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Every essay we've published, in order.
9 dispatches and counting. Two new pieces every other Tuesday.
2026 · 9 essays
2026
Product design · 3 min
Self-serve support is a product surface
A help center built for ticket deflection is one design. A help center built for the user actually getting their question answered is another.
May 20, 2026Onboarding · 4 min
The first 60 seconds: why activation matters
Most products lose users in the first minute, not the first month. The math on why activation is the highest-leverage thing your team can fix.
May 4, 2026UX · 3 min
Understanding your users: the product foundation
How to build a real mental model of the people you're designing for — the interviews, observations, and notes that compound — and why most teams skip this step.
May 4, 2026Onboarding · 4 min
The product tour is dead. Here's what replaced it.
The five-step modal tour was the wrong answer to a real problem. The replacement is contextual, just-in-time, and almost invisible.
April 27, 2026Activation · 4 min
Time-to-value, in seconds: a measurement primer
Time-to-value is the most-cited metric in onboarding decks and the least-measured one in actual products. A primer on the measurement, not the concept.
April 13, 2026UX · 4 min
Empty states are onboarding
The empty state is the only welcome surface that doesn't require the user to dismiss something. Most teams use it badly. Here's what good ones look like.
March 30, 2026Product design · 3 min
Why your NPS number is lying to you
NPS is the most influential metric in B2B software and one of the easiest to lie with. Most NPS dashboards are reading their own noise.
March 16, 2026Activation · 4 min
The activation funnel nobody draws
Every product team can draw their activation funnel. The actual funnel is shaped nothing like the slide. Here's where the leverage hides.
March 2, 2026UX · 3 min
Tooltips, but only when they earn the interruption
Tooltips are the most over-deployed and under-edited element in modern product design. Most products would be improved by deleting most of them.
February 16, 2026
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