Product Critique·Feb 2024The UI of TrustMost fintech products fail not at signup, not at transaction, but at the quiet moment when a user wonders whether the app is actually working. Trust isn't built through onboarding copy. It's built through predictability, transparency, and the discipline to show nothing when there's nothing to show.
Design Observation·Jan 2024Empty States Are Your First ImpressionEvery product has a moment before users have any data to display. Most treat this as a footnote. The best treat it as a designed experience. An empty state is a promise, it tells the user exactly what they're about to get and invites them to begin.
Business Insight·Dec 2023African Markets Demand Different Design PatternsLow-bandwidth connectivity, shared device use, and feature phone legacy aren't edge cases in many African markets, they're the baseline. Products that ignore this don't just fail to scale. They communicate something about who the product thinks its users are.
Product Critique·Nov 2023AI Products Are Failing at ExplainabilityWhen an AI product makes a decision or a recommendation, it rarely explains itself. This isn't a small UX problem, it's a fundamental trust problem. The products that define the next decade will be the ones that make their intelligence legible.
Design Observation·Oct 2023Every Dashboard Is a Failure of Product ThinkingA dashboard is what you build when you don't know what decision the user is trying to make. The best products don't show users their data, they show users what to do next. That requires knowing something a dashboard never can: what actually matters to this user, right now.
Business Insight·Sep 2023Subscription Models Are Turning Products Into HostagesSubscription models should align product and user incentives. Instead, most have created a design incentive to trap users rather than delight them. When the business model depends on friction, good design becomes bad business.
Startup Idea·Aug 2023A Due Diligence Tool Built for Founders, Not VCsMost due diligence tooling is built to help investors evaluate founders. What if you inverted that? A tool that helps founders understand what investors are actually evaluating, and surface gaps in their narrative, team, and market data before the first conversation.
Design Observation·Jul 2023Progress Indicators LieThe progress bar is one of the most trusted UI patterns, and one of the most dishonest. A bar that fills at a constant rate regardless of actual progress isn't communicating status, it's managing anxiety. That distinction matters more than most designers admit.