The discourse online is exhausting.
Designers posting “is design dead?” next to AI-generated UIs.
Hiring freezes being treated as obituaries.

A lot of feelings.
Not much clarity.

Here’s my take after thinking about this properly.
It’s not as apocalyptic as people think.
But it’s also not as comfortable.

What’s actually happening

Technology has always commoditized execution while raising the value of judgment.

Spell-check didn’t kill editors. It killed proofreaders.
Photography didn’t kill painting.
It killed portrait commissions and created an entire new art form.

AI is doing the same thing to design.
Right now.
On a faster timeline.

The making part, turning a brief into wireframes, wireframes into UI, UI into a prototype, is being commoditized fast.
Not eliminated.
Commoditized.

It now costs a fraction of what it used to.
The people who were paid primarily to do the making are in genuine trouble.

What isn’t being commoditized is taste. Judgment.
The ability to walk into a messy product conversation and know which problem is worth solving. The ability to look at AI output and know immediately why it’s wrong.

Think of the art director in advertising.
They don’t draw every ad. They know what the ad needs to be, commission the right work, and kill everything that doesn’t meet the bar. That role got more important as production got cheaper. Not less.

That’s where this is going.
The question is which side of that shift you’re on.

For newcomers: should you still enter the field?

Yes. But not the way you were planning.

The entry-level market is contracting.
Companies that used to hire two junior designers to execute senior direction are now hiring one, or none. A senior designer with AI tools does that work themselves.

The “get a junior role, learn the craft through execution, work your way up” path has fewer rungs now.

But the underlying skill set is more valuable than ever.
The mistake is assuming the job title is what you’re after.

Enter sideways.

Use AI tools aggressively from day one.
Not to skip learning. To learn at 10x the speed.
Build things.
Ship things.
Develop opinions about why things work, not just how to make them.

The goal isn’t to become someone who can execute design tasks. It’s to become someone with genuine taste and clear thinking who also happens to be fluent with the tools.

That person will always be hireable.

For mid-levels: how to survive

This is the most exposed position right now.
And I want to be honest about it.

Mid-level designers are caught between two forces.
Senior enough to be expensive.
Not senior enough to be irreplaceable.
And the work that defined mid-level, taking senior direction and executing it well, is exactly what AI does cheapest.

The temptation is to get better at the craft.
Sharper Figma skills. Cleaner components. Faster delivery.
That’s the wrong move.
You’re competing on a dimension that’s collapsing in value.

The move is to go up, not sideways.
Push into the decisions you’re currently handed.
Ask why the product works the way it does.
Develop strong opinions about strategy.
Learn to run a design critique, not just survive one.
Understand the business well enough to push back on PMs with something other than “that’s a UX problem.”

Pick one domain and go deep.
Healthcare workflows.
Financial dashboards.
Developer tools.
Whatever your product context is, become the person who knows that space better than anyone else in the room.

Domain expertise is one of the few things AI genuinely can’t replicate.
It requires years of exposure to the specific messiness of an industry.

And get fluent with AI tools.

Now.

Not as a party trick.
As a multiplier.

The mid-levels who survive this will be those who can do what used to require a small team.

For seniors: same, but you have more leverage

Here’s the thing.
For seniors, this shift is mostly good news.
If you move deliberately.
And don’t get stuck into UX outdated dogma.

Your judgment, your domain depth, your ability to define what good looks like, these just got more scarce.
The supply of “people who can make interfaces” is exploding.
The supply of “people who know which interfaces to make and why” is not.

The production part of your job, which you often had to manage or do yourself, is now almost entirely offloadable.
That’s leverage.

The opportunity is to restructure how you work.
Retainers over projects.
Smaller client lists, deeper engagement.
Positioning around a specific domain where your experience is genuinely hard to replicate.

The risk is staying comfortable in execution.
The seniors who will look back on this as a turning point are the ones who used the freed-up time to go higher in the conversation.
Earlier in the product process.
Closer to the decisions that actually matter.

The bottom line

The field isn’t dying. It’s splitting in two.

One path leads to irrelevance.
Competing on execution in a market where execution gets cheaper every month.

The other leads to a smaller, better-paid, more strategically positioned version of the profession.

Most of that positioning happens in the next 12 to 18 months.
Not later.

The answer is the same regardless of where you are in your career.
Go toward judgment.
Go toward domain depth.
Get fluent with AI as a tool, not a threat.

And stop reading the panic online as a signal about where the field is actually headed.

The art director didn’t disappear when production got cheaper.
They became the most important person in the room.

What Gets Easier?

1. UI Prototyping & Mockups — Tools like Figma AI, Galileo AI, and Uizard generate UI screens from simple prompts, reducing the need for manual wireframing.

2. Code Generation — AI-powered tools (Cursor AI, Locofy, Anima) turn Figma designs into React/Vue code, allowing faster iteration without needing front-end devs early on.

3. UX Writing & Microcopy — AI can generate contextual copy for buttons, error messages, and tooltips, avoiding blank-state paralysis.

4. User Research Analysis — AI can summarize customer feedback, cluster qualitative data, and suggest actionable insights. No more sifting through endless user interviews manually.

5. Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking — AI scrapes and summarizes competitors’ design patterns, reducing the effort in market research.

6. Usability Testing — AI tools like Maze and UserTesting AI simulate user flows and highlight potential usability bottlenecks faster than manual testing.

7. Localization & Accessibility — AI can automate translations, text adjustments, and accessibility compliance, which were traditionally time-consuming.

What Gets Harder?

1. Standing Out — AI accelerates design, meaning more products start looking similar as founders rely on AI-generated UI. Generic design is now a bigger risk.

2. Originality & Brand Differentiation — AI struggles with intentional visual branding choices. Unique aesthetics require human intervention.

3. Strategic UX Thinking — AI can’t understand deep user psychology or long-term product vision. Founders still need to define what should be built, not just generate screens.

4. Avoiding False Confidence — Founders may trust AI-generated design decisions too much without validating them with real users. AI assists but doesn’t replace user feedback.

5. Over-Reliance on Automations — AI tools suggest what has worked before, reinforcing existing patterns instead of pushing for innovative interactions.

