2025 Year in Review
I’ve been writing these yearly reviews for a while now. If 2024 was about momentum, 2025 was about finishing.
Work
2025 felt less like a year of expansion and more like a year of completion.
The biggest shift in my work came at the very end of the year, when I wrapped up my work Summer Health and returned to independent consulting. I spent nearly three and a half years with the company — far longer than I initially expected. When I joined in 2022, we were a team of five. By the time I left, the company had grown to nearly twenty.
During that time, I was responsible for all design across the company — product, marketing, and brand. That included leading the product design work for both the Care App and CareOS, as well as all marketing design and decks, including the Series A pitch. Together with the team, we shipped foundational products that defined how parents and clinicians interacted with the platform. I’m deeply proud of that work, not just because of what we built, but because of the care and intent behind it.
This year also brought moments that made the journey feel tangible. I got to see parts of the U.S. I’d never visited before through team offsites in Las Vegas and Austin, spent time in San Francisco, and — perhaps most memorably — hosted Matthew in Sweden for a week-long product sprint.
That week stands out as a reminder of what I enjoy most: focused collaboration, clear problems, and building something real, together, from the ground up.
Leaving Summer Health wasn’t an easy decision, but it was a clear one. The next phase would have meant moving from inventing to managing, from creating to maintaining. That’s valuable work — but it’s not where I do my best thinking.
What I’ve missed about consulting is the ability to set my own arc. No matter how good the company, there are natural boundaries to how much you can shape your role, your growth, and the space you leave for personal work. I do my best work when things are still undefined — when the hard questions haven’t been answered yet and design helps shape the direction, not just execute on it.
So I’m returning to consulting with intention. I’m most useful in small, design-centric teams — often under twenty people — where clarity still needs to be created and the product is finding its form. I’ve always been a 0 → 1 designer, and after three and a half years of building, it feels right to start from zero again.
Website & Newsletter
The website has always been my playground, and this year I rebuilt it twice.
The second rebuild wasn’t about aesthetics — it was about control. I wanted the site to better reflect my work, including more detailed case studies, and to be able to change and extend it myself. For the first time, I could design and ship directly without having to hand things off or hire developers to make even small adjustments. That shift has changed how quickly I experiment — and, more importantly, how I think. The line between design and engineering has blurred in a way that feels both practical and creatively freeing.
Alongside the site, the newsletter continued to grow steadily. I’ve been writing much more this year, which feels right. Writing remains the clearest way I know to think through design problems — slower than sketching, but more honest. It forces decisions.
The biggest milestone here was releasing my book, Products People Actually Want. I originally set out to rewrite my first book, User Experiences That Matter, but during the editing process it became clear that too much had changed in ten years. The industry, the tools, and my own perspective had all moved on. Instead of revising, I started from scratch. The book became a way to consolidate years of work, writing, and thinking into something more durable.
Personal
August was the highlight of the year: Anna and I got married.
We hosted close friends and family in our garden, here at home. It was simple, warm, and exactly right. A day that felt less like an event and more like a confirmation of the life we’re building together.
After the wedding, we spent a couple of quiet, beautiful days in Nice — a soft landing after an intense and emotional summer.
Earlier in the year, I got to spend my 44th birthday in Marrakech. It’s a beautiful, vibrant city — overwhelming in the best possible way — and a place I’d happily return to.
Almost 35 years ago, I had one of those rare, formative moments when I first heard Creep by Radiohead on MTV. I still remember where I was standing and how it made me feel. This year, I finally got to see Radiohead live in Copenhagen. It felt quietly surreal — one of those long arcs that only make sense in hindsight.
There was football too. I got to see Liverpool play again — beaten on the day, but still champions. The result mattered less than the weekend itself: time in London with my brother-in-law and nephew, wandering the city, talking about everything and nothing.
Outside of that, life has been steady in good ways. Living in the countryside with Anna and Taylor continues to be grounding. Countless walks along the beach and through the forest, across seasons and weather. More movement, more quiet, fewer distractions. It’s a rhythm that feels increasingly non-negotiable.
Closing
2025 wasn’t a year of expansion. It was a year of finishing things properly.
I closed a long chapter of work, shipped something I’d been circling for years, and made a few deliberate choices about how I want to spend my time. That feels sufficient.
I’m heading into the next year with less momentum and more control. That’s usually a better starting point.