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A collection of notes, essays, and tiny postmortems from things I’ve made, read, noticed, or overthought. Mostly design, sometimes life, always a little bit curious.

AllRandom ThoughtsProduct ThinkingPatternsTeamsProductivityDesign SystemPrinciplesUser Research

©2026 Belle Lee · Last updated 05.02.2026

Be Clever and Lazy
June 5, 2026Random Thoughts

Be Clever and Lazy

In the age of AI productivity, maybe the real advantage isn’t working harder or faster, but learning how to be clever enough to do less of the wrong work.

May 1, 2026Product Thinking

Synthetic users are not user research

Real product decisions still need real people, real behavior, and the messy context AI can’t simulate.

Design process is dead… or not?
April 24, 2026Product Thinking

Design process is dead… or not?

AI makes design faster, but it doesn’t replace the judgment needed to understand problems, evaluate ideas, and choose the right process.

Openclaw: what’s the big deal?
March 13, 2026Random Thoughts

Openclaw: what’s the big deal?

OpenClaw is less about building a smarter chatbot and more about asking who gets to own the assistant layer of the internet.

Ads in the AI world
February 20, 2026Patterns

Ads in the AI world

Ads in AI chat may be inevitable, but the real design challenge is keeping sponsored intent near decisions — not inside advice.

I used AI for a week - and this is what I’ve learned
January 31, 2026Product Thinking

I used AI for a week - and this is what I’ve learned

I took a week off to stop being scared of AI—and learned how to make friends with it.

Designing stream of thought
January 9, 2026Patterns

Designing stream of thought

A good AI stream should not expose every thought, but show enough visible work, uncertainty, and control to help users trust what the system is doing.

Unique patterns in AI design
December 19, 2025Patterns

Unique patterns in AI design

AI design may not have invented many new components yet, but it is reshaping familiar patterns around guidance, oversight, and trust.

Light PMing As a Designer
November 14, 2025Teams

Light PMing As a Designer

How AI and leaner teams are pushing designers beyond pixels and into product discovery, prioritization, and sharper product judgment.

Challenges with user interviews
October 18, 2025Product Thinking

Challenges with user interviews

A reflection on learning that user interviews are not just about asking better questions, but also about surviving the messy logistics of recruiting, scheduling, and getting the right people in the room.

My first month building AI browser
August 22, 2025Product Thinking

My first month building AI browser

A first-month reflection on what it really means to build an AI browser: rethinking search, tabs, intent, and the blurry line between browsing and assistance.

Browser 2.0
August 9, 2025Product Thinking

Browser 2.0

As AI turns search into synthesis and tabs into context, the next browser won’t be organized around pages — it’ll be organized around intent.

Is AI replacing search?
July 25, 2025Product Thinking

Is AI replacing search?

Search gives us places to look. AI gives us a place to think. The next browser may need to understand the difference.

Why we still suck at teaching soft Skills
April 20, 2025Random Thoughts

Why we still suck at teaching soft Skills

Soft skills aren’t soft — they’re essential, learnable, and long overlooked

How I stay productive as a designer
February 9, 2025Productivity

How I stay productive as a designer

Tips and tricks I have learned over the time to stay productive as a creative person — through rituals, reflection, deep focus, and smart collaboration

Earning trust: our journey to stakeholder buy-in for a unified design system
January 26, 2025Teams

Earning trust: our journey to stakeholder buy-in for a unified design system

How we built alignment across leadership, engineering, design and product

Why new year’s resolution never works
January 5, 2025Productivity

Why new year’s resolution never works

Forget resolutions—structure, reflection, and small wins make real change stick.

Using Jira for design projects
December 1, 2024Teams

Using Jira for design projects

How we used Jira to track design systems work effectively

Design system documentation as a product
November 10, 2024Design System

Design system documentation as a product

Treat your documentation like a product—because it’s the key to making your design system actually work.

Challenges with multi-brand design system
October 20, 2024Design System

Challenges with multi-brand design system

Lessons in brand differentiation, consistency, and governance

Celebrating small wins (and why they are important)
October 13, 2024Teams

Celebrating small wins (and why they are important)

Small wins fuel momentum, build confidence, and remind us that progress—however tiny—matters.

Challenges of a design systems team
August 18, 2024Design System

Challenges of a design systems team

Rolling out a design system isn’t just about components—it’s about shifting culture, building trust, and creating lasting momentum.

Designing for accessibility: my practical checklist
July 28, 2024Principles

Designing for accessibility: my practical checklist

Accessibility isn’t extra—it’s foundational. With the right habits, systems, and collaboration, inclusive design becomes the default.

Composable components: balancing consistency and flexibility
June 16, 2024Design System

Composable components: balancing consistency and flexibility

Composable components bring balance to design systems—offering consistency without killing creativity.

Building with intent: applying atomic design in design systems
May 19, 2024Design System

Building with intent: applying atomic design in design systems

Atomic Design isn’t just a concept—it’s the foundation for building scalable, consistent, and flexible design systems that actually work.

April 21, 2024Design System

Naming tokens in design systems

Design tokens are more than variables—they’re a shared language that powers consistency, clarity, and collaboration across your design system.

March 10, 2024Design System

What are design tokens

Design tokens are the secret sauce behind every scalable, consistent, and collaborative design system.

What is a design system
February 4, 2024Design System

What is a design system

A great design system isn’t just a library—it’s infrastructure that empowers teams to build faster, better, and more consistently together.

Rethinking gamer journey: role of PDP in game purchase
April 14, 2023User Research

Rethinking gamer journey: role of PDP in game purchase

In a closed ecosystem like Battle.net, a PDP isn’t about selling—it’s about sealing the deal with clarity, trust, and timely info.

Announcement modules
March 23, 2023Patterns

Announcement modules

Announcement modules may be small, but with the right timing and targeting, they drive action—and turn hype into clicks.

Designing for language acquisition
November 14, 2021User Research

Designing for language acquisition

Rethinking language learning—not as memorization, but as meaningful, immersive conversation.

Different types of language learners
September 5, 2021User Research

Different types of language learners

Finding the right user persona for Idiom was key—because in language learning, one size never fits all.

How to build trusts on websites
July 4, 2021Principles

How to build trusts on websites

In health and wellness apps, trust isn’t a feature—it’s the first impression

Nutrition tracking: different types of users
June 27, 2021User Research

Nutrition tracking: different types of users

How MFD can stands out by serving users who need real nutritional insight in a sea of calorie counters