UX Playbook

Designing your One-Liner Value Proposition

Google

Notion

Nike

Framer

Tesla

Christopher Nguyen

I help UX designers go from Fuzziness to Focused to Freedom

Learn the framework to generate endless ideas to position yourself effectively.

Write your one-liner and stand out

Easily answer "Tell me about yourself", "What makes you unique?", "Why should I hire you?”

Sell yourself concisely without sounding yuck

Map your talents, skills, passions, and interests to tell your unique story.

Find your unfair advantage without selling out

I get it. You're a talented creative professional. You've designed amazing products, crafted beautiful user experiences, and maybe even shipped a few apps to the App Store.&nbsp;But the leap to freelancing? That feels like a whole different ball of wax. Perhaps you've tried to figure it out on your own. Late nights spent scouring blogs, devouring books, and binge-watching YouTube videos. You've taken guesses on different pricing structures and paid for way too many project management tools. Yet still, things aren’t quite clicking into place. The advice is often conflicting and either too generic or so niche that it doesn't meet you where you're at.&nbsp; That’s because freelancing isn't one-size-fits-all. You need education, adaptable frameworks, and support to learn how to make freelancing work for YOU. In 2016 I quit my corporate job as a product design director and left behind what wasn’t working for me, and I’ve been creating a new way of working, for myself, ever since. And you can too. The top 3 things freelancers worry about most involve:(1) finding work to make money(2) keeping organized with operations, and(3) setting boundaries and attaining balance You no longer have to worry whether you're doing it right. After our time together, you'll not only have foundational systems to help you run your business but you will be inspired to redesign your work life by: ✦ Creating a flexible schedule that works for you ✦ Building a sustainable income on your own terms ✦ Choosing projects that ignite your passion ✦ Making a real impact with your work ✦ Going from in-house employee to successful freelancer – even if you're afraid of giving up that steady paycheck ✦ Finding fulfillment in being a business owner

Does the thought of freelancing both excite and terrify you?

<ul><li>Define your values, why freelance?</li><li>Identify your unique service offering to better connect to the right clients</li><li>Setting expectations on expected challenges of freelance and what to watch out for</li></ul>

Doing work differently

<ul><li>Get checklists on how to setup your business with necessary registration, insurance, and taxes</li><li>Differentiate between pricing models</li><li>Calculate your rate structures by outlining your ideal income and budget</li></ul>

Making it too legit to quit

<ul><li>Discover practices and recommended tools for running an organized business</li><li>Construct the client experience through all touchpoints: biz dev, to proposals, to onboarding, to handoff, to invoicing</li><li>Practice role play with a biz dev call!</li></ul>

Designing the client experience

<ul><li>Tip to manage your workload and burnout</li><li>Build practices for sustainability</li><li>Design your time and day to day practices through personal rituals</li></ul>

Prototyping balance and boundaries

Course syllabus

Recorded lessons of lecture and demo walkthroughs that you can watch on your own time and return to at any point in the journey of launching or running your business.

Exclusive video content

Specific course assignments will help you get hands on with building your business and your operating procedures. You'll be able to leverage coaching and peer feedback from the cohort community to help you progress.

Weekly projects

Our live time together is spent on live review, interactive workshopping, and group critiques.<ul><li>Workshop 1: Weds 10/25</li><li>Workshop 2: Weds 11/1</li><li>Workshop 3: Weds 11/8</li></ul>

Live workshopping

Take a break in your day and join me in my afternoon office hours for small group coaching and additional guidance on your projects.

Additional "Tea Time" office hours

Course schedule

Aspiring freelancers who want the confidence to quit their 9-to-5 (or 9-to-9!) job even if they don’t have a solid game plan (yet)

Active solopreneurs struggling with inefficient systems and overwhelm who want to design more intentional processes that lead to growth

Design/Tech industry creatives who worry about finding consistent, high-quality clients and want to become magnets for dream projects

Creative business owners who are ready to attract better clients, and achieve the harmony in their work AND life they’ve been looking for

This course is designed for

In Designing Your Freelance Business you'll...

