1. Credibility for designers starts with customer obsession. The more undeniably close you are to user needs, the more your team will listen and invite you in.

2. Know what users actually need, not just what they say. Unambiguously defining the real need and being right about it is one of the highest-leverage things a designer can do.

3. Insist on care and quality. It’s harder than ever, but over the long run, creates pride in your team and delight among your users. It’s also what makes your voice worth listening to.

4. Ship. A perfect solution that never ships helps no one. Your users only benefit from your obsession if the work actually reaches their hands.

5. Cooperation is the vehicle for quality. It’s not a compromise of your standards, but what allows your high-quality work to see the light of day.

6. Use curiosity to navigate competing priorities. What constraints are real? What is changing? Prompt teams to question their assumptions and discuss them in broad daylight.

7. Turn your empathy inward. Understand your teammates’ constraints, the larger business context, and even leadership personalities. When they know you care about what they care about, they’re 1000x more likely to listen to you.

Coda: AI is only amplifying everything above. Shipping something good enough is faster and easier than ever. Designers who maintain assertiveness around quality, originality, and customer outcomes matter more than ever.