6. Data Quality & Bias — AI-generated user research insights depend on the input data. If your dataset is biased, the AI will mislead you.

7. Complex Interaction Design — AI is great for static screens but struggles with designing complex workflows, state management, and multi-step user journeys.

Bottom Line

AI makes the execution of design faster and cheaper, but differentiation, strategy, and UX thinking become even more valuable.

Founders who rely solely on AI risk blending in, while those who use AI intelligently will have an edge.

‍

1. UI Prototyping & Mockups — Tools like Figma AI, Galileo AI, and Uizard generate UI screens from simple prompts, reducing the need for manual wireframing.

2. Code Generation — AI-powered tools (Cursor AI, Locofy, Anima) turn Figma designs into React/Vue code, allowing faster iteration without needing front-end devs early on.

3. UX Writing & Microcopy — AI can generate contextual copy for buttons, error messages, and tooltips, avoiding blank-state paralysis.

4. User Research Analysis — AI can summarize customer feedback, cluster qualitative data, and suggest actionable insights. No more sifting through endless user interviews manually.

5. Competitive Analysis & Benchmarking — AI scrapes and summarizes competitors’ design patterns, reducing the effort in market research.

6. Usability Testing — AI tools like Maze and UserTesting AI simulate user flows and highlight potential usability bottlenecks faster than manual testing.

7. Localization & Accessibility — AI can automate translations, text adjustments, and accessibility compliance, which were traditionally time-consuming.

What Gets Harder?

1. Standing Out — AI accelerates design, meaning more products start looking similar as founders rely on AI-generated UI. Generic design is now a bigger risk.

2. Originality & Brand Differentiation — AI struggles with intentional visual branding choices. Unique aesthetics require human intervention.

3. Strategic UX Thinking — AI can’t understand deep user psychology or long-term product vision. Founders still need to define what should be built, not just generate screens.

4. Avoiding False Confidence — Founders may trust AI-generated design decisions too much without validating them with real users. AI assists but doesn’t replace user feedback.

5. Over-Reliance on Automations — AI tools suggest what has worked before, reinforcing existing patterns instead of pushing for innovative interactions.

6. Data Quality & Bias — AI-generated user research insights depend on the input data. If your dataset is biased, the AI will mislead you.

7. Complex Interaction Design — AI is great for static screens but struggles with designing complex workflows, state management, and multi-step user journeys.

Bottom Line

AI makes the execution of design faster and cheaper, but differentiation, strategy, and UX thinking become even more valuable.

Founders who rely solely on AI risk blending in, while those who use AI intelligently will have an edge.

What is AI in UX and Product Design?

AI in product design refers to using artificial intelligence to design software products, conduct research, simplify workflows, improve user experiences, and reduce manual effort. From auto-generating wireframes to advanced product analytics, AI offers tools that augment designers’ skills and streamline collaboration.

Why Should You Care?

AI is no longer just a tool for developers. It’s reshaping design processes.

• Speed up prototyping and iteration.

• Uncover insights from data effortlessly.

• Create more personalized and adaptive experiences for users.

• Stay competitive in an AI-driven future.

If you’re a designer, AI can either be your biggest ally—or your competition.

What Problems Does It Solve?

• Time pressure: Faster wireframes, content generation, and analytics.

• Data overload: AI identifies actionable trends and user pain points.

• Communication gaps: Helps articulate design decisions clearly to stakeholders.

• Iteration bottlenecks: Rapidly test and improve designs.

AI Tools

1. Stakeholder Collaboration

Tools that help teams align faster.

• Miro (AI Features): Organizes brainstorming sessions and flow diagrams automatically.

• Figma (AI Features): AI auto-generates component suggestions for faster collaboration.

• Notion AI: Summarizes meeting notes and generates action items for design teams.

2. Research and Insights

• Dovetail (AI Features): Automatically tags and organizes user feedback.

• Lookback (AI Features): Highlights key usability trends from testing videos.

• Maze (AI Feature): Product research, question rephrasing, follow-ups & analysis.

• UserTesting AI: Summarizes user session insights automatically.

• Hotjar AI Insights: Identifies bottlenecks from user heatmaps.

3. UX Design Tools

• Uizard: Turns sketches into interactive prototypes.

• FlowMapp AI: Generates journey maps based on minimal input.

• UX Pilot: Generate high-fidelity UI, wireframes, screen flows and integrate with Figma.

• Uxpressia (AI Features): Persona creation and chat.

• Relme (AI Feature): Sitemap and wireframe builder.

4. UI Design Tools

• Khroma: Recommends custom color palettes.

• Figma Plugins (e.g., Magician): Auto-generates icons and UI assets.

• Framer (AI Feature): Localize content and rewrite copy for Websites

5. AI Coding Tools

Skip the design tool and design in code.

• v0: Transforms design mockups into production-ready front-end code.

• Cursor: AI Code editor that you can design in code and build full-stack apps

• Bolt.new: Enables UI design directly in the browser, outputting clean code.

6. General-Purpose AI Tools

• ChatGPT: Ideate design copy, conduct research, or summarize user interviews.

• Claude: Generate creative solutions or summarize research inputs.

• Perplexity: Quick answers to technical questions during the design process.

What Are the Haters Saying?

Skeptics argue that:

• AI promotes cookie-cutter designs by prioritizing speed over creativity.

• Over-reliance on AI leads to a loss of hands-on design skills.

• It lacks the context and nuance a human designer brings to UX.

• Designers could become mere AI tool operators, not problem solvers.

Will AI Take My Design Job?

Short answer: No.
Long answer: AI excels at repetitive tasks but lacks intuition, empathy, and critical thinking—core components of good design. Instead of replacing you, it changes your role:

• Less manual labor, more strategy.

• Focus shifts from execution to problem-solving.

How to Take Advantage of the Shift

• Learn the tools: Experiment with AI features in tools you already use, like Figma.

• Stay strategic: Focus on big-picture design thinking that AI can’t replicate.

• Specialize: AI tools are generic; your expertise adds specificity.

• Collaborate smarter: Use AI to present data or insights in a way stakeholders understand.

• Upskill: Brush up on analytics, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration.

