Writing

Notes on design and AI.

Short, sharp pieces on leading design, building with AI, and doing the work myself. Newest first.

July 2026

10 min read · Consulting · Hiring · Design LeadershipWhat a design consultant does, and when to hire one.The job in plain terms, the four kinds of design consulting, the signals you actually need one, and how to scope a first engagement that pays for itself.Read 9 min read · Fractional · Hiring · Design LeadershipHow to hire a fractional design leader.What to look for, the questions that reveal a real leader, and how to scope the first engagement so you get value fast.Read 8 min read · Startups · Hiring · Design Leadership · FractionalWhen does a startup actually need a head of design?The signals that mean you are ready, the reasons that do not count, and why the first design leadership hire is usually fractional.Read 8 min read · Fractional · Hiring · Design Leadership · StartupsFractional design leader, design agency, or full-time hire: which fits your stage.The three real ways to get design help, what each actually gives you, and how to pick by the problem in front of you.Read 8 min read · Consulting · Hiring · Product DesignThe questions I would ask a product design firm before signing anything.Seven questions that separate firms that ship outcomes from firms that ship decks, from someone who has sat on every side of the pitch.Read 8 min read · Consulting · Product Design · MetricsWhat a product design firm costs, and where the money actually goes.The three pricing shapes, the overhead ratio nobody itemizes, and how to make any firm engagement cheaper without cheapening the work.Read

June 2026

9 min read · Fractional · Design Leadership · HiringWhat fractional design leadership actually costs, and how to budget for it.How fractional pricing really works, what drives it, and how to know you are getting your money’s worth.Read 11 min read · Strategy · Metrics · Design LeadershipHow to measure the ROI of design.A practical way to tie design work to numbers the business already cares about, without faking the math.Read 11 min read · Hiring · Design Leadership · Fractional · StartupsFractional or full-time design leader: which does your team need?A clear decision framework for when to hire a head of design full-time and when a few days a month is the smarter call.Read 11 min read · AI-First Design · Design Leadership · ToolsHow to choose AI tools for a design team.A buyer’s framework for picking AI tools your team actually adopts, instead of a pile of subscriptions nobody opens.Read 10 min read · AI-First Design · Design Leadership · AI AdoptionMost AI design transformations are theater.The hard part was never the tools. It is getting a team to actually change how it works, and keep working that way six months later.Read 10 min read · Design Leadership · AI-First Design · CraftI lead design, and I still build. That’s the job now.For years the industry told designers that leadership meant leaving the craft behind. AI made that advice dangerous.Read 10 min read · Design · AI · CareerThe gap between good and great isn’t skill anymore.It is curiosity, and the willingness to build something before anyone gives you permission.Read 9 min read · AI-First Design · Design Process · Design LeadershipWhat an AI-first design process actually looks like.Most teams bolt AI onto the end of the old process. AI-first changes the order of operations from the first hour.Read 11 min read · Design Leadership · Team Building · AI-First DesignHow to build a design team in the AI era.The org chart that worked in 2020 is the wrong shape now. Here is how I structure a team that moves at AI speed.Read

May 2026

9 min read · Design · AI · Craft · CareerThe most valuable designers now are the ones who build.For a decade the industry told designers to stop touching the tools. AI made that advice expensive.Read 11 min read · Hiring · Design Leadership · AI · CareerWhat I look for when I hire designers now.The cleanest portfolio is not the signal it used to be. Curiosity and nerve are.Read 10 min read · Design Leadership · Fractional · StartupsWhat a fractional head of design actually does.Not a consultant who makes slides. A senior leader who owns the work for a few days a month.Read 10 min read · AI · Design · Future of WorkAI will not replace designers. It will replace the design process.The fear is aimed at the wrong target. The job is not going away. The way we do it already is.Read

April 2026

12 min read · AI-First Design · Agentic AI · Product Design · Story GenieWe let AI agents make a children’s book, and kept humans in charge.How I designed trust into an AI-native product where agents do the production and parents still get something they are proud to give.Read 11 min read · Design Systems · AI-First Design · Design LeadershipDesign systems are the foundation AI builds on.Everyone wants AI to generate their UI. The teams that win are the ones whose system gives it something good to generate from.Read

March 2026

10 min read · Design Leadership · Strategy · MetricsHow I prove design actually moved the business.Design earns its seat by changing numbers, not by being pretty. Here is how I make the case.Read 9 min read · AI · Founder · Design Leadership · Story GenieWhy I founded an AI company while leading design.The best way to understand where our craft is going was to bet my own time on it.Read