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Ten hard truths product designers need to hear 👇
Nick Stamas
5,753 posts
Nick Stamas
@nickstamas
Product designer and developer. Tinkerer. Bootstrapping a better fitness solution for busy moms to $1M ARR. Dad 3x.
- I legit don't understand why teams with the chops to execute these designs would do this.
- If your title is Product Designer but you don't actually influence the direction of the product—you're a Product Decorator. Here's why it happens and what you can do about it:
- Spoiler alert: AI isn't going to take your design job. But there's one company that's sitting on a hidden mountain of data that could radically change the way products are designed. The rest are likely vaporware or toys. Here's my prediction 👇
- Replying to @nickstamas1. Design isn't self-expression. You're not an artist. Your primary job is to make money for your company by solving a specific class of problems that resolve business goals with user experience.
- Replying to @nickstamas8. Tools and frameworks come and go. Don't get too attached to the current hot thing. Become an expert in what never changes—human behavior—by learning psychology, philosophy and storytelling.
- Designers at startups: getting a design to 100% is almost always a bad thing. Shoot for 80% and move on. You'll get twice the amount of work done.
- Replying to @nickstamas10. Your primary job is to be obsessively curious about humans and how your product impacts their lives. Moving pixels around on a screen is a communication tool.
- Replying to @nickstamas7. If you've only worked at agencies, you have a distorted view of what's valuable. Agencies are incentivized to produce highly polished work to justify high rates and win industry awards. They're detached from delivering value to end users.
- Replying to @nickstamas9. Speed is valuable. An "OK" design delivered today can be better than a "great" design delivered next week.
- I’ve had stock options at every startup I’ve worked for, but I still drive a Honda. Here's a raw look inside my personal journey 👇
- Announcing the One-Minute Rebrand™ For just $500 I will: 1. Go to The Noun Project 2. Pick the icon that best represents your brand 3. Send you the SVG All in under one minute, or your money back. DMs open