Free Resources to Learn More

Videos

• AI for UX: Getting Started

• Figma New A.I. Plugins! – UX Pilot, AI Mockups, Typedream, & More

• AI tools for UI Designers

Articles

• Developing UX/AI thinking for a new design world

• Death to double diamond, UX/AI, senior designer salaries

• Revolutionizing User Experience: The Impact of AI in UX Design

This is it. UI design is going to die. It will happen this year.

Don’t freak out.

It’s gonna die at least for me anyway.

I’m kind of over it. I’m not so excited any more to do an endless number of boxes with rounded corners.

We can change this job title as much as we want. Call it UX designer, a product designer or whatever the next thing will be. But at the end of the day, you have a pile of screens you need to produce and maintain. And that to me looks like unimportant, boring work at this point.

Don’t get offended, this used to be my favourite part too. So in the past two years, I’ve been looking for what’s next. I’ve scoured the internet, watched, listened and read for hours. Bought a few very expensive courses. I did all that to find the answer to this question …

Can you do digital product design without opening a UI design tool?

Can you call yourself a designer without doing the pretty visual stuff?

Let’s be honest: you can call yourself whatever you want. Kanye West called himself Jesus at one point and lately, he has been saying he works for God.
So there you go. He just gives us all permission to call ourselves whatever we like. Thanks, Kanye!

But can you bring real value to the people you currently work with without using the Rectangle tool? And I don’t mean being an employee in some of the Fortune 500 startups that have positions such as Design Evangelist or something. Maan this post is getting religious!

Can you make a living selling an expertise-driven product design service that is: For first-time founders and seasoned software makers? Could be offered to companies that already have a full-time UX designer? You do it remotely as a solo operator.

Research

1. Findings From My Working Experience

This might not be your reality if you work in a place with a mature startup community. But this is what I’m finding time and time again. Here are some patterns I’ve spotted:

• They are often first-time software entrepreneurs.

• There is a lack of missions & vision.

• They have a primitive business strategy.

• They don’t have a marketing strategy.

• They don’t have a process of making software.

Growing software startups…
…don’t have clear measurable goals.
…don’t have analytics or if they do, they are not properly set and used.
…don’t have a user research role.
…don’t have a clearly defined growth strategy.
…don’t have a growth process.

2. Findings from SaaS Communities

My goal here was to find the main challenges and goals of SaaS founders.
I’ve searched for polls that members already conducted and I also did a few of my own. Here are some findings:

The type of software they are doing:

• Marketing

• Sales

• HR

Long-term business goal of their SaaS businesses:

• Sustainable income

• Grow it, sell it and start the next venture with the money

Main challenges:

• Create the right product

• User acquisition (aka finding new customers)

• Churn

The most popular analytics tools they use:

• Google Analytics

• Hotjar

• Mixpanel

Places they go to find designers:

• Behance/Dribbble

• Asking around in their network

• UpWork

Possible solutions

Here are a couple of things that could be of value to this market.

Business Design

Business design is an activity that uses design methodologies, a design mindset, and business tools to solve business challenges. It’s the most commonly used practice in bigger design agencies as a complementary discipline. I couldn’t find a solo practitioner. Let me know if you know someone doing this. I would like to speak to them.

Product Strategy

Product strategy is a classic business practice applied to a product. It’s a set of principles that serve as a guide for the company to achieve goals over the long-term. It’s commonly practised in design agencies and in-house product teams as a complementary discipline. I couldn’t find a solo practitioner.

Design Sprint

This is a 4-day fast-paced process for product development, similar to a hackathon. It helps to create a prototype and test it with real users in a few days. It’s commonly practised in design agencies and in-house product teams as a complementary discipline.

There are solo practitioners offering design sprint facilitation or training. So there is a proven market for this. What I’m curious about is whether you can run such a business remotely. I know one guy doing it.

UX Research

This is the process of discovering insights about the industry, the company or the product. It’s commonly practised in design agencies and in-house product teams as a complementary discipline. It can be offered by a solo practitioner. Unfortunately, it’s not as highly valued as the rest of the practices in this list. This sounds a bit absurd but that is my impression. I believe UX research has enormous potential as a standalone offering but just needs better packaging. I might dig into that in the future.

UX Audit

This is a process that produces a document with suggested UX improvements. It’s used for an existing digital product or service and it’s based on best practices and the domain experience of the auditor.

I do this for clients. What I like about it is that it is a short engagement. What I don’t like about it is that the amount of value you can produce for your client is limited. You can do this on your own and make a career out of it or offer it as a low-risk engagement for a first time client.

Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)

It’s all in the name, Conversion Rate Optimisation. It’s the process of improving conversions on a website. It’s commonly practised by agencies specialising only in CRO or solo practitioners. The learning curve for this skill is quite steep because it involves data analysis. What is really attractive about CRO is that it has clear results in numbers you can show at the end. This makes it a no-brainer purchase for clients if you can deliver.

Info Products

I mean e-books, courses and everything in between. Essentially, you design a product teaching how to design a product. It’s a bit meta, I know. It’s a bit industry right now. And it is the place where the most money has been spent in the last few years. And there are opportunities there.

Teaching and sharing knowledge is something I like to do. But it also requires a set of skills that could be challenging for an introvert like me. I’m willing to give it a go with this one. What is your biggest challenge right now? Let me know in the comments and I might do something to help you.

Back to the original question: can you make product design without opening a UI tool? And can you make a valuable solo business doing that?

The answer to the first question is yes.
There are consultancies that offer only the research, strategy and UX. Basically, these disciplines are what determine the success of a product. The rest is rounding corners and making soft drop shadows. This could be done by anyone.

Not all digital products have a UI.
There are video, images, audio, text and codes and you don’t need a UI for them. There is a real demand for this kind of educational or entertainment products right now. And you can use your design skills to make one.

Concerning the second question: can you make a valuable solo business?
It’s hard. It’s a very steep learning curve. In fact, it’s almost a perpendicular wall that you need to climb. To do any solo business, you need to know business. And business is not one skill, it’s a multitude of them: Managing time, money, people, relationships, marketing and delivering good service.

And on top of that, if you want your solo business to be expertise-driven, you need to develop an intellectual property (IP). And in the simplest terms, this is developing a unique knowledge or a tool that solves high-value problems that others can’t. And who wants to do that when you have the option to be a well-fed UI/UX designer playing table tennis in your lunch break.

