Systems before screens
The best interaction work starts with rules, thresholds, and operating models.
I still love a beautiful screen. The work that holds up almost never starts there.
A screen is a snapshot of a decision someone already made. It inherits the rules beneath it: permissions, escalation paths, task boundaries, information hierarchy, the invisible logic that decides whether the interface stays coherent as the product grows. When those rules are weak, the screen has to compensate with explanation, decoration, or friction.
Before I get attached to layout, I want a smaller set of structural answers. What's the operating model behind this feature? Where does judgment live: with the user, the system, or both? Which states reverse, and which don't? What evidence does someone need before they act?
Those questions don't replace visual design. They make visual design matter more. Critique sessions change too. Instead of debating whether a card sits left or right, the team can argue about agency, ownership, and failure modes. Those arguments age better. The interface ends up anchored to behavior, not just taste — the same split I keep drawing in design systems at scale.