{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreibrl5pl7cukfmfsjzyzmzsjv5dydxh2ofnuuimefb6nvc5jyyrho4",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:wbakieni5lec2yyexu3i7rct/app.bsky.feed.post/3mllhjfx3v532"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreia7ybiufltibkft3vcuur6nxtte62hk4jgil4cgzwq4z3orogy4ey"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 46838
  },
  "description": "You’re facing internal and external pressure to be “good enough” as a designer. I discuss three way to break through it.",
  "path": "/not-good-enough/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-05-11T14:14:43.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.designy.com",
  "tags": [
    "Apple Podcasts",
    "Spotify",
    "YouTube",
    "RSS.com for more...",
    "Become a guest on The Daily Sprint...",
    "designy.com"
  ],
  "textContent": "<a href=\"https://rss.com/podcasts/the-daily-sprint/2811722/\">Not Good Enough | RSS.com</a>\n\n_Subscribe on your favorite platform_\nApple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube | RSS.com for more...\n\nBecome a guest on The Daily Sprint...\n\n* * *\n\n## Transcript\n\n\nThe daily sprint starts right now.\n\nDo you feel you aren't good enough as a designer?\n\nOr maybe just feel your work is not good enough.\n\nOr maybe, are you simply satisfied if your work is only good enough?\n\nWe'll be talking about the external and internal pressures you face as a designer with the quality of your work and 3 ways you can break out of it.\n\nI'm Darrell Estabrook, 30 years into UX product design.\n\nI may have seen a thing or two over that time, but I'm still just getting started.\n\nI'm also the founder of designing, a platform for product designers who want to design with a why.\n\nI coach designers how to personally strengthen their ability to design on purpose and communicate designs to stakeholders.\n\nFind out more and get on board with a free newsletter at designy.com.\n\nThat's design with a Y .com.\n\nWelcome. Glad you're here.\n\nIt's episode 17.\n\nJust feels like it was yesterday when we had episode one.\n\nIt's great.\n\nSo what do you think about this?\n\nGood enough.\n\nIt's a phrase that we throw around all the time, different contexts and different attitudes, but there's a lot of this feeling of I'm not good enough as a designer.\n\nAnd where does that come from?\n\nThere's so much pressure out there.\n\nAnd depending on what you read or scrolling that you do, there's always someone that seems like they're better than what you're doing.\n\nTheir art is more refined or their designs are crisper or just surprisingly innovative.\n\nLike, I never would have thought to do that with cards and shadows and typography and other things like that.\n\nAnd you could really start to feel, well, the imposter syndrome is what is used a lot.\n\nBut it's kind of the self-reflective thing.\n\nI'm not good enough.\n\nBut, but you are.\n\nYou're a designer.\n\nYou have that spark in you to create, and you were made to create.\n\nAnd so there's this distraction that occurs as we're all growing in discovering this talent that we have.\n\nOr maybe you do feel that you're good enough, like you've arrived, like you've been doing this for a while, but you feel that work isn't good enough.\n\nLike you're just not producing, you know, it's not getting over the hump of, uh, it's mediocre or, ah, it could be better.\n\nYou just don't know what.\n\nAnd this idea of kind of flipping all of that on the side, of just like, oh, it is good enough.\n\nIt's good enough.\n\nAnd I think we hear that a lot in this generative AI world that we're growing in, that you kind of just push, push the bar until, there's a lot, there's more that we can do with this.\n\nThere's more adjustments I could make. You know, the fonts aren't quite right.\n\nThe alignment's off.\n\nThe colors aren't what they should be.\n\nBut it functions well and, well, we can push it out.\n\nIt's good enough.\n\nI think there's a lot more of that flooding our space than there used to be.\n\nBut these are things that aren't new.\n\nThese attitudes and just constraints, things that we feel imposed on us.\n\nThey've been around for quite some time.\n\nSo it's not unique to you.\n\nThat's the good news, I guess.\n\nWe've all been there.\n\nWe've all had those seasons. Whether it's been months, weeks, years, where it's just not good enough.\n\nI'm just not, but it could be better.\n\nSo let's figure out what we can do with that.\n\nI think there's a number of things that we could explore.\n\nAnd let's just take this 1st one.\n\nDo you feel you aren't good enough as a designer?\n\nSo one way you can combat that is to discover what you do effortlessly.\n\nAnd you think about the effortless, yeah, what does that really mean?\n\nWell, I like to think of talents.\n\nAnd somebody said that there's no, you're not born with a talent or not, but I know, and even just looking at my children, that there are things that we didn't teach them, that they just gravitate towards music, art, math.