I'm Ian Jackson Busik
One designer’s take on balancing tech, storytelling, and creativity.
I’m Ian Jackson Busik — a designer, developer, amateur barista, former would-be journalist, and someone who’s finally found the space to do something I’ve always loved: write! This isn’t some random pivot. Writing has been part of my story from the jump. Back when I was 18, I set off to the University of Kansas, thinking I’d become a journalist. I loved storytelling — the kind that makes you stop, pay attention, and maybe even see things differently. But life had other ideas.
Kansas wasn’t a good fit for me. I hit reset, moved back home to Seattle, and like a lot of people in their early 20s trying to figure it all out, I decided to learn how to code. It was a risk, but it paid off. In the summer of 2015, I landed an internship with Facebook. The deal was simple: learn more about software development and coding, and they’d invite me back the next summer. Challenge accepted. I went all in, juggling school with late nights of coding, and sure enough, I was back the next year — this time as a full-stack developer. This wasn’t “grab coffee for the engineers” work. I was in it. I spent my days building things people would actually use. I worked on Messenger, Light, and a few other projects, writing code that didn’t just exist in a sandbox — it shipped! For a kid still finishing school, that was surreal.
But here’s the twist: the most important thing I learned that summer had nothing to do with code. It was design. And once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. It hit me like a switch flipping. I wasn’t just interested in how things got built; I wanted to know why. Why is this button here? Why does tapping it feel natural? Why is this flow smoother than that one? Design wasn’t the paint job I’d assumed it was — it was the whole experience. It was the intersection of creativity and logic, and for me, it felt like home.
So I chased it. I got my associate’s degree in computer science, and in 2018, I earned my bachelor’s in human-computer interaction. That same year, I went on to be full-time with Oculus, learning and building products with some of the brightest people I’ve ever met — people I’m still glad to call close friends today.
Two years later, the pandemic hit, and like a lot of people, I started rethinking what I wanted. I wanted to grow in a different direction, so I made the jump to Zillow. Zillow was a shift — not just in the work, but in how I thought about design. I wasn’t designing for VR anymore. It was mobile, web, and everything in between. Less headset, more homepage. I applied all the lessons I’d learned from my former company but with a sharper perspective. It felt like a return to the fundamentals — clean, thoughtful, human-first design. That shift in perspective is what led me to where I am now.
These days, I’m in edtech, building products and experiences for students and educators. The stakes feel bigger. If you’re designing for a student, it’s not just about making it easy to use — it’s about making it impactful. When you design something for a student, you might be changing how they learn. That ripple effect is huge, and that’s not lost on me. Here’s the thing: design changed everything for me. It wasn’t about making stuff “look good.” It was about making it work — in a way that feels intuitive, seamless, almost invisible. It’s that perfect balance of creativity and logic, and it’s where I’ve found my lane.
Since then, I’ve done a lot. I worked in VR, gaming, education software, and fintech. I even founded my own company called Virtually Perfect in 2017 (which eventually became IanJackson.com). But no matter how much I learned, how many things I built, or how far I pushed my design career, there was one thing I couldn’t shake: I missed writing. For years, I thought I had to pick one lane. Be a “designer” or a “writer.” Stick to one title. But I’m done thinking like that. I’ve seen too much to believe in neat little boxes. Creativity spills over, overlaps, and if you’re paying attention, it makes you better at everything you do. That’s where I’m at now — comfortable enough to do both, confident enough to know I should do both. That’s why I’m here.
This Substack is my space to write about everything rattling around in my head. Design, culture, tech, life — all of it. I’ll break down design principles, call out subtle shifts in tech that most people miss, and reflect on those moments in life that seem small but end up mattering a lot more than we realize. And up next? A big one. I’m looking back at 2024 — the trends that hit, the ones that missed, and the ones that’ll still be with us in 2025. It’s been a wild year. Tech moved fast. AI went from “interesting” to “should I be scared?” overnight. I’ve got some thoughts on it all. If you’re into sharp analysis, honest takes, and a little storytelling to tie it all together, you’ll want to be here for it. I’m here to bring you thoughtful perspectives on the worlds we move through every day — tech, design, and culture — all written with the same care I put into every design I’ve ever made.
If that sounds like your thing, stick around. I’m going to keep it honest, thoughtful, and maybe a little opinionated — but always worth your time. Welcome to the next chapter.
Let’s see where it goes.
- Ian Jackson Busik