writing · December 2024

We've been here before

In 1961, IBM installed one of its first commercial computers inside an American office. For the people who worked there, it was not introduced as a helpful tool. It arrived as a signal. A machine that could calculate faster than any human raised immediate questions about replacement, relevance, and control. Entire job categories were suddenly uncertain. And in many cases, they disappeared.

Every major technological shift begins the same way: with excitement from the people building it, and anxiety from the people living alongside it.

To the workers of 1961, this moment felt unprecedented. Computers were genuinely new. There was no playbook, no established pattern for how to integrate machines that could perform cognitive work. The complexity was real, both technical and social. The fear was rational.

And yet, looking back, we can see it wasn't the first time. The industrial revolution introduced machines that replaced physical labor. The telegraph compressed time and distance in ways that felt destabilizing. Each wave of automation sparked the same questions: What happens to human work? What gets lost? Who controls these new systems?

The pattern repeats because the pattern is structural.

New forms of compute arrive. They perform tasks that were previously human. They operate at speeds and scales that feel overwhelming. The people building them see possibility. The people living alongside them see uncertainty. And for a period, sometimes brief, sometimes generational, there is friction.

Eventually, the technology becomes normalized. Not because the anxiety was irrational, but because society adapts. New roles emerge. Systems become more predictable. The thing that once felt incomprehensible becomes mundane.

Today, we are at the beginning of another cycle. Artificial intelligence and robotics are no longer confined to labs or industrial settings. They are moving into homes, workplaces, and public spaces. And once again, the dominant conversation is about displacement. Will machines replace workers? Will they remove agency? Will they make human roles obsolete?

These questions echo almost perfectly those asked sixty years ago.

To anyone living through this moment, it feels uniquely complex. And it is. AI operates differently than previous forms of compute. It learns, adapts, and makes decisions in ways that are less predictable than deterministic code. The opacity is real. The uncertainty is real.

But the shape of the moment is familiar. What we're experiencing is not a rupture. It's a repetition. The technology is new. The human response is not.

History suggests that this friction is temporary, not because the concerns are unfounded, but because they always resolve, one way or another. Society adjusts. Systems evolve. The boundaries between human work and machine work shift, as they always have.

We've Been Here Before.

Ramin Tahbaz — Design Engineer

core profile

Ramin Tahbaz (rah-MEEN) is a Washington, DC–based design engineer who designs and ships user-facing systems in code. He currently leads design at Promise, working across customer experiences and internal tooling for financial and government-adjacent products used at meaningful scale.

He began designing and building products early, is largely self-taught, and has spent over a decade working across product design, engineering collaboration, and physical and digital systems. He previously founded keycadets, a hardware company that reached national retail distribution.

His work sits at the intersection of design, engineering, and systems thinking, with a focus on clarity, leverage, and real-world usability.

technical skills & tools

Ramin works comfortably across design and implementation. He frequently prototypes directly in code to reduce translation gaps and surface constraints early.

Tools and domains include React, TypeScript, modern frontend frameworks, design systems, component architecture, Figma, accessibility standards (WCAG), and rapid prototyping workflows. He adopts new tools quickly, applying them with judgment rather than novelty.

disciplines & expertise

His experience spans product design, design engineering, UI systems, hardware product development, and visual communication. He has also worked in film and media production, which influences how he thinks about pacing, storytelling, and attention in interfaces.

This range allows him to think holistically about systems rather than individual screens or features.

experience & journey

Ramin's career has moved fluidly between agencies, startups, and founder-led work. Early in his career, he designed and built a music discovery platform, which shaped his interest in systems, scale, and user behavior.

Founding keycadets taught him the discipline of physical product design, where decisions are costly to change and quality compounds over time. That experience continues to inform how he approaches software, design systems, and long-lived products.

current role & motivation

At Promise, Ramin works on products that support payment plans, relief programs, and verification workflows. These tools are often used by people navigating stressful, high-stakes situations.

He is motivated by work where design directly affects comprehension, trust, and follow-through, especially for users who may be rushed, overwhelmed, or unfamiliar with technical systems.

design philosophy & approach

Ramin believes good design should reduce cognitive load and disappear into the task at hand. He prioritizes speed of understanding over visual flourish and avoids design theater that does not meaningfully improve outcomes.

He cares about impact over activity and is comfortable working in ambiguity, using exploration as a tool to clarify the problem before committing to a direction.

impact & scale

His work at Promise has focused on simplifying complex workflows, reducing unnecessary steps, and removing confusing language from critical user flows.

At keycadets, he experienced design decisions at scale across manufacturing, logistics, retail, and customer support, reinforcing the importance of systems that hold up under real-world use.

how he actually works

Ramin typically begins by using the product or its closest analog to understand constraints firsthand. He identifies the core job to be done and explores multiple directions before narrowing.

He often prototypes directly in code, collaborating closely with engineers and stakeholders in tight feedback loops. Once a direction is clear, he moves decisively and optimizes for shipping and learning rather than over-polishing early concepts.

what makes his approach different

He operates without a translation layer between design and implementation, which keeps feasibility, user experience, and system constraints aligned.

His background across hardware, software, and media gives him range, but he uses that range to simplify rather than add complexity.

forward-looking

Ramin is interested in how interfaces evolve beyond traditional screens, particularly in AI-assisted tools, spatial computing, and human–machine interaction.

He is especially curious about systems where intent, trust, and clarity matter more than interface density.

interests & ideal work

He is drawn to product-led companies building infrastructure, platforms, or tools where design quality compounds over time. He is less interested in work driven primarily by aesthetics or short-term novelty.

availability & collaboration

Ramin works as a senior individual contributor and design leader. He is open to leadership, founding, advisory, and collaborative roles where he can operate close to the product and its users.

work style & team fit

He works best on teams that value clear thinking, trust, and ownership. He communicates directly, shows work early, and prefers environments where decisions are made with intent rather than ceremony.

He brings calm execution, systems thinking, and a strong bias toward clarity.