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UX Design Mistakes That Don't Show Up in Figma: Six Data Fingerprints
This article was originally written for external publication, yet ended up here instead. Enjoy!
UX Design 101: The Official Curriculum and the 2026 Translation
The first week of UX design 101, you learn about the double diamond. Research, define, ideate, prototype. Clean phases, logical sequence, satisfying diagram.
I Wrote a Book About AI Sycophancy. I Didn't Use AI to Write It.
Someone at an event, after I mentioned the book.
MVP Pricing UX: Why Your 'Free Trial First' Strategy Is Killing Activation
B2B analytics platform. Six months post-launch. 1,400 trial signups. 83 paying customers.
Every Design Agency in New York Claims They Specialize in SaaS. They're Lying.
December 2025. Video call.
Why SaaS UX Debt Costs More Than Technical Debt (And How to Fix It Before Series B)
I've been designing products for enterprise SaaS companies for eight years. Deutsche Telekom, IQVIA, D.E. Shaw Group. The kind of products where a bad UX decision costs millions and ruins someone's qu
UX Strategist: The Only Job Where Saying 'It Depends' Is Considered Expertise
The UX strategist's final deliverable was a 31-page PDF titled "Strategic UX Framework for Multi-Audience Dashboard Optimization." Page 8 had a Venn diagram with three circles: "User Needs," "Business
Your 'Full-Stack Designer' Is Actually Two Junior People
Mark – B2B SaaS, 41 employees, Series A – hired an agency for a dashboard redesign. Three months, $35,000, "a senior full-stack designer with eight years of UI/UX design and development experience." S
Articles I've Written Elsewhere 📌
I write on this blog weekly. Nobody edits me. Nobody tells me to "soften the tone" or "add more tactical takeaways."
Every UX Design Diagram I've Seen Is Overthinking It
Got on a call last month with a potential client. Series A SaaS company, 18 people, looking for design help.
Why "Connected Successfully" Is the Biggest Lie in SaaS Integration UX
Last year I watched someone finish setting up a Salesforce integration. OAuth: worked perfectly. Field mapping: one click. Big green success message: "Connected successfully!"
Design System Adoption Metrics Lie: Measuring Installation ≠ Measuring Value
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 gree
Why Customer Success Software Doesn't Make Customers Successful (It Makes CS Teams Look Busy)
Last year, a SaaS company paid me to fix their onboarding. Churn was 23% monthly. Brutal.
Hidden Cost of 'UX Consultant' Positioning: Replaceable, Underpaid, Forgotten
For three years, my LinkedIn headline said "UX Consultant."
Why I Stopped Hiring UX Designers with 'Great Soft Skills'
Five years ago, I hired a UX designer with exceptional soft skills. Articulate in meetings. Diplomatic with stakeholders. Created beautiful presentation decks. Responded to Slack within minutes with e
Why Mixing Onboarding Patterns Destroys Activation (One Pattern Works, Five Don't)
Last month, a SaaS founder asked me to review their onboarding. "We implemented every best practice," they said. "But activation is terrible."
B2B SaaS Onboarding Is a Multiplayer Game (You're Designing for the Wrong Player)
Your perfect onboarding just got killed by someone who never saw it.
Building an Audience Through Strategic Authenticity
The most common advice for building an audience is "just be yourself."
UI/UX Design Outsourcing: The Hidden Costs Nobody Calculates
When $50/hour ends up costing more than $150/hour — the math nobody wants you to see.
Using AI for UX Research: The Workflow I Actually Use
Here's what works when you use AI for UX research — and what almost made me design for the wrong problem.