If you have to pick which of the possible solution would you pick? Let me know in the comments.

Resources

Sam Ovens — Consulting Accelerator
This is one of the most expensive courses I took last year that was worth it. It’s super in-depth about how to create a consulting business. There is nothing about design in this one. It’s all about business. I have to say that Sam is a maniac, the kind I can appreciate. There are some annoying details in his content like the repetition and weird analogies. But overall, the amount of practical stuff in his course far exceeds the faults.
If you decide to give it a go use this link to get $500 off. If the price makes you cringe, check his YouTube videos.

Philip Morgan
Philip is a consultant who helps dev shops specialize and charge more for their expertise instead of selling their time. I have to say that he was my original inspiration for charging for expertise instead of pixels I make.
His book, Positioning Manual, is full of practical advice that applies to designers as well. And it is a great resource if you struggle to find clients or pick a niche.

Alen Faljic — Beyond Users
Alen is a business designer, ex-IDEO business designer. He teaches business to help you be a better designer. He has a course and a super informative podcast if you like to understand business.

AJ&Smart — Design Sprint Masterclass
This is another course that I took last year. It was probably the most practical one for a UX designer. Learn how top tech startups do product development. Even if you don’t see an opportunity to run design sprints, most of the knowledge could be applied to your day-to-day design work.
Important note: Design Sprint is not a process that facilitates the entire product design process from start to finish. It’s a process to use at the start of a new project or when you have a big business or growth challenge you need to tackle. They have an awesome YouTube channel as well.

Conversion XL
This is the best resource so far for CRO and data-driven design that I could find. They are an agency and have a bunch of online courses covering a lot about marketing but also data-driven design. They have as well a lot of free content on their site if you are into this kind of stuff.

My brain exploded.

I just listened to the latest Indie Hacker podcast with Brett Williams founder and sole operator of DesignJoy.

The dude is making over 1 million dollars a year serving 50+ clients.

What!?

Here is what I learned from listening to him talking and digging around his website.

There is no contract

Flat fee monthly subscription — cancel any time. Unlimited revisions. You can pause your subscription if you don’t have work at the moment.

No meetings

There is no “let’s jump on a quick call”. Just Trello. Before subscribing there is an option to have a quick call to check if there is a fit. After that is async communication using Trello and you have the option to record a Loom video.

One task at a time

Every client can have one active task at a time with unlimited revisions. Delivery is typically within two business days.

Automation

Brett uses MemberStack to manage subscriptions. On sign up a Trello board is automatically created (I’m guessing Zapier) and is immediately available for the client to add tasks.

All Trello boards feed into a single Airtable where he tracks the status of all clients and tasks.

The issue of scale

He doesn’t look to hire. So the revenue however big is directly connected to the amount of time he is working. So the only way up is to raise the price.

Lifestyle

Family guy, 3 kids. Working around 10 hours a day. No nights and weekends. I’m guessing no vacations because of the nature of subscriptions.

What’s next

I guess an online course, teaching his playbook. People on Twitter are asking for it. Not sure how he will be able to pull it off with so much client work, but I’m rooting for the guy.

And definitely stealing some ideas for myself.

What is productized design?

Productized design services offer a fixed price with a clear scope and timeline.

Why should you care?

If you like to scale a design service business and want to skip the messy selling process this might be for you.

What problem does it solve?

Selling and delivering design services it’s a messy process for clients and service providers.

Who’s productizing design

• Superside • Design services for growing teams.

• Undullify • 30-minute micro design service.

• Designcrafter • UI/UX for founders of early-stage business software.

• ManyPixels • Unlimited graphic design with a dedicated designer.

• GetAds • Ad creative service.

• Goodpatch • Design strategy studio.

• Penji • Unlimited graphic design.

• Catalog • Design team.

• Website Rescues • Shopify design support.

• One Week Website • HVAC website for 7 days.

• Design Pickle • Unlimited graphic design.

• UX audit • UX audit for apps and websites.

• Designjoy • Design as a Subscription.

• Conversion Crimes • Conversion Rate Optimization and User Testing.

• Draft • Conversion rate optimisation for e-commerce.

• Phasma Design • Unlimited design for health companies.

• Design Project • UI/UX design subscription.

• Kimp • Unlimited Graphic & Video Design.

• Knapsack Creative • Squarespace design.

• Brand Blueprint • Visual branding.

• Usability Hub • User testing.

• Uber Testers • User testing.

• Kapa 99 • Graphic design team on demand.

• Growmodo • Design & dev subscription.

• Delesign • Unlimited designs on-demand.

• We Are Heroes • Unlimited design, user research & strategy.

• Tokyo Calm • Design subscription.

• Conversionde • Conversion design.

• Anytime Design • Unlimited design for apps and websites.

• A Wealthy Woman Website Experience • Branding & web design for female entrepreneurs.

• Savvy Design • SAAS UX/UI design.

• Worst of all design • Branding & web design.

• The Product Onboarders • Improve B2B SaaS product onboarding.

• Green pixel • Full-stack design subscription.

• Ducky unlimited • Unlimited Web & Graphic Design.

• Hotsnow • Design Agency on subscription.

• Snowhouse • All-in-one creative partner.

• Zite • Carrd website design.

• Designdash • Unlimited Web Design Subscriptions.

• Draftss • Design.Video.Code.

• Undullify • Unlimited Graphic Design

Productized design opportunities

• There are already too many unlimited design subscriptions that are difficult to tell apart

• Niche down by choosing to serve a single industry like Phasma Design

• Niche down by platform. Shopify, iOS, Webflow, Framer, Carrd, Android, Kajabi, Teachable … choose one and double down.

• Use websites like Fiverr or Upwork to find a high-demand gig and create a premium productized design service alternative.

• If you are a premium-priced design agency create an affordable productized design service to use as lead gen and a taste of what you offer.

