• Introduction
  
  
• Part 1: Understanding Product design
• 1 - What product design actually means
• 2 - Why everyone makes design decisions
• 3 - Product design as a problem solver
• 4 - Beyond the screen
  
  
• PART 2: BUILDING YOUR PRACTICE
• 5 - The reality of product design work
• 6 - Being the only designer
• 7 - Leading without losing your craft
• 8 - User research and stakeholder interviews
• 9 - Creating a UX strategy
  
  
• PART 3: THE CRAFT
• 10 - The product design process
• 11 - Design principles
• 12 - Creating meaningful design systems
  
  
• PART 4: COMMUNICATION & INFLUENCE
• 13. Why designers need to write
• 14. Using writing to think through problems
• 15. How to sell design
• 16. Why designers need to speak business

• PART 5: DESIGNING FOR HUMANS
• 17 - Building emotional relationships with users
• 18 - Designing for anyone
• 19 - Going beyond good enough
  
  
• What we've covered
• Products people actually want

Introduction

We're drowning in products nobody wants, built by people who never asked if they should.

Do you remember that the first iPhone was originally launched without an App Store? Mind blowing, I know. Our first experience with this product was only with its core functionality. A lot of products we see released today would benefit from starting more basic. Take the time to really think about how they'll provide their users with a great experience. However, many make the mistake of equating more features with making the product more successful. Often it just makes it more difficult for new users to understand the basics of the product and hurt adoption and conversion.

Our world is full of apps, websites, and software with thousands more of each being released daily. We often see shipping dates as even more important than the product that is actually being shipped. You can always iterate and improve later, right? Just get it out there! I understand that it's wise for companies to be in a constant process of release, learn, iterate, release again, but I often wonder if it's healthy for the company and its users. Are we just releasing products for the sake of releasing them?

AI is accelerating this trend. Tools like no-code platforms, AI-powered development environments, and drag-and-drop app builders are now allowing virtually anyone to build and publish apps without understanding fundamental design principles or knowing how to write code. While this democratization of product creation is exciting, it also means we're seeing an explosion of products that might work technically but completely miss the mark on user experience. The barrier to building has never been lower, but the bar for what users expect has never been higher.

A note on terminology

You'll notice I use both "UX design" and "product design" throughout this article. That's intentional. While the industry has largely moved toward "product design," many of the principles remain the same. Product design simply acknowledges that great digital experiences require understanding users, business goals, and technical constraints—and balancing them without compromising the soul of the product. It's UX design that's grown up and learned to speak business.

I've geared the book towards helping designers, developers, product managers, and companies adjust how they view their users and craft amazing experiences with their product. After all, isn't what the user feels about the product just as important as what they do with it? Some label this as branding, but let's be honest, that's just one piece of the entire user experience cake. Big picture thinking like that creates strong products.

For more than half my life, I've been subconsciously collecting knowledge through my experiences working with digital products. All these websites, apps, banners, and e-mail campaigns have graced me with a unique perspective. this article is the expression of my desire to share this knowledge and help others find success and avoid pitfalls.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for purchasing this article. Thanks for investing in this article and in better design. We're going to cover a lot, challenge some assumptions, and hopefully leave you thinking a little differently than when you started. By buying this article, not only will you become better at creating great digital products, but you've also helped me share knowledge I've been collecting for over 25 years in this field. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Now let's begin!

Part 1: Understanding Product design 

• The field we call "UX design" has evolved.

• Today, most companies talk about product design—a broader discipline that encompasses user experience, business strategy, and technical feasibility.

• This section explores what product design really means and why it matters more than ever.

1 - What product design actually means

Here's the thing about "Product Design"—everyone talks about it, but most people couldn't define it if you cornered them at a conference. I get it. The term gets thrown around in job postings, strategy meetings, and LinkedIn think-pieces like it's some mystical art form. It's not. But it's also more important than most people realize. Product Design is what happens when you stop obsessing over pixel-perfect mockups and start asking whether people actually need what you're building.

What Product Design actually means

Product Design is the evolution of what we used to call UX Design. Don Norman, who coined the term "User Experience," put it best: "User Experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services and its products."

When I say "product" in this article, I'm talking broadly: apps, websites, software platforms, even digital services. The Instagram app is a product. Spotify's website is a product. Your bank's online portal is a product. If someone interacts with it digitally to accomplish something, it's a product for our purposes.

This might seem obvious, but it's worth clarifying because the principles apply whether you're designing a mobile game, an e-commerce site, or enterprise software. They're all products that need to work for real people.

But product design goes further. It's where psychology meets product strategy, where user needs meet business goals, and where great ideas become profitable realities.

Think of it this way: Product Design is about understanding how people think, feel, and behave when they interact with your product—then using that understanding to make decisions that work for both users and your business.

The goal isn't just to make things pretty (though let's be honest, prettier things do perform better). The goal is to make things work so well that people don't even notice the design. They just accomplish what they came to do, hopefully with a smile.

Product Design sits at the intersection of user experience, business strategy, and technical feasibility. While other disciplines might focus on one of these areas—visual design on aesthetics, market research on user preferences, or development on technical implementation—Product Design considers how all these elements work together to create successful products.

The goal isn't just to make something usable or beautiful, but to ensure it solves real problems for both users and the business.

Why Product Design matters

Good Product Design is invisible. When someone uses your product and everything just works, they don't think, "Wow, great product design!" They think, "This is exactly what I needed."

Bad Product Design is obvious. It's the checkout process that makes you want to throw your laptop. It's the app that requires a tutorial just to send a message. It's the website that makes you feel stupid for not understanding how to use it.

The difference between good and bad Product Design isn't just user satisfaction—it's money. Companies with great user experiences see higher conversion rates, lower support costs, and more loyal customers.

Users who have a good experience come back. Users who have a bad experience tell their friends about it (and not in a good way).

The bottom line

Product Design isn't about making things pretty—it's about making things work. It's about understanding people well enough to build products that feel like they were made just for them, while meeting business goals.

In a world where people have endless options and zero patience, good Product Design isn't a nice-to-have. It's the difference between a product people love and one they abandon.

2 - Why everyone makes design decisions

Here's something that might surprise you: I don't think any single person is responsible for the user experience of a product, regardless of their title.

It's true that I help companies design user experiences, but the complete user experience is made up of so much more than what any one designer creates. Everyone has a role to play—from customer service to marketing to engineering.

Mike Monteiro is one of my favorite thinkers. You may know him from his brilliant speech "Fck You. Pay Me."* or his books "Design is a Job" and "You're My Favorite Client." Some of my favorite passages come from "You're My Favorite Client" where Mike lets the reader know that whether they believe it or not, they are a designer too:

"I don't know anything about design. Bullsh*t. Look around you. You make choices based on design every day.
Even if you can't design those things yourself, that doesn't take away from your ability to decide that was the chair you wanted to sit on, or the shoes you wanted to wear, or the car you wanted to buy.
You know bad design when you encounter it. From every chair you've sat in that hurt your ass, to every coffee cup that burned your hand, to every time your finger triggered the wrong link on your phone, to every airline booking site that pissed you off. You know bad design. You hate it."

It should just work

Mike's reasoning applies perfectly to product design—the airline booking site reference fits really well. As people, we just want things that work.

As designers who craft experiences, do we really think that people care about having 47 different customization options? Most people just want to accomplish their task and move on with their day. The faster someone can achieve their goal—whether that's booking a flight, sending an email, or finding a restaurant—the better.

This is why products that prioritize core functionality over feature abundance often win in the long run.

Why we dogfood with everyone

At Summer Health, we always do dogfooding sessions—testing our own product internally—before we launch a feature. These sessions include everyone from doctors, developers, designers, and people from operations to make sure we truly understand how each area of the business will be impacted before we launch something.

What's fascinating is how different team members catch different issues. Doctors might point out medical accuracy concerns that designers miss. Developers spot edge cases in the user flow. Operations folks understand the support burden a confusing feature might create. Each perspective reveals blind spots that any single discipline would overlook.

This collaborative approach has taught me that when it comes to user experience, everyone really is a designer. Not because everyone can create beautiful interfaces, but because everyone makes design decisions daily and can recognize when something doesn't work.

Take something as simple as Google. The possibilities are endless for what you can search for and then filter those results to see exactly what you want using their tools. However, the success of Google lies with its simplicity—most users feel comfortable with a single text field where they can enter their search term.

The key insight from our dogfooding sessions is that diverse input helps us balance complexity with usability. Sometimes a feature needs more options to serve power users, but we can hide that complexity behind progressive disclosure. Other times, we realize we're solving the wrong problem entirely and need to step back and rethink our approach.

Everyone on the team brings their own lens to understanding what makes a good user experience. And that's exactly why great products aren't built by designers alone—they're built by teams that recognize everyone has valuable design insight to contribute.

Key takeaways

1. Everyone makes design decisions daily – From choosing furniture to recognizing bad interfaces, we all have design judgment

2. Diverse perspectives catch different problems – Doctors, developers, and operations staff each spot unique issues that designers miss

3. Great products come from collaboration – Including the whole team in design decisions leads to better solutions

4. Trust your design instincts – If something feels wrong to you, it probably feels wrong to users too

The user experience is SO much more

Even though my title might be Product Designer, the user experience consists of everyone involved: marketers, managers, customer service, technicians, even other users. The role of a Product Designer is to take all these different inputs and suggest the best way to package, position, and communicate it. Success comes from paying attention to the entire experience of the user, from beginning to end.

"A great user experience is the craft that brings all of the elements together to create one consistent feeling for the user."
Cat Noone

3 - Product design as a problem solver

Here's something that drives me crazy about our industry: we love redesigning things that don't need redesigning.

Scroll through Dribbble or Behance and you'll find endless "reimagined" boarding passes, "reinvented" newspaper layouts, and "revolutionary" app concepts. Most are gorgeous. Most also completely miss the point.

We do this because making things look good feels like progress. But here's the thing that bugs me: this "design for looks, not function" mentality explains why we never see redesigns for ATMs, glucose monitors, or tax return forms. You know, the stuff that actually makes people want to throw things at walls.

Don't get me wrong—I appreciate the talent that goes into those boarding pass redesigns. But does a prettier boarding pass actually help travelers? Does it solve the real problems people face when they're rushing through an airport?

A great redesign can kickstart a career

Paying attention to the needs of the user can get you pretty far in the field of design. Tobias van Schneider, who launched his .Mail project a couple of years ago did exactly that. He was then able to become a Lead Product Designer at Spotify before venturing out on his own.

Tobias recognized, as many other designers had as well, that email apps are desperate for a redesign. While I do think Mail.app (Apple) isn't the best software out there, it does its job. So does Gmail and I'm pretty sure Outlook does too. Email is email is email, right? What if we had an option to make it a pleasurable experience—one that gets out of your way and just completes the task without effort?

Tobias writes:

"When the first email was sent in the early 1970's there was no big difference to the email we know today. And that's the problem."

Even though there have been some significant gains (HTML emails, attachments, links, signatures, etc), I think Tobias really hits the note when he says "and that's the problem". As an example, the first cars in the early 1900's got you from point A to point B, but today's cars are faster, more reliable, and have many more options—much like email. They have been redesigned countless times, but has their function improved? It's still four tires on the pavement resulting in traffic jams, maintenance bills, and fuel costs. The redesign we need is the one that solves those type of problems.

The real question: Is the problem the product or its users?

Do users fear the new/upgraded? Is their comfort—or their company's comfort—with the old solution enough to possibly damage the success of a new one? The answer is yes. Many great ideas have been born and died just because people were hesitant to adopt them.