\n\nI mean, it's all over the spectrum.\n\nIt's not confined to one thing.\n\nAnd I guess the Renaissance, the person that is able to do a little bit of everything, or as it's attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the jack of all trades, master of none.\n\nHe actually said it's a master of one, which is which is a good thing.\n\nYou want to really hone in on it.\n\nAnd so that's kind of what this is.\n\nIt's, you know, it's good to do a lot of things.\n\nBut some of them take more effort to do than others.\n\nAnd so what do you, what's the thing that you do effortless, effortlessly, it's just like, I don't even have to think about it.\n\nI like to think of this in talents, though, as every talent that you are aware of currently.\n\nLike if you were to take an inventory, probably a good thing to do, take an inventory of what you do what you are good at.\n\nAll of those things you discovered at some point.\n\nLike you may have had that sort of inclination towards art, towards typography even, um, some of these technical things that we deal with.\n\nBut you discover that, you didn't just wake up one morning and say, I'm, I'm interested in typography.\n\nYou read a book about it.\n\nYou opened up Figma or Photoshop or whatever and you started using the type to be like, oh, wow, look at all these fonts.\n\nYou open a word maybe and discover that.\n\nAnd then you start pushing and pulling, and then you read more about it, and you go deep on it.\n\nIt's something that kind of tickles your interest.\n\nAnd you kind of research it.\n\nYou're intrigued by it.\n\nYou go follow that path.\n\nAnd so the question would be, if you are any number of years along in product design or any career thing, And you think, well, I've done it all.\n\nI've, whatever talents I have, I've maxed out.\n\nBut, but why?\n\nCrushes, have you stopped discovering your talents?\n\nIt's very possible that you could just say, hey, I've done so much of this one thing for so long.\n\nIt's probably all I can do.\n\nUm, It's just not true.\n\nYou may find that there are things you're not suited for.\n\nI don't like math.\n\nIt's not my thing.\n\nUh, and it's really not my thing.\n\nTrigonometry, curves, and a, anyway, it's like, yet, I really enjoy. Do enjoy typography.\n\nWe'll talk about that later.\n\nThere's things that you need to discover continually need to try new things.\n\nAnd that's one of the ways that you can actually discover these new talents.\n\nYou just have to try stuff.\n\nWhat do you try?\n\nWell, again, it's the things that you're kind of gravitate towards.\n\nBut even in product design, there are so many different facets of it.\n\nI saw a diagram this week.\n\nThey talk about the tea designer, the broad, like I know design, but then I hone in on one type on like UX research or something like that.\n\nAnd that's fine.\n\nAnd but this comb designer, the broken comb where you have all of these facets of design that are kind of required for it and you're good in some and not in the other.\n\nWell, but that's everybody, right?\n\nWhere all that way.\n\nAnd the thing is, so if you haven't done research.\n\nTry doing some research.\n\nYou might do well to follow someone or read up on it and and say, hey, this is something that we really want to, I want to go for it.\n\nI want to see if I like it.\n\nYou don't have to do it forever.\n\nI don't think anyone's asking you to sign up for something that you've never done and say this is your new career.\n\nBut like anything that we do in design.\n\nThe thing I'd say is start small in scope of what you're doing, something low risk.\n\nAnd but it has real accountability.\n\nAnd that's the key.\n\nSo, you don't necessarily do the largest project that reports to the CEO and have all that.\n\nPeople may not give that to you, so you may not have to worry.\n\nBut if you're saying I'm going to be proactive about this, and I'm going to step out, You don't have to bite off the biggest thing there is.\n\nI know that the real accountability part, though, is what can really drive you to make sure that you've got it all covered.\n\nSo having a deadline, having a commitment, um, making it part of a real project.\n\nLike, that's a real, that, that can put you in the hot seat to deliver something.\n\nBut that's really good.\n\nSo you you want to you want to do that.\n\nWhen we talk about doing something that's effortless though, that doesn't mean that there's no training at all.\n\nSo you might be able to pick it up, do it once and say, oh, I've got this.\n\nIt's like a hidden talent.\n\nThat's awesome.\n\nThat's great.\n\nEven so, that doesn't mean that you don't go and get further education on it.\n\nIt just means that you can pick it up quickly.\n\nYou love doing it.\n\nYou can't wait to do more of it, and it doesn't get old.