Notes from a one-person design team

Being the only designer across two products means owning everything, from research to the last pixel. Here’s what keeps it manageable.

Placeholder: a desk, a sketchbook, two products open side by side

Write things down

A short decision log saves hours of re-explaining. When someone asks why a pattern exists, I can link to the reason.

Systems over screens

I can’t design every screen, so I design the parts that screens are made of. A good token set and a handful of solid components do more than any single mockup.

Placeholder: the component library both products share

And I protect time for the fun part. A day of open-ended experimenting each month is where most of my best ideas come from.