Table of Contents
- Writing online makes you a better UX designer
- What personal branding on LinkedIn gets you
- Why are you scared to hit publish?
- 3 reasons to write while you’re still figuring things out
- #1. Celebrate your wins
- #2. Forced introspection
- #3. Find your tribe
- How to start your personal branding on LinkedIn
- Where ideas come from
- Content pillars aren't complicated
- The format formula
- The tactical stuff nobody tells you
- What to do when someone steals your content
- The real game
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Read time: under 6 minutes
Writing online makes you a better UX designer
Ever notice how confident you sound in your head… and how quickly that confidence disappears in a design critique? That’s not stage fright. That’s untested thinking.
Writing fixes that.
Every time you write, you're doing three things:
- Catching gaps in your logic before they embarrass you
- Building a library of your own thinking
- Creating a paper trail of your growth
That’s already powerful, but writing in public takes it further. When your thinking lives outside your head, it gets pressure-tested. By peers. By context. By time.
That’s where LinkedIn comes in. Not as a “content platform.” But as a low-friction place to practice thinking out loud as a UX designer.
In a chat with Thijs, Chris talked a lot about what you need to know to start your personal branding as UX designer to leverage opportunities.
Let’s go deeper!
👉 The insight in this blog traces back to a thoughtful conversation with Thijs Kraan — here’s the full discussion:
What personal branding on LinkedIn gets you
Let's be specific about what happens when UX designers consistently write on LinkedIn:
- Visibility: Recruiters find you through design-related keywords (case studies, user research, design systems) instead of you hunting for jobs.
- Credibility: Hiring managers see your design thinking before the interview. They already know you can articulate complex ideas simply.
- Opportunities: Speaking gigs. Consulting offers. Collaboration requests. They come to you because you've demonstrated expertise publicly.
- Network: You connect with other designers solving similar problems. Real relationships, not just LinkedIn connections.
- Clarity: Stakeholders understand your UX design process before you even start the project. Less explaining, more designing.
This is personal branding for designers at its core: making your thinking visible, searchable, and shareable.
Why are you scared to hit publish?
Your biggest fear? Looking stupid. Thijs felt the same way when he first started. But the longer you write, the more you feel like this:
“People aren't even looking at me. They don't really care about me. They just really care about themselves.” — Thijs said.
Everyone's worried about their own shit. Their metrics. Their promotion. Their next meal.
When someone disagrees with your post, it's not personal. They're processing their own worldview. Sometimes they're wrong. Sometimes you're wrong. Either way, you learn.
3 reasons to write while you’re still figuring things out
#1. Celebrate your wins
Small victories matter. That bug you fixed. That user test insight. That workshop you ran.
Write about them. Not for likes. To remember you're making progress.
#2. Forced introspection
Life passes by fast. Writing makes you stop and think: “What did I actually learn from that disaster?”
Mistakes you write about become lessons. Mistakes you forget become patterns.
#3. Find your tribe
People resonate with honesty. Share your journey. The strugglers will find you. You'll build connections stronger than any networking event.
How to start your personal branding on LinkedIn
Here's the dead-simple path:
Week 1-2: Private practice
- Write in a private Slack channel.
- Share with one friend.
- Get comfortable seeing your words outside your head.
- Five minutes a day. That's it.
Week 3-4: Build the habit
- Pick a time. Same time every day. Write for 10 minutes.
- Not “when you feel inspired.” Not “when you have something brilliant to say.”
- Just write.
Week 5+: Go public
- Post once. See what happens
- Post twice. It gets easier.
- Post ten times. You stop caring about perfection.
The secret: Don’t commit to posting daily, write a month ahead, fill your content calendar first. Remove the 24-hour pressure. Do what works for your brain.
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Where ideas come from
Ideas aren't rare. Attention is.
“I write like 200 ideas maybe in a week or in a few weeks but most of them don't get used.” — Thijs said.
Every conversation you have is content. Every design decision. Every meeting where someone asked “why did you do it that way?”
The framework:
- What outcomes does your audience want?
- What activities get them there?
- What obstacles stop them?
Example: Your audience wants better portfolios (outcome). They need to do case studies (activity). They struggle with showing the process (obstacle).
Boom. You just found 10 posts:
- “Why your portfolio is getting ignored”
- “5 portfolio red flags that scream junior”
- “The case study mistake senior designers make”
- “How to document your process when you forget to screenshot”
You get it.
Keep a notes app open. Always. That shower thought about design systems? Gone in 30 seconds if you don't capture it.
Content pillars aren't complicated
You need three buckets:
- Goal/aspiration - The future they want
- Frustration/fear - What's blocking them
- Values - Why it matters
Pick a topic: Design critiques.
Apply the buckets:
- Goal: “How design leaders run critiques that actually improve work”
- Frustration: “Why your design critiques feel like therapy sessions”
- Values: “The critique framework that respects everyone's time”
Mix and match. Every topic fits multiple buckets.
The format formula
Every post needs:
- Hook - First line. Make them stop scrolling.
- Value - The actual insight. Not fluff.
- Prompt - End with a question that sparks thinking.
Don't write essays. Write scannable chunks. Short sentences. White space. Line breaks.
LinkedIn isn't Medium. Format matters as much as content.
The tactical stuff nobody tells you
- Timing: Doesn't matter as much as you think. Consistency matters more. Pick a time. Stick to it.
- Scheduling: Schedule 1-2 weeks ahead. Not 3 months. Stay close to what's current.
- Images: Help. A lot. Especially on LinkedIn. Phone photos work. Anime faces work (I tested it). Just use something.
- Quality vs quantity: You need quantity to learn quality. Do the reps. Your first 100 posts will be rough. That's the point.
- Choosing topics: Follow the Ikigai model — 1) what you love, 2) what you're good at, 3) what the world needs and 4) what the market wants. Find the overlap. That's your sweet spot.
What to do when someone steals your content
It happens.
Here's the hierarchy of responses:
Level 1: Ignore it. Most of the time, not worth your energy.
Level 2: Comment subtly. "Hey, this looks familiar..." Usually they delete it.
Level 3: DM them directly. "Not cool, man." They'll apologize.
Nuclear option: Call them out publicly. Rarely necessary. Damages your brand more than theirs.
Honestly? Take it as a compliment. Your content was good enough to steal.
The real game
This isn't about LinkedIn. It's about learning to articulate your value.
Every UX designer needs that skill, whether you're pitching to stakeholders, interviewing for jobs, or just trying to explain why that button should be blue.
Writing makes you better at all of it.
Your first post will be rough. Your fifth post will be better. By post 100, you'll wonder why you waited so long.
So stop overthinking. Start writing.
Opportunities are waiting 🍀
Whenever you're ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
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3. UX Portfolio Critique: In less than 48 hours, get your 30-minute personalised video of brutally honest feedback.
4. Job Sprint Course: Stand out in an unpredictable job market by building a memorable personal brand and a killer job search strategy.
