Design is in chaos, let’s figure it out

Hi Dense Discovery designers,

The last few weeks have been nuts. I've been writing every day about changing my workflows with AI. And... it's working!

Are you freaking out about AI? Yeah, me too.

If you've spent your life perfecting great design (or recently getting into it), and wondering what the hell happened—you're not alone.

Every LinkedIn post or TikTok influencer will tell you to feed the algorithm, become an AI bro, and get gains.

Sure, that might work. But you don't want to sell out. You say screw that.

You got into this field because you freaking love product and UX design, love what it does to inspire people, and thought you could make the world a better place.

This newsletter is for you. It is written by a late 30s designer who wrestles with all these topics every day and tries to claw back sanity a little bit at a time.

Subscribe for free for one thoughtful essay each week, along with posts on AI, tech, and design sprinkled throughout.

If you become a paid subscriber, you'll get 4-5 essays each week!

Free post examples:

Miles from your dreams, inches from success

There’s a lot of influencers online who talk about their success and brag about what’s worked for them and how you can follow along and do the same. The problem is this is survivorship bias. Why do we all get sucked into joining meme stocks, cryptocurrency, MLMs, snake

Joshua WoldJoshua Wold

Write your way out

We need your voice. You might think your words aren’t necessary; someone else must surely have said them already. But the truth is, now more than ever, real humans sharing thoughtful ideas intended for a personal audience is exactly what our world is craving. It’s a way to push

Joshua WoldJoshua Wold

Paid post examples:

How I design just changed

Over the last two days I’ve been taking an intensive course on using AI to build apps. It’s changed how I process design and code, and shifted my thinking to focus more on the end user from the beginning.

Joshua WoldJoshua Wold

Working with the machine, not against it

I chose something simple this time, something I could finish in an evening. I used AI to help me, running through feedback loops to quickly iterate and be the product owner, instead of writing code or doing design.

Joshua WoldJoshua Wold

If you're a fan of Daring Fireball, Stratechery, or Kotke, think of this like a mix of those three writers, but for designers and those who care about design.

And for Dense Discovery readers, I’m offering 50% off yearly subscriptions.