Quick note from me
Someone commented this week that there's just too much to choose from, so many industries, problems, specialisations that it makes you freeze.
And it's totally fair to say, cause there is a lot of requirements for designers. But this fear also comes down from thinking about all of those skills at the same time and getting scared that you'll fail at all of them at the same time. And this is an unproductive approach to this problem. Let me show you how I approach upskilling in my career.
Story outline
Principle: The linear vs experimental mindset
Step 01: Turn a fear into a testable hypothesis
Step 02: Turn your hypothesis into a PACT
Step 03: Run an experiment and don’t judge anything yet
Step 04: Review the experiment
Principle
The linear vs experimental mindset
Most of us were taught to grow in one way. Set a goal, make a plan, push until you reach it. Le Cunff calls this the linear mindset, and for a fast-moving field it quietly ruins you.
The linear mindset:
A goal is a fixed end point: become good at AI, get the senior title. You either reach it or you fail
The end point is vague ("good at AI" has no finish line), so you never start
If the world changes halfway, your plan is wasted, and design changes every few months
Every day you haven't reached it, you feel behind
That last one is the real cost. You spend years feeling behind, chasing moving targets, and the skills you do pick up don't add up to anything, because you jumped between goals instead of building on what you learned.
The experimental mindset works the opposite way:
A goal asks "did I succeed or fail?", but an experiment asks "what did I learn?".
You can't fail an experiment. You run a small test, you see what happens, you use what you learn to design the next test. Each test builds on the last. This is the whole idea in Le Cunff's Tiny Experiments book. I will tell you how to use it in your career.
Step 01
Turn a fear into a testable hypothesis
Don't start from "what should I learn". That's the linear trap again, a huge vague goal. Start from something real you noticed, and shrink it down into a guess you can test.
Take the AI fear, the one on every job post right now:
What you noticed: every job post wants AI skills, and you feel behind
The question underneath: what can AI actually do in my design work, and what can't it?
Your guess (hypothesis): if I use an AI tool on one real task every day, I'll find out where it helps and where it's useless
Notice how much smaller the guess is than the fear. The fear is "I have to master AI or I'm replaceable". The guess is "let me find out what it's actually good for". The first thought freezes you, but the other looks like a small task and is less scary.
Step 02
Turn your hypothesis into a PACT
A pact is the test itself. Le Cunff gives it one shape:
I will [action] for [duration]
A good pact passes 4 checks (she calls them PACT):
Purposeful - it connects to something you care about
Actionable - you can do it alone, no permission, no waiting
Continuous - you repeat it, it's not a one-off
Trackable - a simple yes or no: did I do it today?
Example:
❌ "I will get good at AI". Nothing to do today, it has no end. This is the goal that keeps you stuck.
✅ "I will use one AI tool on one real design task, every weekday, for 2 weeks" sounds actionable
Keep pacts short. 2 weeks, like sprints and not "this year". A test you can see the end of is a test you'll actually finish.
Step 03
Run an experiment and don’t judge anything yet
Start running your pact. Along the way you'll feel doubt, you might want to quit, you might question whether this is even the right skill. That pull to judge yourself is the linear mindset creeping back. No skill is bad, and none is mastered on day 1. So be patient.
The rule for now: success means the test ran, not that the results are good.
Did you use one tool on one task today? Yes = a pass
Was the output any good? Doesn't matter this week
You're collecting data, not grading yourself. It helps to keep a simple scorecard, one box to tick per day. Ticking that box is the win, not the quality of the work. For a lot of us a finished task feels like a small accomplishment, and that streak is what keeps you going.
Step 04
Review the experiment
At the end of 2 weeks, review your experiment with this framework:
Plus - what worked. "Great for first drafts of copy, and for quick variations I'd never make by hand"
Minus - what didn't. "Useless for real design decisions, and I lost time fixing its mistakes"
Next - the next test. "Use it only for the boring, repetitive parts, and measure if it actually saves time"
And that's the whole loop. Notice what just happened:
2 weeks ago, "AI" was a scary word on a job post that made you feel replaceable
Now you know exactly what it's good and bad for, in your own work
You didn't learn everything about AI, but you learned how to deal with it
The whole point is to start running one small test instead of chasing one huge goal.
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Questions? Reply directly.
For more about this method, check out Tiny Experiments book
Keep designing ✨
Aneta
