Author: Travis Kassab

Which world would you most like to design on? One is not better than any other, because they come with tradeoffs. The unexplored world on the left has the most potential, but is least accessible; whereas, the explored world on the right is a bit crowded, but is easiest to build on because of its…

Inventors design new products from scratch. Innovators take a product with some adoption and scale it to many others. Defenders maintain legacy products and protect them from competitors. Which type of product designer are you? This matters because where you find yourself determines what you can influence about the product and what you work on…

As a product designer, the single greatest thing that decides your job satisfaction is personal access to, and collaborative rapport with, relevant decision-makers. This determines if you have influence over the product, or if your insight is ignored and you end up just implementing the product. Here’s how to ensure you have influence in your…

I wasted my 20s because I turned my back on real magic and settled for an illusion instead. The illusion that entertained me for a decade was that there was somewhere definite I was going and that I was making progress towards it. What can I say? I found myself directionless in an uncertain world.…

When I was young I said a lot of things about what I wanted to be when I grew up. But looking back, all I’ve ever really been interested in was alchemy. And, while I haven’t yet turned lead to gold, here I still am trying to create something of value from nothing. I can…