Hà Phan
@hpdailyrant.bsky.social
Musings about Design & Product. Currently at Zillow, Design Tech & AI.
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
November 27, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
Designer: We’re exploring the ideas around personalization.
Me: I think you’re still finding your hypothesis. Are you saying that this additional factoid info in this mode will optimize this decision? Are you saying that users prefer a more organic format over a standardized format?
Me: I think you’re still finding your hypothesis. Are you saying that this additional factoid info in this mode will optimize this decision? Are you saying that users prefer a more organic format over a standardized format?
November 27, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Designer: We’re exploring the ideas around personalization.
Me: I think you’re still finding your hypothesis. Are you saying that this additional factoid info in this mode will optimize this decision? Are you saying that users prefer a more organic format over a standardized format?
Me: I think you’re still finding your hypothesis. Are you saying that this additional factoid info in this mode will optimize this decision? Are you saying that users prefer a more organic format over a standardized format?
I’ve once told recruiters that if a company uses Teams and Sharepoint, that’s a deal breaker.
November 26, 2025 at 10:50 PM
I’ve once told recruiters that if a company uses Teams and Sharepoint, that’s a deal breaker.
I’m currently sick. Thought I was getting better but today I can’t talk, like I have no voice. Whatever this thing is, it’s nasty.
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 AM
I’m currently sick. Thought I was getting better but today I can’t talk, like I have no voice. Whatever this thing is, it’s nasty.
Be kind to your keyboard
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Be kind to your keyboard
These days I get a bit obsessed about finding the perfect first sentence. This is one I thought of yesterday: “There are days in childhood you remember for no reason at all, small ordinary days that remain after everything else is forgotten.”
November 22, 2025 at 6:52 PM
These days I get a bit obsessed about finding the perfect first sentence. This is one I thought of yesterday: “There are days in childhood you remember for no reason at all, small ordinary days that remain after everything else is forgotten.”
A lot of times, you can’t identify what leading means in the process. On hindsight, perhaps you can, but in the process, everything is just clearer with that person around.
November 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
A lot of times, you can’t identify what leading means in the process. On hindsight, perhaps you can, but in the process, everything is just clearer with that person around.
When you’re working on automation, you have to make sure that each step of the automation food chain is repeatable so you have to set goals for small sample size - such as 80% acceptable for a sample of X to start.
November 21, 2025 at 5:45 PM
When you’re working on automation, you have to make sure that each step of the automation food chain is repeatable so you have to set goals for small sample size - such as 80% acceptable for a sample of X to start.
Yesterday I recommended to a leader the way I’d scope the first bite of a very large redesign. The reason for that frame of scope is based on business priority, the boundary of that business, definition of parity features, clear JTBD and benchmarks.
November 18, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Yesterday I recommended to a leader the way I’d scope the first bite of a very large redesign. The reason for that frame of scope is based on business priority, the boundary of that business, definition of parity features, clear JTBD and benchmarks.
Instead of telling the team I need you to do these things for me, I told them, “I reviewed the prototype and these things will impact the outcome of the research.” Research is a great way to focus the R&D effort.
November 18, 2025 at 2:01 AM
Instead of telling the team I need you to do these things for me, I told them, “I reviewed the prototype and these things will impact the outcome of the research.” Research is a great way to focus the R&D effort.
Wow. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was so good. I became a Jacob Elordi fan after this.
November 15, 2025 at 6:19 AM
Wow. Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein was so good. I became a Jacob Elordi fan after this.
I had a conversation with my Eng mngr today about the scope of the MVP. The first proof needs to be X. We needed to prove that this was possible. It was our first good bet and covers a large segment. You just can’t boil the ocean all at once. You gotta solve one problem at a time.
November 15, 2025 at 3:36 AM
I had a conversation with my Eng mngr today about the scope of the MVP. The first proof needs to be X. We needed to prove that this was possible. It was our first good bet and covers a large segment. You just can’t boil the ocean all at once. You gotta solve one problem at a time.
We had an event for team mates who are having babies, and we had to sign this board and impart wisdom or send them best wishes. So I wrote, “Good luck with AI!”
November 14, 2025 at 9:52 PM
We had an event for team mates who are having babies, and we had to sign this board and impart wisdom or send them best wishes. So I wrote, “Good luck with AI!”
We spread our father’s ashes at sea last Sunday. We didn’t expect the ashes to bloom like a cloud and glow under the water. If there was a soul it might look like that. And the flowers we threw over board float away like a long goodbye, leaving us adrift.
