Tom Johnson
Designer and such
Husband to Joy. Dad to Silas and Ike. Guy who feeds Hondo. Product designer at Basedash. Previously Principal Product Designer at Asurion. Nashville, TN. Occasional rambler about design topics.
I've worked on projects for
Articles
DEC 16, 2021 • 4 Min Read
How we manage feature flags at Basedash
There are a lot of ways to manage feature flags in products, but at Basedash, one of the easiest ways to manage them is to, well, just use Basedash.
May 10, 2021 • 7 Min Read
It’s time to stop mocking data
There aren’t many designers out there who would advocate for working with less or no information about the product they’re building. We want to know who is using our product, what their motivations are, what kind of frustrations they might have, what work environment...
May 4, 2021 • 5 Min Read
Design prompts aren’t helping you
It’s not that they are a waste of time. It’s not because the output isn’t correct, good enough, or something that can be added to a portfolio. It’s because these prompts aren’t what you’ll be doing once you get a job. They’re too idealistic, unconstrained, and aspirational...
January 10, 2020 • 7 Min Read
Figma’s killer feature hasn’t even been built yet
Large organizations are a maze. At each turn, projects are met with the mangled overgrown walls of “who”, “where”, and “what”. Who do I talk to about this? Who has done this before?Who is the expert? Who do I have to talk to...
July 16, 2019 • 11 Min Read
Design tools are holding us back
I'm a bit frustrated with the shortcomings of design tools. Don't get me wrong, I still love them, but I think it's time for us to start pushing for more features that emulate development, and less that are rooted in visual design. Hear my rant.
Nov 13, 2018 • 7 Min Read
Figma tips and tricks
I started this document a while ago for the design team I’m on at Asurion, but I thought it would be helpful for others on the interwebs as well. Nothing here is advanced or anything, but it’s a help repo if nothing else.
Sept 11, 2018 • 14 Min Read
Stop handing off concepts and start designing real products with Webflow.
I design products, prototypes, and interactions in Webflow. It’s throw-away code (mostly). It’s clunky for lots of screens. It’s slow to get started. It’s not super collaborative. It’s expensive for teams. The code it generates doesn’t really translate to React, Angular, or Native Apps.
Apr 6, 2018 • 6 Min Read
I failed to build a design-driven culture
This is a tough one to talk about, folks. This is not an aspirational post, or even one that will give advice on how to avoid my mistakes. I don’t think I can show exactly where I went wrong, or how I could have changed anything. There is no happy ending. Abandon hope all ye who scroll here.
Apr 2018 • 8 Min ReAD
What Tesla’s Model 3 UI reveals about its vision for the future
If you’re a designer/car enthusiast this post is for you. I’ve broken down the details of the dashboard controls and interface of the Tesla Model 3, the first mass-market, touchscreen only electric car. The car’s UI design tells us a great deal about Tesla’s long term strategy, and their eyes toward a driverless future.
Apr 2018 • 4 part series
Design and build your agency website
I built an agency website in Webflow. I used minimal classes, flexbox, the CMS, and the API to create it. In this four-part series, I’ll give you tips about using each, and how to get started.
May 24, 2017 • 14 Min Read
You are going to switch to Figma
I’ve read a lot of comparison articles about the two, but I don’t think they really do Figma justice. Some of them briefly mention the team features, the browserness, the components, and constraints, but they don’t really focus on how they’re better than versions in Sketch. At best, they make it seem like both are about the same. The reason I’m writing this is because they’re not.
Jan 12, 2017 • 5 Min Read
Designers are full of bad ideas
All of my ideas are bad. Every. Single. One. And yet, I still keep having them. My brain is chalked full of inconsistencies, inaccuracies, & incomprehensible iterations of interactions. I stonewall good decisions and necessary processes, spout nonsensical thoughts while opining about the obscure, and pontificate...
Jan 12, 2017 • 5 Min Read
There are no UX best practices
Recently I downloaded Goldstar on my iPad. It’s a ticket buying app, similar to stubhub or ticketmaster. This is the first screen I saw:I looked for a ‘skip’ button or some other way that I could use the app without actually having to create an account. Maybe there was a subtle arrow or a ‘no thanks’, ‘remind me later’, or a ‘show me the tix’ button?
Jul 27, 2016 • 5 Min Read
Nothing is intuitive
“We need to make it more intuitive”“That’s not intuitive”“Our primary goal is that it be intuitive”…stop. Please. Almost every design discussion I’ve had lately has had one of these quotes. I hear it from clients, large corporations, key stakeholders, developers, other designers, managers, interns, and ESPECIALLY entrepreneurs.
Jul 30, 2015 • 6 Min Read
Grandma is a user too
About a month ago, I was at a Wendy’s while on vacation in Wisconsin. Work could not be further from my mind, as all my attention was on the tower of beef-n-cheese melty goodness that I had just sat down to eat. I was all-consumed in my beefy effort when, planning and debating on the next bite, when, to my great distress, I noticed a little drama going on in the corner of my eye. A little old lady was trying to get a coke.
Let's chat
Don't feel at all pressured to reach out to me just about business-y things and such. I'm happy to chat for hours about design tool minutia on Twitter, grab a cup of joe with your if you're in the Nashville area, or just talk about whatever.
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