<ul><li>Define your core values to help guide your future business decisions</li><li>Identify your unique service offerings that set you apart in the market</li><li>Figure out your ideal client, setting the stage for targeted marketing</li></ul>

Transform your mindset from employee to entrepreneur. In our foundational module, you'll:

<ul><li>Set up your business logistics, from registration to insurance (we’ll face these all head on!)</li><li>Establish concrete fit-for-you financial goals that motivate and guide you</li><li>Master the art of pricing your services for profitability</li></ul>

Turn your freelance dream into a legitimate business. In week 2, we  cover how to:

<ul><li>Develop a strategy for finding and landing clients</li><li>Craft compelling proposals that close deals</li><li>Get templates for running a project from start to finish with the support of tools like Notion</li><li>Design seamless and thoughtful client onboarding and handoff experiences</li></ul>

Create systems that attract and retain dream clients. In week 3, you'll:

<ul><li>Establish daily practices and SOPs so you can spend more time on what matters&nbsp;</li><li>Create a calendar and task planning system best for your brain</li><li>Design personal rituals that fuel your creativity and well-being</li><li>Maintain healthy boundaries to manage stress and prevent burnout</li></ul>

Design a sustainable freelance lifestyle that prevents burnout. You'll learn to:

Learn how to start and sustain a successful and fulfilling freelance practice.

Sarah Jutras

Solopreneur and design director

Cohort 6

Cohort 7

If you saw me on Lenny's Podcast, you know that my work is based on science, not theory. Selling yourself and your ideas, being understood, gaining trust, and being more fully appreciated doesn't have to be a mystery, and you don't have to trust someone's personal theories and experience. Science holds the answers, and they are crystal clear, extremely effective, and work fast. You actually need to learn how to position yourself (and your team, if you lead one), at two levels to succeed: The Macro LevelWhen you're explaining what you're all about, giving your elevator speech, sharing a presentation about your team's capabilities and value, meeting people for the first time, or interviewing, these are examples of selling yourself and your ideas at the macro level. Success at the macro level gets you opportunities, jobs, customers, and establishes a clearer understanding of what you can really do. If you've ever felt misunderstood, that your job or team is under-appreciated, or that you've been unable to stand out in interviews or sales, it's because of your macro positioning. It's something you can learn to do masterfully, using simple and comfortable ideas to get through to people. The Micro LevelWhen you're in meetings, debates, pitching ideas, trying to warn people of flaws, sending project updates, and more, you're selling yourself and your ideas at the micro level. Success at the micro level is how you get yesses to ideas, approval to move ahead with plans, it's how you influence decisions, and it's how you effectively warn people so we avoid mistakes. Success at the micro level gets you influence, impact, trust, a voice, gravitas, and confidence. If you've ever felt like your ideas, warnings, or points aren't getting through, that you aren't taken seriously as a presence in the room, and that you were unable to influence decisions and help the team avoid mistakes, it's because of this micro influence. These are skills you can master. Why is selling yourself so hard? This stuff is hard for two reasons. First, the human brain requires very specific approaches to communication, influence, and building a real understanding. By default, brains don't ship from the factory making any of these things easy or intuitive. Second, people's brains work really differently. You are going to work with a range of different types of people, and you must understand how they think and what makes their mind unique before you can be successful with them. What works for one type of person doesn't work for another. One thing that is going to set this course apart, making it different than anything else out there about influence, is we are going to explore what is actually happening in the human mind. The human mind is the critical factor in all influence and positioning, and if you don't understand how people's minds work, you're at a huge disadvantage when it comes to selling yourself and your ideas. You'll be surprised to find out what science knows about influence and what is happening in the mind. We aren't just going to explore what "works" for people, in the sense of tactics and recipes. You're also going to have a dynamic understanding of why and when it works, too. This makes you flexible and versatile, tapping into deeper principles you actually understand instead of surface level recipes and tactics.

