In this special Halloween episode, we follow Evelyn—a weary UX researcher trapped in a testing loop that refuses to end. Each new participant looks strangely familiar. Each test begins the same way. And no matter what she changes, they all say the same thing: “I can’t find the button.”

The real horror? It’s not the prototype that’s broken… It’s her process.

Today, we’re trading our usual interviews for a Halloween story straight out of every designer’s worst nightmare: The Infinite Usability Test.

Meet Evelyn—a mid-level UX researcher running a morning of user tests that won’t quit. Every time she adjusts the design, another “Alex” walks in and repeats the same fateful words: “I can’t find the button.”

As the day unravels, Evelyn realizes she’s stuck in more than a bad sprint—she’s caught in a validation loop. Each fix only pulls her deeper into the same mistakes, and each round of testing brings her face-to-face with the one insight she’s been avoiding all along.

Because sometimes, the scariest thing in UX isn’t user feedback…

It’s hearing something you didn’t expect.

Join us for a hauntingly familiar tale about deadlines, doubt, and the difference between proving you’re right and learning that you’re not.

Will Evelyn escape the room—or will she keep testing until the end of time?

Tune in to find out… if you dare.

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Featuring Actress and UX Designer extraordinaire, Stephanie Terrero

If you enjoyed this spooky UX Design scary story, check out our previous episodes:

• The Stakeholder from Hell

• The Tale of the Cursed Prototype

• A Cautionary Tale of Deceptive UX Patterns

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Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today’s episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today’s episode, why don’t you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our email list. We won’t spam you. Pinky swear.

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If you’ve ever wondered why you’re still “senior” after years of great work, this episode is for you. Catt Small joins me to unpack what it actually takes to step into a staff designer role—the skills, mindset shifts, and invisible work no one tells you about.

You’ve nailed the craft, shipped great work, and mentored others. So why are you still stuck at senior?

Getting promoted isn’t always about skill gaps. Sometimes it’s about visibility, influence, and how you show up. In this episode, I sit down with Catt Small, Staff Product Designer, developer, and author of The Staff Designer, to explore what separates a strong senior designer from a true staff-level one.

Catt shares the lessons that inspired her book: the moments of frustration, the confusion around “influence,” and the realization that being good at your craft isn’t enough. We talk about the transition from execution to strategy, how to set a vision, navigate organizational politics, and build the kind of social capital that makes people listen when you speak.

If you’re wondering what’s next after senior, or how to stop spinning your wheels, this episode breaks down the hidden skills that actually move your career forward. It’s a candid look at how to lead without managing, earn trust across disciplines, and find meaning in the messy middle of your career.

Topics:

• 04:19 - Cat Small's Journey in Design

• 09:39 - Understanding the Transition from Senior to Staff

• 12:02 - The Role of Influence in Career Growth

• 14:14 - Navigating Titles and Organizational Structures

• 30:31 - The Importance of Vision in Design

• 36:22 - Enhancing User Experience with Prototypes

• 38:01 - Inspiring Vision and Influence

• 39:12 - Negotiating and Planning for Vision Execution

• 41:55 - Building Cross-Functional Collaboration

• 46:41 - Balancing Craft and Soft Skills

• 50:57 - Delegation and Accountability in Design

• 57:34 - Promoting Your Work and Final Thoughts

Helpful Links:

• Connect with Catt on LinkedIn

• The Staff Product Designer

• Staff Designer: Influence & Lead as an Individual Contributor

—

Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today’s episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today’s episode, why don’t you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our email list. We won’t spam you. Pinky swear.

• Get a FREE audiobook AND support the show

• Support the show on Patreon

• Check out show transcripts

• Check out our website

• Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

• Subscribe on Spotify

• Subscribe on YouTube

• Subscribe on Stitcher

We underestimate how long projects will take—even when experience tells us otherwise. In this episode, I break down the planning fallacy: why it happens, how it derails projects, and what you can do to protect your team from unrealistic deadlines.

Why do we keep convincing ourselves that this time the project will be different, when it almost never is?

Every designer has been there: a bold timeline handed down from leadership, optimism in the air, and a quiet voice inside whispering, there’s no way this is going to happen. That voice is usually right, and it’s the planning fallacy at work.

In this episode, I share a real-world story of a global team tasked with rebuilding a massive legacy app on an impossible one-year deadline. The result? Chaos, delays, and missed expectations—classic symptoms of the planning fallacy. Along the way, I connect this to famous examples like the Sydney Opera House project and explain why even seasoned experts fall into the same trap.

Most importantly, I walk through practical strategies for beating the bias: using reference class forecasting, building in buffers, involving cross-functional teams in estimation, and learning from past outcomes. Because if we can see the planning fallacy for what it is, we can start making more realistic commitments—and protect our teams from burnout and broken trust.

Want to keep exploring cognitive biases that impact design teams? Subscribe to the Cognition Catalog newsletter and get a new bias in your inbox every week.

Topics:

• 01:57 The Planning Fallacy in Action

• 03:54 Understanding the Planning Fallacy

• 05:50 Consequences of the Planning Fallacy• 07:30 Strategies to Combat the Planning Fallacy

To explore more about the Bike-Shedding Effect, don’t miss the full article @ cognitioncatalog.com

What if the most powerful skill you could develop as a designer has nothing to do with Figma or AI? In this episode, we explore why writing is the ultimate meta-skill—sharpening your thinking, influencing decisions, and accelerating your career in unexpected ways.

Is writing the most underrated design skill of all time?

We spend a lot of time talking about design skills like prototyping, facilitation, and AI tools. But what if the skill that strengthens all of those is the one designers most often ignore?

In this episode, I sit down with Thijs Kraan, a designer-turned-growth partner, who makes the case that writing is the ultimate meta-skill. For Thijs, writing every day didn’t just sharpen his thinking; it multiplied his impact. From running a 30-day challenge to publishing daily posts, writing became the catalyst for everything else in his career.

We talk about the difference between business writing, expert writing, and copywriting, why clear writing equals clear thinking, and how documentation can protect your career when tough decisions come back months later. We also tackle the elephant in the room: AI. Should you let ChatGPT do your writing, or will that shortcut make you worse in the long run?

Whether you’re trying to influence stakeholders, sharpen your thinking, or just get better at your day-to-day communication, this conversation will show you why writing might just be the most important design skill you haven’t been practicing.

Tune in and see why it’s time to pick up the pen (or keyboard).

Topics:
• 02:45 – The Importance of Writing in UX Design
• 04:19 – Thijs Kron’s Journey: From Web Development to Writing
• 06:05 – The Power of Writing in Design Thinking
• 06:31 – Building a Writing Habit
• 15:06 – Writing as a Meta Skill
• 20:55 – Different Types of Writing for Designers
• 22:33 – The Role of Copywriting in Design
• 24:36 – Writing as a Career Multiplier
• 28:38 – The Impact of AI on Writing
• 30:19 – Balancing AI and Human Thinking
• 31:35 – Personal Experience with AI in Writing
• 32:43 – Effective Uses of AI for Writing
• 34:54 – The Risks of Over-Reliance on AI
• 36:13 – Practical Tips for Writing and Thinking

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Thijs on LinkedIn

—

Thanks for listening! We hope you dug today’s episode. If you liked what you heard, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts! And if you really enjoyed today’s episode, why don’t you leave a five-star review? Or tell some friends! It will help us out a ton.

If you haven’t already, sign up for our email list. We won’t spam you. Pinky swear.

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Get a FREE audiobook AND support the show⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

• ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Support the show on Patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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