Chris Freitag
@creativefriday.bsky.social
Information architecture nerd, designer of whiz bangs, wisher of better experiences. Big time Apple geek.
http://creativefriday.com
http://creativefriday.com
Pinned
👋 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.
If that’s your cup of ☕️, please follow along.
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
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
December 31, 2025 at 9:09 PM
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
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.
December 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
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
www.creativefriday.com
Creative Friday Design | Product Design and UX Strategy
Creative Friday offers expert UX strategy, user research, and design services that turn ambiguity into clarity for startups and enterprises alike.
www.creativefriday.com
September 3, 2025 at 4:20 PM
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
www.creativefriday.com
Here's a quick look at how I'm using AI.
How I’m Using AI | Creative Friday
A practical look at how I use AI tools like ChatGPT, UX Pilot, and V0 in my design consulting work. Plus, a warning about what gets lost when teams treat AI as a shortcut instead of a collaborator.
www.creativefriday.com
August 18, 2025 at 8:26 PM
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?...
For a moment, we will feel the pain. But our skills will be desirable, and we will adapt. #UX #design #writing
youtu.be/1gOX7a1kUNQ?...
Moneyball Was Supposed to Kill the Human Eye - The Opposite is Happening
YouTube video by Michael MacKelvie
youtu.be
July 9, 2025 at 7:38 PM
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?...
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-...
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-...
Design Isn’t Just a Department. It’s a Mindset. | Creative Friday
This post explores how design thinking should be integrated into the entire structure of an organization. When design is treated as a shared responsibility across teams, not just a separate phase, the...
www.creativefriday.com
July 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
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-...
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-...
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
#ux #design #product
https://www.creativefriday.com/blog/leadership-loyalty-and-the-disappearing-workforce
Leadership, Loyalty, and the Disappearing Workforce — Creative Friday
Rethinking leadership in the age of AI: why true progress comes from trust, understanding, and empowering creative work—not replacing it.
www.creativefriday.com
June 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
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
#ux #design #product
https://www.creativefriday.com/blog/leadership-loyalty-and-the-disappearing-workforce
June 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
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
But #UX problems that bother you in Apple’s systems will continue to persist.
#Design
June 10, 2025 at 1:15 PM
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
I'm also moving my blog from Medium to my site.
https://www.creativefriday.com
Creative Friday | Transform Your Product With Improved UX
Creative Friday offers expert UX strategy, user research, and design services that turn ambiguity into clarity for startups and enterprises alike.
www.creativefriday.com
June 5, 2025 at 4:14 PM
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
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
https://medium.com/creative-friday/the-illusion-of-progress-ff0a4d49ff
The Illusion of Progress
Some animals must keep moving to survive. Sharks are like that. If they stop swimming, they stop breathing. This is an essential but brutal…
medium.com
May 27, 2025 at 9:51 PM
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
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...
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...
What Critique Taught Me (And Why AI-Driven Design Needs It Now More Than Ever)
When I was starting out as a designer, the toughest part of the job wasn’t the deadlines or the tools, it was the critique.
medium.com
May 6, 2025 at 5:48 PM
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...
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
*AFTER* I went through the whole process. #ux
April 23, 2025 at 1:37 PM
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
*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
Would love to hear your thoughts. 👇
https://medium.com/creative-friday/fast-cheap-and-thoughtless-the-new-design-crisis-5ac
April 8, 2025 at 3:54 PM
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
Would love to hear your thoughts. 👇
https://medium.com/creative-friday/fast-cheap-and-thoughtless-the-new-design-crisis-5ac
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.
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.
March 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
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.
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
#ux #uxdesign #jobsearch
March 26, 2025 at 9:10 PM
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
#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
March 26, 2025 at 5:09 PM
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
I know my resume isn't even getting through the front line because neither my LinkedIn page nor my analytics show any new visitors in the last 14 days, even though I've applied to plenty of places and have received a couple of canned rejection letters.
🧵 1 of 2
🧵 1 of 2
March 26, 2025 at 4:41 PM
I know my resume isn't even getting through the front line because neither my LinkedIn page nor my analytics show any new visitors in the last 14 days, even though I've applied to plenty of places and have received a couple of canned rejection letters.
🧵 1 of 2
🧵 1 of 2
This work by @arie.ls is inspiring.
New website launch day! 📮
I handcrafted a super simple new site for myself to better showcase what I do and have a future home for experiments I may want to tinker with.
Designed in the browser using HTML, CSS, and a tiny bit of plain JavaScript. Powered by @11ty.dev as usual:
arielsalminen.com
I handcrafted a super simple new site for myself to better showcase what I do and have a future home for experiments I may want to tinker with.
Designed in the browser using HTML, CSS, and a tiny bit of plain JavaScript. Powered by @11ty.dev as usual:
arielsalminen.com
Ariel Salminen
Hello, I’m Ariel Salminen, a Design Systems Architect from Helsinki, Finland with 20 years of experience helping companies build tools for the web platform.
arielsalminen.com
March 25, 2025 at 12:32 PM
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.
March 24, 2025 at 5:23 PM
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.
Which leads me to also think that I've seen this play out before. "Full stack designer" is back.
March 24, 2025 at 2:14 AM