Designer Survival Skills, Ep. 6: The Cat, the HiPPO, and the Lost Prototype

The prototype was clean.

The flow made sense.

Even the dev team liked it.

Then someone said,

“I don’t like how this feels.”

Just like that, it was gone.

Not because it was wrong, but because it didn’t resonate.

That was my first real encounter with the HiPPO –

The Highest Paid Person’s Opinion.

And you know what? That’s part of the job.

Over time, I learned not to take it personally.

Instead of defending the design, I started asking questions:

• “What outcome are we aiming for?”

• “Want to test both versions?”

• “Can we bring in user feedback?”

Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn’t.

But the conversation stayed open.

Design isn’t always about being right.

It’s about building trust, one decision at a time.

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In the final episode: 🧭 closing loops, reflecting on lessons, and what it really means to survive as a designer (without becoming a grayscale wireframe of your former self).