I can't look at a product without asking why it exists, and lately, why now. It's a compulsion, not a process.

AI now decides more of what people see, trust, and act on, so guardrails matter more than polish. An enterprise ML platform earning trust inside a skeptical institution, and a media literacy tool built on judging for yourself, taught me the same lesson twice. The interface is rarely the hard part. Deciding who the system should defer to is.

The best products are invisible. An Apple Watch that catches a heartbeat and calls for help. If someone notices they're using your product, it hasn't done its job yet.