Design Reflect

Storytime

I'm an overthinker.

Back in January the workload got lighter, which was completely new to me. I'd come from startups where there's always more than you can do. So my brain did what it does: does this mean I'm about to be fired? I've watched too many corporate films.

Once that passed, a better question turned up. Life was good — positive feedback from managers, from business stakeholders, from everyone. But was I actually growing?

You can do the same thing well for five years and be told you're doing a great job every single time. That's not the same as getting better.

So I thought: what if I built a self-reflection tool?

The version I almost didn't show anyone

I built the first one for myself. Then my inner critic showed up — this isn't that good, people might laugh at it.

The other voice said just show someone and see what happens.

I showed my design manager. He gave me positive feedback and told me to keep going.

Making it work for everyone

A tool that only works for one level isn't a tool. So I took it to designers across the whole range — Gen-Z designers, seniors, design managers from other departments, the head of design, and people outside design entirely.

I revised it on what they told me.

Then I presented it at the Design Spotlight to 60+ people in the digital transformation team.

Shipped

After that I rebuilt it for the wider design community with Claude Code, and put it online — this time with Master Sage.

Live at designreflect.bettercallhamdan.com. Nobody asked for it.

Try Design Reflect →

Reflection

There's a question I keep coming back to — what matters more, the journey or the destination? I used to say both.

I like being alone and I believe I can figure most things out by myself. But without my manager Jozef Simo's support at the start, I'd never have built the first prototype, never have presented it to 60+ people, and never have turned it into a product.

So now I'd say neither. It's the company you keep along the way.