“I believe great product design isn’t just about UI and UX. The magic is in the final polish — micro-interactions and transitions.” – Agatha Richards, Senior Product Designer at Heatable.
To Agatha Richards, a good design comes down to one thing: the details. Even if they are small, and even the ones most people overlook. But the reality is that this level of polish doesn’t just come out of nowhere.
Most designers have that one thing they were doing before they even knew what design really was, especially when they were young. Whether it’s customizing Tumblr profiles or creating HTML websites for fun. Believe it or not, for Agatha, it was building blog templates as a kid.
Back then, there were no dedicated UI/UX design roles or any type of education for this field. So naturally, this led Agatha to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Automation and Robotics, followed by another degree in Computer Science. Still, even with such a focus on coding and developing, something stood out: “During university coding projects, I always cared about how things looked.”
This instinct followed Agatha into her first job as a web developer, back when developers would handle design tasks as well.
So, what started as just caring about how things looked quickly became her work. From web design to UI design, and now, a senior product designer.
Along the way, Agatha’s hands-on experience in her early days as a web designer and developer helped her build a keen eye for details that impact both functionality and aesthetics. These lessons shaped her skills for accessibility, design practices, and, ultimately, good product design.
Luckily for her, these roots were the secret to her success.
“Learning new tools has sped up the process”, admitted Agatha. “But honestly, you could still do good UI in Photoshop”, she added.
So, this only proves once again that no, it’s not just about the tools. That’s how you spot a truly great designer. You can give a great designer any tool, and best believe that they’ll find a way to make it work.
Ask any designer about their favorite part of the design process, and you’ll hear a variety of answers – whether it’s the initial strategy, the hands-on creation, or even adding animations that bring the design to life. Well, for Agatha, the real magic happens when the design meets its users. The final phase – testing.
This is why she pointed out her current project as the one she’s most proud of – where she’s “building a complex product in the renewables space using very modern tech”. Since there’s no template to follow and it uses a highly advanced functionality, it’s a challenge, unlike anything she’s done before.
“There’s nothing else quite like it out there”, she stated – and that’s exactly what makes it just so rewarding.
So, when you’re working on something that complex, the tools you use really matter. For Agatha, choosing the right tools is about knowing what helps us build better, smarter, and faster.
Let’s face it – a new tool or trend is popping up every day. An improved AI tool, a better animation Figma plugin, a new app design trend, or a no-code platform that everyone is suddenly talking about. Each one might be better – or worse – than the other.
And while it’s tempting to try them all (because yes, we all want to try the next big thing), the reality is: not every tool is worth holding onto. Not for the long term, at least.
Agatha sees it the same way. She even compares the use of AI tools with “when WordPress first blew up and suddenly anyone could make a website”. Sure, it absolutely made the entire process much easier, but it didn’t replace experienced teams. This is the same for AI tools.
“AI is just a starting point, not the finish line.”
At the same time, animation and micro-interactions have become the norm in modern product design. They are literally everywhere. And for a good reason! Agatha believes that these small touches are what really make a design stand out. So, it’s no wonder that she’s also a big advocate for animation tools, like Phase.com.
But good design is about more than just visuals! As an experienced product designer, she stresses the importance of a design system in your workflows. She even goes so far as to say that a well-crafted UI kit saves countless hours, especially for startups trying to move fast.
Agatha Richards: “You can’t build a great product without a design system.”
So, as a content creator who is known for promoting top-tier tools, that’s the filter Agatha uses for everything: does this help me work faster or make my work better? If the answer is yes, “then I’ll stick with it and share it”, she mentioned.
For many of us, design is more than just a day job. This is also the case for Agatha, as her day splits into designing, content creation, teaching, and even time with her toddler.
Balancing a 9-to-5 role with being a mom and a passionate content creator isn’t easy, but Agatha makes it work. Sometimes it’s after her little kid is asleep, sometimes it’s sneaking in some editing during lunch breaks.
Agatha is the perfect example that when you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything.
But with all this juggling, you may ask: how can you even stay creative like this? And well, Agatha is honest about it: unfortunately, no, “you can’t stay creative 24/7”, she says. That’s why, as designers, we must know when to take a break, and especially when it’s time to choose one path to focus on. And so does Agatha.
Until then, she’s embracing the challenge, and luckily enough, it’s paying off. Through her community, she draws inspiration from others and makes the most out of it because of the connections that she’s making along the way. And in her words, “that means a lot”.
This is a reminder for everyone that teaching isn’t just about giving, it’s about learning and growing together. Whether it’s a teammate or a group of designers, teaching benefits everyone.
“Teaching also makes me a better teammate — I can now explain features like variables in a way everyone understands.”
Teaching another person pushes us to think more critically about design and helps us become better communicators and designers at the same time. “It’s not helpful if I'm the only one using them and the rest of the team is lost”, she explained.
Agatha’s experience shows that growth – personal and professional – comes from embracing those challenges and, well, just becoming friends with them. If you want something, make sure you push yourself to achieve it.
So, whatever stage you’re at in your design journey, remember: progress comes with patience, persistence, and “don’t overthink it”.
