The Overlap

A weekly newsletter about the messy middle where design meets business. For product people who ship.

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What you'll get

Every Tuesday morning, one essay on the intersection of **design thinking** and **business strategy**. No fluff, no listicles. Topics range from pricing psychology and competitive positioning to design systems and org design. Each issue takes about 6 minutes to read. I write for senior ICs, design leads, and product managers who want to think beyond the pixel.

Recent issues

  1. The case against design systems (sometimes)

    When a design system becomes a political project instead of a productivity tool, you end up with a team that ships components but not products.

  2. Pricing pages are product strategy

    Your pricing page is the most honest page on your site. It tells users what you value, who you're for, and what you think the alternative is.

  3. Why your redesign failed

    Most redesigns fail not because the new design is worse, but because nobody prepared the organization for the transition.

  4. The product manager's sketchbook

    A simple habit that changed how I think about features: sketching before speccing. Not wireframes. Actual pen-on-paper thinking.

About the author

Nadia Petrova

I spent 12 years in product design, most recently as **VP Design at Clearpath** (acquired 2024). Before that I led design at two earlier-stage startups and spent three years at **Figma** when it was still small. Now I consult, write, and occasionally teach. The Overlap started as a Notion doc I shared with my team. It found an audience.

What readers say

  • "The Overlap is the only newsletter I read the morning it arrives. Nadia writes like she's thinking out loud, and it makes you think too."

    Daniel Fink, Staff Designer, Linear

  • "I've sent the pricing pages issue to my entire product team. Twice."

    Asha Mehta, Head of Product, Descript

  • "Short, honest, useful. I don't know how she does it every week."

    Marcus Vane, Design Engineering Lead

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