Tom Waterman, head of UX at Leith, reflects on how his retail experience shaped his understanding of user experience design. Starting in fashion retail at River Island, he learned that creating effective customer journeys requires thinking beyond aesthetics. Designing retail spaces involved scaling decisions across multiple locations while ensuring brand consistency, which parallels the principles of UX. Waterman emphasizes that real-life user behavior often deviates from planned designs. He draws a comparison with parks where people take shortcuts, highlighting the need for designers to accept that users will always find their own way. Feedback is another critical lesson from his retail background. Waterman stresses that negative feedback can drive improvement. He recalls the fast-paced nature of visual merchandising, where adapting based on customer reactions was essential. This mindset translates directly to UX, where understanding user constraints and behaviors leads to better design solutions. He notes that successful UX should feel invisible, much like a well-designed retail experience that allows customers to navigate effortlessly. Waterman also points out that retail can learn from UX practices, advocating for user-centered design over stakeholder preferences. He believes that brands that prioritize the user experience outperform those that focus solely on visual appeal. By combining insights from retail with UX principles, Waterman aims to create systems that respect and respond to real human behavior. Ultimately, he stresses the importance of never losing sight of the end user, whether in a store or a digital interface.