What does a design consultant actually do day to day?

Most time goes to client work: user journeys, concepts, and understanding problems. Claude Code is shifting how designs reach production. In a consultancy you also sell, create content, and grow the business in parallel with delivery.

How long does sales take at a UX consultancy?

Often a long time. Examples in the episode took up to 1.5 years of contact history. A hard no on a cold call can turn into yes months later when the company’s situation changes. Patience and good prospect data matter.

Does a design consultant need to code?

Not mandatory, but shipping designs as real code with AI tools has changed the job. Annika says Claude Code improved motivation because work lives in a real environment, not only on a Figma canvas.

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What a Design Consultant’s Day Really Looks Like

8 May 2026

This episode is in Finnish. The video below is the original recording; this page provides an English summary for easier reading.

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Summary

Mikki and Annika open up the real life of a design consultant: client work, sales, prospecting, Claude Code, and building a studio alongside delivery.

About The Good Side in this episode

Mikki has made 83.7% of all website commits in 11 months (458 commits). Two newest clients came after long prospecting, including one with 18 months of contact history before signing in April 2026.

Key discussion points

Client projects take about 90% of Annika’s time, but much of that is thinking, not just drawing or prompting
Mikki asked 25 questions in a 60-minute sales call to make sure he understood the client’s situation
Annika uses Claude Code to move designs straight into code, which pushed her motivation to 8.5 out of 10
Prospect data is strategic: both newest clients came from the right list plus patient, systematic outreach
One client was listed in December 2024, said no on a cold call, said yes in January 2026 after funding, signed in April 2026
Tuomas has started committing to the TGS website repo and is already third on the contributor list
Mikki does sales, social, content, and this podcast weekly alongside client delivery

Questions & answers

What does a design consultant actually do day to day?: Most time goes to client work: user journeys, concepts, and understanding problems. Claude Code is shifting how designs reach production. In a consultancy you also sell, create content, and grow the business in parallel with delivery.
How long does sales take at a UX consultancy?: Often a long time. Examples in the episode took up to 1.5 years of contact history. A hard no on a cold call can turn into yes months later when the company’s situation changes. Patience and good prospect data matter.
Does a design consultant need to code?: Not mandatory, but shipping designs as real code with AI tools has changed the job. Annika says Claude Code improved motivation because work lives in a real environment, not only on a Figma canvas.

Topics: design consultant, UX consultancy, sales process, prospecting, Claude Code, The Good Side, Behind the Pixels, consulting life, client work, design studio Finland

What a Design Consultant’s Day Really Looks Like | Pikselien Takana | The Good Side