When you’re working on a product used by millions on a daily basis, creativity starts to look a little different. It’s no longer about what’s trendy or what makes your portfolio pop, it’s about reliability, trust, and small decisions that quietly scale. You’re designing for everyone: the 21-year-old who grew up with apps (literally), the 72-year-old who finally downloaded app with their grandchildren’s help, and everyone in between.
Here’s what I’ve learned and what I wish someone had told me when I started designing for large-scale systems.
1. Don’t Mess with Muscle Memory
Even if your new design is more logical or beautiful, users won’t see it that way if it breaks what they’re used to. If someone’s been tapping the “+” button in the top corner for years, suddenly moving it to the bottom right closer to the thumb doesn’t feel like an improvement. At this scale, intuition matters less than habit.
2. Roll Out Changes Gradually
One of the worst things you can do is drop a full redesign overnight. Users open the app expecting a 5 second familiar task and end up lost in a new layout. Big changes should feel almost invisible. Test, observe, and phase them in piece by piece. Give people time to adapt, especially when they use your product daily.
3. Work with Qualitative Researchers
Numbers will tell you what’s happening. Qualitative research tells you why. You might notice a high drop-off rate at a certain point in the sign-up flow and start assuming why it’s happening. But don’t (honestly don’t). Just ask!
Team up with UX researchers early and often. When you’re dealing with millions of users, you need to hear from everyone, not just the vocal early adopters. Context is everything.
4. Keep a Human Feedback Loop Alive
Have a group of design partners, people from different age groups, tech comfort levels, and accessibility needs. Talk to them regularly. Test ideas with them before launch. They’ll surface friction points no dashboard can show you. Design shouldn’t live in a Figma file or inside your team’s Slack. If you’re not familiar with working with design partners, here’s an article that covers everything you need to know.
5. Get Out of the Way
Yes, animations are fun and illustrations can create warmth. But at scale, the most respectful thing you can do is get out of the user’s way. The best interface is one that helps them do what they came to do, nothing more, nothing less. Save the glossy moments for when they actually add clarity or calm. Most of the time, users just want to get things done.
Designing for scale forces you to let go of ego. You’re not here to impress, you’re here to support. It’s less about being a trendsetter and more about being invisible, reliable, and relentlessly user-focused. I still love designing bold, expressive interfaces, but now I know when to let them shine, and when to let them disappear.
What I Learned from Designing a Product Used by 4 Million People Daily was originally published in UX Planet on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.