“Creativity is not a trait, it’s a response. When you give someone the right tools and a mission to create, it changes their psyche.”
Love this quote of @scottyujan’s latest video
youtu.be/W9K-JoGDvxo...
Back at it after a much needed vacation
- new project kickoff
- 5 new proposals sent
- catching up on client feedback
- scheduling social media posts
Let’s go!
Woke up to the news of Tim Cook stepping down as CEO of Apple
Feels weirdly strange; I'm going to miss his “Good mornang!” at every keynote. But damn, he has had a legendary run
I asked ChatGPT to help me convert how many tablespoons of juice I could squeeze from one lemon
Now I get all kinds of lemon juice stories on Pulse.
Not sure what the thinking behind that is..
You can bet your ass that Apple is planning how to leverage their Mac minis as the go-to AI hardware right now
x.com/privatetalk...
A child in pajamas watches over a baby in a bouncer, surrounded by toys and a wooden shelf in a sunlit living space.
A child crouches at the water's edge, exploring the sandy shore with a small tool on a sunny day by the lake.
A person walks down a path lined with trees and grass, enjoying a sunny day in a park-like setting.
A child's legs wearing green and white checkered pants and blue socks, resting on a soft blanket with a wooden bear clip nearby.
This week in pictures
Four app icons are displayed: Claudia, Cover Letter Writer, Contra Job Checker, and Morning Brief, suggesting tools for a freelance designer.
Yo @NotionHQ folks
What agents are you running? Looking for inspo, especially for a freelance designer like me
Currently have morning briefing, job fit checker and cover letter writer running
The work users never see is the work that matters.
Most apps show you a progress bar and call it done. Smart ones predict what you're about to do and start before you ask.
When you picked a filter, the chance you'd actually post was high enough to start uploading immediately. While you typed your caption, the photo was already uploading in the background.
On slow 3G networks, this turned an 8-second wait into instant.
Kevin Systrom worked on Gmail before Instagram.
He learned something there: login success rates were so high that Google could precache your emails while you were still typing your password. Inbox loaded instantly.
He brought that thinking to Instagram.
A person’s hand interacts with a laptop displaying TravelWith's website, promoting travel organization and exploration.
A travel app interface displays an Amsterdam trip itinerary, including participants, notes, and locations like airports, a hotel, and a restaurant.
A mobile app interface shows a travel planner with options for saving websites, flight details, airport, train station, and hotel information.
A smartphone displays a travel itinerary for Amsterdam beside a folded map and a cap on a dark travel bag.
Some work for TravelWith
Disabled OpenClaw after Claude hit it with API tokens.
Missed it after a week, so I set it up with ChatGPT instead.
Forgot it's 50% useful, 50% fixing things that broke. Already spent way too much time tinkering.
Why do I do this to myself
It gives me something to talk to while my hands are full.
A way to think out loud.
Catch a dumb mistake.
Keep moving.
I think that's one of the more human uses for AI.
My dad taught me how to build things.
Today I'm putting up shelves in the attic, working through awkward angles, and realizing I can't call him to think it through with me.
He died 2 years ago.
Voice AI helps in a strange, specific way.
Question:
What if your app was so obvious that onboarding wasn't needed?
3 Proofs:
1. Instagram, TikTok, Twitter have near-zero onboarding. Users learn by doing.
2. Apps with long tutorials (fitness, productivity) see 40-60% skip rates (Appcues State of Product Onboarding 2023)
3. Users who skip onboarding often retain better because they're motivated enough to explore
If your onboarding could be skipped without hurting retention, it's teaching the wrong things.
Frontend should translate it into user mental models.
Do This Today:
1. Find one place where your UI mirrors backend structure (not user intent)
2. Ask: would users naturally think about it this way?
3. Add abstraction layer: unify concepts on frontend even if backend is fragmented
MVP APIs are built for speed: pragmatic, not elegant. Then UI mirrors that structure because it's easier to code. Result: users see technical implementation details. Database tables become menu items. API response shapes dictate UI layout. Good UX hides this. Backend can be messy.
Your backend has separate endpoints for users/accounts/profiles. Now your UI has three confusing tabs for the same concept. Backend architecture shouldn't be user-facing.
The fix:
Organize around user jobs, not technical architecture. Card sort with real users. Group by intent, not implementation.
Result pattern:
Feature findability improves significantly. 'Where is X?' support tickets drop. Same features, better map.
DM me if this sounds familiar.
What I see:
Navigation mirrors codebase. 'Users' vs 'Accounts' vs 'Profiles' (all mean same thing to user). Features buried 3 taps deep because 'it's a small feature.' Users can't build mental model.
I've audited many MVPs. Most organize information around database schemas or backend structure. Engineers organized it logically. For engineers.
Job listings for various design roles in April 2026, including salaries and application details, organized for easy access and filtering.
Got tired of manually filtering @contra jobs every day.
Had OpenClaw write down my criteria. Connected it to @diabrowser. Now it just tells me which listings are worth reading.
Probably the most obvious automation I should've done months ago.
Question:
How much of your design effort goes to features vs invisible friction removal?
3 Proofs:
1. Apple Mail's best feature is 'undo send' (invisible until you need it)
2. Stripe's payment forms have 40+ invisible validations. Users just see 'it worked'
3. Great UX is boring in demos because it prevents problems users never see
If your investors are impressed by your app's UX in a 5-minute demo, it's probably overdesigned.
DM me if this sounds familiar.
Three weeks later: he simplified two flows, added clear CTAs, removed a pointless intermediate screen. Average session time dropped to 3 minutes. Completion rate improved significantly.
Users don't return to apps that waste their time. They return to tools that respect it.
