Dig Deeper
"Technology is finally moving at the speed of thought. Now we can grow more connective human skills: delegation, creativity, and embodiment."
How I Work
From first conversation to production. How a typical engagement actually goes.
Discovery
Before any creative work, I want to understand the real problem — not just the brief. That means conversations with stakeholders, reviewing existing data, and identifying where the stated need and the actual need diverge. This is often where the most valuable work happens.
"Erik has a knack for asking probing questions that get to the heart of an issue."
— Roger Hoover, Xerox PARC
Creative Sessions
Collaborative working sessions where I bring initial concepts and provocations. Fast, generative, no polish. The goal is to find the direction worth pursuing, not to present finished thinking.
"Erik Burns is a game changing UX & innovation thought leader. Erik's interaction style helps inspire the cross functional team."
— UV Mathoda, Realtor.com
Rapid Prototyping
With agentic tools, I can move from concept to working prototype in hours. This collapses the feedback loop dramatically — instead of reviewing wireframes, teams can react to something real. That speed isn't just efficiency; it changes what questions you can ask.
"Erik is a rare gem; he is not only a prolific designer, but also a good front end developer, which allows him to quickly build compelling web applications."
— Mihir Nanavati, Hightail
Stakeholder & End User Research
Validation that runs alongside building, not after it. Qualitative interviews, usability sessions, and stakeholder alignment checks woven into the process rather than bolted on at the end. The most expensive mistake in product is solving the wrong problem with precision.
"Erik utilizes targeted research to optimize online user experience and create valuable interactions with brands and products through online applications."
— Peter Loomis, Affymetrix
Production Integration
I can take work all the way to production — code, agents, APIs. No handoff required unless the team wants one. The best outcome is something live that real people use, not a deck that describes what it could be.
"Erik is able to truly bring the best out of his team. He is a charismatic leader that is not afraid to get in the trenches in order to see the job accomplished."
— Patrick Thompson, YouSendIt
How I Work
Constraints I discovered by shipping things, serving clients, and building agents I rely on every day.
Investigate
The most expensive mistake in product is solving the wrong problem with precision. I come from a scientific background. I treat every decision as a hypothesis: clear question, measurable outcome, willingness to be wrong. How you frame the question determines everything that follows.
Discover
Most products solve the problem that's easiest to spec: the surface symptom, the obvious pain point. There's almost always something deeper. Something more human. Finding that layer is the hardest part of the job. It's also the only part that changes anything.
Prototype
Build to learn, not to spec. The fastest insight is a live URL: something real that real people can react to. AI has made this dramatically faster. I can go from idea to working prototype in hours. That speed isn't just efficiency — it changes what questions you can ask.
Amplify
The best agentic systems aren't fully automated. They're human-AI partnerships with the right handoffs. I've built and used HabitualOS daily since 2025: agents that handle operational work so I can focus on judgment, strategy, and the things only a human should decide.
Technologies I Use
The tools and patterns I work with across every project.
Claude API
Tool use, structured outputs, streaming, and prompt caching. The backbone of every agentic system I build.
Agentic Systems
Multi-agent orchestration, typed signal protocols, long-context memory, and human-in-the-loop design.
Node.js · Netlify
Serverless functions for agentic workflows, real-time streaming, and data pipelines.
Google Firestore
User-partitioned, privacy-first data storage. The persistence layer for HabitualOS and Healify.
11ty · Zero Gravity
Static site generation and Zero Gravity — a semantic microformat for AI-readable content.
Behavioral Science
CBT, somatic therapy, and motivational research applied directly to product and AI design.