u/Reasonable-View-4392

I’m planning to take on freelance design work, but I’ve heard others say solo/freelance designers can become the single point of failure for design rationale.

Not because we’re doing anything wrong, but because so much of the “why” behind a design lives in our heads. As a result, a client, engineer, or PM has to constantly go back and forth with the designer to ask why a flow works a certain way, why one pattern was chosen over another, or why an alternative was rejected.

If this is an issue, then I’d assume it would also be really valuable for designers to log their decision making as they go.

For people who work as a solo founding designer or freelancer

• Is this constant back and forth a big issue and have any of you guys faced it?
• How important/valuable is it to keep a decision log for my design work as a freelancer/solo designer
  • Does it mostly help with client/stakeholder communication, or does having these also help substantially improve design judgment/taste over time?
  • I have also heard that many designers don't feel the need to log decisions, but does this ever become a big problem in the future?

I’m trying to understand whether decision logs are valuable in helping designers build better judgment/taste over time, or whether they mostly become documentation nobody looks at again. Thank you guys in advance!

I’m planning to take on freelance design work, but I’ve heard others say solo/freelance designers can become the single point of failure for design rationale.

Not because we’re doing anything wrong, but because so much of the “why” behind a design lives in our heads. As a result, a client, engineer, or PM has to constantly go back and forth with the designer to ask why a flow works a certain way, why one pattern was chosen over another, or why an alternative was rejected.

If this is an issue, then I’d assume it would also be really valuable for designers to log their decision making as they go.

For people who work as a solo founding designer or freelancer

• Is this constant back and forth a big issue and have any of you guys faced it?
• How important/valuable is it to keep a decision log for my design work as a freelancer/solo designer
  • Does it mostly help with client/stakeholder communication, or does having these also help substantially improve design judgment/taste over time?
  • I have also heard that many designers don't feel the need to log decisions, but does this ever become a big problem in the future?

I’m trying to understand whether decision logs are valuable in helping designers build better judgment/taste over time, or whether they mostly become documentation nobody looks at again. Thank you guys in advance!

I’m planning to take on freelance design work, but I’ve heard others say solo/freelance designers can become the single point of failure for design rationale.

Not because we’re doing anything wrong, but because so much of the “why” behind a design lives in our heads. As a result, a client, engineer, or PM has to constantly go back and forth with the designer to ask why a flow works a certain way, why one pattern was chosen over another, or why an alternative was rejected.

If this is an issue, then I’d assume it would also be really valuable for designers to log their decision making as they go.

For people who work as a solo founding designer or freelancer

• Is this constant back and forth a big issue and have any of you guys faced it?
• How important/valuable is it to keep a decision log for my design work as a freelancer/solo designer
  • Does it mostly help with client/stakeholder communication, or does having these also help substantially improve design judgment/taste over time?
  • I have also heard that many designers don't feel the need to log decisions, but does this ever become a big problem in the future?

I’m trying to understand whether decision logs are valuable in helping designers build better judgment/taste over time, or whether they mostly become documentation nobody looks at again. Thank you guys in advance!

I’m planning to take on freelance design work, but I’ve heard others say solo/freelance designers can become the single point of failure for design rationale.

Not because we’re doing anything wrong, but because so much of the “why” behind a design lives in our heads. As a result, a client, engineer, or PM has to constantly go back and forth with the designer to ask why a flow works a certain way, why one pattern was chosen over another, or why an alternative was rejected.

If this is an issue, then I’d assume it would also be really valuable for designers to log their decision making as they go.

For people who work as a solo founding designer or freelancer

• Is this constant back and forth a big issue and have any of you guys faced it?
• How important/valuable is it to keep a decision log for my design work as a freelancer/solo designer
  • Does it mostly help with client/stakeholder communication, or does having these also help substantially improve design judgment/taste over time?
  • I have also heard that many designers don't feel the need to log decisions, but does this ever become a big problem in the future?

I’m trying to understand whether decision logs are valuable in helping designers build better judgment/taste over time, or whether they mostly become documentation nobody looks at again. Thank you guys in advance!

I’m planning to take on freelance design work, but I’ve heard others say solo/freelance designers can become the single point of failure for design rationale.

Not because we’re doing anything wrong, but because so much of the “why” behind a design lives in our heads. As a result, a client, engineer, or PM has to constantly go back and forth with the designer to ask why a flow works a certain way, why one pattern was chosen over another, or why an alternative was rejected.

If this is an issue, then I’d assume it would also be really valuable for designers to log their decision making as they go.

For people who work as a solo founding designer or freelancer

• Is this constant back and forth a big issue and have any of you guys faced it?
• How important/valuable is it to keep a decision log for my design work as a freelancer/solo designer
  • Does it mostly help with client/stakeholder communication, or does having these also help substantially improve design judgment/taste over time?
  • I have also heard that many designers don't feel the need to log decisions, but does this ever become a big problem in the future?

I’m trying to understand whether decision logs are valuable in helping designers build better judgment/taste over time, or whether they mostly become documentation nobody looks at again. Thank you guys in advance!

there’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

I’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. the thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

there have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. if judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. curious to hear how other people deal with this:

1. how important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
2. and if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?

there’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

i’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. the thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

there have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. if judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. curious to hear how other people deal with this?

how important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
and if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?

there’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

I’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. the thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

there have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. if judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. curious to hear how other people deal with this:

how important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
and if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?

there’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

I’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. the thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

there have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. if judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. curious to hear how other people deal with this:

how important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
and if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?

There’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

I’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. The thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

There have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. If judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. So I’m curious to hear how other people deal with this:

How important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
And if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?

there’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

I’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. the thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

there have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. if judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. curious to hear how other people deal with this:

1. how important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
2. and if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?

there’s been a lot of talk lately that design/product judgment and taste are what will matter in the future because AI is making execution cheaper.

I’m still early in my career and if judgment is the moat against AI, I assume I should be doing everything I can to strengthen it. the thing is, I’m not sure what to do.

there have been times where I asked senior designers/PMs why a certain flow was used, but they don’t remember why. if judgment really is the moat, then it seems like everyone should keep track of this stuff. curious to hear how other people deal with this:

1. how important is logging design decisions and does anyone have a system in place to do this?
2. and if judgment is a durable skill against AI, is it something that can be constantly developed?