Designing for adoption
Five projects on one hard problem: getting people to actually use what you build. The first few minutes decide everything.
How I work
- 1
Observe
Watch real users, not surveys.
- 2
Prototype
Build a few options fast.
- 3
Test
Let the data pick the winner.
- 4
Ship
Launch, measure, refine.
Case studies
Solving the blank page
A powerful tool froze first-time users. We gave them a guided path instead of 12 choices at once.
First-try success +73%Read →AI people trust
Analysts ignored the AI because it was a black box. We made it show its reasoning.
Prep time ~90% savedRead →One design system
Four platforms, everyone rebuilding the same button. We unified it without slowing teams down.
Component adoption 92%Read →Mobile-first growth
Most installs never reached first use. We rebuilt onboarding for the small screen.
Reached first use +70%Read →Behavioral design, honestly
Adoption without dark patterns, using one simple model: motivation, ability, prompt.
Adoption +227%Read →Influences
Don Norman on affordances · B.J. Fogg on behavior (motivation + ability + prompt) · Brad Frost on design systems · Tristan Harris on humane, non-manipulative design.