UX Notes
Sketchbook Notes
The Overlap
Some days I’m a designer with a plan. Other days I’m just collecting stuff: colors I like, screenshots, random phrases, little moments that stick. This is the overlap where my art brain and UX brain are essentially doing the same job. I used to think process was a straight line: discovery, low fidelity, high fidelity, final. But honestly, it usually looks more like a sketchbook page: scribbles, detours, things crossed out, and one good idea hiding in the corner.
These are some process overlaps I’ve noticed recently.
1. I start messy on purpose
Before I open a Figma design file, I like to map out and consider the experience first, usually in a FigJam that serves as a makeshift sketchbook. Just like with a painting or a piece of work I’m considering, there’s a lot of preliminary, messy and unorganized thoughts I gather to understand what my output needs to be/should be.
In UX terms, this is where I’m trying to spot what’s confusing, what people actually care about, and where things feel annoying. In art terms, I discover the thought behind the work before I decide what colors to use.
2. UX Research is basically collecting patterns
When I’m talking to users, I’m listening for repeats: things they say over and over, stuff they avoid, parts where they hesitate. These notes turn into a mapping.
Sometimes the first insight is literally just:
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too many distractions
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not sure what to do next
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feels sketchy/trust issues
And later that turns into the flow, markings, and UI decisions.
3. Documentation is important
The final experience is supposed to feel easy, but the work behind is usually anything but. I try to document the more hidden parts: what we assumed, what got cut, what tradeoffs we made, and why.
Something that helps. I leave myself little margin notes like I would in a sketchbook.
“This button is bigger because people get nervous here.”
“This copy is short because no one wants to read.”
“This flow is simple because the system can’t handle anything more.”
4. Constraints aren’t the enemy
Time, accessibility, platform quirks, tech limitations… it’s easy to treat those like annoying blockers. But they also shape the design in a good way. You don’t get to do everything, so you have to make the best version of the right thing.
What can I make really clear and nice within these limits?
5. Iteration is mostly editing
A lot of the work isn’t adding; it’s cutting. Removing extra steps, reducing noise, deleting “cool” stuff that doesn’t actually help.
Rule I keep testing: If it doesn’t help someone decide, do something, or recover from a mistake… it might not need to be there.
6. Keeping Inspirations front and center
I save things that feed the work: textures, layouts, colors, tiny UI moments, sentences from books. Not to copy, just to stay inspired and keep my brain open.
Because when I let art into the process, the UX usually feels more human. And when I bring UX thinking into art, my ideas get more grounded.
Notes I keep on repeat
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Confusion is useful info.
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Clarity is the goal.
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Version one is for learning.
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Version two is for structure.
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Version three is for real people.
If you’re also working in that art/UX overlap: same. Keep the mess, keep the notes, and don’t wait for it to be perfect before it’s allowed to exist.