Mailbox, an iOS email app that launched in 2013, was seen as a revelation because it offered a new way to attack the increasing problem of a full inbox (it even had a sign-up queue with hundreds of thousands in line). It allowed users to postpone messages and make them disappear from your inbox only to recur after the selected time had passed. After being acquired by Dropbox, Mailbox didn't continue to innovate and its key features were being poached by other developers. It may have changed the way we interact with email, but didn't change email itself and came with a pricetag that people weren't willing to pay for. Mailbox was shutdown in early 2016.

Slack is a communication app that launched trying to solve the problems that email presents. In fact, many say it is the email killer. Years later, email is still very much alive and kicking and I use it daily. However, I do love Slack and all my team communication is handled in Slack.

As Intercom so efficiently puts it:

"Products like Slack or Asana don't replace email, but they do encourage us from sending it in situations where it's the wrong medium. At Intercom we firmly believe in the right medium for the right message. Want to announce a new product feature? Pop-up a message when customers are in the app and can try it straight away. Looking to re-engage customers you might be about to lose? Send them an email to try and get them back."

When it comes down to it, a product is only good if it solves a problem—no matter how pretty the design is. No amount of redesign of boarding passes will solve the problems with airline travel to make it worth the investment. No amount of redesign of newspapers will result in more readers to make it worth the investment. A redesign of a glucose monitor could help its users have an easier experience using it—bettering their lives. A redesign of a tax form could ease the process of filing—saving time and decreasing stress. I encourage all of you to use your talents to design to solve the problem, not just make it pretty.

4 - Beyond the screen

I am usually given a set of pages that a company wants me to pay extra attention to (homepage, category, and product pages). While these pages are critical to the customer's user experience and business performance, there is a lot more to look at. It's important to keep in mind that great user experiences take time to build and maintain, but can be demolished in just a couple of seconds.

Think about it: you could have a perfect product page, smooth checkout, and beautiful design—but if the confirmation email never arrives, or if customer support is rude when someone calls with a question, that entire experience is ruined. One confusing error message, one broken form field, or one unhelpful support interaction can turn a potential customer into someone who never comes back and tells their friends to avoid you.

Today's consumers demand an experience that works reliably and functions exactly how they expect it to. It is critical to look beyond the main pages of the website to see where mistakes can be made.

A process of discovery

When analyzing the full user experience for an e-commerce client, I follow the actual customer journey:

• Discovery: I start where users do—social media, search, recommendations. Does the site feel trustworthy? Can I easily find what I'm looking for?
• Exploration: I browse products and test recommendations. Is key information clear? Do support features actually help?
• Purchase: I go through checkout, testing for friction. Can I checkout as a guest? Any surprise fees?
• Fulfillment: I track the post-purchase experience from confirmation emails to delivery and unboxing.
• Support: I test returns and customer service. How easy is it to get real help?
• Cross-device: I repeat key steps on mobile—often revealing completely different pain points.

User experience is in EVERY part of business

As you can see, the total user experience is so much more than just the three pages that most companies want me to focus on. Even if you don't have the same chain of interactions as e-commerce, there is so much more to your user experience than the interface that your customer sees.

The key is thinking beyond the screen. Great experiences happen when every touchpoint—from first impression to ongoing support—works together seamlessly.

Is your customer support easily accessible and helpful? Do you add value in your communication with me? Are your order confirmations and invoices easy to understand, printer-friendly (people still print!), PDF-friendly, and OCR-ready?

When I say I do things differently, I mean it. I choose to work with a company to understand all aspects of their solution. After all, what good is having the perfect product page if it doesn't work on mobile, if the customer support is not friendly, and there's no clear information sent after purchase? The customer journey is much more than a few pages, so let's stop treating it like it is.

This comprehensive understanding of the customer journey is exactly why 'Product Design' has evolved beyond traditional UX design. Traditional UX design often focused on optimizing individual touchpoints—making a form easier to use, improving a checkout flow, or designing a better homepage. Product Design takes a broader view: it considers how business goals, technical constraints, and user needs intersect across the entire customer lifecycle.

A product designer doesn't just ask "How can we make this interface better?" but "How does this decision impact our business model, our development timeline, and our long-term relationship with customers?" It's UX design that's learned to speak the language of business strategy and technical feasibility.

Understanding these principles is just the beginning. The real challenge is building a sustainable practice that applies these insights day after day, project after project. That's what separates good designers from great ones—and it's exactly what we'll explore next.

PART 2: BUILDING YOUR PRACTICE 

• Whether you're just starting out or leading a team, building a sustainable design practice requires more than creative skills.

• This section covers the practical aspects of working as a designer, from individual contributor to leadership roles.

5 - The reality of product design work

Here's a question I get constantly: "What does a product designer actually do all day?"

It's a fair question. The field is so broad that two people with the same title can have completely different jobs. One designer might spend their days in Figma crafting pixel-perfect interfaces. Another might be knee-deep in spreadsheets analyzing conversion funnels. Both are doing "product design."

This confusion isn't helped by the fact that when most of us learned design, we had this romantic notion that we'd spend our days creating beautiful, world-changing work. Then we enter the industry and discover that reality is... messier.

Before I dive into the topic, let me give you a quick background on how I entered the field:

I started designing web pages in 1997. Back then, there was very little talk around user experiences and, for years following, a good user experience was more or less defined by fancy graphics. While fancy graphics can be a factor in a great user experience, it should not be the starting point. After years of purely designing stuff for the web, I realized that my true interest and skillset was not based around setting that perfect gradient or drop shadow, but rather how everything related to each other. I loved graphic design—defining grid systems to make pages easy to read and finding ways to highlight the most important content. With a background in design, I learned one of the basic things in UX—how to define the problem and use visual cues like grids, hierarchy, positioning, and white space to visually present a solution.

Doing the work

The work I normally do as a Product Designer is, in many ways, not much different from the work I did more than 20 years ago. I still approach problems in a similar way:

• Define the problem

• Explore different solutions

• Execute through visual design

What has changed—drastically—over the years is the way we approach each component. Technology has evolved, but more importantly, our need for good experiences has increased. Now even the tiniest design decisions need to be tested and validated.

"Booking.com A/B tests everything. If something cannot be A/B tested, Booking.com won't do it. There's more than 1,000 A/B tests running at any time."

This way of working requires much more from us as designers than previously. We need more insight into how the business works, what the users are thinking, and a deep understanding of the technology involved. The playing field is increasing in size every day as technology advances. With things like the progress of AI-powered interfaces, the playing field is not only growing, but adding additional dimensions. As if that's not enough, the Internet is overloaded with articles like: 13 Things You Should Give Up If You Want To Be a Successful UX Designer, 7 steps to become a UI/UX Designer and 14 Uncomfortable Habits That Will Make You a Better UX Designer. With reading topics like these, no wonder no one really knows what a Product Designer does.

So how can we define the work that we do as Product Designers? We can't. It depends on too many things.

It depends on...

Depending on the project and the organization you are in, the work you'll do as a Product Designer will vary a lot. Here are just a couple of different paths I've personally come across during the last years:

• Design. Sometimes projects are mainly in need of visual design, but because they want a design that works for them, the work is labeled as product design. I think it's important to highlight that having a clear focus on visual design is not 'less' product design in any way. Perhaps the user research is already in place, the processes and funnels work, and it just needs something to better highlight it.

• Optimization and analysis. Other times, it's the opposite. Perhaps the project already has a clear set of design guidelines and even a design system in place. But what they don't have are steady conversions. So it's your job to try out different solutions to optimize and analyze the conversions of the project. Should this CTA move higher up the page? Can we change this copy to something more direct? Can we remove this third step in the process? These are very different questions from design related questions, but still just as likely to appear in your work as a product designer.

• Product and feature development. Working on a digital product or tool can be very different compared to working on a corporate website. When you're working on a digital product, you're often faced with the challenge of jumping between long term strategic goals and specific (sometimes seemingly minor) bits and pieces like refining filters, redesigning the login sequence, or looking through metrics for email engagement.

• User research and testing. Sometimes the visual design is fine, but you need to understand why users are struggling. This means running usability tests, conducting interviews, and digging into analytics to figure out what's actually happening vs. what you assumed was happening.

Clearly, there's some variation in what a Product Designer actually does. And we haven't even got into the discussion whether designers should code or not...

Moving into leadership

As I have just outlined what I think it's like working as a product designer, I thought it would make sense to follow up with what I'm doing most of the time these days—the work of a Design Lead. When I transitioned to a Design Lead, I also had a similar bout of anxiety over what this role would actually entail and what success would look like. So, if any of you are thinking of transitioning into this role now—or in the future of your career—I thought sharing my experience might be helpful.

The title sort of gives it away

As a Design Lead there's far less design and much more leading. I've led a UX team at IKEA and estimate that the total design time I spent is probably less than 80 hours in a quarter. A first change in my workflow between being a Product Designer and a Design Lead is that I've had to swap Figma out for Excel and PowerPoint. The second major change is that my calendar has gone from 3-4 meetings per week to at least 3-4 meetings per day.

"As a designer, the majority of my week was unscheduled. With the help of my PM and design manager, I could protect my 'maker's schedule.' Almost every day, I had a 2–4 hour chunk for 'deep work', as Cal Newport defines it, time 'to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task.' On an average week, about 80% of my calendar was unscheduled, and 20% was scheduled. I had the opposite as a product manager—80% was scheduled and 20% was unscheduled. I needed to ruthlessly manage my time. One benefit of having the title of 'product manager' is that you can invite yourself to any meeting and 'have a seat at the table'—something designers often yearn for. But you lose your uninterrupted time by going to all those important (and some unimportant) meetings. It's much harder to get into the flow states needed to solve gnarly problems."

To tackle this, I proposed scheduling 'meeting-free' days—something I was nervous to suggest but that was met with surprising enthusiasm from the management team. The key question to ask yourself about any role is: When do I do my best work? For me, I need uninterrupted blocks of time. If there's a meeting in 30 minutes, I can't really dive deep into anything meaningful.

What, how—and why

I often have to explain UX to people as something that's not just about what a feature should do, but also about how it should do it. Well, being a Design Lead is all of that and also being able to explain to stakeholders, engineers, designers, and other team members why it should do something. Depending on which group you're explaining it to, you'll need to be able to justify it from a user, functional, or a business perspective as well.

"I've always found 'why' we're building something as interesting as 'how.' To put it another way, problem-setting was as important to me as problem-solving. This part of the product development process was often owned by PMs, not designers."

Managing people

When I was a Creative Director, I needed to manage both designers and developers. What's interesting to see is how my approach managing designers has grown and evolved over the past decade. I've gone from being driven by the possibility of leading a team to getting the responsibility and trust of managing a team. My work is not to make decisions, but to help guide designers make the right decisions.

"This is the crux of management: It is the belief that a team of people can achieve more than a single person going it alone. It is the realization that you don't have to do everything yourself, be the best at everything yourself, or even know how to do everything yourself. Your job, as a manager, is to get better outcomes from a group of people working together."
Julie Zhuo, "The Making of a Manager"

Is this for you?

Just like growth in companies—I think it's wise to question whether a move into leading a team is what's right for you.

"We need the right kind of growth. Growth is not necessarily about stepping on the gas pedal, it can also be about steering in the right direction."
William Nordhaus

While going from Product Designer to Design Lead may feel like a promotion, it's important to know that it's also a very different role. Don't assume this is a natural step in your career, it's also a shift. If you love design, you can absolutely stay within that field.

