Chris Freitag

👋 Hello! Quick intro: I’m a UX Designer (or whatever it is we call ourselves these days) primarily designing SaaS products. I like to talk about user experience, the state of design, and how the tech industry has gone off the rails. If that’s your cup of ☕️, please follow along.

I read that letter going around today from the AI safety researcher who left Anthropic. And so I decided to ask Claude about it. www.creativefriday.com/blog/who-wil...

In this new year, I'm making a bold statement. If you or anyone you know is looking for some help to take your AI-Generated go-to-market design and turn it into something people want to use, contact me. That's the general message. www.creativefriday.com

I didn't want to get ahead of myself and say anything before people signed the paperwork but I got two new contracts last week for my design business! I have no idea how I'm doing any of this.

I've updated my #ux and #productdesign site. I'm not sure having this does me any good these days, I don't know if people still search and go through web sites as a lead anymore. www.creativefriday.com

Here's a quick look at how I'm using AI.

This is exactly what I see happening with all the creative jobs that people want to replace with AI. For a moment, we will feel the pain. But our skills will be desirable, and we will adapt. #UX #design #writing youtu.be/1gOX7a1kUNQ?...

New blog post 🎯 Design isn’t just a department, it’s a way of thinking. And when it is integrated and not treated as a separate phase, you build better products. Read it here: www.creativefriday.com/blog/design-...

Something that's bothered me for years in the #ux design space… How👏 can👏 a👏 professional👏 designer👏 tear👏 down👏 another👏 designer's👏 work👏 without👏 context??? Amplified this week by Apple's new system design decisions. #apple #design

Closing out my 3-part series on perceived performance over real outcomes, my latest post looks at how leadership decisions shape (and sometimes distort) the value of work. #ux #design #product https://www.creativefriday.com/blog/leadership-loyalty-and-the-disappearing-workforce

Your #YouTube thumbnail matters, people. #design #apple

Here’s an opportunity for me to remind people that regardless of how you feel about Apple’s new #UI layer, you’ll use it. And whether you love it or hate it, it will begin to fade as you use it everyday. But #UX problems that bother you in Apple’s systems will continue to persist. #Design

My professional consulting site is live, but in an early state. I am working on the Case Studies page and then will take down my old portfolio link. I'm also moving my blog from Medium to my site. https://www.creativefriday.com

The word "productivity" abounds throughout LinkedIn and social media. The new holy grail, with AI as the driving force. But this idea that speed is inherently better? That faster output = better outcomes? It's born from…nowhere. https://medium.com/creative-friday/the-illusion-of-progress-ff0a4d49ff

Critiques used to feel brutal. Over time (and with great mentors), I learned how to explain why a design works. Now with AI, a lot of people are experiencing the pain for the first time. But skipping critique doesn’t help. It holds us back from making great products. medium.com/creative-fri...

Went to file my state periodic report for my business today and was instructed to file with the federal FinCEN database (financial crimes enforcement). I go fill out pages of forms and submit my information, and I get this alert message… *AFTER* I went through the whole process. #ux

In a world obsessed with speed, screens, and stakeholder sign-offs, it's easy to lose sight of the slower, more meaningful parts of the process: discovery, intuition, empathy. Would love to hear your thoughts. 👇 https://medium.com/creative-friday/fast-cheap-and-thoughtless-the-new-design-crisis-5ac

What's left unsaid when tech leadership says that we need to reskill the workforce, is that is that I like what I do. I chose it for a reason. And I do not want to use AI to do my job for me, because doing my job is what I love about what I do. #uxdesign #ux #design

It's my desire to try to pivot and try to get my own #ux consulting business off the ground, maybe even sell some of my photography and photography services. And some days I'm all gung-ho about it, and other days, like today, I can't get moving. I can't afford "off" days now.

Is it overstepping my bounds to message the hiring manager if we are already connected on LinkedIn somehow? I don't know how we are connected, but we are. #ux #uxdesign #jobsearch

I feel like I have a new problem brewing in that I don't know how to keep track of and organize all of these AI chats and all this new-found productivity. I have so many open windows these days. #ux

This work by @arie.ls is inspiring.

