Alicja Suska has been designing SaaS products for 10 years.

She's worked at Toggle, Sourcegraph, and now leads product design at Buffer. What caught my attention: she comes from an artistic background — illustration and animation.

That shapes how she designs. Colors, composition, how elements work together — it comes more intuitively. But she admits the process is harder to explain: "I can reason why something is good, but I work more intuitively."

🧠 What you'll learn in this episode:

0:00 - Jim's intro
0:25 - Who is Alicja and her journey through Toggle, Sourcegraph, and Buffer
3:00 - Designing for vastly different users: solo creators vs enterprise teams
5:24 - How to define taste as a designer (and why delight is more practical)
9:44 - Why delight only works after you've solved the core problem
10:26 - How an artistic background shapes product design thinking
15:33 - Sketching and showing rough work early (not polished mockups)
17:45 - Using AI in the design process: what works and what doesn't
21:30 - Prototyping Buffer Insights with Claude: 40+ concepts in one project
29:24 - The shiny object syndrome: wasting time on overhyped AI tool
31:41 - Designing AI features without screaming "this is AI"
39:15 - Enterprise vs consumer: when to be transparent about AI usage
40:04 - Onboarding philosophy: get users into the product as soon as possible
43:12 - Buffer's experiment: showing the UI before asking users to connect channels
46:18 - Credit card upfront vs free trial: what the data actually showed
49:18 - Time to value: identifying the real aha moment (it might not be what you think)
52:09 - Design debt: how navigation bloat quietly kills your product
55:01 - Why you need a dedicated designer who owns the product long-term
58:57 - Process hack: weekly time-to-value brainstorming sessions
1:04:38 - "Release what you're proud of" — Buffer's shift away from shipping fast
1:08:46 - Alicja's favorite products right now and why

💡 Steal these quick wins from Alicja:

Show the product UI before asking for commitment.

Buffer stopped blocking users with "connect your channel" upfront. Now they show the calendar first. Users explore, then connect when ready. Less friction, more trust.

Design your empty states like onboarding screens.

Most users skip onboarding anyway. They land on an empty screen that wasn't designed for being empty. Make your empty states guide users to the next action — not just fill space.

Run a monthly "time to value" session.

Alicja blocks 1-2 hours monthly to brainstorm: how can we shorten time to value? No big project commitment. Just one brainstorm + one small dev task. Fixes pile up over time.

Use Claude to prototype before devs write code.

Alicja brainstormed 40+ feature concepts with Claude, then had it generate interactive HTML prototypes using Buffer's design system. The team could experience features before any code was written.

Audit your navigation every time you add a feature.

The default pattern is "add another tab at the top." Eventually you run out of space and unimportant things sit at the same level as critical ones. Review navigation with every addition.

___

Introduction

Jim Zarkadas (00:00)

This is the Love at First Try podcast — for SaaS founders and developers who care about design and want practical insights on:

• UX

• taste

• growth

• conversion

• product experience

Guest Intro

Alicja Suska (00:43)

Product designer at Buffer with ~10 years of experience designing SaaS products.

Previously worked with:

• Toggl

• Workfront

• Sourcegraph

At Buffer, works on:

• Community management tools

• AI-powered social insights

• Collaboration features for larger teams

Designing for Completely Different Users

Alicja Suska (03:20)

One of Buffer’s biggest design challenges:

👉 Designing for:

• solo creators with 1 channel

• agencies managing 20+ channels

Example:

A creator with 10 comments/week:

• wants to reply to every comment

A large account:

• needs filtering

• prioritization

• efficiency

👉 Same feature, completely different mindset.

What Is Taste?

Alicja Suska (05:24)

Taste is difficult to define because everyone feels qualified to judge design.

People don’t say:

• “great composition”

• “excellent color balance”

But they feel it.

👉 Design creates emotional reactions subconsciously.

Example:

• Slack won partly because it felt:

  • more delightful

  • more human

  • more approachable

Despite similar competitors existing already.

Delight Comes From Function First

Alicja Suska (08:50)

Small animations and hover states are not enough.

👉 Real delight comes from:

• clarity

• speed

• understanding

• helping users achieve goals quickly

If the product:

• looks pretty

• but creates friction

👉 users are not delighted.

Artistic Background → Better Product Sense

Alicja Suska (10:26)

Coming from illustration and painting helped with:

• color understanding

• composition

• visual harmony

But also with intuition.

Sometimes:
👉 solutions appear visually in your head before you can logically explain them.

Designers Often Think Intuitively

Alicja Suska (11:28)

Technical people often explain processes more structurally.

Designers sometimes:

• “just see” the solution

And only afterward rationalize why it works.

Brand Design vs Product Design

Alicja Suska (12:08)

Many UX designers struggle translating:

• brand identity

• website aesthetics

• marketing visuals

…into product interfaces.

Because products require:

• more restraint

• more usability

• less visual chaos

👉 Product UI often becomes:
“enhanced UI with subtle brand flavor.”

Sketching = Superpower

Alicja Suska (14:51)

During her first design internship workshop:

• quickly sketching ideas visually

• communicating through drawing

…was a major reason she got hired.