For me personally, I've always been inspired and driven by the possibility of teaching and sharing my experiences with more junior designers. When I've consulted independently, I switch between the two, taking on projects as a Design Lead and then switching to design in the next project.

"I'm by no means a management expert. I've learned largely by doing, and despite my best intentions, I've made countless mistakes. But this is how anything in life goes: You try something. You figure out what worked and what didn't. You file away lessons for the future. And then you get better. Rinse, repeat."
Julie Zhuo "The Making of a Manager"

While I may have felt that anxiety during the first moments of this career shift, I did find the experience rewarding and fulfilling. Being in leadership showed me that I can impact the project—and the related users—in positive ways, guide a team of talented designers and support staff in creating awesome deliverables, and know that good work was accomplished that day. Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a different level of stress and it isn't for everyone, but I want to encourage any of you that are curious to take the risk if offered the opportunity!

There's no 'one way'

So there you have it—being a Product Designer can mean a lot of different things! While some people prefer to specialize in one area and become a guru of a specific task, others (like me) prefer to know a bit about everything and use those skills to work on a more diverse set of projects. Depending on your company, the clients you have (if you're an agency), and your specific interests, you can put together your work as it pleases you. After all, your experience with your work is what really counts at the end of the day!

"After working for more than a decade as a designer, I can promise you this: There may never be a point when you're consistently doing only creatively fulfilling, exciting work that perfectly aligns with your passions and values. For every one perfect project, there are 10 projects you're doing just to keep the lights on. Not only is that work a reality you will learn to accept, but it's an opportunity. Any project, no matter how small, can change your life. It's better to realize this early and take advantage of it.”

6 - Being the only designer

Being the only designer at a startup can be like a swiss army knife—you're useful for everything, but you're never quite the perfect tool for any specific job. I've been Summer Health's sole designer for nearly three years now, watching the company evolve from scrappy startup to something more substantial. It's a role that's equal parts exhilarating and exhausting, and nothing like what design school prepares you for.

Paul Stamatiou captured this perfectly in his post "The Startup Designer":

"There's nothing glamorous about being a designer at a startup. It's a role that frequently values speed and pragmatism over going deep in the craft. It's not all big launches, viral tweets, building for happy paths, and clear-cut product requirements. However, it can be incredibly rewarding. The fun comes from being able to excel at learning new skills and wearing many different hats while being solely responsible for large efforts."

Though my title is "Head of Design," I'm essentially a design team of one for now, aside from a few freelancers we regularly collaborate with. This means handling everything from high-level macro design to nitty-gritty micro design.

Supporting different streams

Our team is still small, and to some extent, I'm the one to support all aspects of the company with design. While my title is "Head of Design," it's spread widely as I'm also the one to execute on all of it. We do bring in talented freelancers to help out with design, so it's not as lonely as I'm making it sound. My work is mainly divided between three streams:

• Product - Most time is spent working on concepts, thinking, framing, researching, and designing features. This often means juggling multiple products—in healthcare, for example, you might design both the patient-facing app and the provider-facing EHR system. The key is spending time talking to actual users to understand what needs to be designed, not just how to design it.

• Marketing - As companies scale, marketing efforts naturally increase. This means designing everything from flyers and banners to one-pager PDFs, company swag, and social media assets. The variety keeps things interesting, but the context switching can be exhausting.

• Sales - From pitch decks that raise funding to sales collateral, solo designers often work directly with business teams to ensure all communication is visually simple and elegant. These high-stakes projects can make or break company milestones.

"Once you get to Figma, most of the hard work is already done"

One of the highlights since joining full-time is getting to talk with our members—parents with kids—much more frequently. I'm grateful to have a manager who has pushed me to prioritize these conversations. As an introvert, I find these sessions exhausting, but they provide invaluable knowledge. Looking back, it's astonishing how many websites and products I designed without ever talking to actual users! These conversations not only help me think about our product and design more holistically but also remind me why we do what we do as a company.

The sliding scale of giving a fuck

One of my recurring mantras for approaching work and advocating for features is "if everything is important, then nothing is." This phrase, attributed to Patrick Lencioni, author and leadership consultant, comes from his book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. The concept highlights a crucial truth about prioritization: when everything is treated as equally critical, effective focus becomes impossible. Paul touches this in his blog post too:

"The startup designer knows where to compromise on quality, when to push for it hard, and how to advocate for it beyond intuition, armed with customer feedback, insights, and company goals."

My favorite approach to this, which is less conventional and more startup-friendly, is Cap Watkins's "Sliding scale of giving a fuck"—a blog post I frequently reference. The core idea aligns: as designers, engineers, and makers, we naturally want to craft excellent products according to our vision. But true excellence emerges from teamwork, and as mentioned, when everything is important, nothing is. During feature discussions with team members, I often find myself rating priorities as a 5 or 7 on this scale—important but not critical. This approach means that when I do rate something as a 9, my conviction carries more weight.

I hope this look into my daily work helps you understand what it's like to be the first designer at a startup. Being the only designer isn't easy—you have to handle many tasks at once and make big design choices by yourself. But it's also really rewarding and gives you lots of chances to grow and make a real difference. You need to be flexible, resourceful, and okay with uncertainty, but it feels great to directly shape how a product grows. Even though there are long days and you have to switch between different types of work often, it's amazing to help build something from scratch. It's like being on a roller coaster that challenges your abilities and helps you become better at your job.

7 - Leading without losing your craft

There's a quiet tension in design careers that doesn't get talked about enough: the moment you're nudged—sometimes subtly, sometimes not—toward management. It's framed like a choice between two tracks: either you keep designing and risk stagnating, or you shift into leadership and start climbing. But the way that choice is framed is misleading. It makes management sound like a promotion when, in reality, it's a shift in craft.

I was listening to Mig Reyes on the Dive Club Podcast recently, and he said something that cut through the noise: you shouldn't go into design management until you've really excelled as an individual contributor. That might sound obvious, but it's not how the industry works. Many people are promoted before they've gone deep. The result is a layer of managers who are disconnected from the very thing they're supposed to lead.

I've worked under a few creative directors over the years—smart, articulate, seasoned—but it was clear they hadn't touched modern design tools in a long time. Maybe they once knew Photoshop or Sketch, but they'd long since detached from what today's design practice actually looks like. And that's a problem. Because part of a manager's job is to teach—not just high-level thinking, but hands-on execution. Sometimes, the best way to unblock a junior designer isn't with a pep talk, it's by showing them exactly how to solve the problem in Figma.

It's not unlike football. The best coaches—people like Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp—weren't just players; they were leaders on the field. They understood the rhythm of a match from inside it. And when they became coaches, they weren't just strategists—they were translators. They knew how to take what they'd learned on the pitch and give it back in a form their players could use. That's what a good design manager does too.

The risk of stepping into management too early is that you haven't seen enough. You don't know what advice to give because you haven't lived through the edge cases. You can't always predict the second-order effects of a decision. And worse, your team can tell. It's not about ego—they just want to know they're being led by someone who understands their world, not someone who's permanently drifted above it.

Personally, I'm drawn to the relational side of management. I like the conversations, the pattern recognition, the chance to help people grow. But I never want to be the kind of leader who can't open the file. Staying close to the work keeps me honest. It's a reminder that design isn't just something I used to do. It's something I still care about.

Managing energy and people

As an introvert, leading a team requires intentional energy management. After back-to-back meetings, I need quiet time to process and recharge. I've learned to block calendar time for this—it's not optional, it's essential for being an effective leader.

Introversion actually offers some advantages in leadership. I naturally listen more than I talk, which helps in one-on-ones and when making decisions. I prefer deeper conversations over surface-level check-ins, which often leads to better understanding of what people actually need.

The key is designing your leadership style around your strengths rather than trying to be someone you're not. Extroverted leaders might energize teams through big group meetings and brainstorms. I do it through thoughtful one-on-ones and creating space for others to shine.

If you're thinking about moving into design management, the question to ask isn't "Am I ready to lead?" It's "Have I gone deep enough that I have something to give back?"

Key takeaways

1. Master your craft before managing others – You need deep individual contributor experience to lead effectively

2. Stay connected to the actual work – The best design managers can still "open the file" and understand current tools and processes

3. Design your leadership around your strengths – Introverts and extroverts can both be effective leaders in different ways

4. Management is a craft shift, not a promotion – It's a different skill set, not necessarily a step up

8 - User research and stakeholder interviews

A funny thing happens as you mature as a designer—you start spending less time in design tools and more time... talking to people. Except, talking isn't quite the right way of putting it because, in order to do my work correctly, it's the opposite of talking. It's listening. In order to design the right thing, in the right way, you need valid input and you need to understand the problem that you're solving.

Whether you're talking to users about their daily frustrations or stakeholders about business goals, the fundamentals remain the same: you're gathering insights to inform better design decisions. The tools and techniques are largely identical—it's just the perspective that changes.

Why research matters

Great products start with understanding real people, not guessing their needs. Research helps businesses avoid costly assumptions, validate ideas, and build products people actually want. This applies whether you're researching user pain points or understanding business constraints.

User research reveals what people actually do (versus what they say they do), while stakeholder research uncovers the business realities that will shape what's possible to build. Both are essential for creating products that work.

It's not users vs. business, it's users and business

The way I approach research is through the lens of two complementary parties—users and the business. While I'm always looking to create things that will benefit the end-user, it's important to remember that the business also has goals that need to be fulfilled. It's only when you, as a designer, understand that you have to work to fulfill both parties' goals and expectations, that you can succeed.

User research fundamentals

The biggest mistake teams make is assuming they know what users need. But the best products don't come from guessing—they come from listening. Users will tell you about their frustrations, their workarounds, and their dreams for how things could be better.

Methods that work:

1. Interviews reveal deep user insights through direct conversations
2. Usability testing uncovers pain points by observing real user interactions
3. Surveys gather broad feedback to spot trends
4. Contextual inquiry shows how people actually work in their environment

The goal isn't just to understand what users want, but why they want it and how it fits into their larger goals.

Stakeholder research: understanding the business side

While user research tells you what to build, stakeholder research tells you what's possible to build—and why. Stakeholders understand market forces, technical constraints, and business priorities that will shape any solution.

Facilitating effective conversations

One of the first things I tend to do during interviews is to explain my process and agenda for the next hour. Most people haven't been in a research interview before so it's natural that they are unsure of what to expect. The key is to make them feel as relaxed as possible.

I explain that our goal is to understand the reason behind the project. We need to tap into all their experience and knowledge. We need to make sure that we have a cohesive vision of what it is that we're supposed to create. Finally, I tell them that I'll be recording the interview in order for me to be able to revisit it later and not be distracted by having to take notes.

Starting small

I'll usually begin with a simple question that they easily can relate to. For instance, I'll ask what their role is and how they became involved in this project. This allows them to begin talking more freely and it's a great opportunity to shift the "talking part" from me to them.

The real insights are not in the answers

While the above questions and their answers are valuable, that's not where the real insights lie. The real insights are hidden in the follow-up questions and answers. The key to a good interview is to listen carefully and follow-up with questions that go deeper.

With all questions, it's important to keep them open-ended. This helps to make sure the discussion stays as open as possible. The method I like to follow is TEDW ("Tell me about.. Explain.. Describe.. Walk me through"). These offer the other person the option to not just answer, but paint the whole picture.

Questions that get to the heart of things

For user interviews:

• Walk me through your typical day/workflow

• What's the most frustrating part of [current process]?

• How do you currently solve this problem?

• How do you feel when [specific situation]? Confident, overwhelmed, something else?

• What happened the last time you were unable to find an answer?

• If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing, what would it be?