Learn from the founders

• 🎥 Charging Subscription For Design Services: (w/ DesignJoy)

• 🎥 Do you know any entrepreneurs who make money from the start? Meet Russ Perry (Design pickle)

• 🎥 The Intensives Model with Pia Silva (Worst of all design)

• 🎥 Penji CEO Johnathan Grzybowski: Hits $4m revenue helping 1000 customers with unlimited design work

• 🎧 Charge $4,200 A Day As a Creative (The Service That Made $440,000+ For This Web Design Business)

• 🎧 Knapsack Creative Founder Benjamin Manley

• 🎧 A Productized Service—Without Growing a Team—With Nick Disabato (from Draft)

• 🎧 The Keys to Making $1M/Year as a Solo Founder with Brett Williams of DesignJoy

• ✍️ The marketing plan that got us past $100K MRR (Quentin Gilon from ManyPixels)

• 🎧 Dan Norris’ Story of WPCurve: From 7-Day Launch to 7-Figure Productized Service Business

Resources

• ✍️ The Complete Guide to Productized Services [Updated 2022]

• ✍️ How to build a productized service using no-code

• ✍️ Productized Services: Building Systems, Moving Upmarket, Whitelabeling

• 📘 Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You

• 📘 Subscribed: Why the Subscription Model Will Be Your Company’s Future

• 🐦 “a simple set up in Trello that will allow me to manage over $1,000,000+ worth of design work”

• 🐦 “My costs to run Designjoy at $100k/m+.”

‍

Tired of being pushed around by clients?

There are 5 main methods you can help fulfil your client’s needs besides selling your services to them.

I’ve been a design service provider for almost two decades now. And I wanted to solve this for myself, so I did the research.

Here are the 5 most common methods with examples:

Educate them

Teach them how to do it themselves.

• Writing — book, blog, newsletter, report, cheat sheets, email course

• Video — screencasts, workshops, subscriptions

• Audio — podcasts, audiobooks

• Live — workshops, bootcamps, webinars, conferences

• Consulting — individual, group, ongoing, one-off.

Equip them

Outfit them with tools, supplies, components

• Templates — code, visuals, snippets, resources, docs

• Software — feature, downloadable, apps, SaaS

• Components — plugins, workflows, macros, recipes.

Give them access

Connect them to people, places, tools they could not reach or afford.

• Membership — community, forum, list, space, equipment share

• Coaching — individual, group, ongoing, one-off.

Help them outsource

Automate, do it for them, connect to outsourcers.

• Service marketplace — jobs board, niche gig marketplace, a directory with vetted freelancers

• Productize service — fix scope, fix price deal

• Automate — automation workflow or recipe.

Eliminate their need

Change, bypass, or eliminate the need entirely.

• A business model change that bypasses their need

• A strategy change that makes their need irrelevant.

Moving away from the service mindset is not an easy thing. Especially if you’ve been rewarded most of your life doing the hands-on work. But now when you know there are other ways to help people, you will start spotting examples all over the place, and maybe do your own thing.

Side-projects are a big deal as a UI/UX designer.

They help you upskill, explore new interests and sometimes help you earn extra money.

In the past 15+ years as a UI/UX designer, I’ve been collecting ideas for money-making side projects. But there is no way I can act on all of them. So today I will share three of them.

Hopefully, you will get inspired.

#1 No-Code Templates

No-code movement is booming. There is a need for good design.

The no-code community is used to buying templates to speed up the process. And the design quality of most templates is low, mediocre at best. So I wanted to make some extra cash so I will research all the trending no-code, check-the-template marketplaces to see what’s missing or could be improved, and work on that.

There are so many tools, but just to name a few to get you started: Bubble, Adalo, Coda, Glide, Super, and Webflow, of course.

#2 Niche UI Design System

I don’t know about you but I have started buying design systems and UI kits left and right in the past few years.

And there is a shortage of quality there. I have found just one or two that use Figma component variability right and the components are really responsive. Creating a design system is not for everyone. But if you are a pixel nerd and that’s your jam, go for it. The most sold product in Gumroad in the design category is a design system.

This is all you need to know.

#3 Document and Sell Your Design Process

If you have years of experience and you made your own templates to speed up your workflow. That’s a half-done product ready for sale.

Could be anything, docs for user interviews, client onboarding, Figma starter files, workshop templates, even freelance contracts and invoices templates. You can save many people a lot of learning time and make some money in the process.

Make a bundle of docs, set a Gumroad sales page, and promote a free sample with the option to buy the premium.

I know, nothing groundbreaking and innovative.
But you should know that the most profitable businesses are the boring ones. The easiest place to start is an existing market.
And the way to stand out is quality.

You know this by now.

If you want to command premium pricing for your UI/UX design services, you need to niche down.

I’m fascinated with niche design business and I collected a bunch of URLs over the years. It’s so counterintuitive to decide to serve a smaller set of clients and yet one of the easiest ways to separate yourself from the sea of sameness and get paid well.

Today I will share three awesome examples:

#1 An industry niche

This is when you offer UI/UX design services to a single industry.
An industry is a group of companies that are related based on their primary business activities. To mention a few: Healthcare, Fintech, Creator Economy, Wellness, and so on. You get the idea.

Example: Hanno

If you notice Hanno does digital product design for the health industry. But you can’t find a portfolio on their website. What they do instead is have a podcast. Invite people from their industry to chat. This way they meet their new clients. And don’t need to compete with all the rest of the design agencies that lead with polished portfolios.

#2 A platform niche

This is when you offer UI/UX design services to clients that want to build on top of a specific platform.
A platform is a piece of technology providing generic functionality that can be changed by the user to fit their needs. This could be all of the popular no-code platforms like Webflow and Squarespace but also operating systems like iOS, Android, or form factors like wearables and IoT.

Example: Juice Agency

Juice specializes in Webflow design and development. They use their own website to show what they can do for you as a client, making it almost unnecessary to review their portfolio.

#3 A problem niche

This is when you use your UI/UX design skill to solve a business problem.
In these cases, your skillset is almost irrelevant to the client. Because what you offer is a solution to a problem and you come to the solution, it is not that important if you can deliver results. A worthy problem could be turning visitors into paid customers, increasing the average time in-app per user, and reducing churn.

Example: UserOnBoard

UserOnBoard is one person — Samuel Hulick. And he is obsessed with “increasing the likelihood that new users become successful when adopting your product.” He wrote an entire book about onboarding — how about that? On his website, you are not going to see a list of skills or a portfolio with design. But what you will find are other artefacts of his knowledge on the topic. Teardowns of onboarding flows of popular products, training materials, articles, and podcasts.

