> Somehow, the introduction of UX designers into the field has marked an era with worse user experiences across every platform.

I often get the sense that every company with a large design org is doomed to eventually ruin its own user interfaces. All those designers aren't being paid to just sit around - gotta justify the headcount to the people approving budgets. If you aren't developing new products then they will instead be tasked with redesigning existing ones, whether or not this is necessary, beneficial, or was ever asked for by users.

I've seen it happen too many times with too many companies to not notice a pattern.