For understanding the business:

• What are the short- and long-term business goals?

• What would a successful outcome of this project look like to you?

• What do you currently have too little of (sales, profits, customers, etc.)?

For understanding customers:

• Who are the users? How would you describe your customers?

• What problems do customers currently have that this offering solves?

For understanding the product:

• What's missing in the current process that this tool will provide?

• What is the single most important message your audience should remember?

Wrap-up questions:

• What do I need to know that you don't think other members of your team have said?

• How do you feel right now?

General follow-up phrases:

• Tell me more

• Can you give an example?

• Why is that do you think?

Research in practice

Stay engaged

The key to good research is staying positive and engaged. When you're on that third hour of interviews, it's so easy to get distracted or just quickly check your email. The truth is that the other person will only stay engaged as long as you do. As soon as they can tell that you're not paying attention, they'll lose focus themselves.

Stay curious

Always stay curious. It's not uncommon for people to start brainstorming solutions. Even if they start pitching something that you know probably won't work, it's important to stay open. "Wow! Explain to me how you think that could work!" and let them go for it! Having someone thinking freely and creatively is exactly where you want to be.

Document everything

I like recording my sessions so I can rewatch them later and make notes. On some projects, I have the luxury of having a team listening in on calls and taking notes so I can just review their notes afterward, but often that's not the case.

These days, I use Granola to get automatic notes from my conversations. What's particularly useful is that I can ask questions about the conversation afterward—like "What were the main pain points mentioned?" or "How did users describe their current workflow?" This is especially valuable when looking for bigger themes across multiple conversations.

What I want to do is revisit all of the interviews a couple of days later and see if the same themes still stand out to me. Often they do, but often I also find variations of that theme because of what someone else mentioned on a later call! It's the pieces of all of the interviews that will eventually solve the puzzle.

Making research actionable

The goal of research isn't to gather interesting insights—it's to inform better design decisions. Whether you're talking to users or stakeholders, you should walk away with:

• Clear understanding of the problem you're solving

• Constraints and opportunities you need to work within

• Success metrics that matter to both users and the business

• Confidence that you're building the right thing

Research is the foundation of great product design. It's how you move from guessing to knowing, from opinions to evidence, from building what you think people want to building what they actually need.

Key takeaways:

1. User research reveals what to build – Understanding real user needs prevents costly assumptions

2. Stakeholder research reveals what's possible – Business constraints and priorities shape what you can actually create

3. Ask open-ended questions – Use "Tell me about," "Explain," "Describe," "Walk me through" to get rich insights

4. Document and revisit everything – Patterns emerge across multiple conversations, not just individual sessions

5. Balance user needs with business reality – Great products serve both users and business goals

9 - Creating a UX strategy

One of the first things I like to do when joining larger projects is to research if there's any UX strategy in place. You might not be familiar with the term—be assured you aren't alone—which is why I thought a chapter like this was needed. The tl:dr of it all is that it's a document that should outline the goals and guidelines when it comes to UX. Think of it this way—it's nearly impossible for teams to be the best at everything, so we need a way to align our priorities and focus on delivering the best possible experience in the areas that matter the most to our users.

In a previous role, I was the UX lead for the team behind Apotek Hjärtat, Sweden's second largest pharmacy, which was followed by leading a team at IKEA. While these companies and their products may be completely different, they both benefit greatly from cohesive UX strategies.

What's a UX strategy?

In order to explain what a UX strategy is, I usually start by separating the two words. In order to make something, we need to make sure we understand what it is that we're making down to its parts. And for both UX and strategy there are a gazillion explanations so let's start by looking at the definitions as I understand them.

1. UX

When someone asks you what it's like to use a product or a service, they're asking about the user experience. Is it hard to do simple things? Is it easy to figure out? How does it FEEL to interact with the product?

User Experience is not about the inner working of a product or a service. User Experience is about how it works when a person comes in contact with it.

One thing that I often come across is a very distinct focus on features. It makes total sense right? Of course you have to focus on what the product should do. But there's usually two risks with this approach. The first one is that there's a risk of assuming that more features will equal a better product. It'll solve more problems with more features so that's for the best, right? If you think about the products you truly love, I'm sure you'll see that there's usually a pretty tight focus on a couple of things instead of there being a glut of features. So, I guess less is more in many cases.

Secondly, describing features runs the risk of focusing on what but not how. I realize that this is a bit harder to grasp so I try to offer real-world examples that my team are familiar with. Most of us are familiar with both iPhones and Android Phones. Most of us also have, for one reason or another, a strong preference. Why? If you look at their features, they are, more or less, identical. You can make calls, browse the web, send emails, listen to music—the list goes on and on. Most third-party apps are even available on both platforms! Even so, most of us would not consider switching if asked. Why? Because of how they work rather than what they do. So clearly, how something works can play a huge role in your product's success (just ask Tim Cook).

Earlier we talked about Product Design as the broader discipline that encompasses user experience, business strategy, and technical feasibility. Within that framework, I like to say that the user experience itself is primarily made out of three different things:

1. Visual design - How things look still matters, but it's evolved far beyond just making things pretty. Good visual design creates hierarchy, reduces cognitive load, and guides users through complex tasks. It's about making the interface feel intuitive, not just attractive.

2. Content design - Words aren't just copy anymore—they're part of the interface. Good content design anticipates user questions, reduces anxiety, and builds confidence. It's the difference between "Error 404" and "We can't find that page. Here's what you can try instead."

3. Interaction design - This goes way beyond hover states. It's about creating feedback loops that feel natural, designing for different input methods (touch, voice, gesture), and making sure every interaction reinforces what the product does and why it matters.

2. Strategy

A strategy is, briefly and overly simplified, three things.

1. Where are we now - It's of course critical to first understand your current reality. Understanding your current situation is vital to identifying what you need going forward. This includes an analysis of several areas:

• Customers – What are their current and future needs? What are their perceptions of our performance?

• Competitors – How do we stack up against our competitors? What are their recent and anticipated initiatives?

• Industry trends – What recent shifts have there been in our industry? What shifts are anticipated for the future?

• Performance trends – How are we performing by product, by market, by channel?

• Employees – What are their perceptions of our organization and how we can improve? How can we make them more effective in their roles?

• Organization profile – What are our strengths and areas for improvement with regard to our organization structure, processes, technology, culture, etc.?

2. Where do we want to be - Positioning statements can help outline future direction. However, the full business strategy must take a comprehensive approach to addressing goals (broad aims) and objectives (specific, measurable targets).

• Goals

• Objectives

• Positioning statements

• Vision statement

• Mission statement

3. How do we get there - Once the strategic direction is established, the next step is to develop the road map for getting there. Personally, I think it makes sense and is beneficial to be as specific and hands-on as possible in this step. What do we (practically) need to do in order to get there? Change roles within the team? Are we missing a required skill set? Are our ways of working standing in our way? I'm a sucker for improving the ways of working so I love helping organizations with this step :)

Ok so now we've outlined what we mean by UX and what we mean by strategy. Then let's see what else I like to include in a UX strategy. It's worth noting that depending on your team and your situation, your mileage may vary.

Defining your goals

As I've defined my take on what UX is and what makes a good user experience, it's time to define what goals we have—what should we aim for to call the results a success. Goals are principles, desired outcomes which I think are far better for a strategy than an action plan (features and to-do's).

Your goals will (naturally) be specific to your product and team, but some of the goals I've worked with in the past include:

• Design for everyone - we should design features and a product that serves and focuses on the majority of our users (>80%). Too often companies listen to every individual request and add feature after feature just to please individuals when in reality, every added feature adds to the complexity that can shortly become outrageous. This also ties into accessibility. Instead of just designing a solution, have an open and honest discussion on what your goals are when it comes to accessibility. When I've worked with state funded organizations and municipalities, accessibility isn't an option—it's a requirement. Clearly define what that requirement should include (and aim higher).

• Optimize for speed - most products, whether it's the checkout of an e-commerce platform, an email application, or a business-to-business fulfillment solution, it will be judged by the speed at which it operates. People like to think that this is an engineering issue and while that may be true to some extent, it highly affects the user experience which makes it one of your highest priorities.

• Different is good - try to visually clearly distinguish key actions and place them logically. When designing a checkout experience, it's obvious that the checkout button should be prominent. Well it turns out that all products have these primary actions that we want our users to do. Distinguishing them makes it easier for users to scan the page and quickly identify what to do next. Insecurity is the root of all bad user experiences.

• Always put the users first - It's not unlikely that your users will spend the majority of their time in other applications so when you're designing your experience, look for common design patterns that are used either globally or within your industry. The fact that Google Docs looks and works a lot like Word is not a coincidence nor is it necessarily the best design pattern but it is what users that start using Google Docs are already familiar with. Familiarity creates security and confidence.

It's counterproductive and wasteful to recreate basic components and patterns for every new government website. We should encourage building from a common collection of practical solutions that reflect modern best practices. Enable teams to focus on their users and their mission, and less on reinventing existing solutions. Do less to do more.
United States Web Design System Design Principles

Changing the way we work

Some would say that investing months iterating an interface/user experience might be too expensive, but it is probably the most cost-effective way to build a great product. The real failure would be having developers build something that's not the best solution to your problem. Turns out, an estimated 50% of engineering time is spent on reworking that could have been avoided. What's even more terrifying is that fixing an error after development is up to 100x times as expensive as it would have been before. The old adage 'work smarter, not hard' really does ring true, doesn't it?

Establishing, and paying special attention to, that UX strategy from the beginning of any project, large or small, will be your saving grace. It will give you that baseline of goals and guidelines so that you and your team don't experience any confusion (brand, expectations, objectives, etc.) while going on to do the best work possible at every moment. Getting that great final user experience begins with a great UX strategy!  

PART 3: THE CRAFT

•  Product design combines strategy, psychology, and craft.

• This section dives into the practical skills and frameworks that separate good designers from great ones.

10 - The product design process

Product design isn't just about making things pretty. It's about making them work well for real people. It's about identifying problems, ideating solutions, and packaging it all into something that's not just helpful, but joyful. I'll walk you through the core of product design, where AI fits in, and how we make design decisions that actually improve lives.

What does product design mean to you? If someone tells you they work with product design, what do you think they do? When we talk about product design, many think about physical objects. But in an increasingly digital world, you'll see that physical and digital products share the same creation process. We'll look more closely at the work we do as product designers and how much it shares with other principles of design.

"When you see an object, you may so many assumptions about an object. What it does, how well it's going to do it, how much you think it should cost."

"Ultimately my job as a designer is to look into the future, my job is to see what is going to happen, not what has happened."

This is true for both physical and digital products, but in a digital world that moves so quickly, it's even more important to understand this in a digital context.

We've talked about what product design means—now let's dive into how it actually works in practice.

Product design process

The product design process isn't linear—it's more like a conversation between four key areas that inform each other:

User research helps us understand real needs and behaviors, not what we assume people want. We dig into pain points and figure out why they matter.

Functionality and usability is about making products that actually work for people. This means scoping what's possible, but more importantly, prioritizing what matters most.

Visual design isn't decoration—it's communication. Good design makes products easier to use while reflecting what the brand stands for.

Prototyping and iteration lets us test our assumptions quickly and cheaply. The goal is to learn fast and fail small.

Let's dive into each of these. I'll also share how I'm using AI to move faster and get better work done in each step.

User research

Great products start with understanding real users, not guessing their needs. Research helps businesses avoid costly assumptions, validate ideas, and build products people actually want. Understanding pain points is not just about understanding what the pain point is, but why and what impact it has on their daily life. How would their lives change if this wasn't the case any more?

