I write on this blog weekly. Nobody edits me. Nobody tells me to “soften the tone” or “add more tactical takeaways.” I also pitch articles to other publications. They have editors. Standards. Opinions about what their audience wants. Sometimes they publish them. Sometimes they send polite rejection emails that say “not quite right for us”…
Got an email last week from a design student asking: “Is UX design a good career?” Honest answer: Depends. Do you enjoy explaining design decisions to people who think “make it pop” is actionable feedback? Can you keep a straight face when someone who’s never used Figma tells you your spacing is “off”? Are you…
Got a deck in my email last week. Subject line: “UX Strategy for [Product Name].” Opened it. Actually curious to see their thinking. (Also: morbid fascination with how people define “strategy” these days.) Slide 1: Screenshot of Stripe’s pricing pageSlide 2: Screenshot of Notion’s sidebar navigationSlide 3: Screenshot of Linear’s command paletteSlide 4: “We want…
Got on a call last month with a potential client. Series A SaaS company, 18 people, looking for design help. “Before we start, can you walk us through your design process?” I should’ve known. They screen-shared a 40-slide deck. Their “UX design process.” Eight phases. Twelve deliverables. Three validation gates. Stakeholder touchpoints color-coded by department.…
I was scrolling through a job board last week. Standard research for what companies are actually looking for. (Also: morbid curiosity about how bad it’s gotten.) Saw this: “UX Design Internship – Summer 2025 Requirements: That’s not an internship. That’s a junior designer role you don’t want to pay for. I don’t take these calls…
I had a call last Tuesday with a founder who wanted help “improving activation.” Their SaaS launched eight months ago. Activation: 23%. Support tickets: 180/week. Team of six. I asked to see the roadmap. Roadmap Items Count New features 12 “UX improvements” (no details, pushed to Q3) 2 Total 14 “Which feature causes the most…
The job post looked fine. Standard stuff. “Seeking freelance UX designer for 3-month dashboard redesign project. Potential to convert to full-time for the right candidate.” I took the call. Twenty minutes in: “So, timeline. We’re actually hoping more like 6 weeks because investor meeting. Budget is somewhat flexible – were you open to equity instead…
The call started normal enough. “We need a redesign. Our retention is terrible and the interface looks dated.” Okay. Tell me more. “Churn is around 15% monthly. Users sign up, use it for a bit, then leave. We think if we modernize the UI, make it feel more premium, people will stick around.” When did…
Last year I watched someone finish setting up a Salesforce integration. OAuth: worked perfectly. Field mapping: one click. Big green success message: “Connected successfully!” They closed the window looking satisfied. I was helping them debug something else, so I had their screen still open. Three days later, same person: “Is Salesforce broken? Nothing’s syncing.” I…
Last month a design lead showed me their adoption metrics dashboard. Figma library: 97% connected. Component usage tracked across 47 teams. Monthly reports with color-coded progress bars trending green like a very healthy plant. “Fantastic adoption,” they said, clicking through to a slide about governance wins. “Can I see your team’s Slack?” I asked. They…
