Perfection Is Paralysis: Why Designers Need to Just Start
For the longest time, I’ve listened to people in the design industry idealize process and the “right way” to do things. Having worked in a large company as a product designer, I can tell you—there’s no such thing as one “right way.” There’s a lot of trial and error. A lot of feedback and pivoting. The work is how we get to the right thing.
Process can be paralysis.
In the design world, we obsess over tools, systems, and methodologies. We spend days tweaking our Figma setup, reading articles about “The Ultimate Design Workflow,” and endlessly revising our process docs. And yet, the work—the real, messy, creative part—sits untouched.
The Idealism Trap
Designers are idealists by nature. We want pixel-perfect outcomes, dream clients, and clean, structured handoffs. We fantasize about perfect projects where everyone follows the UX flow, stakeholders buy in and approve with minimal feedback, and developers don’t break our vision. But here’s the truth:
Perfection is bullshit. It doesn’t exist. It’s a stalling tactic dressed up as professionalism.
The Reality of Design Work
The best work happens in the trenches. Mid-project chaos, last-minute feedback, constraints, and even failure—that’s the forge where good design is born.
Great tools don’t make great work. Grit does.
You have to be willing to be wrong.
You have to be willing to overthink and iterate quickly.
You have to be willing to reach out, communicate ideas, and ask questions.
You don’t need perfect tools. You need momentum.
You don’t need a better brief. You need courage.
You don’t need permission. You need to start.
So the next time you find yourself polishing the process, ask yourself:
“Am I creating, or am I just preparing to create?”
Because the work doesn’t care about your process. It just wants to be done.
Published on Substack