• Interviews reveal deep user insights through direct conversations.

• Surveys gather broad feedback to spot trends.

• Usability testing uncovers pain points by observing real user interactions.

"Great products start with understanding real users, not guessing what they need."

How I use AI for User Research

AI won't take your job, but someone using AI probably will. That said, there's a real danger in leaning too heavily on AI for user research. Sure, it's faster and more efficient, but the best insights come from catching those brief moments of... humanity.

Here's how I use AI without losing the human element:

• Granola transcribes and structures my research session notes, so I can focus on the conversation instead of frantically typing.

• Zoom handles recording and lets me clip important moments to share with the team later.

• Notion AI searches our entire research database, making it easy to spot patterns across dozens of user conversations.

What you will get wrong is that you will not pay enough attention to your users. You will make up some idea in your own head that you will call your 'vision', and you will spend a lot of time thinking about your vision. In a cafe. By yourself. And build some elaborate thing without going and talking to users, because that's doing sales, which is a pain in the ass, and they might say no. You will not ship fast enough because you're embarrassed to ship something unfinished, and you don't want to face the likely feedback that you will get from shipping. You will shrink from contact with the real world, contact with your users. That's the mistake you will make.

Paul Graham

Key takeaways

1. The biggest mistake? Ignoring users. Many teams get caught up in their own ideas instead of talking to real people.

2. The illusion of "vision." It's easy to fall in love with an idea in isolation, but without user input, it's just a guess.

3. Fear of feedback leads to slow progress. Teams delay shipping because they don't want to hear negative feedback—but that feedback is essential.

4. Reality check: Users shape success. The only way to build something people want is to engage with them early and often.

Functionality and usability

A product must first work—but great design makes it usable and even pleasurable.

Usability isn't just about accommodating disabilities (though that's crucial). It's about designing for real-life chaos: tired users, distracted users, people trying to book a doctor's appointment while bouncing a crying baby. At Summer Health, our typical user might only have one hand free because they're holding their child.

More options don't always mean better experiences

I was once hired to rethink the user experience of an e-commerce website that lets users customize shirts. The possibilities were absolutely endless. A user could choose different buttons, collars, pockets, cuts, and the list went on and on. They could even upload their own measurements to ensure a perfect fit.

These endless possibilities got overwhelming for first-time users. They might just want to get a shirt where they could simply select a custom color. I suggested to the client that we group options together to make the choices easier to grasp. Especially in this case, this grouping technique could help users easily engage with the product.

Just think of Google. The possibilities are endless for what you can search for and then filter those results to see exactly what you want using their tools. However, the success of Google lies with its simplicity—most users feel comfortable with a single text field where they can enter their search term.

This e-commerce client didn't buy into my reasoning and thought that they would lose clients by grouping the options for ease of use. They believed that their user base desired to have all the options, all the time. We ended up parting ways because I couldn't suggest a solution that would meet all of their demands.

Especially in this instance, it was a reminder to myself that I need to stick to what I know is right and not bend to the will of the client. I always keep this phrase in mind as I go about working with clients and you should too: if you want to please everyone, you end up pleasing nobody—not even yourself.

Maslow's hierarchy of UX needs

1. Functional – The product must work. A banking app needs to let you log in and pay bills.

2. Reliable – Users need to feel safe, especially with sensitive stuff like money or health.

3. Usable – Navigation should be intuitive and predictable. This is where most products stop.

4. Pleasurable – The experience should be enjoyable. Robinhood disrupted finance by making investing feel effortless instead of intimidating.

How I use AI here

ChatGPT serves as both a research tool and sparring partner when I'm working through interaction problems.

Custom copywriting agents help me write interface copy that matches our brand voice, saving hours of back-and-forth with the content team.

Key takeaways

• Design influences decisions – Whether we realize it or not, design impacts every choice we make.

• You don't need to be a designer to recognize bad design – Everyone has experienced frustrating design, whether it's a bad chair, a confusing interface, or a terrible airline website.

• Usability matters because bad design creates frustration – A product can be functional, but if it's difficult or unpleasant to use, people will avoid it.

• Great UX isn't just nice to have—it's expected – Users don't tolerate bad design, and businesses that ignore usability will lose to those who prioritize it.

Visual design

Good design isn't just about making things look nice—it's about making them work better. A well-designed interface guides users, reduces confusion, and makes interactions feel effortless.

Good design isn't decoration—it's clarity.

Key principles of visual design

1. Hierarchy – Directing Attention - Good design helps users focus on what matters. Think of a landing page—what's the first thing you notice? A headline? A call-to-action button? That's because designers use size, color, and spacing to create visual hierarchy. Without it, everything competes for attention, and the user doesn't know where to go next.

2. Consistency – Making Things Feel Familiar - Our brains love patterns. When buttons, menus, and layouts follow consistent rules, users don't have to think—they just know what to do. Imagine if every app had a different way to close a window. You'd go crazy! Consistency builds trust and makes interfaces feel intuitive.

3. Typography & Color – More Than Just Style - Typography and color aren't just about aesthetics; they directly impact usability. Ever tried reading light gray text on a white background? It's painful. High contrast improves readability, and font choices can change how a product feels. A financial app might use a bold, trustworthy font, while a meditation app might go for something soft and friendly.

4. Simplicity – Less is More - One of the biggest mistakes in design is trying to add more instead of simplifying. Every element on the screen should serve a purpose. Apple is a great example—think of their product pages. No distractions, no clutter, just clear messaging and intuitive navigation. Simple doesn't mean boring; it means clear.

Good design isn't about decoration—it's about clarity. When a product is visually well-designed, users don't have to struggle to use it, they just get it.

How I use AI for Visual Design

• Visual Electric - I use Visual Electric to prompt for images that are impossible to find among stock libraries, like crying babies or a child with a rash (not to mention families that aren't white middle class…)

• Stark - I use Stark to check design for color contrast and accessibility.

Key takeaways

As we've seen, visual design is not just about aesthetics—it's about function, clarity, and guiding the user experience. But that doesn't mean beauty doesn't matter. In fact, great design balances usability and aesthetics. Not balance because it's suggesting there's trade-off, but a great play between the two.

That's why I love this quote:

"Don't make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don't hesitate to make it beautiful."

Joshua Porter

Great design is not just about what a product does, but how it makes people feel. If we can create something functional, reliable, and easy to use—why not make it beautiful too?

Prototyping and iteration

One of the biggest differences between physical and digital products is how they evolve over time. Physical products are locked in once they're manufactured—if there's a flaw, fixing it means going back through the supply chain, redesigning parts, and waiting months before customers see an improvement.

This agility allows for continuous refinement—testing, learning, and improving over time. Instead of aiming for perfection before launch, great digital products embrace iteration, ensuring they stay relevant and meet user expectations.

Digital products? Completely different story.

1. Digital Products Are Built to Evolve - In the digital world, we can iterate fast. If a feature isn't working, we tweak it. If users are struggling, we refine the design. This ability to make quick updates means that digital products aren't just launched—they're constantly evolving.

2. Speed Matters – Learn & Adapt Quickly - Companies that embrace fast iteration have a huge advantage. They don't wait for the 'perfect' product; they test, release, gather feedback, and improve. Think about apps like Instagram or Spotify—do you remember their first versions? Probably not, because they've evolved so much through continuous updates and user feedback.

3. Iteration vs. Perfection - Too many teams get stuck trying to make something perfect before launch. But perfection is a moving target—what works today might not work tomorrow. Instead, the best digital products focus on learning, adapting, and improving over time.

The real power of digital products isn't just that they can change—it's that they must change to stay relevant. The best products are never truly finished.

How I use AI for Prototyping and Iteration

• Lovable, Replit and V0 - I use tools like lovable, Replit and V0 to build actual prototypes quickly which are much more useful than static screens or Figma prototypes when getting feedback.

• Cursor - I use Cursor as my primary IDE for writing code and content.

I also make a point to regularly speak with customers. This is something a lot of people shy away from, because it's uncomfortable. This is something I remember learning from Ryan Delk years ago. He'd meet people who said they used his product, and he'd say, 'That's amazing,' but then immediately follow with: 'What could we do better?' It's such a simple question, but a scary one. Most people would rather ask what someone loves about their product because it feels good, and it's less painful."

Nathan Barry

Key takeaways

As we've discussed, digital products have the unique advantage of being able to evolve. But to improve, we need one critical thing—real feedback.

Yet, many teams shy away from it. They'd rather hear what people love about their product than face the hard truth of what's not working. But the best products don't come from avoiding discomfort—they come from embracing it.

The best teams don't just listen to feedback—they seek it out. They don't wait for problems to show up—they go looking for them. Because every great product is built, not in isolation, but in constant conversation with its users.

Tying It All Together

So, what makes a great digital product? It's not just about having a good idea, or even strong execution. It's about constantly learning, improving, and evolving. Let's go over the key takeaways one last time.

1. Understand Your Users – Research, Don't Assume - We started with user research because it's the foundation of everything. The biggest mistake teams make is assuming they already know what users need. But the best products don't come from guessing—they come from listening.

2. Design for Usability – Functionality First, But Make It Intuitive - A product isn't great if people struggle to use it. Functionality is the starting point, but usability is what makes it successful. No one wants to fight with an interface just to complete a simple task.

3. Make It Visually Clear – Design Guides Users, Not Just Decorates - Visual design isn't just about aesthetics—it's about communication. A well-designed product removes confusion, builds trust, and makes interactions feel effortless. It's not about making things 'pretty'—it's about making them clear.

4. Iterate & Improve – The Best Products Evolve With Feedback - The best digital products aren't built in one go. They launch, they gather feedback, and they improve over time. The biggest difference between a mediocre product and a great one is the willingness to keep refining.

At the end of the day, great products aren't built in isolation. They don't come from just one person's vision—they're shaped by real users, continuous learning, and thoughtful design. And the teams that embrace this mindset? They're the ones that build products people love.

11 - Design principles

Here's something that will save you months of arguing with your team: write down your design principles before you start building anything.

I know, I know. It sounds like corporate busywork. But good principles aren't mission statement fluff—they're decision-making tools that prevent the endless "should we add this feature?" debates that kill momentum.

Product principles are like the fundamental values that guide every decision your product team makes. They're your compass when the path gets murky, which it always does.

"Something I learned from my time at Glitch was that before you get too deep into the process of building, you should write out a short list of product design principles. The more unique and definitive your values are, the more useful they'll be as a decision making tool later on."

Kinopio's design principles

Why principles matter more than you think

I was coaching a product designer who'd built a technically solid prototype, but I couldn't figure out what story he was trying to tell with it. After some back and forth, I suggested he step back and establish some fundamental principles first.

The beauty of principles is that they're typically not customer-facing, giving you freedom to decide how abstract or concrete they should be. Good principles exist to make you feel the pain before your users do. They act as guides and constraints that encourage creative thinking when dealing with complexity.

In tech, even the simplest features become complex over time. Having principles lets you step back and approach that complexity with clarity.

The most effective principles are guiding, not prescriptive—they're guardrails, not rigid fences.

Principles in action: "Delightful convenience"

When I worked with Ueno on the Zabka app, our north star was "delightful convenience in every way, every day." Instead of rigid rules, we had principles that everyone could rally behind:

• Delightfully simple - We enable customers to complete their missions quickly and effectively, without distraction or need for help.

• Smart and natural - The experience should be fast, smart, and above all, natural. Interactions don't feel machine-generated, even when they are.

• Easy reliability - Because there's no convenience without trust, we remove stress and uncertainty from digital purchases.

