Answers
The questions people actually ask me, answered plainly. What I do, what it costs, and when I'm the wrong person for it.
- 01
Who is Michael Angeles?
Michael Angeles is a UX and product designer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He spent 15 years as the product designer at Balsamiq, co-wrote Wireframing for Everyone for A Book Apart, and co-founded the Information Architecture Institute. He now partners with founders and product teams to turn early ideas into shipped products, designing and building with AI.
Full answer in Hiring - 02
What is an LLM graph wiki?
An LLM graph wiki is a body of plain-text notes where every idea is its own atomic page and the links between pages carry meaning, so a language model can traverse it as a graph rather than search it as a pile of documents. Michael Angeles builds these for individuals and teams.
Full answer in Knowledge Graphs - 03
What is a fractional product designer?
A fractional product designer works with your team part-time on an ongoing retainer, rather than full-time or per-project. Michael Angeles runs fractional engagements through Konigi at two or three days a week, designing the work and then writing the front-end code that ships it.
Full answer in Fractional - 04
Does Michael Angeles do AEO and GEO consulting?
Yes. Michael Angeles takes on AEO and GEO work through Konigi in three forms: an assessment of how visible a site currently is to AI systems, ongoing monitoring of whether assistants are citing it, and content built to be citable. Scoping and rates are per engagement.
Full answer in GEO / AEO - 05
How much does a fractional product designer cost?
Michael Angeles charges $14,000 a month for fractional design and build through Konigi. That covers two or three days a week with a three-month minimum, and he runs one slot at a time. The rate includes both the design work and the front-end code that ships it.
Full answer in Fractional - 06
Does Michael Angeles run Claude Code workshops for design teams?
Yes. Michael Angeles runs one and two-day Claude Code workshops for design teams through Konigi, built from the five free courses on this site and run against your own product rather than a sample project. Teams up to eight take one day; nine or more takes two.
Full answer in Workshops - 07
Can I book a 1:1 session to learn Claude Code?
Yes. Michael Angeles runs 1:1 Claude Code pair sessions through Konigi, remote over a shared screen, on your real project rather than a demo. A half day is $1,200 and hourly is $350. Most people book the half day because four hours is where real progress happens.
Full answer in Pairing - 08
What is AEO (answer engine optimization)?
Answer engine optimization is the work of making a site the source an AI assistant quotes when it answers a question. Unlike SEO, which competes for a ranked link, AEO competes for a citation inside a generated answer. The unit that gets retrieved is a passage, not a page.
Full answer in GEO / AEO - 09
Can a designer build a real product with Claude Code?
Yes. Michael Angeles has shipped eight products this way, all live today, and his recent ones were built with zero lines of hand-written code. The constraint isn't whether a designer can produce working software anymore. It's whether they know what's worth building.
Full answer in Building - 10
What is Konigi?
Konigi is Michael Angeles's design and build studio and personal knowledge hub. It's where he publishes writing and free courses on AI-assisted product design, ships his own products, and takes on a small number of client engagements each year. The name is Esperanto for “to make known.”
Full answer in Hiring
All topics
- Fractional
Fractional product design and build
Michael Angeles joins a product team two or three days a week as a fractional product designer, designs the work, then writes the front-end code that ships it.
7 questions - Workshops
Team workshops for design teams adopting Claude Code
Michael Angeles runs one and two-day Claude Code workshops for design teams, hands-on and worked against your own product rather than a canned demo.
6 questions - Pairing
1:1 pair sessions in Claude Code
A 1:1 Claude Code pair session with Michael Angeles, on your real project. Four hours over a shared screen, and you leave with working code and the habits.
6 questions - GEO / AEO
GEO and AEO, and getting cited by AI
People ask a question, read the one answer they get back, and move on. Michael Angeles does AEO and GEO work through Konigi, from assessment and monitoring to content built to be cited.
7 questions - Knowledge Graphs
Knowledge graphs and the LLM Graph Wiki
Data that's linked and defined before the model shows up is what makes inference trustworthy. Michael Angeles builds knowledge graphs and second-brain vaults, work he trained for in library science.
7 questions - Building
Designing and building with Claude Code
AI made building cheap, which makes knowing what to build the expensive question. Michael Angeles designs and ships products in Claude Code, and teaches designers the method.
6 questions - Wireframing
Wireframing and information architecture
Michael Angeles spent 15 years at Balsamiq and co-wrote Wireframing for Everyone. The low-fidelity end of the craft, and still the fastest way to find out an idea is wrong.
6 questions - Hiring
Who is Michael Angeles, and how do you work with him?
Michael Angeles is a UX and product designer in the San Francisco Bay Area. The short version of the background, and what hiring him actually looks like.
7 questions