\n\nThat's the, you know, if you do this a few times and you're like, wow, that was great, but I don't want to ever do that again.\n\nProbably not a thing that you find effortless.\n\nAnd that's good.\n\nThe one thing I found in years ago, there was a point that I came to, and I had to choose whether I was going to do marketing, website design or productivity apps.\n\nAnd I kind of weighed them both.\n\nI love them both.\n\nI like the marketing.\n\nI like the communication aspect.\n\nI like trying to bring all of the elements together, composition, typography, color, branding, all of that.\n\nAnd I also really like productivity apps, figuring out workflows, seeing how they overlap each other, scaling them, all the challenges that go with that.\n\nBut when I really got down to it, I knew that branding took effort, picking colors and matching those, it's not that I couldn't do it, it's just that it would take me a lot more to get something to the point where it was better than good enough.\n\nAnd whereas workflows?\n\nThat is like sword fighting blindfolded with one hand.\n\nLike, it's just was no, it really was effortless.\n\nAnd I loved it.\n\nI couldn't wait to do more of it.\n\nThose are the things you want to gravitate toward.\n\nSo, yeah, find those talents that you might not actually have realized yet.\n\nTry new stuff and see where that leads you.\n\nThis other thing of like your work isn't good enough.\n\nYou're not feeling like that's really moving the needle.\n\nWell, one of the things you can do there is to do your best, produce the best thing you can, and then get hungry for feedback.\n\nNow, you have to pour yourself into what you're making.\n\nThis lackluster, kind of just throw stuff together, isn't gonna cut it.\n\nYou really have to do the best you can.\n\nSo with all the knowledge you have to date.\n\nDo that and make make a thing, make a design.\n\nAnd it's very vulnerable to put yourself in the position to ask for feedback.\n\nBecause you poured yourself into it.\n\nIt's kind of obvious.\n\nI spent all this time.\n\nBut that's that's where the growth is going to happen because you have to put it out there in order for someone to see it.\n\nAnd then you have to ask someone to really take a look at it and give you their thoughts.\n\nNow, the key to this is you want to find an expert.\n\nYou want to find someone whose work you respect, maybe, or the person you respect, someone whose knowledgeable about what you're working on, but you want to get feedback that's actionable.\n\nBecause there's so much, it's just easy to say, I like it.\n\nI don't like it.\n\nAnd that really doesn't help you.\n\nIt's, yeah, it might feel good to be flattered, but it's not actually something that you can improve.\n\nIn fact, if it's just flattering, you're like, oh, well, okay, well, I did the best, then that must be it.\n\nBut the real growth is going to happen.\n\nIf you're able to have a clear purpose for your design decisions, so you know why you made the decision you made, even if you're not sure, you still can explain it.\n\nLike, I picked this font because I like the curves on it.\n\nWell, okay, but that might not be the strongest reason for picking that fun.\n\nAnd if you find an expert to help you with that or someone that you trust, then they'll tell you the effect of that font is actually happening, happening on your design.\n\nBut what you really want for actual feedback is to get to receive it and get it in a way that's not opinionated like that.\n\nAnd once you get that actual feedback, you'll, you're going to want more of it, it's going to really fuel your desire because actual fleeback is something you can take back to the studio and apply it and explore with it.\n\nYou really know where to dig.\n\nIt's like literally digging a well, right?\n\nIs that where's the water?\n\nWell, here's all the indications are here.\n\nSo let's go deep.\n\nI don't go in a brand new spot and start randomly figuring it out.\n\nNo, it's good.\n\nAnd you'll take more risks that way.\n\nBecause you want to see how far you can push the design.\n\nYou'll understand the design language of what you're doing.\n\nAnd I actually have some resources that can help you on that.\n\nWe'll mention it later on at the end of this episode.\n\nBut the 3rd one, Which is really the flip, right?\n\nAre you just simply satisfied that your work is good enough?\n\nThat really turns it on its head.\n\nThe other ones we're saying, we want more.\n\nWe want more.\n\nAnd this one we're saying, less is fine.\n\nAnd the answer to that is, ensure your work represents your character.\n\nNow that's a tricky one.\n\nWhat's character?\n\nWell, there's a lot of different ways to put it, but it's the sum total of who you are and how you conduct yourself in all areas of life.\n\nSo you can think of it this way.\n\nWhen someone says your name, what adjectives come to their mind?\n\nThat should be reflective in a moment, if what are they thinking about me based on the work I've produced?