These might seem obvious, but because we had buy-in from all teams, they eliminated debates about marketing banners, tooltips, and dark patterns. When your principle is "delightfully simple," it extends to making it simple to cancel orders, file complaints, or delete accounts. Principles apply to everything, not just the revenue-generating parts.

Principles in action: "Default helpful"

At Summer Health, we developed six principles early in the process (there's no magic number, but I keep it between 4-7). Here are the ones that shaped our biggest decisions:

• Simple but warm - We enable customers to handle their missions quickly with intuitive features and friendly communication. We avoid complicated words and speak gently.

• Default helpful - We strive to be helpful whether parents ask for it or not. By anticipating scenarios, we stay top-of-mind when they need us.

• Deeply personal - Parents trust us with their children's care. We honor this with deeply personal experiences that actively listen and exceed expectations.

How to create your own principles

Start with your biggest challenges. What decisions does your team argue about most? Where do you waste time going in circles?

Make them specific enough to be useful. "Be user-friendly" isn't a principle—it's a platitude. "Default to fewer clicks over more features" is actionable.

Test them against real decisions. Can you use these principles to resolve actual debates your team has had? If not, refine them.

Get buy-in early. Principles only work if everyone believes in them. Involve your team in creating them.

Remember: principles aren't metrics. You never "achieve" a principle—it's a constant guide throughout your product's journey. Whether you're working on a product, your portfolio, or building your brand, take time to define the kind of experience you want to create.

Principles are your North Star. They keep your work on the right path when everything else is chaos.

12 - Creating meaningful design systems

Design systems were supposed to solve all our problems. They'd make us efficient, consistent, and scalable. Teams everywhere built elaborate component libraries, convinced they'd found the holy grail of product development.

Then reality hit.

I've worked on design systems that transformed how teams worked—and others that became expensive digital paperweights. The difference isn't in the components themselves. It's in understanding what makes a design system actually meaningful.

The promise vs. the reality

A few years ago, design systems promised three things:

• Efficiency: Designers would move faster because they wouldn't redesign the same components repeatedly

• Consistency: Using the same components would automatically create consistency

• Scale: We'd easily scale design decisions across teams and products

Here's what we rarely talked about: none of this has inherent value.

As Amy Hupe puts it perfectly:

"Efficiency is only valuable if it helps us move faster towards meaningful outcomes. Consistency is only valuable if we standardize things to a good level of quality. And scaling things is only valuable if they're actually worth reproducing."

If built incorrectly, design systems can also:

• Speed up problematic work

• Make things consistently poor quality

• Scale patterns we don't want to reproduce

Ouch.

It's a parallel process, not a waterfall

I've seen teams try to design the entire system upfront, arguing they know 90% of needed components. This never works. Designing components in isolation is a recipe for disaster—design isn't just individual pieces, it's how pieces work together.

The opposite is just as bad: designing the full product, then creating the system afterward. You'll know what components you need, but you'll have to rebuild everything. Nobody has time for that.

A design system needs to be built in parallel with the product. As soon as you have something ready, start building the system. Remember, if done right, this is a living thing made of components that change over time. That's actually one of the benefits—when you update a button's border radius in the system, it updates everywhere.

Embrace the constraints

Almost a decade ago, my friend Pål and I taught a course where we argued against the tired notion that creatives should "think outside the box." True creativity comes from embracing the box and making the most of it. That's real creativity—producing spectacular work with what you've got.

When building a design system, define constraints and requirements early:

• Will you use atomic design (atoms, molecules, organisms)?

• How will you handle design tokens (colors, typography)?

• Will desktop and mobile share components or stay separate?

• How will you approach variations like sizes and states?

• What about light and dark modes?

This gets overwhelming quickly, which is exactly why defining requirements makes the build more efficient, the system more consistent, and scaling more manageable.

Order enables creativity

Just like a painter needs organized colors and a chef needs mise-en-place, designers need organized systems to create great digital experiences. Great work in any profession—law, surgery, flying planes—comes from order and structure. Design is no different.

As philosopher Lewis Mumford said: "Order and creativity are complementary."

Making your design system meaningful

Start with real problems. Don't build a design system because it's trendy. Build it to solve specific challenges your team faces.

Build with the product, not before it. Let real design problems inform your components.

Define your constraints upfront. The more specific your rules, the more creative your team can be within them.

Make it a living system. The best design systems evolve with the products they serve.

Focus on adoption, not perfection. A simple system everyone uses beats a perfect system gathering dust.

Remember: a design system is just a tool. Like any tool, it's only as good as how you use it. Make it work for your team, not the other way around.

But here's something I've learned: having great design skills and frameworks isn't enough. The best designers aren't just craftspeople—they're communicators. They know how to sell their ideas, influence stakeholders, and build support for user-centered design. That's what we'll explore next.

PART 4: COMMUNICATION & INFLUENCE

•  The ability to communicate design decisions and influence stakeholders is often what separates good designers from great ones.

• This section covers the essential communication skills every designer needs.

13. Why designers need to write

A few years back, there was a huge debate about whether designers should learn to code. The argument went that unless you understand how to build what you design, you can't know if it's feasible. I disagree—part of our job is pushing boundaries by envisioning things that aren't immediately doable.

But there is one language designers absolutely need to master: their native tongue. In order to present our designs to the world, we need words to describe our perfectly crafted interfaces and explain our design decisions.

"A core skill of the interaction designer is imagining users (characters), motivations, actions, reactions, obstacles, successes, and a complete set of 'what if' scenarios. These are the skills of a writer—all kinds of writers, but particularly fiction, screenwriting, and technical writing."

Susan Stuart

After I started writing regularly, nothing has affected my design quite as much. Not just the designing itself, but how I relate to the entire process—the scenarios, all the stages of iteration, and the final outcome.

Why words matter

Some argue that if you have to explain a design, it's not intuitive enough. There's even a saying that UX is like a joke—if you need to explain it, it's not that good. But as John Maeda concludes, "Words are really important because the graphics don't make sense sometimes."

I believe design is essentially about solving problems. I like to start my design process with an old-school piece of paper and a pencil. I'm terrible at drawing, but this forces me to focus on the pure basics. I write down words I want to associate with each function. What problem is this part solving? What characteristics does this feature have? Why is it needed?

Writing about user experience design forces me to focus on the problem—and the solution—just like designing on paper does. I'll never be able to prove the reasoning behind a solution if it's hidden behind fancy graphics. If I can't explain the process with words and a basic drawing, it's not simple enough.

"In most interface writing, it's important to shut up and get out of the way. Most of the time, you don't want to force users to read. They're trying to get something done, and the last thing they want is to stop and read your interface. But sometimes, you do want people to notice your words. That's when you want to speak up and be heard, loud and clear. Maybe the user did something awesome, and you want to shout it from the mountaintops. Well, it just so happens that writers are pretty good with tone. Writers know when to dial it up and when to dial it down."

John Saito

As a team of one, hiring a writer isn't really an option for me. I need to be able to tell these stories myself. It forces me to understand my entire product and, ultimately, makes me a better designer.

14. Using writing to think through problems

I want to be careful about giving process advice. In today's "instant effect" society, it's easy to see recommendations as the way to achieve success. Instead, consider my thoughts as options to explore, not rules to follow.

My approach to writing first

When I first examined my writing process, I realized it was more organic than systematic. But I found there are guidelines. What I write first depends on two things:

1. The type of project I'm facing. If it's a design system versus a new app, my initial writing goes in completely different directions. Not every design task needs to begin with writing—if I'm deeply familiar with a project like Summer Health (where I worked as a consultant before joining full-time), I often jump straight into Figma because the principles and goals are already clear.
2. How I feel. This might surprise you, but my best initial writing happens when I don't overthink what to write. I just begin writing and see where the words lead me. Starting with an open mind doesn't limit my design decisions later the way a rigid approach might. You allow yourself to look beyond the proposed solution and consider the complex problem underneath.

How vs. what

At Hyper Island in the early 2000s, much of my education focused on the balance between how and what. As a 20-year-old studying digital media, I wanted to learn tools like Flash and create overly animated websites, not spend time on giving and receiving feedback. But that focus on process versus outcome was more important than I could understand at the time.

This concept evolved into how I approach early writing. Sometimes I focus on the practical side—how I think things should work (the what). Other times, I focus on the emotional side—how I think they should make people feel (the how).

Two examples in practice

For eobuwie (a shoe retailer), it was about practical considerations. Knowing they had a massive inventory and understanding the pain of browsing endless product selections, my first writing was:

Navigation goals:

• Easy to find a specific item, fun to explore all 50,000

• Go from 50,000 products to a curated, personalized list of 20

• Know where you are (and how to get back and forward)

• Help user and encourage (and reward) engagement

This writing isn't complex, yet it's incredibly guiding. It offers directional cues for any designer while addressing both mechanics (the what) and interaction emotions (the how).

For Summer Health, I had a clear idea of what the product needed to do—text messaging with pediatricians is straightforward. Instead, I focused on principles that would guide the emotional experience. Since we initially focused on urgent care, I considered user anxiety when interacting with our service:

• Simple interactions, simple language, simple patterns. Swipes, pinches, and parallax scrolls can be fun, but this isn't the time or place.

• Human interaction. Even though AI can give surprisingly accurate responses to medical questions, people prefer interacting with humans. The design needs to highlight that there are actual doctors offering real care, support, and compassion.

Understanding what you know—and don't know

Simply put, design's purpose is to solve problems. Writing helps me understand what I currently know about the problem and, just as importantly, what I don't know.

As Michelle Claessens puts it:

"To write, most people will jot everything down, then finesse the points into a coherent narrative. This is a lot like how I design, where I start by outlining the content and components. If you can't finesse your brain dump into a coherent narrative, people won't understand what you're trying to say—and they won't be able to use your product."

Why practice matters

Becoming more proficient at writing takes practice. Sure, you can take classes and read books, but just like playing piano or running, it will only get you so far. How do you improve your running? Run more often. How do you get better at piano? Practice more. How do you get better at writing? Write more.

"Design is about getting things out there—not perfecting them—and seeing how they do. Writing is similar. Get it out there and see how it does. Learn from that, then improve."

Michelle Claessens

Finding your voice

Write more and you'll find and focus your voice. I'm inspired by other designers who write, but the key has been finding the way I write. When I first started, I wanted to mimic Paul Jarvis—his writing was funny and borderline provocative. But that's not how I talk to people. It's not natural for me.

If you want to start writing, just start. Be you. Find that voice that feels authentic to how you actually communicate.

Writing reveals what you don't know

Here's what I've discovered: writing forces you to understand your users at a deeper level. When you try to articulate why someone might feel frustrated at a particular step, or how they might react to specific language, you're compelled to think beyond interface mechanics.

Writing user stories, crafting interface copy, or explaining design decisions all require you to step into someone else's shoes. You can't write compelling microcopy for an error message without understanding the user's emotional state when they encounter it. You can't write a convincing design rationale without grasping the real human problem you're solving.

Where to start

If you want to try writing as part of your design process, here are some practical prompts:

For any project:

• Write the problem each feature solves in one sentence

• List what you know vs. what you assume about users

• Describe how you want people to feel at key moments

For navigation/flows:

• Write goals like "easy to find X, fun to explore Y"

• Describe where users are and how they got there

For new products:

• Draft 3-5 principles that should guide decisions

• Write user scenarios: "Sarah opens the app because..."

