Habit of Noticing: How to Get Constant Inspiration for Growth 💫

4 elements of being a creator and 25+ growth best practices as a result of power of noticing.

Today, I was shocked to discover that I’ve published 70 posts. It feels like yesterday that I started this newsletter, and now it’s transformed into a community of 5,000+ people from companies like Amplitude, Intercom, Miro, Atlassian, Grammarly, Framer, and more. Could I imagine that a year ago?

It really made me reflect again — why am I doing that? What are my values and principles? One thing I realized for sure — I can’t do business without creativity.

In this post, I want to bring up my vulnerable part and share with you:

1. 4 elements of being a “Creator” — and show that anyone can be a creator.

2. The Habit of Noticing — how I get constant inspiration and collect best practices for growth.

3. Collection of 25 visual best practices for Growth — a sneak peek at my collection I’ve gathered since last year.

4. and one more valuable asset (spoiler – about AI) at the end 😉

Hello from Kate 👋 (H'ART museum, Amsterdam).

Before we dive in — I have a quick announcement.

🎓 My new course, “User-centric Product-Led Growth,” starts on 24th March.

I created this course with one strong belief: quality drives growth. I intend to support teams with proven strategies, behavioral science insights, and real examples I have collected over the years. As a gift to dear readers, use promo code "growthmates" for $100 off and create a user-centric growth roadmap with feedback directly from me. 

P.S. I’m bringing together a small group of participants for the first cohort — some folks who worked on Dropbox, Miro, and Apple are already joining — you will be in a great company 💜

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4 elements of being a creator.

Last week, I brought back Growthmates Podcast — a new season that feels more meaningful to me than ever. It made me reflect on WHY this matters to me.

I realized that "creator" is no longer just a word — it’s a part of my identity.

For many years, I wanted to create a song. Now, I have one for Growthmates—turn on the sound 🔊. I have been passionate about visual craft my entire life. Now, I can use podcasts as a playground to bring a personal vibe.

Looking back on two years of making the podcast and starting this newsletter, I see how it has become my form of artistic expression in the business world.

Jeff Koons (American Artist) once described four elements of an artist’s life.
Now I see how they shape my journey:

1. OPEN TO THE WORLD. Creating this newsletter and podcast made me look beyond my own work and ideas. The podcast became a source of “social capital” for me and deepening connections with others. I couldn’t imagine I could build connections with someone who created Apple Siri, or Head of Design at Notion, or with

   Elena Verna
   on a recent episode.

2. FOLLOW YOUR INTERESTS. This season, I’m diving deep into the lives of women who balance work, family, and creative passions. I want to know how they make it all fit together. I bring here the topics that keep me up at night — career shifts, building from 0 to 1, and navigating uncertainty.

3. GIVE THINGS MEANING. Inspiration can come from anywhere. For me, it was Grace Bonney’s book "In the Company of Women". It made me rethink what it means to create with purpose, and I’ll try to deliver what the community needs with what I personally find meaningful.

4. CREATE A NARRATIVE. Stories aren’t just told — they’re experienced. I carefully designed each interview to uncover the deeper reasons behind work and life, overcoming health issues, and creating meaningful products with partners. The viewer should complete the narrative through their authentic, personal experience.

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The “Habit of Noticing” and where it led me.

I listened to Eckhart Tolle's audiobook “The Power of Now” long ago. While listening, I remember walking through a park and noticing every tree, bird, and unusual sunlight. 

It made me reflect: isn’t it the same in the work setup?

In order to create something new (like a feature, experiment, or iteration), we need some inspiration. It doesn’t mean it will make the creation part easy, but it will spark some ideation for your challenges, unlock the blind spots, and you’ll be able to move forward.

I never really thought about the WHY — just kept collecting. Screenshots, little snippets from products, things that caught my eye. It started back in 2017 when I joined Miro. At first, it was just part of the workflow, grabbing references to make decisions faster. But at some point, I realized: this was my favorite part.

My folders started filling up. Boards, Notion pages, even a messy desktop — packed with things that I captured. A clever onboarding moment, a beautifully crafted screen, a delightful animation. It wasn’t just about work anymore. I was curating, noticing patterns, finding inspiration in the tiniest details.

Last year, I realies that I gathered a collection of 100s growth solutions from top products. From Onboarding to Upgrade triggers, I’ve seen it all — and I decided to organise and share it with everyone.

So, I handpicked 25 of the best interactive GIFs and shared them on LinkedIn to inspire other teams to think about plans for 2025. It took off with 1500+ people (🤯) interested in receiving that collection.

If you missed that last time — here it is 👇

But it’s not just about noticing and collecting these examples. The most important part is to understand these practices on YOUR product and adapt them, not just copy-paste them.

Understand, adapt, and apply growth practices.

Diving deeper into this collection, I selected 5 of my favorite examples and want to show them in more detail:

• Why it’s a good experience for growth;

• The hypothesis you can try;

• and a bonus 🎁 “AI Adoption Flows” collection with examples of AI positioning on the website, pricing, and onboarding experience is inside.

Now, let’s dive into some examples 👇