👉 Ability to visualize ideas quickly is highly valuable.

Designers Need More “Rough Draft” Thinking

Jim Zarkadas + Alicja Suska (16:00)

Engineers comfortably show rough prototypes.

Designers often try to perfect everything too early.

Result:

• feedback focuses on tiny UI details

• instead of actual product problems

👉 Black-and-white mockups/wireframes help force better discussions.

AI in Design: Best Current Use Cases

Alicja Suska (18:23)

AI is strongest today for:

• brainstorming

• prototyping

• usability testing

• idea generation

Weakest for:

• maintaining complex design systems

• large-scale UI consistency

• replacing designers entirely

Example: AI-Powered Product Exploration

Alicja Suska (21:30)

While designing AI-powered social insights for Buffer:

Claude was used to:

• brainstorm 40+ insight ideas

• generate dashboards

• prototype charts

• simulate interfaces

Result:
👉 dramatically faster concept validation.

AI Prototypes > Static Mockups

Jim Zarkadas (24:49)

Big realization:

👉 “I don’t have to design static screens anymore.”

Using AI prototypes allowed:

• interactive testing

• micro-animations

• testing multiple navigation approaches quickly

• real-feeling product flows

Instead of:

• endless Figma polishing

AI Can Waste Massive Time Too

Jim Zarkadas (28:10)

Danger:
👉 shiny-object syndrome

Trying random AI tools:

• synthetic testing

• AI experiments

• overhyped workflows

…can destroy focus and productivity.

Why Most AI Design Demos Feel Fake

Alicja Suska (30:11)

AI tools usually showcase:

• simple landing pages

• basic interfaces

But real SaaS complexity involves:

• huge design systems

• variants

• themes

• dependencies

• navigation logic

👉 Real product design is much harder than demo videos suggest.

AI Features Should Stop Screaming “AI”

Alicja Suska (33:54)

Users are getting tired of:

• gradients everywhere

• “AI-powered” labels on every feature

AI should increasingly become:
👉 invisible infrastructure.

Example:
❌ “AI-generated suggestion”
✅ “Suggested reply”

Trust Matters More Than AI Branding

Alicja Suska (36:12)

Important:

• transparency

• controls

• opt-out capability

But visually over-highlighting AI:
👉 often harms UX more than helps it.

Best Onboarding Philosophy

Alicja Suska (40:30)

👉 Get users into the product as fast as possible.

Avoid:

• long intro tutorials

• unnecessary setup steps

• “welcome” slides nobody reads

Instead:

• use strong empty states

• contextual onboarding

• progressive discovery

Empty States Are Underrated

Alicja Suska (41:18)

Good empty states:

• educate

• guide

• motivate

• suggest next actions

Bad empty states:

• show nothing useful

• create confusion

Buffer Example: Don’t Force Commitment Too Early

Alicja Suska (42:43)

Originally:

• users had to connect social accounts before seeing the UI

Problem:
👉 users didn’t trust the product yet.

New approach:

• users enter the interface first

• then connect channels contextually

Result:
👉 much better onboarding experience.

Time-to-Value Depends on User Segment

Jim Zarkadas (49:33)

Different users care about different “aha moments.”

Example:

• small businesses may value automation first

• large teams may value stability or invoicing

👉 onboarding should adapt based on user context.

Great Onboarding Never Ends

Jim Zarkadas (59:20)

Onboarding is not:

• a one-time flow

It’s:
👉 an ongoing product process.

Best practice:

• continuously revisit onboarding

• continuously reduce friction

• continuously improve time-to-value

Design Debt = UX Technical Debt

Alicja Suska (52:23)

Design debt accumulates when:

• products grow without cohesive ownership

Most common problems:

• chaotic navigation

• endless tabs

• outdated onboarding

• popover overload

👉 SaaS products slowly become Frankensteins.

Biggest Cause of Design Debt

Alicja Suska (54:47)

Usually:
👉 lack of dedicated design ownership.

Not necessarily in-house.

But:

• someone must consistently own product quality long-term.

Product Quality Standards Have Changed

Alicja Suska (56:29)

15 years ago:
👉 users tolerated confusing software.

Today:
👉 users instantly leave products with poor UX.

Standards are dramatically higher now.

Buffer’s Philosophy Shift

Alicja Suska (1:04:38)

Buffer leadership shifted toward:

👉 “We only release things we’re proud of.”

Not:

• ship fast at all costs

• half-baked releases

Because:

• mature brands can’t afford poor experiences.

Favorite Products

Claude

Alicja Suska (1:08:46)

Excited about:

• brainstorming

• prototyping

• AI-assisted workflows

Feels dramatically stronger than many alternatives for creative collaboration.

Future of Health & Fitness Apps

Alicja Suska (1:09:33)

Excited about:

• exercise tracking

• nutrition tracking

• adaptive AI coaching

Future opportunity:
👉 AI systems that dynamically adjust:

• workouts

• calories

• recovery

• nutrition

Based on real behavioral data.

Final Insight

Alicja Suska + Jim Zarkadas

AI will likely:

• shrink teams

• increase leverage

• create new workflows

But:

👉 ownership, judgment, strategy, and product thinking still matter deeply.