What separates great design from terrible is a thin smattering of brushy foliage. Great design is always cognizant of how each feature fits into the larger whole - like playing Jenga with a 3-dimensional jigsaw puzzle. Terrible design is a cluttered mess of competing ideas and functions all looking to grab your attention at once.
The inability of designers, developers, and stakeholders to understand the primitive concept of the forest and the trees can generally cover most issues in this profession. The next idea is always the most important — even if it affects hardly anybody.
Businesses with the highest standing of design reputation do not lose sight of this. Sure there may be some odd quirks but, by and large, the forest is clear and the trees are in their natural places. Those that plant invasive species quickly become overwhelmed in a marsh internally and drag users into the quagmire with them.
The most important thing to know about your business is what its main purpose is. Everything else comes second. A car dealership does not try to sell you oil changes until you’re negotiating price. A fast food chain does not try to sell you new special ketchup before you’ve decided what you’re eating. But in software this becomes akin to Latin. People ask if they can, not if they should. How they might instead of how it fits. Our tools have exceeded our capability of reason.
I wish there was some great wisdom I could bestow to help assuage this but it is a bone cancer that can spread to every area of a business. It either is or it isn’t. If there is middle ground, it is a grain of sand balancing on a needle with a wind blowing.
What I can suggest is to not let it affect your work. With your tasks, always keep in mind the forest regardless of the other’s focus on the trees or the leaves. You’ll have to fight for it — repeatedly, without end. You will lose, a lot. You may win, sometimes. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.