Dylan Smith @dylanatsmith - Notes feed Frontend-focused product designer in London, UK https://dylanatsmith.com/ Sun, 30 Aug 2026 12:54:54 +0000 Jekyll v4.2.1 Note posted 2026-08-28T22:17:01 Fri, 28 Aug 2026 22:17:01 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2026-08-28T22-17-01 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2026-08-28T22-17-01 LinkedIn is out of its fuckin’ mind if it thinks I’m going to “follow” my own coworker.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2026-08-26T21:39:29 Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:39:29 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2026-08-26T21-39-29 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2026-08-26T21-39-29 Is this thing still on?

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-07-23T16:56:46 Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:56:46 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-07-23T16-56-46 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-07-23T16-56-46 Working theory: It is impossible to (re)instill a culture of craft into a mature design org that didn’t begin with and maintain those values.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-07-21T12:59:35 Sun, 21 Jul 2024 12:59:35 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-07-21T12-59-35 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-07-21T12-59-35 Hiring UI engineers is a strong retention play for designers who care about how their work ships.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-07-13T10:20:19 Sat, 13 Jul 2024 10:20:19 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-07-13T10-20-19 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-07-13T10-20-19 Part of the reason enterprise-focused developer tools are often poorly designed is that designers don’t code in enterprise environments. Lots of designers out there deploying to hobby plans, a lot fewer dealing with scale.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-04-15T09:32:45 Mon, 15 Apr 2024 09:32:45 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-04-15T09-32-45 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-04-15T09-32-45 Baby’s first cancelled flight

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-04-05T08:58:10 Fri, 05 Apr 2024 08:58:10 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-04-05T08-58-10 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-04-05T08-58-10 Born to code, forced to use Figma

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-02-08T16:50:26 Thu, 08 Feb 2024 16:50:26 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-02-08T16-50-26 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-02-08T16-50-26 I’ve been designing GitHub for two years today.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-01-22T11:44:30 Mon, 22 Jan 2024 11:44:30 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-22T11-44-30 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-22T11-44-30 Our monthly rent in east London, rounded to the nearest year:

  • 2017 - £1700
  • 2018 - £1750
  • 2019 - £1800
  • 2020 - £1850
  • 2021 - No increase
  • 2022 - £1900
  • 2023 - £2500
  • 2024 - £2675

Currently listed for £2850.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-01-04T20:18:01 Thu, 04 Jan 2024 20:18:01 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-04T20-18-01 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-04T20-18-01 Pour one out for Clark from InVision

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-01-04T10:15:01 Thu, 04 Jan 2024 10:15:01 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-04T10-15-01 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-04T10-15-01 Hear me out: Dvorak keyboard for iOS

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2024-01-01T17:04:41 Mon, 01 Jan 2024 17:04:41 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-01T17-04-41 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2024-01-01T17-04-41 All I want from any brand, band, company, or sports team’s merch is a neutral coloured t-shirt with a small and subtle logo print over the left chest. Let me feel good about supporting you without having to wear something gaudy.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-12-24T17:17:47 Sun, 24 Dec 2023 17:17:47 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-12-24T17-17-47 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-12-24T17-17-47 Somehow, in all my years working in Rails codebases, I’d never run rails new. Totally understand now why people still love it for taking an idea from 0 to 1.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-12-23T10:40:12 Sat, 23 Dec 2023 10:40:12 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-12-23T10-40-12 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-12-23T10-40-12 I can’t believe I’d never seen Jesus Christ Superstar before. Judas is so good.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-12-08T12:25:43 Fri, 08 Dec 2023 12:25:43 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-12-08T12-25-43 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-12-08T12-25-43 Few worse feelings than a blocked PR that sits there and nags at you until it goes stale…

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-11-16T17:06:54 Thu, 16 Nov 2023 17:06:54 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-16T17-06-54 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-16T17-06-54 Landed in Stockholm and Dancing On My Own is playing in the taxi. Couldn’t be more perfect. 🇸🇪

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-11-10T13:58:51 Fri, 10 Nov 2023 13:58:51 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-10T13-58-51 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-10T13-58-51 You can tell which products are built by teams without designers who code because the responsive experience is always shit.

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-11-10T11:26:51 Fri, 10 Nov 2023 11:26:51 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-10T11-26-51 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-10T11-26-51 More like OKAren’ts

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-11-10T09:49:13 Fri, 10 Nov 2023 09:49:13 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-10T09-49-13 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-11-10T09-49-13 Cleaning chocolate stains off my activewear

Reply by email ]]> Note posted 2023-10-31T11:02:43 Tue, 31 Oct 2023 11:02:43 +0000 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-10-31T11-02-43 https://dylanatsmith.com/notes/2023-10-31T11-02-43 The existence of work probation implies the existence of work probation officers.

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