Yesterday we had an inspiring in-house workshop with Elia Faber and Julia Reinemann from HelloDesign on user journeys and friction mapping. Both are staples in the design community, but they deserve a fresh look when your company's strategy changes, as ours did recently.
\nWhy do so many user journeys and personas fall flat? I think I had a little epiphany during the day. The problem often lies in the temptation to inflate little to no research. Instead, the approach should always be to compress the synthesis of extensive research and the latest insights from real interviews into an actionable overview.
\nThis is a call to create your personas based on evidence, not assumptions. The stock photos may look pretty, and their names may be catchy, but they don't represent real users and their behavior. The result? Design decisions based on fiction. Instead of fiction, look for friction. Map out all the friction points, considering the Fogg Behavior Model to account for motivation and ability.
\nI know that time constraints and limited access to research may feel like they justify some shortcuts. But faking it until you can do your research is simply not the way to go. In just one hour during the workshop, my team and I identified three areas of the purchase process that could easily be improved, along with a major opportunity for innovation, but that is a topic for another post.
", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/faking-it", "title": "On fake personas and friction", "summary": "In your user journeys, instead of fiction, look for friction.", "date_modified": "2025-04-10T00:00:00.000Z", "author": { "name": "Thilko Limbeck", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com" }, "tags": [ "Design" ] }, { "id": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/headwind", "content_html": "Up North by the coast where I am from, we say “Gegenwind formt Character” Headwind shapes character, and after five years of Tailwind—the CSS framework—it’s time for an assessment. What started out as a fresh breeze for rapid development has gradually revealed itself as unpredictable wind gusts for my team.
\nWe use Tailwind in our design system’s components, with a mix of CSS modules when needed. Given that our web app uses a mix of CSS and SCSS / modules, this results in a constant back-and-forth between syntaxes. This isn’t just mentally draining; it’s also turned our files into a tangled mess and slows down our pair programming sessions.
\nIt is probably due to my design background that I like that Tailwind uses the term leading rather than the standard CSS term line-height, but for many front-end people this is just confusing. In addition to the many languages they already speak, they now need to learn an additional one, just a dialect some my argue. One that was promised to ease communication, but when spoken infrequently creates an additional language barrier, similar to the one I created with the Plattdeutsch at the beginning and end of this text.
\nAll in all, rely on Tailwind for fast prototyping and solo projects, but for larger or enterprise-scale projects, it might be wise to steer clear of it. As we Northerners say, “De Wind kummt immer van vörn” the wind always comes from the front.
", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/headwind", "title": "On Tailwind and character", "summary": "After five years of using Tailwind, it’s time for an assessment.", "date_modified": "2025-04-08T00:00:00.000Z", "author": { "name": "Thilko Limbeck", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com" }, "tags": [ "Tech" ] }, { "id": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/i-am-your-father", "content_html": "I’ve always had a quiet fear of turning into my father. Doesn’t every man? To dread becoming someone you deeply admire—a person who’s cared tremendously and at their best, loved unconditionally. Yet there it was: the sting when my partner snapped, “You’re just like your dad!” A sentence that should’ve felt neutral, even complimentary, but instead felt like a verdict.
\nFor years, I’ve joked with friends who have kids, “Why bother raising them? They will become like you anyway.” It was meant to be lighthearted, but now it feels more like a confession. Here’s the realization that’s slowly settling in: learning to love myself means learning to accept my father fully first—his humanity in all its complexity. Because it’s not only inevitable but a good thing that I will one day be almost like my dad.
", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/i-am-your-father", "title": "On becoming like your father", "summary": "I’ve always had a quiet fear of turning into my father. Doesn’t every man? ", "date_modified": "2025-04-06T00:00:00.000Z", "author": { "name": "Thilko Limbeck", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com" }, "tags": [ "Loose thoughts" ] }, { "id": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/into-design-systems-meetup", "content_html": "For the first round of the Into Design Systems Meetup in Düsseldorf, we welcomed a diverse crowd of designers, developers, and product people to sipgate. The evening featured two talks: Accessibility in Design: Strategies and Practical Approaches for Design Systems by Coralie Deutscher and Andrea Prade from denkwerk and From Woyton Coffee to Design Systems: A Career Journey You Didn't See Coming by Laura Fehre from Figma.
\nAfter the talks, Ana Luiza Cavalcanti and Dorsa Javaherian hosted an engaging Q&A session. This was topped off by the innovative Community Pitch session, where attendees could spotlight job searches, share company openings, or ask for advice. This fresh approach demonstrated a commitment to fostering a collaborative design community. It was incredible to finally meet Sil, the organizer of the Into Design Systems Conference, in person after so many virtual encounters to discuss the current state of design systems.
\nTrue to the conference's philosophy, Sil ensured the event was introvert-friendly and inclusive throughout. I was proud to contribute to this welcoming atmosphere through the gender-neutral bathrooms at sipgate, which I actively advocated for. The custom icons for the bathrooms were also designed by my dear colleague Tim and me. I believe that only in a space where everyone can fully participate without shame or discomfort, amazing things like this Meetup happen.
", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/into-design-systems-meetup", "title": "On meetups and inclusivity", "summary": "We had the pleasure of hosting the first Into Design Systems meetup in Düsseldorf at sipgate.", "date_modified": "2025-04-02T00:00:00.000Z", "author": { "name": "Thilko Limbeck", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com" }, "tags": [ "Design Systems", "Meetups" ] }, { "id": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/social-animals", "content_html": "This interplay between solo days and side projects versus social days and happiness is a familiar one to me…
\nAs with any other poison, when it comes to being alone, it's all about the dose because the initial rush turns into deadly loneliness in high doses. The tolerance is incredibly individual, a \"matter of practice,\" and probably not a good goal in itself?!
\nIn the end, we remain social animals.
", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com/writing/social-animals", "title": "On solitude and side projects", "summary": "This interplay between solo days and side projects versus social days and happiness is a familiar one to me…", "date_modified": "2025-04-01T00:00:00.000Z", "author": { "name": "Thilko Limbeck", "url": "https://thilkolimbeck.com" }, "tags": [ "Loose thoughts" ] } ] }