We’d like to speak at more conferences & on more podcasts in 2026, so we’ve put together a little page showing what we could do for you, what we’ve done in the past, etc. Hit reply if you’d like us to make your event one to remember. In a good way. In a good way!

We also finally answered a question you may have had.

Last week we discussed tooling: specifically how tools are generally irrelevant, and adaptability to new tools is a strong signal of longevity in the industry.

That’s because tool adoption is not correlated with career advancement. Here’s what does help people advance in their careers:

• Making clear judgement calls that increase revenue, decrease costs, or decrease risk
• Building relationships with those who have the power to influence your career
• Showing leadership where the bleeding is – and fixing it
• Identifying problems, coming up with clear solutions to them, executing on those solutions, and then telling those in power about them
• Showing that there’s a clear cost to ignoring research
• Making your work visible, legible, and connected to business goals

Where are tools in any of that?

Yes, I suppose you could argue that leadership tells you to adopt a tool and show you’re using it. Fine. That has nothing to do with anything I just listed. You learn how to use tools before you even show up to your job.

You can’t just skill up on the new thing, dust your hands off, and say your career is secure. If you want to have longevity as a designer, you need to get smart about everything I just listed – regardless of whether you’re in-house or not. The people who are doing this get new opportunities, independent of what tools they happen to use.