Guides
How this work actually gets done.
Long-form notes from two decades of designing and shipping software. No listicles, no recycled advice. Just the decisions that turn out to matter, written down while they are still fresh.
- 01
What is product strategy? A working guide for founders and small teams
Product strategy explained without the frameworks theatre: the four decisions it actually contains, how to write one on a single page, and how to tell a real strategy from a roadmap in disguise.
Strategy / Founders / Process · 9 min
- 02
What is interaction design? The craft of how software responds
Interaction design explained through the details that decide how a product feels: states, feedback, timing, motion and error recovery, with a checklist you can run against any screen.
UX / Interaction / Craft · 10 min
- 03
What is brand identity? A working definition for people who ship products
Brand identity is the system of decisions that makes a company recognizable: strategy, voice, type, color, mark and rules. Here is what it is, what it is not, and how the process actually works.
Brand / Strategy / Process · 9 min
- 04
Product prototyping: how to answer a real question in days
A practical guide to prototyping digital products: choosing fidelity, the four kinds of question a prototype can answer, how to test one in an afternoon, and when to throw it away.
Prototyping / Process / Validation · 9 min
- 05
AI-assisted engineering: using the tools with judgment
How to use AI coding tools on real products: where the speed is genuine, where it quietly costs you, the review habits that keep quality up, and how to keep an AI-built codebase maintainable.
AI / Engineering / Craft · 10 min
- 06
Production-ready: what stands between a working demo and a launched product
The unglamorous work that separates a demo from a launched product: auth and permissions, real data, performance, error handling, accessibility, launch-day checks and what to watch in week one.
Engineering / Launch / Quality · 11 min
- 07
SaaS product design: how to make a complex product feel obvious
A working guide to SaaS product design, from first-run experience and information architecture to pricing screens, empty states and the design decisions that shape retention.
SaaS / Product design / UX · 11 min
- 08
Design vs vibe code: where AI building helps, and where it quietly costs you
Vibe coding produces working software fast. This guide covers what it is genuinely good at, where design judgment still decides the outcome, and how to combine the two without shipping something fragile.
AI / Process / Engineering · 9 min
- 09
Design systems guide: what to build, when, and what to leave out
A practical design systems guide: what a design system is, when to start one, the layers to build in order, how to handle tokens and documentation, and the reasons systems get abandoned.
Design systems / Front end / Process · 10 min
- 10
Best fonts for websites: how to choose type that does a job
A designer's guide to choosing fonts for a website: how to pick a typeface, pairings that work, recommended sizes and line lengths, performance, and the fonts to avoid if you want to look distinctive.
Typography / Brand / Web · 10 min
- 11
Login page design examples: what the best ones do, and what to steal
Ten well-known login and sign-in pages annotated for the decisions that matter: hierarchy, social auth ordering, error handling and trust cues. Plus the patterns and mistakes that repeat.
UI / Patterns / Product · 8 min
- 12
AI chat interface design: the states, trust patterns and details most products skip
Most AI chat interfaces stop at a message list. This guide covers streaming and error states, citations and confidence, input design, and when chat is the wrong interface entirely.
AI / UI / Product · 10 min
- 13
Design in an AI world: the mockup was never the job
AI made producing screens cheap, which makes deciding the expensive part. What changes for designers, which skills gain and lose value, and what founders should look for when hiring now.
AI / Craft / Careers · 9 min
- 14
Mobile design: how to design a mobile app for real hands and real conditions
Mobile is a different medium, not a smaller desktop. A practical guide to thumb zones, interrupted attention, navigation that holds up, type and touch targets, and prototyping on a real device.
Mobile / UI / Process · 10 min
- 15
Design for early stage founders: what to spend on, what to skip, and how to buy it
A straight guide to design spend before product-market fit: the three decisions that compound, what to do cheaply on purpose, how to buy design at each stage, and the red flags when hiring.
Founders / Strategy / Process · 10 min
More personal writing, on work and life outside the studio, lives on the writing page.