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Your Career Multiplier Isn’t What You Think: Designers Who Write, Win With Thijs Kraan

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Sep 25, 2025

Guest

Thijs Kraan

In this insightful discussion, Thijs Kraan, a designer-turned-growth partner, reveals why writing is the ultimate meta-skill for designers. He shares his journey from web development to a daily writing practice that sharpened his thinking. Thijs emphasizes how clear writing fosters clarity in design and decision-making. He also delves into the benefits of documenting decisions, the three types of writing every designer should practice, and how AI can be a helpful tool without compromising originality. Tune in for practical tips to enhance your writing skills!

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Episode notes

insights

INSIGHT

Writing As A Thinking Accelerator

Writing turned into Thijs Kraan's primary thinking tool and accelerated his design skills.
He used daily writing to synthesize readings and convert ideas into actions.

question_answer

ANECDOTE

The 30-Day Writing Streak That Stuck

Thijs did a 30-day challenge writing 30 minutes and publishing one post per day and never broke the streak.
That routine evolved into a long-term habit of daily public posts which grew his network.

insights

INSIGHT

Clear Writing Reveals Clear Thinking

Trying to write an idea exposes whether your thinking is actually clear or not.
If the idea blurs on paper, it was never clear in your head to begin with.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Thijs's transition from web development to design and writing

02:57 • 4min

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How daily writing sharpened Thijs's thinking

06:34 • 3min

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Why writing is the catalyst for clear design thinking

09:17 • 2min

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Using written memos and PRFAQs to align teams

11:10 • 1min

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Writing as iterative idea refinement

12:28 • 3min

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Writing for yourself versus public writing

15:04 • 2min

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Practical ways to build a writing habit

17:15 • 4min

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Three types of writing designers should practice

20:54 • 2min

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Copywriting's high leverage for product and business outcomes

22:41 • 2min

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Writing as a career multiplier through clearer decisions

24:57 • 4min

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How to document decisions to protect future teams

28:53 • 12sec

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How should designers use AI for writing?

29:05 • 3min

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Personal experiences using AI as a writing aid

31:54 • 2min

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Safe ways to integrate AI without losing your voice

33:53 • 8min

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Practical starter actions to begin writing today

41:47 • 5min

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Keep writing simple, short, and consistent

46:20 • 4min

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Where to find Thijs and his work

• Mentioned in 3 episodes

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

A Guide to Wealth and Happiness

Naval Ravikant

Eric Jorgensen

The Almanack of Naval Ravikant is a compilation of Naval Ravikant's wisdom and insights on wealth, happiness, and life. It covers a range of topics, including building wealth, making decisions, learning, and finding happiness. The book is based on Naval's tweets, essays, and interviews, organized and curated by Eric Jorgenson. It provides a framework for understanding how to live a fulfilling and successful life, emphasizing the importance of clear thinking, ethical behavior, and long-term perspective. The almanack is a guide to living a happier, wealthier, and more meaningful life.

#116

• Mentioned in 120 episodes

The Beginning of Infinity

Explanations That Transform the World

David Deutsch

In this groundbreaking book, David Deutsch argues that explanations have a fundamental place in the universe and that improving them is the basic regulating principle of all successful human endeavor. The book takes readers on a journey through various fields of science, history of civilization, art, moral values, and the theory of political institutions. Deutsch explains how we form new explanations and drop bad ones, and discusses the conditions under which progress, which he argues is potentially boundless, can and cannot happen. He emphasizes the importance of good explanations, which he defines as those that are 'hard to vary' and have 'reach', and argues that these explanations are central to the Enlightenment way of thinking and to all scientific and philosophical progress.

• Mentioned in 970 episodes

Atomic Habits

James Clear

Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a practical and scientifically-backed guide to forming good habits and breaking bad ones. The book introduces the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. It also emphasizes the importance of small, incremental changes (atomic habits) that compound over time to produce significant results. Clear discusses techniques such as habit stacking, optimizing the environment to support desired habits, and focusing on continuous improvement rather than goal fixation. The book is filled with actionable strategies, real-life examples, and stories from various fields, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their habits and achieve personal growth.

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• Mentioned in 103 episodes

The Black Swan

The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Nassim Nicholas Taleb

David Chandler

Nassim Taleb

The Black Swan is a landmark book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb that investigates the phenomenon of highly improbable events with massive impacts. These events, termed Black Swans, are unpredictable, have a significant impact, and are rationalized after the fact to appear less random. Taleb argues that humans are hardwired to focus on specifics rather than generalities, leading to a failure to consider what we don’t know. The book delves into cognitive biases, the limitations of mathematical models, and the importance of robustness and antifragility in navigating a world filled with uncertainty. The second edition includes a new essay, 'On Robustness and Fragility,' offering tools to navigate and exploit a Black Swan world.

What if the most powerful skill you could develop as a designer has nothing to do with Figma or AI? In this episode, we explore why writing is the ultimate meta-skill—sharpening your thinking, influencing decisions, and accelerating your career in unexpected ways.

Is writing the most underrated design skill of all time?

We spend a lot of time talking about design skills like prototyping, facilitation, and AI tools. But what if the skill that strengthens all of those is the one designers most often ignore?

In this episode, I sit down with Thijs Kraan, a designer-turned-growth partner, who makes the case that writing is the ultimate meta-skill. For Thijs, writing every day didn’t just sharpen his thinking; it multiplied his impact. From running a 30-day challenge to publishing daily posts, writing became the catalyst for everything else in his career.

We talk about the difference between business writing, expert writing, and copywriting, why clear writing equals clear thinking, and how documentation can protect your career when tough decisions come back months later. We also tackle the elephant in the room: AI. Should you let ChatGPT do your writing, or will that shortcut make you worse in the long run?

Whether you’re trying to influence stakeholders, sharpen your thinking, or just get better at your day-to-day communication, this conversation will show you why writing might just be the most important design skill you haven’t been practicing.

Tune in and see why it’s time to pick up the pen (or keyboard).

Topics:
• 02:45 – The Importance of Writing in UX Design
• 04:19 – Thijs Kron’s Journey: From Web Development to Writing
• 06:05 – The Power of Writing in Design Thinking
• 06:31 – Building a Writing Habit
• 15:06 – Writing as a Meta Skill
• 20:55 – Different Types of Writing for Designers
• 22:33 – The Role of Copywriting in Design
• 24:36 – Writing as a Career Multiplier
• 28:38 – The Impact of AI on Writing
• 30:19 – Balancing AI and Human Thinking
• 31:35 – Personal Experience with AI in Writing
• 32:43 – Effective Uses of AI for Writing
• 34:54 – The Risks of Over-Reliance on AI
• 36:13 – Practical Tips for Writing and Thinking

Helpful Links:
• Connect with Thijs on LinkedIn

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