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”…
“Mark” (not a real name, but the story is) asked me to write this. Said I’d know the model – I’m from Ukraine. Here’s what happens: Agency sells you “a full-stack designer with 8 years experience in UI/UX design and development services.” You get a junior designer in Portland who’s never written code + an…
Discovery call last month. SaaS startup, 12 people, looking to hire a freelance ux designer. “We need someone 15-20 hours a week. Flexible schedule. Remote. Rate is $85/hour.” Sounds reasonable. I asked about the work. “We’re redesigning the onboarding flow. Should take 4-6 weeks. Then ongoing UX improvements as needed.” Still fine. Then came the…
Got a call two months ago. Enterprise software company, 650 employees, been around 12 years, profitable. “We need to improve the UX of our internal platform. Our teams keep complaining it’s hard to use. Can you help?” Sure. I’ve done enterprise UX work before. Asked the obvious question. Me: “Who makes product decisions for this…
Your Last Product Designer Quit Six Weeks Ago (You’re Not Telling Me Why) Got a call last week. Startup, Series A, looking to hire a product designer. “Our product designer had to leave suddenly. We need someone to pick up where they left off. Everything’s documented. Figma files are clean. Should be straightforward.” I asked:…
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…
