🧑‍🍳You think you're doing great, until you get better · The Bunker #131

May 22, 2025

Six months ago I thought I was designing at my best level.

Not from arrogance. I didn’t think I was the GOAT of design or anything like that.

But honestly, I felt proud of what I was doing. Really, I thought I was already doing good!!

I worked fast, clean, and my clients were happy. In my mind, I had things figured out.

But, as always, I decided to look back at what I’d been doing for a while.

This week I was updating some designs, since I’m still working on the same project I started four years ago, and well, the old Figma files are still there 😅.

And wow.

It wasn’t horrible. But it was... clumsy. Over-designed. A bit chaotic.

That feeling when you see something you made and instantly think: “Today I’d do this 10 times better.”

Or at least... a bit differently.

This was the design, no shame in showing it. In fact, I think it was already pretty solid.

But over time, it evolved into something like this:

Take the two images and move back and forth with the arrows, you’ll start to notice the differences.

The difference may seem subtle, but when you start improving in product design, you begin to notice the details.

Key differences:

Hovers were too intense.
Hover effects don’t always need to change color, sometimes they should simply show or hide elements.
Much cleaner color usage and hierarchy.
More refined typography.
More consistent spacing.
Better thought-out UI decisions, structure, and features.

Subtle changes that make you realize this person has improved as a product designer.

No need for huge redesigns, just small decisions that make the product infinitely better.

And let me tell you something, this is the nature of design. Design evolves like this.

Just look at how Discord looked in 2016 compared to today. Or how Gmail looked 20 years ago.

Things evolve, because designers evolve, and people evolve.

The illusion of “now I’m good”

I think this happens way more often than we talk about.

You grow. You improve. You adapt.

But you rarely stop to look back and see how much you've grown.

And that’s what confuses you. Because when you’re in the middle of improving, it still feels like you’re already at the top.

But you’re not. You’re just on a comfortable plateau. The mountain keeps going.

And that’s the beauty of it.

Although it messes with my head a bit.

Because if every month I’m better than the last, when am I good enough?

And more importantly, how do I charge a client today, knowing that in two months I could do it even better?

But that mindset is a trap.

Because if you’re always waiting to be “better,” you never start. You never launch. You never get paid.

The truth is:

The value you offer today is already valuable. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s built on everything you’ve learned up to now.

Yes, tomorrow will be better. But that doesn’t mean today isn’t good enough.

What I do (and what I recommend you do) is accept that every project has an expiration date.

And if you give your best with what you know today, that’s more than enough.

Because the next one will be even better. And that’s part of the game too.

Clients don’t pay you to be perfect.

They pay you to solve a problem TODAY. And that? You already know how to do, even if you’re still improving tomorrow.

And if you build a good relationship with them, they might keep paying you to continue improving the product over time.

They are the first to want to evolve their product, if you stop to think about it, right?

Wanna grow even faster?

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Freelance Bundle, Templates, books, and resources to grow as a creative

If you’re on that journey too, these will save you months (maybe even years).

See you next week,

Jordi.

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