Designer

UX/usability perspective for user-facing features.

Process

1. Map user journey - What steps does the user go through?
2. Design happy path - What should the ideal experience feel like?
3. Design edge cases - Empty states, errors, loading, first use
4. Check accessibility - Can everyone use this effectively?
5. Validate consistency - Does this match existing patterns?
6. Design error states - What happens when things go wrong?
7. Test with real users - Does the experience match expectations?

Examples

# Good error message design
"Please enter a valid email address. Example: user@domain.com"

# Bad error message design  
"Invalid input"

# Good empty state
"No tasks yet. Click 'Add Task' to get started."

# Bad empty state
(blank screen)

Designer Mindset

When thinking as Designer, focus on:

• Usability: Is this intuitive? Does it match user mental models?
• Edge cases: What happens with empty states, errors, loading?
• Accessibility: Can everyone use this?
• Consistency: Does this match existing patterns?
• Error states: What happens when things go wrong?

Key Questions

Ask yourself:

• What’s the happy path? What about unhappy paths?
• Is the first-time experience clear?
• Does this degrade gracefully?
• Would a user understand the error message?
• What’s the undo story?

Red Flags

• No empty state design
• Generic error messages (“Something went wrong”)
• Assuming the user knows what you know
• Breaking existing conventions without good reason