Start small, think human:

• Interface copy - Write the actual words users will read

• User scenarios - Describe a day in your user's life

• Design rationales - Explain your decisions in plain language

• Problem statements - Articulate what you're really trying to solve

The connection between writing and empathy

The more you write about design, the more you develop empathy for the people using your products. You start asking different questions: How does this feel to someone who's never used our app before? What's going through someone's mind when they see this error message? How can I reduce anxiety in this workflow?

Writing isn't just about documenting your design process—it's about deepening your understanding of the humans your design serves. (In the next chapter, I'll show you how this same approach works for selling design concepts.)

Start with whatever feels most relevant to your current project. The format doesn't matter—just get the words flowing and see where they take you. You might be surprised where you end up.

Because ultimately, writing isn't just about selling your ideas to stakeholders—it's about understanding the humans you're designing for. The clearer you can articulate user needs, pain points, and emotions, the better you can solve for them.

And that's what great design is really about: remembering that behind every screen, every click, every interaction, there's a real person trying to get something done. The better you understand that person through writing, the better you can design for them.

15. How to sell design

As designers, we may shy away from the idea of "selling," but it's necessary. The best way to sell design? Storytelling.

Think about Apple keynotes, where fantastic design is presented through captivating stories. But concept designs can be particularly challenging to sell because they're often vague and open-ended. Here's how I've learned to use writing and storytelling to bridge that gap.

Start by understanding what you don't know

When working with concept designs, I find it valuable to differentiate between what I know and what I don't know. My first step is writing out what I actually understand about the problem.

This might be a bulleted list, a user story, or something close to a blog post—the format doesn't matter as long as it clearly lays out my knowledge. Once I've detailed the obvious facts, I start listing what I assume. These are close to facts, but technically things I don't know for certain.

For example, when working with eobuwie (a shoe retailer), I knew they had more than 10,000 pairs of shoes available. That's a lot. From my own shopping habits, I could assume it would be tricky for users to find exactly what they want—I couldn't even be sure they had what I was looking for. Now I'd identified one thing I knew and one thing I didn't.

I continue this flow as long as possible without editing, without solutionizing, and without getting stuck. Just keep the words flowing.

As Paul Graham puts it:

"A good writer doesn't just think, and then write down what he thought, as a sort of transcript. A good writer will almost always discover new things in the process of writing."

Once I'm satisfied with my list, I look for common topics and patterns. This is how you start defining a good story.

Why storytelling works

Storytelling is something we're exposed to daily through books, movies, and shows. But there's a difference between good storytelling and great storytelling. Great stories share four characteristics:

1. Universal appeal. They're relatable across cultures and backgrounds. As Pixar director Pete Docter says: "What you're trying to do when you tell a story is to get the audience to have that same feeling" you had when experiencing something meaningful.
2. Clear structure and purpose. Most stories follow a familiar pattern. For design presentations, I use a few different structures depending on the project:
   The familiar pattern: "We're all familiar with [blank]. Every day, we use [blank] to [blank]. But what if we could [blank] to [blank]?"
   Before/After: "Right now, users have to [current frustrating process]. Here's what it could look like instead: [improved experience]."
   Question/Answer: "What if users could [desired outcome] without [current barrier]? Here's how we make that possible: [your solution]."
   Each structure helps define purpose—why must you tell this story? Pick the one that best fits your design challenge.
3. Surprise and delight. Predictable stories are boring. Give just enough information to intrigue your audience, but inspire them to think about it days or weeks afterward.
4. Simple and focused. It's easy to add too many variables, thinking the story needs more flavor. Like great design, the key is removing as much as possible while keeping the core intact.

Concept designs vs. final designs

When I present different types of designs, each serves a specific purpose in the design process:

• Page briefs help focus on the right sections, actions, and goals

• Wireframes establish hierarchy and visual relationships between sections

• Visual designs show how wireframes come to life with appropriate balance and engagement

• Concept designs are an MVP blend of the above—perhaps visual design of a single page to showcase style direction, or wireframes to demonstrate navigation within a framework

While the goal of page briefs, wireframes, or visual designs is often sign-off, concept designs serve a different purpose. They invite collaboration by welcoming stakeholders into your process. The only thing better than a dream is a shared dream.

Reading your audience

Here's something I've learned: the format you choose isn't just about design stage—it's about stakeholder psychology. A wireframe sends a different message than a polished concept, and not every stakeholder can handle low-fidelity work.

Pay attention to the signals. If someone keeps asking for small changes to a high-fidelity design, they might need to see wireframes to think bigger. If they say "show me something quick," they might actually want something that looks more finished than you think.

Different formats are tools of influence. Use them strategically based on the conversation you want to have, not just the stage of work you're in.

Great stories are like great design

If you look closely, great stories and great design follow similar principles:

• Universal: Most UX patterns work worldwide

• Clear structure and purpose: Good design has obvious hierarchy and intent

• Delightful: Great design offers pleasant surprises

• Simple and focused: The best designs do one thing exceptionally well

Making it work

As designers, selling design through storytelling allows us to sell the dream while keeping it grounded in reality. With concept designs especially, storytelling helps communicate what we know versus what we're still exploring.

The key is finding that balance—showing enough to inspire confidence but not so much that you paint yourself into a corner. When done well, storytelling transforms design presentations from approval-seeking exercises into collaborative explorations of what's possible.

Writing about your design process isn't just documentation—it's discovery. There's something magical that happens when you shift from visual to verbal communication. It inspires new thoughts and takes you down paths you wouldn't have explored otherwise.

16. Why designers need to speak business

Here's a situation that happens constantly: you present a well-researched design solution, backed by user data and best practices. The response? "I like the other option better—it looks more modern."

Sound familiar? This is what happens when designers and business stakeholders speak different languages. Learning to bridge that gap is one of the most valuable skills you can develop.

The translation problem

We live in a world that values shiny things over useful things, and designers often contribute to this mindset. While it's not as bad as it used to be, we're still an industry focused more on how things look than how they work—or if they work at all.

As Erika Hall puts it: "Business and design are separate planets, and this needs to change. We have a translation problem."

Design is still a young industry, limited to certain areas. Business and finance? They're literally everywhere. If we want change, we need to understand their way of thinking rather than demanding they understand ours.

We'll go on about white space, design systems, and user flows, but here's the thing: they don't care. And why should they? We're speaking different languages.

Speaking business 101

You can't take a crash course in business language, but you can start with these practical steps:

Use their terminology. Our industry loves coining terms. Instead of "design inconsistencies," try "design debt"—people in revenue-driven companies hate debt. Instead of "poor content," try "content overhead"—nobody in operations wants to be responsible for increased overhead.

Understand their real goals. The end goal is usually selling products, but stakeholders often focus on measurable subsets: recurring revenue, newsletter signups, brand awareness. Whatever their goal is, it's your job to understand it fully and adapt your design approach accordingly.

Frame design decisions in their terms. Instead of asking what users prefer about search bar placement, discuss the business impact of moving it. While user preference and financial impact aren't always directly related, it's about framing the conversation from their perspective.

Strategy, not battle

Getting your message across isn't about fighting option A against option B—it's about having a strategy that addresses business concerns while advocating for users.

The key is understanding what drives your manager and stakeholders. If they love financial results or specific KPIs, use that knowledge to navigate your organization successfully. Without them on your side, you'll work on things that may never see the light of day.

The bridge, not the divide

Understanding business language and priorities doesn't mean compromising your design values—it means finding better ways to advocate for users while speaking in terms decision-makers understand.

As one designer put it: "Being the outsider is cool for short bursts, but deeper changes come from connecting to the heart of an organization."

This bridges the gap between design thinking and business strategy, setting you up to have more influence and create better outcomes for everyone. Learn to speak their language, and you'll find they're much more willing to listen to yours.

PART 5: DESIGNING FOR HUMANS 

• At the end of the day, we're designing for people.

• This section explores the human side of design—emotions, relationships, and the small details that make experiences memorable.

17 - Building emotional relationships with users

Here's something I've learned about relationships: they're built on value exchange. Not just romantic relationships or friendships, but every interaction between people—including the relationship between users and the products they choose to use.

Understanding this exchange is crucial for designers because it explains why people stick with products that frustrate them, abandon products that work perfectly, and develop emotional attachments to apps they use every day.

What makes relationships work

All healthy relationships depend on balanced value exchange. Think about it:

My dog brings me happiness, daily exercise, and a sense of purpose. In return, she gets food, shelter, and love. It's a clear exchange that works for both of us.

My clients get quality work delivered on time without bureaucracy or endless revisions. In return, I get long-term engagements, clients who adapt to my working style, and the luxury of not constantly hunting for new projects.

Netflix brings me entertainment and relaxation after long work days. The experience is so seamless that I rarely think about what could be better—the value clearly outweighs any frustrations. In return, they get my viewing data and monthly subscription fee.

Each relationship is different, but without balanced value exchange, someone ends up feeling shortchanged.

The product-user relationship

This same principle applies to every product relationship. Users don't just evaluate features—they evaluate the total value exchange. What am I getting versus what am I giving up?

What users give:

• Time learning how to use your product

• Attention and mental energy

• Personal data and privacy

• Money (sometimes)

• Trust and emotional investment

What users expect in return:

• Solutions to real problems

• Experiences that feel effortless

• Respect for their time and intelligence

• Consistent, reliable performance

• A sense of progress or accomplishment

When this exchange feels unbalanced, users leave. When it feels fair, they stay. When it feels generous—when you give more value than expected—they become advocates.

How we remember experiences

Here's a quick experiment: think of a recent conversation that really meant something to you. Close your eyes and try to remember everything that was said.

You probably can't recall the exact words. That's normal. We tend to remember the emotion associated with conversations more than the conversation itself.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou

This extends beyond human relationships to every device, app, and service we interact with. We know certain interface tricks influence behavior—"Add to Cart" converts better than "Buy"—but do we really understand the emotional relationship users have with our products?

Two approaches to design

The design field constantly debates what's "right," but I've noticed two distinct approaches that shape how we think about users:

Conversion-driven design focuses on completing tasks as quickly and efficiently as possible. Success is measured in completed checkouts, user signups, and form submissions. Users feel successful when they accomplish their goals without errors or delays.

Emotion-driven design focuses on creating experiences that are not just functional but enjoyable. It's harder to measure than conversion rates, but users return for each iteration and feel excited to engage with the product.

The best products don't choose between these approaches—they combine them. Spotify provides an easily searchable music library that quickly delivers what users want (conversion), but I can't remember the first song I played. What I remember is feeling empowered—having almost every song available with just a few keystrokes.

The emotional layer

Emotional design has been around for decades, but it's becoming increasingly important as our interactions become more digital. As Aarron Walter writes in "Designing for Emotion," emotional experiences "make a profound imprint on our long-term memory and create an experience for users that makes them feel like there's a person, not a machine, at the other end of the connection."

This doesn't mean your app needs to crack jokes or offer therapy. It means considering how your design affects users emotionally. What does it feel like to use your product when you're stressed? Confused? In a hurry?

The Apple paradox

Apple is often praised for design excellence, but their aesthetic is actually quite sterile and neutral. So how did they become so successful? The answer is you. Apple provides a canvas for personal expression—your photos, contacts, apps, and memories. You prefer your current iPhone to a newer one partly because it's "personalized to you."

Apple understood something profound: sometimes the best emotional design is creating space for users to insert their own emotions.

Understanding your value proposition

As a designer, part of your job is helping companies understand and align their product's value with user expectations. This isn't just about features—it's about the entire experience.

Users don't want to be overwhelmed by getting more than they expected (feature bloat), but they also don't want to feel shortchanged. The sweet spot is giving them exactly what they need, when they need it, in a way that feels effortless.

