> Many companies have tons of desginers who need to prove they are needed, so they force change for the sake of change - at the cost of users.

That may be one part.

But another part is companies that need to demonstrate to their uses that a version change is a big change.

Microsoft is (im)famous for this: as far as I can tell, there has been little need for the constant UI churn in windows aside from convincing users that a new version is big enough to warrant that appellation (as opposed to a service pack/patch).

You’d think that the SaaS Office would change less, but it seems to churn about as much as ever.

It might be like the thing at Google, where people want to get promoted and big changes or new launches are the only way up, regardless of the effect on user experience.

With M$ the bias is towards their certification and training business. They have to change enough to make training seem more important.

That’s just one leg of the stool. They used to be relentless at driving SQL Server Enterprise adoption. Now it’s shifted to M365 E5, plus accessory subscriptions. PowerBI, Viva and Copilot for whatever are the new legs.

Designers alone can't push through a change for the sake of change as their work relies entirely on user research. Even if they do have the research needed to prove a change is required, they also have to get developers on board.

So I don't know where this conspiracy theory comes from, but it's entirely unfounded unless you're talking about a designer like Jony Ive with the power to go through multiple obstacles with ease, in which case the change isn't happening to prove he's needed but because he has a different vision.

Unless the designers end up becoming the product managers/owners and stop scrutinizing the designers.

> as their work relies entirely on user research

Definitely not the case everywhere.

It's the case everywhere. A designer (in the context of software/hardware) does not work without user research, that is core to their work. Any position that does not require user research in design is titled differently these days.

Of course no engineers would ever make bad UX decisions.