There’s a stage in every creative career where the rules that once felt like a safety net start to feel more like a box. Early on, we rely on best practices, frameworks, and tried-and-true methods because they provide structure and give us confidence. But over time, the very rules that helped you get started can hold you back from doing your most original work.
This is when your creative instincts kick in. It doesn’t mean throwing out everything you’ve learned, but rather trusting the judgment you’ve built through years of experience, pattern recognition, and countless wins and failures.
How do you know you’ve reached that point? It shows up in three key ways:
- You start questioning why things “have to” be done a certain way
- Traditional methods feel more limiting than helpful
- You get more excited by experiments than by following proven formulas.
Let’s dive in.
1. You question why things “have to” be this way
One of the clearest signs to lead with your instincts is when you catch yourself asking, “But why does it have to be this way?” Instead of taking conventions at face value, you start pulling at the seams and imagining what could exist beyond the standard playbook. That curiosity is often the spark that leads to breakthrough ideas.
Take David Carson, a self-taught graphic designer who transformed the field of design, for example. In the ’80s and ’90s, while most designers relied on strict grids and legibility, he threw those rules aside. His fragmented, overlapping typography, often bordering on illegible, defined the grunge movement and reshaped editorial design, inspiring a generation to see disorder as its own kind of expression. His attitude—one he sees as partly underdog, partly “why not?”—carries through not only his most famous projects like art directing Ray Gun magazine or his work for Transworld Skateboarding, but also branding projects, surfboard designs, packaging design for potato chips, and more, making him as relevant today as ever.
Even in healthcare, questioning “the way things are done” has had a real impact. At GE Healthcare, designer Doug Dietz noticed how frightening MRI machines were for children. Instead of pursuing costly technical upgrades, he and his team focused on redesigning the patient experience. The result transformed how kids felt about scans and significantly reduced the need for sedation.
This same questioning also extends to digital products. Like Carson and the GE team, UX designers have challenged long-held assumptions about how people navigate, connect, and interact online. Some of these experiments became industry standards, while others sparked debate and controversy. All of them began with the simple instinct: “Does it really have to be this way?”
Medium moved beyond the binary “like” by introducing a clapping system, where readers can clap up to 50 times for an article. The change broke from the conventions of most social platforms, offering a more nuanced way to show appreciation. It sparked widespread discussion, praised by some as bold and expressive, critiqued by others as confusing or inflationary.
It’s not that we should reject the rules altogether, but we should learn them so well that we can bend or break them with purpose.
It’s the habit of questioning itself that signals your creative instincts are sharpening. When “the way it’s always been done” is no longer cutting it, you can step into a more innovative space.
2. Traditional methods feel limiting, not helpful
Frameworks and processes are designed to help us, especially in the early stages of of our career. They act as guardrails, providing structure and helping us build confidence. But as your expertise deepens, those same methods can begin to feel less like a guide and more like rigid rules that inhibit your creativity.
This shift is known in psychology as the expertise reversal effect: instructional methods and structures that support novices can actually hinder experts once skills and understanding are deeply internalized. Novices rely on frameworks to navigate complexity, while experts develop pattern recognition and tacit knowledge, the intuitive grasp that renders rigid, step-by-step processes unnecessary or even constraining.
If you’ve ever been frustrated by a system that can’t flex for a new idea, or trusted your instincts over what the data suggests, it’s a sign that your judgment is maturing. You’ve developed the experience to see beyond conventional wisdom and make a deeper impact.
This tension also plays out in product design. When methods or data points start to feel more like obstacles than enablers, designers often rely on instinct to move forward. Some of the most impactful product decisions have come from moments where teams trusted their vision over rigid frameworks, bending or even abandoning the rules to create something new.
For example, designers often find that rigid design systems limit creativity and slow innovation. The system may work well for standard flows and screens, but when new patterns or ideas emerge, it can feel like they’re not a match. Designers describe being forced to either abandon their original ideas or wait for new component approvals, both of which slow progress. This tension highlights why design systems must be treated as evolving products that adapt alongside designers’ vision and the industry itself.
3. You’re excited by experiments, not formulas
You know your instincts are kicking in when trying new things feels more exciting than sticking to what’s safe and proven. Instead of pursuing certainty, you’re curious enough to test, tweak, and see what happens.
Failure doesn’t feel like a setback anymore, it feels like a clue that’s helping you get closer to something better.
This shift often shows up in three ways:
- Prototype-first thinking: You’d rather build something rough and test it quickly than spend weeks perfecting a plan.
- Comfort with ambiguity: You don’t need all the answers before starting; you see uncertainty as fertile ground for discovery.
- Learning-oriented failure: When an idea doesn’t work, you treat it as insight gained rather than wasted effort.
Some of the most celebrated creative breakthroughs have come from this mindset. IDEO, for instance, is famous for continually evolving its own design methods. They never treat their process as fixed; instead, they experiment, adapt, and invent new ways of working as new challenges emerge.
When you find yourself more excited by the chance to try something new than by the safety of following a formula, it’s a strong signal that your instincts are taking the lead.
Creative growth isn’t about rejecting everything you’ve learned; it’s about knowing your craft so well that you can trust your instincts. When curiosity, intuition, and experience work together, you can bend rules, explore bold ideas, and create work that truly stands out.