It's great watching the advancement of AI take the jobs and roles of #ux and #ui and #graphicdesign and #userresearch and start pumping out the modern-day equivalent of Yahoo Web Templates from 20 years ago.

Based on what I see and what I'm experiencing, I may never get a #UX job again. What people are hiring for right now are #UI designers and they want designers who pump out designs as fast as possible. Which leads me to also think that I've seen this play out before. "Full stack designer" is back.

I'm going in a whole new direction with my portfolio site. May need to move to a platform like Squarespace because my free Adobe Portfolio space is too restrictive. Any platform recommendations for hosting a portfolio and getting leads for consulting?

I swear, the recruiting conundrum of every applicant submitting carbon copies of AI generated CVs submitted to AI generated job postings is going to be the first AI domino to fall. It will become clear that AI talking to itself is a problem.

In my latest Creative Friday Design #YouTube video, I talk about my frustration with the UX/UI job title and why I see it as a misunderstanding of the #design function. I think it all comes down to the terrible label of #uxdesign youtu.be/2LvXnGKRw2I

It is disturbing that a resume is no longer a qualifier for #designers, that instead the industry has shifted to lining up design portfolios and selecting from that pile. Like the designer has become the design and the client is choosing which one they like best. It has removed our achievements.

I am starting a new #YouTube channel around my #UX Design career. I'll cover a wide range of topics from #Design tutorials to the state of #AI and its affect on Design. Hopefully it goes somewhere! Creative Friday Design Trailer

I can't stress this enough, keep a network of people you've worked with or have met. You're an introvert? So am I! I think it contributes to being a good #UXDesigner, but you've got to build that network. My network saved me from a grueling job search after being laid off on Friday.

I just secured a contract Product Designer position and I start next Monday! I was so fortunate with timing, laid off on Friday, reached out to someone I worked with before, they were looking.

At 9am today I was laid off. I never had a chance. When new leadership came in, they had their own #ux agency they liked working with. They swore up and down I wasn't knowledge transferring to my replacement. They lied, and I should have known better.

So far I'm using #AppleIntelligence approximately never in my day-to-day use on my phone. While I will take time out to go use AI features for some tasks, I do not use any AI from any company as an integrated part of my day. Not a single AI feature released so far is must-have for me.

My email inbox is getting full of service after service notifying me of my monthly price increases beginning in 2025. You know what's not increasing? My salary.

Why do I ever open up LinkedIn? I think I started doing it more when I was trying to convince myself that I'm fortunate to even have a job right now in tech. But that place paints a more and more depressing picture each day. #uxdesign

We don't yet have the data on the long-term damage caused by having an app on your phone tied to your credit card where you can legally, simply, and effortlessly gamble on sports. But I guarantee we are just waiting to read the data we already know. #ux #darkpatterns

GET 👏 IT 👏 OUT 👏 OF 👏 YOUR 👏 HEAD #design #ux #uxdesign

Hey, "agentic" design is a new buzzword that I hate already. I blame LinkedIn. #design

Nothing in your design job is worth losing your cool over. Everything you’re designing in software will be altered/abandoned/killed after you’ve moved on. #ux #uxdesign

Agile's promise is lost, replaced by a Kanban board for micromanagement. Waterfall release cycles have returned, hindering quick testing and learning with any changes going in the backlog. This regression prioritizes output volume and leads to job losses based on activity reports. #ux #uxdesign

Started as a Graphic Designer. Taught myself to code and became a Web Designer. Learned about usability and became an Information Architect. The industry changed the label to UX Designer, now Product Designer. All the while it was just me, a Designer, learning and growing over the years.

I'm wondering if people use #ai tools as a way to perform their job job, their task, consistently. I have this feeling that people use it, and they are even delighted, but have a fall off in engagement over time because of status quo bias. #ux