Back in the early days of the Web, a lot of UI decisions were made on the fly, often having completely different sources of inspiration. There were few boundaries set: no pattern libraries, no widely-used design systems, pixelated raster graphics, and distracting Flash-based animations. Design unification is a sign of progress – the Web has become more accessible, friendly, and structured. A set of standardized patterns makes it possible to pay more attention to tasks instead of reinventing the wheel. At the same time, when every product and experience looks the same, we risk making them bland and uninteresting. Design is about communication and impact, and there’s less impact when everything is the same.