🐴 1,000 subscribers and stories behind this newsletter
A heartfelt thank you
Design with AI Newsletter crossed 1,000 subscribers yesterday.
I am immensely grateful.
1,000 is more than just a number; it is 1 multiplied by 1,000. It represents 1,000 unique individuals who share the same passion for design and AI.
I care about you. Thank you for your interest and support. In this world of information overload, I never take your attention for granted.
Today, I’d like to take the opportunity to share something personal:
My journey of writing online
The story behind this newsletter
Some announcements
If you’re not interested in the first two topics, feel free to scroll straight to the announcements section.
My journey of writing online
My name is Xinran Ma. I live in New York City with my wife and two daughters.
I used to write poems when I was 18. They were concise, emotional, with carefully chosen words. I knew I would never write anything like them again. They were unique products of where my mind was during that period of my life. That was the year I met my wife.
In 2012, I moved to the U.S. for grad school. From 2007 to 2018, I barely wrote anything. I simply had no motivation to write. That said, I did study and teach design and drew a lot.
In 2019, a lot happened. My first child was born, and I became a dad. Embracing a new life into this world was a truly life-changing experience. I’d hold her in my arms, feeling her weight. One word always came to mind—vulnerable. Babies are so vulnerable. They don't have a choice for family. The family they’re born into will shape the trajectory of their lives. How could I not work hard to become a better person and provide her with a better life?
Against all odds, I made a career shift without looking back—from architecture to product design—despite holding two degrees in architecture and being on the path to getting my license.
Suddenly, writing came naturally to me. Those life changes filled me with an incredible amount of inspiration and motivation to write.
But it wasn’t just about writing. I felt a growing desire to share with others. Perhaps becoming a dad subconsciously shifted my focus away from myself to others.
Writing became more than self-expression for me; I hoped it could shine a light for those who might need it.
I started writing consistently online. Writing in English is 10x harder than writing in my native language, Chinese. I often struggled to find the right words, use proper grammar, and create smooth flows. However, since I work in the U.S. and most of my connections read English, writing in English was a no-brainer.
In 2020, I launched my first newsletter on Substack, where I wrote my vulnerable career transition stories. I shared it with just three friends and kept it private. Then, I gradually ramped up writing on LinkedIn, covering topics like UX, product design, career transitions, communication, and storytelling. Sometimes I shared tips; other times, personal stories.
The more I wrote, the more comfortable I became with sharing in public (and I developed a thicker skin along the way). I realized that writing online is like tossing small stones into the water—you never know which stone will create ripples or which will sink. But I believed that as long as I kept throwing, the pattern would become more clear.
I also started documenting all my career transition lessons on paper. There was so much to capture that I felt compelled to write it all down. This process resulted in a large stack of papers and note cards filled with my scribbles. I eventually stored them on my bookshelf without taking any further action.
In 2023, I made a big decision. I dusted off my writings, made countless revisions, and turned them into my first book, and published on Amazon. I handled everything myself, from editing to publishing, along with minimal marketing efforts. It was also the first time I earned $1 online—a milestone that meant a lot to me.
Then the book quietly became a #1 New Release. Then it became the #2 Best Seller in the UX category on Amazon, right next to the classic Don't Make Me Think. It was surreal. However, the stress of the book launch was a lot—I experienced sudden hair loss and had to seek treatment at a clinic.
With the hard-earned lessons from my first book, my second and third books became so much smoother. My second book Case Study Storytelling, surprisingly, became my best selling book.
The story behind this newsletter
Also in 2023, I came up with the idea of writing a newsletter about the intersection of design and AI. AI was gaining attention and I noticed many articles on this topic online. However, few were practical enough. I wanted to change that by creating a newsletter focused primarily on AI’s practical applications in product design.
But I procrastinated for a long time. At one point, my wife told me she was so tired of hearing me talk endlessly about writing a newsletter on design and AI without actually doing it. So, in December 2023, I signed into my Substack account, created a new publication named Design with AI, drafted two newsletters, and by the end of January 2024, I finally hit that “publish” button.
It’s funny that in the first few months of writing the newsletter, I didn’t share with anyone. I was afraid of being judged and wanted to build a backlog of good articles before spreading the word. To this day, I still have no idea how my first 20 subscribers found this newsletter.
Even though only a handful of people were reading my newsletter, I stuck to my mantra: publish 20 articles before worrying about what others think of them. Over the years, I’ve realized there is randomness to writing online. The only thing I can control is to keep tossing stones into the water, one at a time.
I woke up very early in the mornings to write those newsletters because, while writing is the easy part, learning, researching, and curating what to write are the hard parts. With limited time outside of my full-time job, I had to make the maximum use of early mornings and occasional weekends.
Writing a newsletter on an evolving topic like AI wasn’t easy. It was not uncommon for me to spend an entire Saturday testing AI tools, only to end up frustrated when I didn’t have enough content to share.
Gradually, subscribers began to trickle in as I shared my work on Medium. One of my articles unexpectedly took off. One day, I woke up to a surge of new followers seemingly out of nowhere. I still have no idea to this day. Maybe an influencer shared that article? Ironically, that was an article I had written a long time ago but had held back from publishing because I didn’t think it was good enough.
This experience gradually gave me confidence that my writing might have value. While I still avoid tying the newsletter’s worth to external validation, the growing number of both free and paid subscribers, along with kind words from readers provided an extra boost of motivation to keep writing.
Announcements
Keep the newsletter accessible to everyone.
There’s a growing trend of newsletters being placed behind paywalls on Substack. I have mixed feelings about it. Personally, I don’t like clicking on an article only to find out it’s for paid subscribers only, so I still don’t want to do that with this newsletter.
Offer more perks for paid subscribers.
Meanwhile, I know this means I need to do more for my paid subscribers. I’m immensely grateful for your support. My goal is to offer at least 10x the value of what you paid. If you’re interested in any of the items below, message me on LinkedIn or Substack—I’ll send it your way.
1:1 chat with me
Figma AI plugins Database
Custom GPTs for Product Designers
AI Prompting Guide for Product Designers
I’ll be adding more perks too. If you have any particular needs, please let me know.
Open to collaboration.
Designing better, faster, and smarter with AI is a collaborative effort, not just myself talking. If you have valuable insights, ideas, or resources to share with 1k+ AI enthusiasts, welcome to reach out to me on LinkedIn or Substack. It’s always great to share new perspectives.
Thanks for reading and I’m always happy to hear from you.
Until next week,
Xinran
Thank you for sharing.
Love the story!