Judgment beats taste
Taste can't be argued with, I think that's its appeal. Judgment makes calls you can check later, and for whatever reason "taste" feels too pretentious to me.
Chris Keith
High-craft, 0→1 product designer who sets vision and multiplies other designers.
Beliefs and values
The focus point moves, the job of a PD doesn't
There's always a spot where humans and machines try to understand each other. Today it's a screen, soon it won't be. That spot is the job.
Intent is the expensive part
Pixels, prose, and code are nearly free. What's scarce is knowing what to make and saying it clearly enough to build from. I've been practicing this stuff for a while.
Simulation beats empathy
Empathy is hard to verify. I run a mental movie of a stranger's first encounter. What they notice, misread, or distrust, then build it and learn if I was right.
A prototype is the truth arriving early
A small piece of the future, delivered early for inspection. Wrong here costs an afternoon, wrong in production costs more.
Build the first version yourself
The most persuasive document is the thing itself, working, in someone's hands. It works every time.
The team's fluency is the job
Being AI-native designer is a good idea these days. Making the team AI-native is the real work. Being the only rower on the lifeboat is a poor plan.
Calm is a feature
Panic never improved a design decision, and someone in the room has to think the weather is fine. My managers and peers have always said I'm that guy.
The obvious question goes unasked
Smart rooms skip the simple question, assuming it's answered. Asking costs four seconds of embarrassment and pays for the whole project.
Short loops beat big rooms
Good work tracks how fast a decision meets its result... in days, not quarters. Small teams, tinkering, treated as work. The best work happens there.