\n\nNow, you can get all embroiled in that, but let's not get involved too much.\n\nLet's start at this idea that good enough is the bar, the low bar that you're aiming for.\n\nThat's a danger for designers to get complacent like that.\n\nLike, either you don't care, which I don't really know if that's always true.\n\nIt's probably more likely that the bare minimum is acceptable.\n\nIt's like, well, if you're surrounded by other product owners, other designers where good enough is good enough. Then they're not going to be elevated.\n\nYou not going to be able to lead them or accelerate, you know, or elevate your designs.\n\nAnd and even become that leader, design leader, that you can be, because you just stay at the status quo.\n\nLike I said before, this is the growing trend of this generative AI design. Where you could just push it, keep typing, keep prompting.\n\nKeep getting results, getting frustrated at the output, and finally just give up and say, okay, the thing works.\n\nAnd the alignment's off, you know, all of those things, and it's just good enough.\n\nBut it's not good enough because you're putting that out there and that's your, that's your name.\n\nThat's your reputation.\n\nThat's what you'll be known for.\n\nDo you want be known for that?\n\nThat's a choice.\n\nYou don't have to be known for that.\n\nIt's easy to go with the flow.\n\nIt really is because that's water will find its own level, right?\n\nIt's just it's easy to squeak by.\n\nBut The one thing that it does is whether you're a stellar designer, like off the charts, amazing or this bare minimum designer.\n\nBoth those pieces of work reflect who you are. Who that designer is.\n\nAnd you might say, well, that's not who I am.\n\nThe work I do, I'm a really different person than the work, right?\n\nIt's not, I'm just doing the good enough because that's that's all that's required.\n\nBut just think of it, though.\n\nIf your work is mediocre because it's just good enough, That's going to speak louder than all the other things you might say, or maybe even all the other things you might do.\n\nWhat you produce is your character, your work equals your character.\n\nIt's definitely a gateway into it.\n\nSo when people are looking at the work and which designer is this, they'll get to know that reputation by that work.\n\nSo, don't you want to not do that?\n\nDon't you want to go?\n\nDouble down.\n\nGo for broke.\n\nMake it the best that it can be, even if there's time constraints, and you can't go to that level that you'd really like to, but can you push it beyond?\n\nCan you put in that extra time to make it what it should be, at least what your vision of it should be?\n\nSo only put something out there that you're proud to call your own.\n\nYou're gonna put your name on it.\n\nAnd that's what you deliver.\n\nI talk a lot about pencils, down, work, and things like that, things in progress.\n\nEven so, are you putting the thought behind it to where you can explain 6 different ways all the way that this one thing works.\n\nYeah, you want to put the work out there that's beyond good enough.\n\nDo your best and only put out excellence.\n\nBe the excellent designer.\n\nYou can do that today.\n\nToday is the day.\n\nIt's a daily sprint.\n\nThis is the day you have to design.\n\nSo, knock it out of the park.\n\nSo I mentioned a few things in there.\n\nThere's a whole lot more, of course, that we could go into, but if you want to check out that get that course on getting feedback that's actionable, it's actually a free course.\n\nSo I've put that out there.\n\nI want you to have it.\n\nIt's 30 minutes of just a video, really, but it's a step-by-step guide.\n\nThere's a downloadable that comes with it.\n\nAnd it teaches you how to professionally critique design.\n\nAnd that's the thing that you can learn yourself, but you can also teach the team.\n\nAnd when everybody's on board giving actual feedback.\n\nIt's a ball.\n\nThe real power comes in when you start to kind of teach the stakeholders how to give actionable feedback.\n\nThat's the real value, but you can do it.\n\nYou can check that out.\n\nAnd I also have a masterclass called design for value, and that goes really deep into ways that you can make purposeful design decisions, like how do you do it, and make sure that value is embedded in those design decisions.\n\nThe masterclass is 50% off through May 15th.\n\nSo running a launch special.\n\nAll of these are on academy.designey.com.\n\nAnd while you're there, go to designing.com and check out the content that we've got it.\n\nA lot of the podcast episodes are there, but there's articles and other things that can help you.\n\nAnd there's a free newsletter.\n\nSo sign up for that.\n\nIt's designey.com.\n\nThat's design with a Y .com.\n\nThanks for listening to the Daily Sprint.\n\nJust remember, today is a great day to design with a why.\n\nSee you next time.",
  "title": "Not Good Enough",
  "updatedAt": "2026-05-11T15:31:40.685Z"
}