I hope that got you excited about the idea of niching down.
If you know any other niche design businesses, you can send them my way to add to the collection.

“So, how much …”

Selling design services is a skill in itself that most creatives don’t have and see as a cringe thing they don’t want to do.

If you ask me, the ability to hold your own in a sales conversation is a superpower. Your potential client takes you more seriously and sees you as a peer business owner not so much as an order taker. And you negotiate a deal that both sides are happy with.

Unfortunately…

…selling is seen in creative circles as something you need to deal with begrudgingly to get to the fun part.

And also…

• Selling is done only by super sleazy people and I’m not one of them.

• The value of my work is obvious only by looking at it.

• Whenever I try to negotiate, the situation always turns on me and I end up doing a lot more work for a lot less money than expected.

But don’t worry, there is something you can try that might work for you.

Productize service!

Productize service is a service with a pre-defined fixed price and pre-defined scope of work. You can have a detailed description and terms of service of what you are delivering, with a price attached to it.

This way, your potential client can make a decision without negotiation. So when they reach out, they are already sold and you can get to the fun part.

I’m guessing this sounds cool but still a bit abstract. So here are a few real-life examples for you.

UI/UX as a monthly subscription service

The value proposition to the Client:

• Ongoing UX/UI Design Projects

• Unlimited Revisions

• No Contracts, Cancel Anytime

• Design updates every ≤ 48 hours (Business Days)

Price: $7975/per month
Example: Fairpixels — fairpixels.pro

Done For You User Testing

The value proposition to the Client:

• Get all of the value of user research without any of the hassle. Actionable reports by experts based on usability testing you can easily implement or delegate.

Price: starts at $899 per test
Example: Conversion Crimes — conversioncrimes.com/managed-user-testing/

UX Audit

The value proposition to the Client:

• Solve one problem of a website or an app

• Answer our questions for 2 min

• Wait 3 business days

• You get a detailed report

Price: $500 one time fee
Example: UX Audit — ux-audit.com

Downsides of productize services:

• You leave money on the table by not pricing individually

• If it’s in the lower price range, you need a bigger volume of clients

• You need a reliable marketing channel to drive leads.

If you pull it off you never have to sell yourself again.

In 2017, I was coming out from a massive burnout.

I was spending most of my money on alternative treatments. My daughter was still a baby. I had to find a new project soon or get a full-time job. I had promised myself that I would not get a full-time job until my bank account hit $0.

I start reaching out to old colleagues. And I got a meeting.

After going through this miserable year, I kinda didn’t care whether I got this project or took a full-time job. I doubled my price and I said that I would work from home and visit for meetings.

They said, YES. I could not believe this was happening.

Here are 3 lessons from this project.

#1 Unpopular companies have budgets

The software they are building was super niche. Not sexy. And profitable.

There is this fetish among UI/UX designers to work for companies that are popular. I get it. You get some bragging rights and instant credibility for the next job. But for some reason, I don’t care for that. The working vibe of the founders and the team was super chill with no pretences.

I would rather have that than the pressure of popularity.

#2 Higher pay = more trust

No micro-managing. You set the rules for how design is done in the project.

You might think the opposite. If they pay you more, they make sure they get their money’s worth by keeping you busy. But no. I got plenty of time to research and explore solutions. I got involved with the founders with their business strategy and shaping the future product.

This project left me with no tolerance for clients that sit on the shared screen with you and tell you to move this to the left and make it bigger.

#3 Do a retainer contract

This was not a quick project. The scope was massive, and there was no way I could give a fixed project.

In this case, structuring the engagement as a retained contract makes the most sense. A retainer is basically a monthly salary. The plus for you is you get recurring revenue for months. If you have time, you can work on other projects as well. You run the process as an outside consultant. The plus for your client is that they don’t pay health insurance and when the work is done the contract is discontinued.

As a solo UI/UX designer, I have found that retainer contracts are one of the keys to building a sustainable income.

Bottom line. Charge more. It’s better for you and your clients.

Imagine that…

You are 54 years old.

If you are lucky you have 10 more years of pushing pixels around the screen for 8 hours a day before you retire.

This makes me sad.

I’m now 37.

I’ve been in front of the screen for almost two decades. And I’m starting to think about these things. Am I still going to do the same thing 20 years from now? I hope not.

So what are my options?

Become a manager

As my daughter likes to say — Yuck!

This means getting hired as a design manager or starting my own design agency. I’ve tested that option in some small ways. And it seems unnatural to me. Interacting with a lot of people on a daily basis sucks out my energy.

If I’m optimizing for money, it might be a temporary option. But not for long.

Get out of design

If I put less screen time as a top priority, I have to consider this.

I’m coming from an art background. Being a full-time visual artist was my dream growing up. I have tried to pursue that. Didn’t work. It still sits at the back of my mind but I haven’t seen a roadmap that I’d like to approach.

Or should I look for something boring and profitable — real estate!?

Design solopreneur

I like the sound of that!

Leverage my design skill to create a portfolio of small digital products that will replace my design service income. This way I don’t have to trade screen time for money. No boss, no clients. Oh, but wait — then you got customers.

Well, it’s not the best plan but at least it’s a thing that I’m excited to work on.

Is there another option? I wonder if I’m missing something? Did someone already figure that out and I’m not aware of it?

Last year was pivotal for my solo design business.

I made 3 main changes.

Things that I have known for years that I needed to do but always postponed because it’s easier this way.

Things that if you make the effort to even merely do, will have a significant positive impact on your business.

So, let’s break it down.

#1 The stash:

This is the runway money that I have saved.

It’s around 6 months of living expenses. Even 3 months is fine. Sometimes it makes sense to suffer through a few shit projects just to get that cushion. So when you jump on a call with potential clients, you don’t have the feeling that you HAVE to get the project. It changes your mindset and you don’t even know it.

#2 New client rule:

New client, new price.

I used to say the same price for at least two years before I realized there is no reason for that. For the next new client, you just double the price, keep a straight face, and shut up until the client says something. Also, have a lower number in mind that is at least 50% higher than your previous that you cannot go below.

