Writing
Notes on design engineering — process, tools, and the occasional rabbit hole.
August 28, 2026 · 4 min read
The tool I was an expert in couldn't be automated
Framer approved me as an Expert in April 2025. Four months later I moved my productized builds to code: a model needed a page it could write and a build that could refuse it.
August 15, 2026 · 5 min read
Delegating design to AI: taste is a perishable asset
Hand AI the execution and keep only the taste, the advice goes. Two silent failures on this site showed me why taste only stays sharp in the hands that still touch the work.
July 16, 2026 · 3 min read
Three graph prototypes changed how I review AI work
The lab graph was built three times from the same data. Reviewing each working version settled a question the written plan had left open: how to organize it.
July 1, 2026 · 4 min read
My portfolio had no client, so I set its limits first
With no client and no deadline, every decision stayed open. A scope ceiling, a visual baseline and two launch gates gave each review one question: is this ready to ship?
February 14, 2026 · 3 min read
I learned enough code to read the AI's homework
In February 2026 I predicted AI would turn two months of design-system work into a week. Building this site in code showed me the gain was judgment, not speed.
August 19, 2026 · 10 min read
Cutting this site from five typefaces to two families
This site launched on a borrowed five-face type system. The change that answered most of the critique was deleting two CSS rules that swapped face mid-sentence.
August 12, 2026 · 8 min read
Two logo systems: the mark was the cheap part
A client changed their mind about a finished logo. Swapping the drawing took an afternoon. Updating everything the old drawing decided took the rest of the week.
July 8, 2026 · 4 min read
Mentor Buddies, 2022: two-thirds quit at the profile form
The app asked new users for a profile before showing them a single mentor. The redesign's highest-leverage move was letting them skip the form and browse first.
July 9, 2026 · 5 min read
Claude Code vs. Cursor: one knows your code, one searches
Comparing them in July 2026, the gap came down to plumbing: how each finds the code behind what's on screen. So I built a shortcut for the slow path myself.