be done only in Big Corp RND or by philanthropy funding.

I am UI designer. Actually you can blame Microsoft and invention of flat Metro UI. Microsoft never was able to do something meaningful in this field. What was my shock when Apple and Google adopted the idea. Yes, skeumorfic UI was killed prematurely. We now have realtime 3d capable computers that visualize interface abstraction using flat icons and associate files with folders. Desktop paradigm is repeated to death and user is treated like dumb kid. Mobile interfaces are with interaction of web from 1995. All for money. Because its cheaper to build software without design and every programmer hates the idea of adapting something new. There is widespread hate for design now, designers that are capable of change are not welcomed in the edge of Figma, prebuilt design systems and hipster decorating and posting two paragraphs on Medium about something UX related. I don’t see the way of change other than academia. As usual big corp will steal it if users are willing to adopt. Hey, if you ask Musk the interface in Tesla is temporary, before human element is removed from control:) So brave new world build by introverts with god complex.