Simon McCade

12+ years UX & design experience. 30+ SaaS products reimagined. For details → DM or

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@gaspihabif Haha, is this real? 🤦‍♂️

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@zoink @figma Aha, where do I buy one of these?

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@theroborourke These responses are brutal. WTF?

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@DannPetty @lstoregraphics are one of the best I’ve come across recently.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@alexgilev @AgenticUi Looks good man. What’s the headings font?

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@ormanclark “We’ll take it from here” 👀

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@jesse_vermeulen 100%. Being completely async actually becomes a hindrance.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@chalaska Dam, can you remember why you sold them? If it’s any consolation, I recently found out Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake in Apple for just $800...

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@tibo_maker I’ve got something that might be useful given what you’re after. Will drop you a DM.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@liutauras_liu Looks good. Would love to take a look :)

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@tomcrawshaw01 Method

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@storeycopy Lead

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

Every time I a product audit, I run into the same three issues.

When a product feels off, and you’re not sure why, it usually comes down to a bunch of little things piling up until the whole experience feels shaky. That’s why I go back to the same checklist, every single time.

1) Brand alignment

Does everything, including UI, messaging, tone, actually feel like it’s coming from the same company? Are you delivering the same promise, the same voice, and the same quality from your website all the way through to your product?

2) Core UX flows

I walk through the main user journeys by signing up, getting that first moment of value, inviting teammates, upgrading etc. I pay attention to where people slow down, get frustrated, or just give up. If you’ve got unnecessary friction here, activation and conversion becomes harder.

3) UX fundamentals

Navigation, layout, copy, empty states, accessibility, performance, you want consistency. Same patterns, same logic and the same predictable behaviour everywhere in your product.

Fix these and the whole thing starts to feel much better and a lot more trustworthy.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

When I try a new SaaS, the first five minutes tell me almost everything I need.

Here’s what I actually look for:

1. A clear start.

Give me a simple welcome screen, nothing fancy. Just plain language and one obvious action to take. Please, no giant wall of text, and definitely don’t make me watch a 15 minute demo before I even see the product.

2. Fast path to value.

I want to do something useful right away. If you’ve got demo data, a quick checklist, or a SHORT tour, that’s ideal. I call this the “first win” - the quicker I get there, the better.

3. Obvious navigation.

Menus should use normal words. Don’t try to be clever. I need one clear place to start. If I have to read a tutorial just to figure out where to click next, that’s a problem.

4. Key features up front.

Put the important stuff right on the dashboard not hidden away in sub-menus. Show me what makes you different, but do it fast.

5. Hold off on the feedback popups.

Don’t hit me with NPS surveys or review requests the second I arrive. Let me actually use your product first. Ask for feedback after I’ve done something meaningful.

Next time you open your own product, pay attention to those first five minutes.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

I've heard this happen far too many times in SaaS companies.

They hire an experienced product designer. Which sounds like a smart move but then they dismiss the designer’s recommendations, and just pass over some rough sketches to replicate. The feature goes live and it inevitably fails.

And somehow, the designer is held responsible.

Honestly, if you’re micromanaging and ignoring someone’s expertise, what did you think would happen? Great results require trust.

If all you want is someone to push pixels around and follow your instructions, that’s not design, that’s production and you can hire a junior designer for that.

Design only works when you genuinely trust the people you bring on board to do what they’re skilled at.

Without that trust, you’ll never achieve the outcomes you’re hoping for.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

Every SaaS founder I speak with wants to scale fast and quickly.

Which is fair enough

But why are teams pushing for more users, more features, more revenue, whilst the product itself is barely holding together.

You can't scale anything on shaky foundations.

If your UX is confusing, clunky, or inconsistent, growth just amplifies the problem.

More users means more support tickets.
More features means more friction.
More revenue means more churn.

The companies that scale well don't skip the basics.

They build a solid foundation before adding features.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

You don't need perfect onboarding on day one.

You need to understand what your users actually struggle with.

A lot of early founders chase after self-serve onboarding like it’s the only way forward. But if you’re racing to launch, there’s a smarter approach – start with concierge onboarding.

Personally help your users get set up – one by one. It might seem slow, but honestly, it isn’t.

Here’s why this works:

▪️ You spot friction right as it happens.
▪️ You have real conversations with users, not just numbers.
▪️ You build an MVP that actually works, without endless development.
▪️ You gather insights that will help you design a strong self-serve flow later.

That polished, automated onboarding can wait.

Right now, it’s not about scaling but rather about learning quickly, so you can build something people genuinely want to use.

Don't automate what you haven't done manually first or you'll just be scaling confusion.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

A PM showed me an AI-generated mockup the other day.

Honestly, it just made things more confusing for me.

The mockup itself wasn’t the problem. The issue was that we never figured out what the actual problem was.

AI made it far too easy to jump into a solution, without understanding of what we're actually trying to solve.

Now we’re debating over a half-baked mockup, instead of actually figuring out what the user really needs.

That’s how teams end up spending weeks building things that don’t matter.

Those conversations between designers and PMs aren't wasted time. That’s where great UX happens.

AI is helpful, sure, but only once you’ve done the real work. The hard thinking has to come first.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

I just got off a meeting with a founder who’s really feeling stuck.

Right now, he’s got a few companies testing out his product. Users actually like it and they’re giving positive feedback, even comparing it to established tools that cost a lot more.

But there’s an issue. When people open the product, all they see is a blank chatbot. There’s nothing to guide them. Just an empty box, waiting for input.

No one knows what to ask, or what the product is really capable of. So inevitably, they treat it like ChatGPT, typing in whatever questions come to mind. They have no idea there are powerful, specialised workflows built in.

The founder ends up guiding every single user. He personally walks them through, showing which prompts unlock the real value. When he does this, people finally understand, they 'get it'.

But realistically, he can’t keep doing one-on-one onboarding for everyone. He needs users to figure things out and get value on their own. Right now, that’s just not happening.

And that’s the core problem. This gap tanks trial conversions. It’s the difference between “This looks interesting,” and “Now I see how this actually helps me.”

If users don’t reach the aha moment quickly enough, they leave before they understand the value.

The product works. But the experience doesn’t help users find their way.

That’s what he needs to fix first.

[Simon McCade @SimonMcCade]

@LoganTGott Leads