November 14, 2025 at 5:23 AM
We spread our father’s ashes at sea last Sunday. We didn’t expect the ashes to bloom like a cloud and glow under the water. If there was a soul it might look like that. And the flowers we threw over board float away like a long goodbye, leaving us adrift.
This is not my usual content but people know they shouldn’t take on a 50 year mortgage right? It’s a trap, a life time subscription to debt. If you buy a house at 35, it’ll take you til 85 years old to pay it off. You’ll be paying just the interest for a looong time.
November 14, 2025 at 2:53 AM
This is not my usual content but people know they shouldn’t take on a 50 year mortgage right? It’s a trap, a life time subscription to debt. If you buy a house at 35, it’ll take you til 85 years old to pay it off. You’ll be paying just the interest for a looong time.
I tried CapCut for the first time yesterday. Holy crap. That thing is a whole lot more powerful than iMovie. iMovie hasn’t been updated in like 10 years.
November 13, 2025 at 5:45 PM
I tried CapCut for the first time yesterday. Holy crap. That thing is a whole lot more powerful than iMovie. iMovie hasn’t been updated in like 10 years.
I find a lot of people complain about leadership don’t do x, y, z. But a lot of times people don’t lead from their own position. To think and act decisively is a kind of leadership.
November 13, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I find a lot of people complain about leadership don’t do x, y, z. But a lot of times people don’t lead from their own position. To think and act decisively is a kind of leadership.
Somebody asked me if I partner with Design Technologists, and I said no. I got Engineering to partner with me to build prototypes for R&D. This is much more beneficial bc they would internalize all the whys, nuance and trade offs of the UX. They would know why we kill off dumb ideas.
November 13, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Somebody asked me if I partner with Design Technologists, and I said no. I got Engineering to partner with me to build prototypes for R&D. This is much more beneficial bc they would internalize all the whys, nuance and trade offs of the UX. They would know why we kill off dumb ideas.
I shared a chapter I wrote with my brother who is also a writer and he sent me this…
November 12, 2025 at 4:35 AM
I shared a chapter I wrote with my brother who is also a writer and he sent me this…
No [your job here] isn’t dead. However, from my purview, only the staff level folks are getting hired. That’s what I’m seeing.
November 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM
No [your job here] isn’t dead. However, from my purview, only the staff level folks are getting hired. That’s what I’m seeing.
Designing the details and variance of components is UI but exploring the nuance and possibilities of divergence in the mental model and behavior is UX.
November 9, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Designing the details and variance of components is UI but exploring the nuance and possibilities of divergence in the mental model and behavior is UX.
A design technologist said he’s excited to work with me to understand lean experimentation, bc it’s different reading about it vs actually doing it. Totally agree. The discussion about the design of the experiment w/team members is more valuable than the experiment itself. And you need cycles of it.
November 9, 2025 at 5:11 PM
A design technologist said he’s excited to work with me to understand lean experimentation, bc it’s different reading about it vs actually doing it. Totally agree. The discussion about the design of the experiment w/team members is more valuable than the experiment itself. And you need cycles of it.
Me to my family: “We’re spreading dad’s ashes into the ocean this weekend. You guys better give me music recommendations or else it’s going to be that Celine Dion’s Titanic song.”
November 8, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Me to my family: “We’re spreading dad’s ashes into the ocean this weekend. You guys better give me music recommendations or else it’s going to be that Celine Dion’s Titanic song.”
I gave someone advice on the storytelling of their case study. I told them that they needed to introduce the problem clearer in layman’s terms and how it manifested in the consumer experience downstream at the start. No one has the context of the company’s operations right off the bat.
November 7, 2025 at 3:48 PM
I gave someone advice on the storytelling of their case study. I told them that they needed to introduce the problem clearer in layman’s terms and how it manifested in the consumer experience downstream at the start. No one has the context of the company’s operations right off the bat.
When I review design concepts, I look for the hypothesis on the behavior. Some designers can’t articulate the hypothesis but their explorations show this. And then there are some people who just move things around. There is always a hypothesis whether it’s optimization or differentiation.
November 7, 2025 at 3:42 PM
When I review design concepts, I look for the hypothesis on the behavior. Some designers can’t articulate the hypothesis but their explorations show this. And then there are some people who just move things around. There is always a hypothesis whether it’s optimization or differentiation.