Ask yourself:

• What value does your product actually deliver to users?

• What are you asking users to give up in return?

• Is this exchange balanced and fair?

• Where might users feel like they're getting a bad deal?

Designing for human moments

Great emotional design recognizes that people don't use products in perfect conditions. They use them when they're:

• Stressed and need something to work immediately

• Distracted and can't focus on complex instructions

• Tired and have limited patience for friction

• Emotional and need reassurance, not obstacles

Consider Summer Health, where parents use the app when their child is sick. Confetti animations for app engagement streaks aren't helpful when you're sleep-deprived and worried. What helps is clear language, simple navigation, and the confidence that you can quickly connect with a pediatrician.

The long-term relationship

The best products don't just solve immediate problems—they build lasting relationships by consistently delivering value over time. They evolve with users' needs, surprise them with thoughtful improvements, and respect the trust that's been built.

This is why companies obsess over retention metrics, Net Promoter Scores, and customer lifetime value. They're measuring the health of the relationship, not just the functionality of the product.

The lasting impact

Users might not remember every feature you built or every pixel you perfected. But they'll remember how your product made them feel in moments when it mattered most.

Did it respect their time? Did it reduce their stress or add to it? Did it feel like a thoughtful tool created by people who understood their situation?

This is why emotional design isn't just about aesthetics or personality—it's about empathy. It's about understanding the human context in which your product will be used and designing for those real, messy, emotional moments.

When you design with this relationship in mind—when you think about the ongoing value exchange between real humans and your product—you start making different decisions. You prioritize reliability over flashy features. You respect users' time and attention. You build trust through consistent, predictable experiences.

Because at the end of the day, great products aren't just tools—they're relationships. And the best relationships are built on mutual value, respect, and trust. Great products don't just solve functional problems—they make people feel capable, confident, and understood.

18 - Designing for anyone

Here's a shift in thinking that changed how I approach design: accessible design isn't about designing for everyone—it's about designing for anyone.

This subtle difference opens up a world of possibilities. Instead of trying to create a one-size-fits-all solution, you're creating something flexible enough to work for anyone who might need it, in whatever situation they find themselves.

The reality of human diversity

We all experience different abilities at different times. Sometimes these differences are permanent, sometimes temporary, and sometimes purely situational:

Permanent: Someone who is blind, deaf, or has limited mobility

Temporary: Someone with an ear infection, broken arm, or recovering from eye surgery

Situational: Someone using your app while holding a baby, in bright sunlight, or in a noisy environment

Here's what's interesting: when you design for permanent conditions, you often solve for temporary and situational ones too. Captions don't just help deaf users—they help anyone watching video without headphones. High contrast design doesn't just help users with visual impairments—it helps everyone using their phone in bright sunlight.

Designing for real-world contexts

Consider a parent trying to book a pediatrician appointment while holding a crying, feverish baby. This person needs:

• Clear, jargon-free language (no time to decode medical terms)

• Large, easy-to-tap buttons (they're using one hand)

• Simple navigation (they're stressed and distracted)

• Clear feedback (they need to know if actions worked)

These aren't "accessibility features"—they're good design that works for humans in real situations.

The one-handed test

One of the most eye-opening exercises I do is testing interfaces with one hand. Try navigating your product while holding a cup of coffee, or using only your thumb. You'll quickly discover:

• Which buttons are too small or poorly placed

• Where the navigation becomes confusing

• Which interactions require more precision than people actually have

This isn't just about mobile design—it's about recognizing that people don't always have full use of both hands, perfect vision, or complete attention when using your product.

Situational disabilities are everywhere

Think about the last time you:

• Tried to use your phone while walking in bright sunlight

• Watched a video in a quiet coffee shop without headphones

• Used an app while wearing gloves in winter

• Navigated a website when you were tired and couldn't focus

In each situation, you temporarily experienced what many people experience permanently. Good design accounts for these realities.

The ripple effect

When you design for diverse abilities and situations, everyone benefits:

• Clear microcopy helps users who are anxious, distracted, or using your product in their second language

• Keyboard navigation helps users with mobility issues and power users who prefer keyboard shortcuts

• Good color contrast helps users with visual impairments and anyone using their device in challenging lighting

• Simple, logical layouts help users with cognitive differences and anyone who's new to your product

Making it practical

You don't need to become an accessibility expert overnight. Start with these human-centered questions:

Could someone use this if they:

• Only had one hand available?

• Couldn't hear audio?

• Were in a bright or dark environment?

• Were stressed or in a hurry?

• Had never used your product before?

For your content:

• Would this make sense to someone who's tired?

• Is this clear without prior knowledge?

• Does this respect people's time and attention?

For your interactions:

• Can someone complete this task if they're distracted?

• Is it obvious what will happen when they take an action?

• Are there multiple ways to accomplish the same goal?

The human truth

Accessible design isn't about following rules—it's about acknowledging that humans are diverse, and our abilities change based on context, environment, and life circumstances.

When you design for anyone instead of everyone, you're not limiting your creativity—you're expanding your empathy. You're recognizing that behind every click, tap, and swipe is a real person trying to get something done, often in less-than-ideal conditions.

And ultimately, isn't that what great design should do? Help real people accomplish real goals, regardless of their abilities or circumstances?

Figma now lets you check contrast ratios and spot accessibility issues directly in your design files. No excuses for poor color contrast or inaccessible designs—the tools are built right into your workflow.

19 - Going beyond good enough

Here's something I've noticed: most products stop at "good enough." They work, they're reasonably intuitive, and they get the job done. But there's a vast difference between products that work and products that make people feel genuinely satisfied.

That difference isn't just about polish—it's about understanding the deeper human needs that drive lasting relationships with products.

Beyond functional

In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow described what humans need to fully thrive: from basic physiological needs like food and shelter, to safety, belonging, esteem, and finally self-actualization. This hierarchy offers a powerful framework for understanding user needs beyond just task completion.

Applied to product design, this means:

Functional: Your product must work. A banking app needs to let users log in, check balances, and transfer money. If these basics fail, nothing else matters.

Reliable: Users need to feel safe using your product. For banking, this means robust security and clear communication about what's happening with their money. For any product, it means consistent performance and no surprises.

Usable: Navigation should be intuitive, and everything should work as expected. Users shouldn't have to think hard about how to accomplish basic tasks.

Delightful: This is where most products stop, but great ones go further. They create moments of genuine satisfaction that make users feel capable and accomplished.

What delight actually looks like

Delight isn't about animations or clever copy—it's about exceeding expectations in ways that matter to users:

Stripe makes payment processing feel effortless. Their checkout experience is so smooth that it actually makes you trust the merchant more. They turned a typically anxiety-inducing interaction into something that feels secure and professional.

Notion anticipates what you're trying to do and offers helpful suggestions. When you type / it doesn't just show a menu—it shows the right menu for your context. It feels like the app is thinking with you, not just responding to you.

Linear makes bug tracking feel fast and purposeful. Every interaction is snappy, keyboard shortcuts are intuitive, and the interface gets out of your way so you can focus on solving problems, not fighting the tool.

The emotional layer

Great products understand that task completion is just the beginning. They ask: How should someone feel after using this? Accomplished? Confident? Supported? Empowered?

Consider the difference between:

• An error message that says "Invalid input" vs. "That email address doesn't look right. Try something like name@example.com"

• A loading spinner vs. a progress indicator that shows exactly what's happening

• Generic success confirmation vs. specific feedback about what was accomplished

These aren't just UX improvements—they're emotional design decisions that shape how people feel about themselves and their capabilities.

Finding opportunities for delight

The best opportunities for delight often hide in moments of potential frustration:

When things go wrong: How does your product handle errors? Does it make users feel stupid, or does it help them recover gracefully?

During waiting: What happens when users have to wait for something to load or process? Can you make that time feel productive or at least informative?

At completion: When users finish a task, how do you acknowledge their accomplishment? Generic "success" messages miss opportunities to reinforce progress.

In empty states: What does your product look like when it's new or empty? This is often a user's first impression—make it welcoming and helpful.

The long-term impact

Users who experience delight don't just complete tasks—they develop confidence in your product and, by extension, in themselves. They become advocates because the product makes them feel capable and valued.

This is why companies obsess over Net Promoter Scores and customer satisfaction. They're measuring the emotional relationship users have with their products, not just the functional success rate.

Making the extra effort

Going beyond "good enough" isn't about adding features—it's about understanding the human context around your product:

• Anticipate needs: What will users probably want to do next? Make it easy.

• Provide clarity: At every step, ensure users understand what's happening and what they can do.

• Offer reassurance: When users take important actions, confirm that everything worked as expected.

• Respect effort: Acknowledge when users complete difficult or important tasks.

• Learn from friction: Every point of confusion is an opportunity to create a better experience.

The extra effort isn't just about making products more pleasant—it's about recognizing that behind every interaction is a real person trying to accomplish something meaningful. When you design for their deeper needs, not just their immediate tasks, you create experiences that truly serve human flourishing.

And that's what separates good products from great ones: the understanding that we're not just building tools, we're building relationships with real people who deserve thoughtful, considerate experiences.

What we've covered

Before we wrap up, here are the key insights from our journey together:

Understanding Product Design

• We're drowning in products nobody wants—focus on solving real problems, not just making things look good

• Product design balances user needs, business goals, and technical constraints

• Everyone makes design decisions daily; great products come from diverse team input

Building Your Practice

• Master your craft as an individual contributor before managing others
• User research reveals what to build; stakeholder research reveals what's possible to build
• Energy management is strategic—design your leadership style around your strengths

The craft

• The product design process isn't linear—it's an ongoing conversation between you, your users, and the four key areas: research, usability, visual design, and iteration
• Write down your design principles before you start building; they prevent endless debates
• Build design systems with your product, not before it—let real problems inform your components

Communication & influence

• Writing helps you think through design problems and understand users at a deeper level
• Great stories are universal, have clear structure, surprise and delight, and stay simple and focused
• Learn to speak business language—frame design decisions in terms stakeholders understand

Designing for humans

• Build emotional relationships through balanced value exchange—give users more than they expect
• Design for anyone, not everyone—inclusive design benefits all users in different contexts
• The extra effort that takes you from "good enough" to genuinely delightful experiences is what separates great products from mediocre ones

These aren't just design principles—they're ways of thinking that help you build products people actually want and need.

Products people actually want

We've covered a lot of ground together—from understanding what product design really means to mastering the communication skills that separate good designers from great ones. But knowledge without action is just theory. Throughout this final section, we've explored what it means to truly design for humans—understanding their emotions, relationships, and diverse needs.

The world is full of products that nobody wants, experiences that frustrate rather than delight, and digital solutions that create more problems than they solve. This isn't because the people building them are incompetent—it's because they've lost sight of what matters most: the humans on the other side of the screen.

You now have the tools to be different. You understand that great product design isn't about following the latest trends or cramming in more features. It's about understanding people deeply enough to build things they actually want and need. It's about balancing user desires with business realities. It's about caring enough to sweat the details that others overlook.

Whether it's a tool that helps parents connect with pediatricians when their child is sick, an app that makes financial planning less intimidating, or a platform that helps small businesses compete with giants—great user experiences have a profound impact on people's lives. They reduce friction, eliminate frustration, and sometimes even bring a little joy to someone's day.

So go out there and make something great. Pour your creativity and commitment to the user into your work. Make them the center of your design decisions, and you'll be surprised at the impact you—and your products—will make.

The world is full of products nobody wants. But you now have everything you need to build products people actually want—and desperately need. Be the one who builds them.