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Operating playbook

I do not believe in linear design processes.

I believe in an operating cadence: a weekly shape that produces clarity faster than the team would have reached on its own.

  • 01

    Open a problem

    Write the ask back in plain English. Frame it as a Job to Be Done. Name the constraints out loud. Decide what good looks like before anything gets sketched. Most stalled design work is a framing problem in a costume.

  • 02

    Run the design week

    Monday opens the work. Tuesday and Thursday are critique. Wednesday is 1:1s. Friday closes with a decision log. Async first, synchronous only when it changes a decision.

  • 03

    Decide with stakes

    Every decision gets written down: the choice, the alternative considered, the stakes, the name on the call. Decision logs are what makes the operating system legible after I leave.

  • 04

    Use AI where it earns trust

    Claude as primary engineer. Codex CLI as the independent review gate. Gemini for research and visual exploration. Local Ollama for triage and routing. HeroUI v3 as the agent-native UI contract. Agents call by intent, not by model name.

  • 05

    Hire on skill, not spec

    Skill matrix replaces the job spec. Working-session loops measure how candidates think under real constraints. Career ladders authored before headcount growth, so promotion has a shape before anyone needs one.

The design week

The shape that scales when I am not in the room.

Meetings are for decisions and critique. Status, drafts, and reviews are async-first artifacts. The calendar is a budget, not an inbox.

Operating rituals at a glance

The cadence that keeps the function aligned.

The shape, not the schedule. Same rituals across Sitetracker, Axios HQ, and Samsung Ads, adapted to scope and team maturity. Detail below.

  • Mon

    Open the week

    Async written status from each designer by mid-morning: what they are on, where they are blocked, the one decision they need this week. Read before any meeting.

  • Tue

    Critique

    Written context before screen share. Feedback tied to a user need or business goal, not comfort notes. Standing practice, not a vibe.

  • Wed

    One-on-ones

    Career conversation in the back half, work in the front half. Never the other way around. The career thread is the one that gets dropped first if I let it.

  • Thu

    Critique

    Second standing critique slot. Same shape, same bar. AI-assisted output reviewed against the same readiness checklist.

  • Fri

    Decision log

    Decisions written down with the choice, the stakes, the alternatives considered, and the date. Future me and the next leader read this when context is gone.

What stays out of the work

  • Design by committee.
  • Brief bingo (passionate, holistic, world-class, visionary, paradigm).
  • Late-stage UX as paint job over fixed architecture.
  • Process for its own sake. Cadence exists to produce clarity faster.