Learn what science knows about selling yourself and your ideas


Provide a brief description for each module as a way to sell the value of what students will be learning throughout the course.

First Module

Second Module

Third Module

Feel free to type out dates as your title as a way to communicate information about specific live sessions or other events.

Friday, November 8th


Schedule items can also be used to convey commitments outside of specific time slots (like weekly projects or daily office hours).

People whose jobs and careers depend on influence and being understood: - Founders, Leaders &amp; Managers- Product- Analytics- UX, etc.

People who feel imposter syndrome, struggle with assertiveness, feel too blunt, or just want to radically uplevel their effectiveness.

People who are actively interviewing or who want to stand out the next time they do. ﻿Stand out from the crowd.

Who is this course for

What you’ll get out of this course

You'll have this content forever, and it's structured to be a resource you can reference in the future. While it's great if you can come to some or all of the live session, this resource is what's most valuable.

A resource you can keep revisiting


You will understand other people's minds, find the best paths to connect with them, and become more strategic.

Say goodbye to frustration and confusion


Many professionals are not appreciated because other people don't understand what they do and why it matters. Learn how to position yourself properly in people's minds so they value you and what you have to contribute.

Be understood, and valued


If you are in product, engineering, design, analytics, customer success, or a number of other fields that are influence-based, it's hard for your team to thrive if the broader business misunderstands you and the value you produce. We will clear that up with powerful branding.

Position your craft, your team, and its brand properly


Once you are properly positioned and understood, you'll have a platform to make your ideas more compelling, your warnings more convincing, and your everyday interactions create a reputation that works as an asset instead of a liability.

Find success in ideas, warnings, and everyday interactions


I coach many people who are better than they realize, but their humility comes across as uncertainty, causing a number of issues downstream with their influence. We'll explore how to have a more powerful and comfortable form of confidence and presence in the course.

Gain confidence and presence in front of executives (or anyone)


Master positioning yourself, your team, and your ideas. Be understood, trusted, believed, and appreciated.


Evan LaPointe

I founded several companies. Sold the last one to Adobe. Now, I help people win.

Cohort 2

Get 2025 Started Right

Your customers don't have time to figure out what you sell. If you can't explain your business in 10 words or less, you're losing sales. This 2-week sprint is about finding the perfect words to describe your business so customers instantly understand why they need you. We'll show you how to craft a simple, powerful message that stops them in their tracks and makes them say, "I need this!" What you'll walk away with: ✍️ A one-sentence description of your business that sells.💪 The confidence to talk about your brand anywhere: online, in person, or on social media.🧰 A toolkit to make your message stick, no matter the audience. We’re teaching one of the most powerful tools in Sticky Branding’s consulting playbook. Based on a decade of research with real boots-on-the-ground experience and case studies, this sprint gives you the exact framework to create a message that makes customers stop, listen, and act. With live lessons, coworking sessions, and practical tools and exercises, you'll simplify your brand message so that customers instantly get it.

Find the Perfect Words to Make Customers Say, "I Need This!"

If your events are recurring and at the same time, it might be easiest to use a single line item to communicate your course schedule to students

Tuesdays & Thursdays

May 7, 2022

Business owners or entrepreneurs&nbsp;who struggle to explain their business clearly.

Marketing professionals ready to simplify and amplify their brand messaging.

Anyone whose brand gets lost in the noise and wants to make a stronger connection with customers.

Craft a one-sentence description of your business that resonates and sells.

Make your message clear and compelling.

Simplify your message so customers instantly “get it” and choose you.

Stand out in a crowded market.

Easily explain what you do—on your website, in person, or on social media.

Gain confidence in every sales conversation.

Work through guided exercises, live coworking sessions, and reviews to perfect your clarity statement.

Tools and real-time feedback to refine your message.

