Hà Phan
@hpdailyrant.bsky.social
Musings about Design & Product. Currently at Zillow, Design Tech & AI.
All right, it’s the first day of the new year. That means I gotta try some new diet or habit for a few weeks then drop it. The latest fad is the bean diet. This one might have some real creds.
January 2, 2026 at 4:33 AM
All right, it’s the first day of the new year. That means I gotta try some new diet or habit for a few weeks then drop it. The latest fad is the bean diet. This one might have some real creds.
The first year I received a letter with the patent bonus, it was emotional to me. The second year, not so much. Because it was the same letter.
January 1, 2026 at 5:53 PM
The first year I received a letter with the patent bonus, it was emotional to me. The second year, not so much. Because it was the same letter.
Sometimes I feel like work is a vehicle to meet really smart people. That is the true value of works. It’s a sort of sustenance that is undervalued.
January 1, 2026 at 4:33 PM
Sometimes I feel like work is a vehicle to meet really smart people. That is the true value of works. It’s a sort of sustenance that is undervalued.
I did some work over the break. I started inventorying the screens across web and mobile just to kick my brain into gear. At that precise moment I received a Slack from my PM. We were online at exactly the same time and so we zoomed about the proofs that lead to strategy. I like serendipitous work.
January 1, 2026 at 4:32 PM
I did some work over the break. I started inventorying the screens across web and mobile just to kick my brain into gear. At that precise moment I received a Slack from my PM. We were online at exactly the same time and so we zoomed about the proofs that lead to strategy. I like serendipitous work.
Since Nov, my brothers and I have put in a new roof for my mom’s house, installed new AC, walled in a doorway so the fam room functions better. We descended on mom’s home & overhauled the fam room and my dad’s office. My SIL said that we never needed each other before, until our dad’s passing.
December 30, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Since Nov, my brothers and I have put in a new roof for my mom’s house, installed new AC, walled in a doorway so the fam room functions better. We descended on mom’s home & overhauled the fam room and my dad’s office. My SIL said that we never needed each other before, until our dad’s passing.
My biggest pet peeve is auto-renewal and hiding the subscription cancellation. That’s actually not an oversight. That’s a feature.
December 23, 2025 at 6:40 PM
My biggest pet peeve is auto-renewal and hiding the subscription cancellation. That’s actually not an oversight. That’s a feature.
Something I want to see when folks present their case studies is time framing. A lot of big projects doesn’t get done all at once. I want to know the stages and their duration. Bc in the interviewer’s mind, we want to know how long things took, and the stages and why they were broken up that way.
December 23, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Something I want to see when folks present their case studies is time framing. A lot of big projects doesn’t get done all at once. I want to know the stages and their duration. Bc in the interviewer’s mind, we want to know how long things took, and the stages and why they were broken up that way.
Gifted leadership is having the foresight to project what’s coming, and to skate to the puck, not chase it.
December 23, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Gifted leadership is having the foresight to project what’s coming, and to skate to the puck, not chase it.
You know what AI can’t do? Service Design — or any task that lives in the gaps between systems, people, power, and context.
December 23, 2025 at 5:42 PM
You know what AI can’t do? Service Design — or any task that lives in the gaps between systems, people, power, and context.
I find that not everyone is cut out for exploring new frontiers. Not everyone can handle that much ambiguity and complexity and the likelihood of failure is far higher than success.
December 18, 2025 at 10:25 PM
I find that not everyone is cut out for exploring new frontiers. Not everyone can handle that much ambiguity and complexity and the likelihood of failure is far higher than success.
The kinds of growth you can have depends on the kinds of problems you work on. But it’s big difference between someone who has been primed for an opportunity vs someone who discovers the problem, then creates that opportunity for themselves despite the odds.
December 18, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The kinds of growth you can have depends on the kinds of problems you work on. But it’s big difference between someone who has been primed for an opportunity vs someone who discovers the problem, then creates that opportunity for themselves despite the odds.
I don’t know why it took me decades to learn that I shouldn’t ruminate or stress about things outside of my control. I know this rationally, but psychologically I just couldn’t get there. I couldn’t embody it. Perhaps I had being conditioned to project and plan for all the worst case scenarios.
December 16, 2025 at 9:33 PM
I don’t know why it took me decades to learn that I shouldn’t ruminate or stress about things outside of my control. I know this rationally, but psychologically I just couldn’t get there. I couldn’t embody it. Perhaps I had being conditioned to project and plan for all the worst case scenarios.
Perhaps it’s just me, but I noticed that the tech giants — the FAANGs are more intentional about optimizing their operational proprietary software. Things like, software that keeps the Amazon warehouse flowing or software that enables annotation and augmentation of autogenerated media.
December 14, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Perhaps it’s just me, but I noticed that the tech giants — the FAANGs are more intentional about optimizing their operational proprietary software. Things like, software that keeps the Amazon warehouse flowing or software that enables annotation and augmentation of autogenerated media.
