Abundance in Scarcity
The Quiet Power of Saying Less
Photo of Azur Restaurant & Patio Thanksgiving sides by Abby Laub from JA Laub Media.
Memory Making
Thanksgiving isn’t always restorative. It can be lonely, exhausting, or tense. At the end of holidays, my mother-in-law used to say with a grin, “Well, at least there were no fences to mend.”
This year held a different texture for me. I don’t think I could have planned a better Thanksgiving, and for that I’m sincerely grateful. As a family, we chose the menu together. We all ran to the grocery store. We all cooked. We all cleaned. We all arrived at the table with something to contribute—including a simple assignment:
Bring a trivia question, a game, or a thoughtful prompt.
And we did. The conversations were rich and lively.
Then came my husband’s surprise offering: a spoken blessing over each of our (not-so-young) children. Quiet. Tender. Grounding.
Later, we spilled into the yard for a game of football—the crisp air and sunshine reminding us that play doesn’t have an age limit. And we ended the day around the fire pit with hot cocoa and tea, laughing as we kept playing the new game our son had taught us at lunch.
It was definitely one of those memory-making days.
The Word
Abundance, not scarcity.
Have you ever had a word that just resonated? it kept coming to you in different platforms, messages, and messengers. When that happens to me- I stop and sit with the word awhile.
What is God teaching me with this word?
After a particularly difficult season, the word (well, phrase) He gave me was:
Abundance, not scarcity.
The word abundance transformed my life in one direction, and my design work in the opposite.
Living in Abundance, Designing in Scarcity
In life, abundance feels like more.
More joy.
More trust in the process.
More noticing the blessings all around us.
More for ALL of us.
But in User Experience (UX) design, abundance is created through less.
Less clutter.
Less jargon.
Less text.
Less cramming everything onto a webpage out of fear we’ll leave something out.
Because when we try to say everything, our true message gets lost.
Scarcity in UX is space, clarity, simplicity and that creates abundance in understanding.
It reminds me of a favorite quote (often attributed to Mark Twain, though its true origins are debated):
“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
Thanksgiving + UX: A Surprising Connection
This season reminds me that abundance isn’t about volume — it’s about presence.
And in UX, presence is created by designing experiences that honor people’s limited attention, tired eyes, and busy minds.
As designers, we can’t assume our users feel calm, focused, or tech-savvy. They might be:
Overwhelmed
Distracted
Holding a toddler
Stirring gravy with a dog staring up hopefully
Browsing a crowded store aisle while friends and family talk around them
People don’t read — they scan.
And attention is the most generous gift a user gives you.
An abundant UX respects that gift.
Make It Easy for Your User
There’s a kindness baked into good design, “a Thanksgiving-level generosity.”
Your user shouldn’t have to work to understand your heart.
Your mission shouldn’t require a deep dive into a sea of text.
When you simplify your content, you’re not “dumbing it down”
you’re lifting the cognitive burden off someone else.
Here’s what abundance through scarcity looks like:
1. White Space
It’s not emptiness, it’s breathing room.
2. Clear Headings
Guide their eyes with clear directions.
3. Bullet Points + Short Paragraphs
Support scanning and increase understanding.
4. Speak to Their Problem First
When you understand your users’ needs, you earn their trust.
5. Edit Like You Value Your User’s Time
Because you do.
In the simplest terms: make sure the right message reaches the right audience in the most meaningful way.
Designing for Humanity
In many ways, UX design holds the same posture that Thanksgiving invites:
Slow down.
Be present.
Make space.
Lead with gratitude.
Honor the people gathering at your table.
Whether it’s a webpage, a school portal, or a donor form, clarity isn’t just a design choice — it’s an act of empathy.
Because design, at its core, is about being human.
Let’s Build What Matters
Every design choice is an opportunity to practice abundance — not through more words, more pages, or more noise, but through clarity, kindness, and intention.
At Swayze Design Studio, I help you uncover what truly matters so we can clear away what doesn’t. Together, we create experiences that feel spacious, human, and easy to understand — an act of empathy in a world that asks so much of us.
When we say less with purpose, people hear more with ease.
Let’s build what matters — design that feels warm, clear, and deeply human.