If they try to lower the ball, you say “this is the lowest I can go, lower than that doesn’t make sense for me to do the project”.

#3 Project size rule:

No more “quick fixes”, “just a few screens”, “it shouldn’t take that much time”.

Only big projects with the potential of a multi-month retainer contract. One time, I remember I counted 7 different projects that I worked on on the same day. Only one was portfolio-worthy. The rest that I was doing were scraps because I couldn’t say no. Not any more.

If you do these 3 things, I’m not going to be surprised if you managed to double your income as well. I’m not saying it’s easy. I’m saying it works, you should try it.

Let me tell you how I got my first Web3 gig as a designer, and how you can do it too without any prior experience.

Web3 is booming.

Venture capital firms and the crypto community is pumping money into it.

And there is a shortage of talent.

There is an opportunity for you and your developer friends to get early in and build expertise. Become an expert and secure yourself a fat paycheck for the next 5 to 10 years.

Unfortunately, most people believe it is too difficult to get in.

Because…

“…crypto is complicated stuff, and I don’t have any experience.”

• “I don’t understand how this crypto thing even works.”

• “I don’t have similar projects in my portfolio.”

• “This whole thing sounds like a foreign language to me.”

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can get yourself to a legit candidate for a week or two in your spare time.

Here’s how.

Week 1: Learn the lingo and key concepts.

In your spare time, start researching. Google the basics.

Then go deep.

Top DeFi projects? What is NFT? Top NFT projects? Top crypto gaming projects? Top crypto tools.

Write down everything you don’t understand and Google it the next day.
See what catches your interest the first two days and double down.

Week 2: Put some skin in the game

Create a MetaMask wallet.

Create an account in an exchange like Coinbase or Binance. Learn about gas fees. Buy some crypto assets. Don’t try to make a profit. Pick two cryptocurrencies and one NFT. Don’t spend more than $20 on each.

Now you know the main user flows of this industry.

Week 3: Join the community & contribute

Google “crypto hackathons”. There is a bunch of websites. One is GitCoin.co.
Go on the website and find the Discord link and join. Repeat.

Introduce yourself, share your previous experience, and that you like to contribute to UI/UX. Hackathon teams are forming all the time. So most likely, people will DM you with offers.

If no one reaches out be proactive, offer to design someone’s idea. Share the process in the community and ask for feedback to build some credibility.

Expressing interest and enthusiasm are key in these first interactions.

This is how you get your first Web3 project in your portfolio.

Since this is a relatively new field, this one project turns you into a credible candidate for most Web3 design jobs.

Being a senior professional sounds like you know what you are doing.

But it’s not always the case.

The only thing that being senior indicates is the years you’ve done the same job. They are still things I get wrong and I like to improve on.

Here is a list. Let’s keep it short so I don’t appear too incompetent.

#1 Let the client lead

I’m the professional. I’m the person that should lead the design process.

I sometimes forget that. Get enchanted by the idea and we end up in a 2-hour brainstorming call that leads to nowhere. Instead, I need to show the way of doing things step-by-step. Creating a backlog where we capture random ideas that we might or might not do in the future.

Only if I cannot forget that next time I get in front of an exciting new idea.

#2 Go template-less

If you are following the same process, why not use templates for everything?

If you know what you are doing, you are following the same process. And I have a collection of templates that I have collected or created over the years. And every time I pick and choose, I modify them or create a new structure on the fly. Templates for marketing material, sales calls, client onboarding, collecting insights, user interviews and design review. You name it — could be a template for that.

There is no good reason why not.

#3 Accepting inessential work

I can do good quality brand identity work. But should I?

If I’m hired to design a software product, why do I keep saying ‘yes’ when they ask me, “can you do the logo as well?” I know. It’s a fun job. But if you say yes too early to too many inessential product tasks, you lose. You lose credibility. You are seen as the guy that can make your ugly slide deck look slick. And before you know it, you have one more job as a personal assistant to someone.

No thanks.

I still think about the templates. I might do something about that. I just did a quick search and I don’t see a good solution out there.

I’ve been doing research on Web3 as a senior UX designer for the past year. Here are the things newcomers and design colleges are complaining about online and in person.

Challenges for newcomers

Unclear value proposition. New users don’t see the upside of learning all those new concepts in order to join the early adopters.

Where to buy crypto? New users don’t know how to choose the right places to buy their first crypto.

What crypto to buy? New users don’t know how to choose the right crypto to buy.

Wallet? How to use a crypto wallet? Which one is the right one?

Managing private key. This is a security measure for your crypto wallet. It is seen as more of an inconvenience than a blocker. But it means more responsibility such that new users are not sure if they want to use it long term without a clear incentive.

KYC. Or know your customer. It’s a standard for verifying the user’s identity and is used by platforms like Coinbase. In this process, you need to provide documents for ID and address proof. After submitting your docs, approval might take a day or two. And that kills users’ momentum and excitement.

What is a gas fee? How does it work? Why is it levied?

Copywriting. Most writing on project websites sounds cool and clever but lacks clarity. For whom is this? The benefits of using it are often missing.

Transaction time. Why does a transaction take so much time — isn’t it supposed to be instant?

Off-tamp. How do I turn my crypto back into fiat currency? Where? How much will it cost me?

Tax. How do I pay tax on my investments or cashouts?

Design and industry challenges

User research. How do you do your research without compromising user privacy? Often most active users like to keep their anonymity. How do you design for someone you don’t know and who’s not willing to talk to you?

Protocol-first product. Currently, core product decisions are made way in advance at a protocol level and UX design needs to adjust for protocol first and human needs second.

Fast pace projects. Web3 project founders are rushing to ship the new product and features, pressured by FOMO and investors. This results in poor long term solutions, major hacks, and burned out dev teams.

User-research on protocol level. There is a lack of public data. What is the dev experience interacting with the protocol and the fidelity of tooling?

If there is one thing that the Web3 design community needs to focus on, it’s BUILDING TRUST at every step of the user journey. And trust is built over time by clear communication, bringing value, and keeping promises.

About 390,000 results.

This is the number of results you get when you search “UI/UX designer” on LinkedIn.

Niching down is not optional anymore.