I’ve been screening candidates and seeing a lot of amazing work. A lot of the interesting work are operational tools — not B2C experiences or ent solutions. Designers are integrating and architecting agents and LLMs in meaningful ways to optimize usability and workflows in highly complex UX suites.
December 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I’ve been screening candidates and seeing a lot of amazing work. A lot of the interesting work are operational tools — not B2C experiences or ent solutions. Designers are integrating and architecting agents and LLMs in meaningful ways to optimize usability and workflows in highly complex UX suites.
A designer presented explorations in crit. In one of the concepts, he explained that the feature could exist within the photo feed. I told him that we know from research the primary user behavior using the photo feed is to triage the listing. Behavioral insights help you narrow design choices.
December 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
A designer presented explorations in crit. In one of the concepts, he explained that the feature could exist within the photo feed. I told him that we know from research the primary user behavior using the photo feed is to triage the listing. Behavioral insights help you narrow design choices.
I’ve had that kind of year where SkyTour was released — a patent pending feature I designed. We filed another patent for an R&D prototype I designed. All the while helping my mother caring for my father, moving him into a facility the last 2 months of his life, and planning his funeral.
December 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I’ve had that kind of year where SkyTour was released — a patent pending feature I designed. We filed another patent for an R&D prototype I designed. All the while helping my mother caring for my father, moving him into a facility the last 2 months of his life, and planning his funeral.
When people say that someone has good product sense, or good intuition, what they’re really saying is — that person can connect the dots where others can’t, or that person can calculate the reasoning before others, or that person recognizes the pattern bc they’ve seen it before, or all of the above.
December 12, 2025 at 7:34 PM
When people say that someone has good product sense, or good intuition, what they’re really saying is — that person can connect the dots where others can’t, or that person can calculate the reasoning before others, or that person recognizes the pattern bc they’ve seen it before, or all of the above.
Big swings and culture of innovation, lean experimentation always comes from individuals, people who are catalysts who ignite optimism. They generate momentum. Process and reorgs don’t do that.
December 11, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Big swings and culture of innovation, lean experimentation always comes from individuals, people who are catalysts who ignite optimism. They generate momentum. Process and reorgs don’t do that.
So Costco has VIP hours early in the morning. I’m a VIP and I just want to be fast-tracked to the front of any sample line. That’s it.
December 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
So Costco has VIP hours early in the morning. I’m a VIP and I just want to be fast-tracked to the front of any sample line. That’s it.
Sometimes I see people whose potential is clear. They haven’t acquired the skill for the job but I think they definitely do the job. But their portfolio is lacking and I don’t think they can pass the interview process.
December 10, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Sometimes I see people whose potential is clear. They haven’t acquired the skill for the job but I think they definitely do the job. But their portfolio is lacking and I don’t think they can pass the interview process.
One of the engineers on our team compared himself to Bilbo Baggins because he’s getting ready for paternity leave. That would make our Rich Media org, The Shire.
December 9, 2025 at 11:08 PM
One of the engineers on our team compared himself to Bilbo Baggins because he’s getting ready for paternity leave. That would make our Rich Media org, The Shire.
All these end of the year planning is kinda killing me. I’ve been in so many meetings I feel I like I should’ve worn a diaper.
December 9, 2025 at 10:48 PM
All these end of the year planning is kinda killing me. I’ve been in so many meetings I feel I like I should’ve worn a diaper.
Yay! Was notified on Workday that I’m getting a patent bonus. Merry Xmas to me.
December 9, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Yay! Was notified on Workday that I’m getting a patent bonus. Merry Xmas to me.
Me: Here’s a recording of the last research session.
PM: I want to send this person flowers! Love her reaction, animation & she was really articulate. My favorite part was when she got a huge smile when she 1st used the prototype.
Me: I know you’re joking, but we don’t send participants anything.
PM: I want to send this person flowers! Love her reaction, animation & she was really articulate. My favorite part was when she got a huge smile when she 1st used the prototype.
Me: I know you’re joking, but we don’t send participants anything.
December 8, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Me: Here’s a recording of the last research session.
PM: I want to send this person flowers! Love her reaction, animation & she was really articulate. My favorite part was when she got a huge smile when she 1st used the prototype.
Me: I know you’re joking, but we don’t send participants anything.
PM: I want to send this person flowers! Love her reaction, animation & she was really articulate. My favorite part was when she got a huge smile when she 1st used the prototype.
Me: I know you’re joking, but we don’t send participants anything.
You know you got something when you place constraints on the experience and users tell you, “No, there is no constraints. I can go wherever I need to go.” This is the goal of every experience. It’s the constraints that makes the experience easy.
December 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
You know you got something when you place constraints on the experience and users tell you, “No, there is no constraints. I can go wherever I need to go.” This is the goal of every experience. It’s the constraints that makes the experience easy.