If customers don’t “get” your brand, they won’t buy. In 2 weeks, learn how to describe your business so they instantly say, “I need this!"

Robyne Adams

Brand Strategist and Head of Product @ Sticky Branding

Sales Sprint Cohort: June 2024

Simple Clarity - February 2024

Introducing The Product Designer’s Interview Guide…The Course 💥. I wrote the guide with one clear goal: to help designers ace their interviews. Within 72 hours of its release, the playbook hit 600k downloads. My inbox overflowed with designers eager to refine their career strategies—diving into the what, how, and why of their journeys. But what stood out most wasn’t just the strategy—it was the human experience. The stories you’ve shared with me about rejection, self-doubt, sleepless nights prepping, career stagnation, imposter syndrome, fear, and the stress of supporting your loved ones reminded me of the emotional journey we all face as designers. This course isn’t just about interview tactics or design roles—it’s about you. Together, we’ll:- Understand your strengths as a person first, and a designer second.- Apply those strengths to product design contexts.- Translate them into your unique superpowers.- Identify your passions and areas of growth.- Reflect on how your values align with your current or future roles. Using your strengths, values, and goals as our foundation, we’ll navigate interview strategies, communication methods, storytelling within case studies, and presenting/discussing your work with impact. You’ll also learn to:- Reframe rejection and setbacks into positive outcomes.- Give and receive feedback effectively.- Spot red and green flags in companies or teams.- Build authentic connections with your audience—whether it’s hiring managers, peers, or leadership. Join a space where those in the room are ready to have honest, open discussions about the human skills behind the design job; You’ll finish the course with a fresh perspective on yourself, your journey, and what comes next. You'll learn to communicate your work's true impact in a way that resonates on a human level. By the end, you’ll know exactly how to leverage your talent, background, and skills to excel in your existing, future, or desired roles, and hey, you'll make friends along the way. 🌱

No generic frameworks. No one size fits all approach. This course is about you.

We'll meet Tuesdays and Thursdays for live course sessions.

Optional office hours on Friday to talk about lessons, life, implementation of our course materials, or just to vent.

Optional: Friday Office Hours

Also optional, a dedicated time slot for students who may wish to attend but live in other parts of the world 😊 While we won't go as in depth as the lesson times, we will use this time to address questions on the course recordings to ensure you receive equitable value.

Flex Wednesdays: Night Shift

Uncover more about who they are as a designer through self-reflection —identifying unique strengths and design superpowers.

Master the "how" behind presenting their experiences in a clear, concise, and impact-driven manner; with or without data.

Incorporate empathy-driven storytelling techniques to create deeper connections and immersive, meaningful experiences for listeners.

For designers who are seeking to...

Outcomes that focus on your needs — not molding you for big tech or a LinkedIn audience.

To know where we want to go, we first need to understand where we are and what we need. Together, we’ll uncover your superpowers by exploring your unique strengths as a person first, before diving into you as a designer.

Uncover who you are as a designer through self-reflection and meaningful conversations.

Deepen your understanding of empathy-driven storytelling by learning how to seamlessly weave empathy and emotional insights into every step of your narrative arc.

Bring people together through empathy-driven storytelling.

Highlight your influence on the user experience and your team’s effectiveness, even without hard metrics, by showcasing shifts in user behavior, team alignment, or the psychological benefits delivered to users.

Learn the value of qualitative outcomes when demonstrating the scope of your unique impact.

We'll talk strategy around engineers, product managers, and design peers whether you're interviewing or currently working alongside them. Understand their needs, fears, and the best way to navigate them.

Know your audience; Get into the minds of those on the other side of the hiring panel.

We're all human. Add more to your human toolbox when it comes to managing nerves, receiving &amp; giving feedback, and projecting confidence.

Normalize big scary feelings within our roles and the interview process.

Shape your path forward by embracing what makes you unique as a designer, instead of trying to mold yourself to fit outside opinions.

Lightning Lessons

Designing your One-Liner Value Proposition