Anas Ahmed

A food processor can chop vegetables fast. But that doesn't make it a chef. And you'd know the difference the moment you tasted the food.

That's exactly what's happening with AI design tools right now.

I wrote about why Claude Design and Google Stitch are not the designer killers the internet is making them out to be.

And why the best designers are actually more needed than ever in a world drowning in AI-generated sameness.

Read it in my newsletter, share you take in the comments. 👇

www.linkedin.com/pulse/best-time-hire-great-design…

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

There's a specific way designers think about logos that most founders never hear about until it's too late.

I broke it all down in this week's newsletter. The types of logos, what makes them work, and the questions you need to answer before you talk to any designer.

Read time: 6 minutes. Could save you a lot more than that.

No technical jargon. Just the stuff that saves you a painful (and expensive) rebrand later.

www.linkedin.com/pulse/your-logo-might-first-thing…

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

The most valuable design feedback I ever got wasn't about my layout or my typography.

It was: "I don't feel anything when I use this."

Ouch. But they were right.

We spend so much time designing for clarity and usability, which obviously matter, but somewhere along the way forget that people also need to feel at home in a product. That's not a soft, nice to have thing.

It's what separates tools people use from tools people love.

Wrote about this in my latest newsletter; branding through the lens of UX, and why the smallest design decisions carry the most brand weight.

👇
www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-what-branding-anas-ahmed…




#ProductDesign #UX #Branding

1 month ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

Gemini 3 just outperformed ChatGPT 5 in benchmarks.

I reacted immediately: "See? Google's 30 years of data is finally paying off. They're going to win."

But when I looked closer, I found something way more interesting.


Google actually had ChatGPT before OpenAI did. They built it first. They just didn't ship it.


They were too scared. Then OpenAI launched and the rest is history.


This made me realize: the AI race isn't really about who has more data.
It's about something completely different.


I explored this and what I found changes how I think about competition entirely.


Read my latest article 👇




www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-having-more-data-doesnt…


#gemini #gpt5 #AI #GoogleVsOpenAI #ArtificialIntelligence #Innovation

4 months ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

Video is 𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄!

10 months ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

CTAs are not just buttons with text.

They're the most important psychological trigger in your entire design.

Using color psychology in designing CTAs is very important. Choose colors that create contrast, not harmony. Orange on blue backgrounds. Red on white. Green on gray.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲.

Button Size also matters a lot. I make my CTAs at least 44px tall for mobile and proportionally larger for desktop.

Tiny buttons signal tiny importance to users' subconscious minds.

But most people get this one important thing wrong: they don't match their "CTA Text" to their traffic temperature.

𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞.
"𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞" 𝐨𝐫 "𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐰" 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 "𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐍𝐨𝐰" 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.

𝐇𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬? 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
"𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝" 𝐨𝐫 "𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬" 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲.

Now, Placement. Above the fold isn't just best practice, it's survival.

Marketing campaigns create urgency, and urgent users don't scroll to find your CTA.

Also don't forget to A/B test every piece of button copy.

"Shop Now" vs "Get It Now" can mean the difference between 2% and 3.5% conversion rates. That's massive when you see it at scale.

All this sales psychology lesson is great, but don't forget...

𝐂𝐓𝐀 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

When someone clicks your ad, they've already shown interest. Your job is making the transition from interest to action feel natural.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥?
Let me know!





#UIUX #DesignForSales #MarketingStrategy

10 months ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

A mobile app client pushed back hard when I proposed multiple iteration rounds.

❝Why can't you nail it on the first try? Isn't that what we're paying you for?❞

Perfect design doesn't exist in a vacuum; it emerges through testing real user behavior.

𝐍𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭.

"Design is about solving problems, not decorating." 【Julie Zhuo】

I show clients my process like this: wireframes to show structure, prototypes that test functionality, and user testing that reveals pain points we couldn't anticipate.

My best work has never come from the first attempt. It's come from the disciplined process of testing, learning, and improving.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧?





#designtips #UIdesign #clientmanagment #usertesting #prototype

10 months ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

"Why budget for maintenance? The design's done, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭?"

My CMS client couldn't understand why I was proposing ongoing support after launch.

I understood her perspective. She was thinking design was like painting a wall, once it's finished, you walk away.

I used to think the same way years ago. I learned to stop thinking of launch as the finish line. It's "mile marker one" in a much longer race.

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞!
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐫.

Every interaction teaches you something new about what works and what doesn't.

Erika Hall nailed it:
❝𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐬.❞

That conversation doesn't end at launch.

It intensifies.

I've started framing maintenance as a growth strategy, not upkeep costs.

I say,
"This ongoing optimization improved user engagement by 10% year-over-year for similar type of businesses."

Numbers change the conversation instantly.

I break down exactly what maintenance includes:
5 hours monthly for bug fixes and accessibility updates, 10 hours quarterly for feature enhancements based on user feedback.

Specificity kills the "what am I paying for?" objection.

𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.
𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

How do you help clients understand that great design never stops evolving?


#UIUX #Designtips #DesignBudget #MaintenanceMatters

11 months ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

I just released an article on a simple 3-step system that saves solar companies from chasing bad leads and start attracting serious homeowners.

Instead of wasting money on random ads and overpriced lead lists, you’ll discover how to:

Build trust with the right audience ✔️
Reach the right people the right way ✔️
Turn website visitors into pre-convinced appointments ✔️

And the best part? It costs less and works better.

6-minutes Read:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/anas-ahmed-v2vuf

11 months ago | [YT] | 0

Anas Ahmed

Steve Krug said: ❝Get rid of half the words on each page, then get rid of half of what's left.❞

I tested it on a client's landing page. The original page had 847 words.

Marketing copy, feature descriptions and testimonials. Everything they thought users needed to know.

Conversion rate was 2.3%.

I applied Krug's rule.

Cut it to 400 words. Then to 200. Every sentence had to earn its place by directly helping users complete their goal.

I removed their flowery brand statements and redundant feature lists.

What remained was pure, focused communication.

Conversion rate increased to more than 4%.

Because users don't read, they scan. Every extra word is friction between them and their objective.

I start every design project by identifying the single most important action we want users to take. Then I eliminate anything that doesn't support that action.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐚𝐥.

Your users aren't visiting your site to admire your writing. They're there to solve a problem as quickly as possible.

Respect their time by respecting their attention.

𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡.



#UIUX

11 months ago | [YT] | 1