Luck isn’t just some random force; it’s the silent factor that favors those who act on their desires. In a world driven by victory and defeat, waiting passively isn’t an option.
Success isn’t about luck finding you—it’s about preparing yourself so that when opportunity arrives, you can seize it. Anticipate where opportunities may appear, position yourself accordingly, and be ready to act. The goddess of fortune only smiles on those who can sense her presence before she arrives.
Cognitive function thrives on challenge. Learning a new skill builds neural pathways and enhances brain plasticity. Games with a significant learning curve can stimulate mental growth, but once you reach competence, the cognitive benefit diminishes.
The key to continuous growth? Find a game you suck at. Play until you’re competent—but not good—then move on to another challenge. Growth lies in the struggle, not in mastering repetition.
Pursue the path you desire, no matter the struggle. Pain promotes growth, and every challenge serves a purpose. There is no such thing as a meaningless effort.
What begins as an idea, an impulse, or a mere fragment of thought evolves with every step taken. Growth isn’t about reaching an endpoint—it’s about constantly seeking the next challenge, the next transformation.
The success of a product isn’t just about utility or usability. Truly successful products are:
Products exist in a lifecycle, moving from adoption to personal use and eventually to abandonment. A designer’s role is to ensure longevity, adapting to user needs at every stage of the cycle.
"If this were my company, what would I do?"
In a Holacracy-powered organization, authority is distributed, not centralized. This allows:
Just as the human body functions autonomously within its systems, so too should an organization, allowing each part to operate with clear autonomy and responsibility.
Humans seek information using deeply ingrained foraging behaviors, a survival instinct inherited from our ancestors. Understanding this instinct can dramatically improve user experiences, making interfaces and systems more intuitive and engaging.
“The quality of the user interface is relatively unimportant in determining adoption if the perceived value is high.”
In other words, a product must:
While aesthetics play a role, functionality must align with user expectations. A beautifully designed product that fails to meet needs will be abandoned, while a rough-looking tool that delivers value will be embraced.
Great products remove friction. Users should act without thinking—the tool should feel like an extension of their intent.
The best tools disappear into the background, allowing users to focus on their goals rather than the tool itself.
Designers benefit when users find unintended uses for products. A product that can serve multiple purposes extends its lifespan and increases adoption.
User experiences are shaped by three factors:
Emotions are a mix of physiology, cognition, and environment. As designers, our job is to craft experiences that create positive emotional responses while minimizing frustration and disappointment.
Usability isn’t just about function—it’s about respect for the user’s time and cognitive load. ISO 9241-11 defines usability as: “The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals, with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.”
Usability is an iterative process, continuously evolving based on user interaction and feedback. Every design choice reflects a philosophy: respect for humanity through software.
Science traditionally breaks things into fundamental components for understanding. But complex systems must be studied as a whole to truly grasp their interdependencies. The value isn’t just in the parts—it’s in how they interact.
UX isn’t just about designing interfaces—it’s about shaping experiences, emotions, and behaviors. The debate between aesthetics vs. functionality is an ongoing one, but the truth lies somewhere in between:
Early on, I believed in sacred methodologies—Design Thinking, Agile, Lean UX—the definitive formulas for success. Over time, I realized:
At the heart of all of this is a simple truth: Design is not just about making things functional or beautiful. It’s about creating experiences that shape the way we think, feel, and interact with the world.
From luck to usability, from Holacracy to cognitive function—each of these ideas feeds into how we build, create, and innovate. The key is not just to follow best practices but to continually question, adapt, and refine them to meet the evolving needs of users and the world around us.