Most people start broad and that’s okay. You have to explore, learn the tools, see what you like and what you don’t. But when it is 2–3 years later, you start looking around to see if you are on the right track to becoming a valuable design expert.

But how do you know? What should you look for and aim for?

Here are 3 early signs you have found your UI/UX design niche:

#1 Market Size

Can you pinpoint your competitors? Are there more than 10 and fewer than 200?

Fewer than 10 means there might not be enough demand for whatever niche you choose. Don’t try to validate new markets -go where someone has done that for you. If there are more than 200, it is getting crowded and might be difficult to differentiate. But this is still better than fewer than 10.

You can research this by simply Googling or searching in places like Dribbble or LinkedIn. For example “fintech UI/UX”, “fintech designer”. To be honest, even “fintech” is too broad. “DeFi fintech designer” is better.

#2 Non-obvious insights

Do you know more than most designers in your area of focus?

Can you list 10 non-obvious insights from your niche?

Do you hold any controversial opinions that come from experience?

When you talk with clients or stakeholders, do they get an “aha moment” just by you asking very specific questions?

If you don’t have that, start researching. Review the top 10 apps in your niche, compare experiences and take notes.

#3 Niche hangouts

Does your niche have their own hangouts?

Industry events, conferences, Subreddit, Slack channel, Discord community. Do they organise? Is there a dedicated newsletter, blog or other media where they get their niche info? First, if you can’t find such places online, this is a bad sign. This means you are either too early, or there is not enough demand for people to exchange knowledge. Second, if this is the case, you have to be there. Sharing knowledge, helping out.

Finally, make sure you pick a niche that has more money than time. The worst clients are the ones with a lot of ideas and a minimum budget. It’s your choice — so choose well.

“Obviously, you are an expert at this.”

This is what a potential client told me in the first 15 minutes of our initial conversation. I have noticed in my 15+ year design career that if you do some subtle little things, clients instantly see you as an expert.

Here are my top 3:

#1 Talking money

Addressing money upfront.

Don’t put it off ‘till the end of the conversation. Go in with numbers in mind. The number for a minimum level of engagement aka the lowest number you are willing to work for. Know the approximate time frame of different price points and also deliverables. Make sure you can say a big number and shut up until you hear a reaction. And don’t be quick to backtrack. Ask questions with the intent of trying to understand what the client values.

Talking money means you understand business.

#2 Diagnosing without prescribing

Asking specific questions that give you information that will help your client make a better decision.

The quality of your questions shows your expertise. Come prepared with at least 3 of those. Never jump to prescribing solutions too quickly. Solutions should come from research. And, yes, first client conversations are also part of the research — but never all of it.

Take your time to understand the challenge.

#3 Don’t do it all

Specialise exceptionally well in one thing. That’s why they are hired.

I know that you are talented and you can do the illustrations and the logo design too. But this turns you from a brain surgeon into a general practitioner. So, focus on one thing and downplay the rest. Get hired, win their trust with your core skill and upsell the rest later.

Be a brain surgeon, not a GP.

I guess it’s around $20K now.

The amount of money I have spent on courses.

This might be a problem if you ask some people.

For me, it’s education that works.

I have originally studied fine arts, so the whole design and business thing is all self-taught thanks to the internet.

So, here are 3 courses that help me change my mind along the way.

Consulting Accelerator

This was all about the digital-first type of consulting, not so much the traditional business consulting.

How to adopt a scientific method and apply it to solo business. Find a niche, market, sell and deliver a high-ticket productized consulting service.

It changed my mind about selling. As a creative, I’ve always been repelled when it comes to selling yourself, your product or your service. I was of the opinion as most creatives that work speaks for itself. Turns out I don’t know what I’m talking about.

30x500

This is an indie hacker classic at this point.

You learn the audience-first approach to product making. It teaches you how to “read your customer’s mind” and create products they want and need.

It changed my mind about creating content. Before I thought that you had to be an academic writer or something to be “allowed” to write for others.

This course kinda tricked me into writing online. And look at me now — I never studied English, was a borderline dyslexic, introverted designer writing a half-distinct article.

Creative Class

This is where it all started for me. It’s Paul Jarvis’s fault — the first successful solo designer guy that I stumbled upon on the internet.

I found his course when I went freelance full-time. I learned how to not call myself a freelancer and treat it as a business. How to operate like a professional who people can rely on.

It changed my mind about going solo long term. Before, all my examples were people doing it on the side or between jobs. For the first time, I could picture myself doing this for years.

Sometime in the future, I would like to create my own version of that — how to do solopreneurship as a borderline dyslexic introverted designer. Help some weirdos like myself.

Let’s talk about bad clients and how to spot them.

In my 15+ years of career as a UI/UX designer, I’ve worked with all kinds of people. I have to say that most people are good people with good intentions. But even among those good people, there are a lot of bad clients.

Here are three toxic trades that can poison the client relationship that you can spot early in the engagement:

#1 No Goals

It’s obvious they don’t know what they need and don’t have a goal.

This can lead to endless iterations. Clients with shiny object syndrome jump from one thing to the next. They often don’t make a distinction between the tactics and the goal. They often share conflicting information. For example, they might tell you about their grandiose app ideas with 20 features and then ask you to give them a price for 5 screens max.

If you spot that — run!

#2 No Timeline

They don’t have even a rough timeline.

This means this could drag in time indefinitely. Potentially slow feedback cycle. No timeline means no conscience in whatever you are doing, ending up with resentment on both sides and a project you can’t use for your portfolio.

This type of client often says, “You can take your time, we can work on it as long as it takes.”

If you spot that — run!

#3 No Money

They avoid budget questions or asking you for a price too early.

In these cases, they already know they don’t have the budget and are looking to bargain with you. Sorry, those are the worst clients. As I said before, good people but bad clients. They often want to pay you in exposure or they have a next project coming up with a bigger budget, “We just need to do this one first.”

If you spot that — run!

So how do you run from bad clients?

First, always be polite. I don’t even have to say that. But just in case. You can use language like this, “Based on what you’ve said so far, it seems to me that we might not be a good fit.” And make a suggestion of what you think they should do instead of hiring you. If they ask why you can always voice your concerns.

Make sure they don’t change your mind with an empty promise.