I've played and watched baseball since I was young, but only with time and reflection did I realize how much it shapes the way I think and how those lessons now guide my approach in design today. Now watching the game purely as a fan, I find myself looking at teams and players who have reached success at the highest level, not because of pure talent, but the process and discipline that it takes to succeed.

A game of failure and adjustments

In baseball, you often fail more than you succeed. A .300 batting average typically means you are one of the top hitters in MLB (Shohei Ohtani hit .282 last season), yet you still got out 70% of the time. Success in baseball comes from how you respond to "failure": analyzing what went wrong, making adjustments, and carrying those lessons into the next at-bat.

UX design works the same way. Most ideas won't be perfect on the first attempt, and early design often exposes gaps, friction, or incorrect assumptions. Rather than seeing this as a failure, I treat it as a signal or a learning experience. These "failures" help me analyze where a design falls short in order make informed adjustments, and continue iterating towards stronger solutions. Just like in baseball, success in design comes from learning quickly, refining deliberately, and making adjustments.

Everyone on the team has their "Superpower"

I learned this lesson from my design mentor, who often emphasized that everyone on a UX team brings a different "superpower" to the table. Strong teams aren't built by everyone doing the same thing; they're built by recognizing individual strengths and collaborating intentionally. Baseball teams are constructed the same way, with players specializing in different roles, whether it's a fast runner, a power hitter, or a left-handed pitcher, so teams lean on players' strengths and adapt to different situations.

That perspective shaped how I approach collaboration in design. I value understanding where my strengths fit within a team, while actively leaning on others for theirs. Just like in baseball, rounded UX teams are more resilient, more adaptable, and better equipped to navigate complex problems when each person's strengths are understood and used intentionally.