Impostor syndrome does not stay in your head. It leaks into the work. You play safe, shrink the idea, and the user gets the timid version instead of the bold one.

pretty much

your brain hates blank space, so it fills it with the nearest sample: you

In 1978, psychologists Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes described what they called the impostor phenomenon.

think of it like designing a hotel room while standing in your own bedroom. everything feels obvious because you know where your socks are

annoyingly, no

asking helps, but the chapter is warning you about the gap between what feels true and what survives contact

Every designer I know has dealt with self doubt. Sometimes it looks like insecurity, sometimes like arrogance or defensiveness (see chapter 3). But most often it…

yep. you shrink the work first is the trap door

then it shows up as what the research says

, Clance & Imes, 1978

make the hidden assumption visible before the review starts

then test the behavior, not just whether the room nods

and if a choice only works for informed, patient, caffeinated people, treat that as a bug

that’s the series tbh

design psychology is mostly noticing the human nonsense before it ships

deal. hydrate first