I used to hate the process of being a product designer… until I found out what was actually killi...

I used to hate the process of being a product designer… until I found out what was actually killi...I used to hate the process of being a product designer… until I found out what was actually killi...

The network for creativity

Join 1.25M professional creatives like you

Connect with clients, get discovered, and run your business 100% commission-free

Creatives on Contra have earned over $150M and we are just getting started

Back to feedPost

Divine Macaulay

• Aug 18

I used to hate the process of being a product designer… until I found out what was actually killing my productivity.

When I became a product designer at first I found it quite hard to keep up with my peers. I would feel defeated because I wouldn’t attract the right kind of client or I couldn’t spot the best way to solve a conversion problem and at some point I got tired of hating the process.

So I got to the root of the problem turns out my body could not handle the intense environment and trying to push myself the way others were doing it was making my productivity get worse.

So I stopped trying to be like everyone else.

I hyper fixated on the times I was able to deliver. What was I eating ? How did I sleep? What actually gave me the energy to work for 10 hours straight?

The results were a bit surprising … it was TEA

So I budgeted an amount and went straight to the pharmacy to stock up on different herbal teas from China and India and that was the best decision I made for myself to date!!

Sometimes we hurt our bodies because we are trying to keep up with others that have found what worked for them. Everyone is different and as long as we bring out the right results for a client the methods we use to keep our mental state in check are worth it.

Maciej Cekalo

• Aug 17

How do you keep a brand's promise of calm intact once real users start clicking through checkout?

Mudita builds minimalist devices around one idea: technology that harmonizes with your life instead of competing for your attention. The brandbook lays that promise out in detail - tone, restraint, what the brand should never feel like. My job was carrying that same discipline into the product itself.

I worked across the checkout flow, the storefront and category browsing, and the product page above the fold - three surfaces where small frictions had quietly built up against the brand's own case for calm. The brandbook gave the rules. The UI work was making sure those rules survived contact with a real cart and a real user.

For the case study visuals, I used AI for the first time to produce product footage 🤖 - wind moving through a scene, an object drifting in place. Higgsfield was genuinely a good way to learn that workflow fast.

Full case study - actual before/after breakdowns - is up on Behance 🔗, linked below.

Genuinely curious where people land on this: generating production assets with AI is fast, and honestly kind of fun as a workflow - but there's real pushback that it's taking work away from people who used to shoot this stuff. Where do you fall on that?

UX Design Higgsfield AI Lottielab UI Design Figma Brand Design

Maty Sandoval

max

• Aug 17

The checkout flow detail is what stands out to me, that's usually where a brand's calm promise turns into three different button behaviors fighting each other. On your AI question, I think it matters less whether it's fast and more who's checking the output against the brand's...

Marta Wasilewska

• Aug 17

brand identity design for VELA — a luxury candle brand built around one idea: a candle burns for a few hours, but the memory lasts considerably longer. this project includes full packaging design, botanical illustration, brand identity, and campaign visuals — all designed to turn everyday moments into unforgettable memories. scent is the fastest way back to a feeling. VELA was designed to take you there. if you're looking for a brand designer or packaging designer for your next project — I'm open for freelance & full-time work. link in bio.

Completed work