Episodes
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Craft is so much more than a shimmering landing page or micro animationā¦
Itās sweating all of the tiny details and having a thorough understanding of the edge cases in your product.
But thereās one detail most designers missā¦ š
So this episode highlights one of my favorite ideas ever shared on the show from Raphael Schaad (founder of Cron and now the Head of Calendar at Notion).
Itās a fantastic example of what it looks like to obsess over the craft of your product
You can find his full episode here ā https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/raphael-schaad
And this episode also pulls in part of my conversation with Julius Tarng about his time at Linear ā https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/julius-tarng
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This week's episode is with Sam Peitz who quickly became one of my favorite designers to follow in 2024.
He regularly shares experiments like TextOS, his scribble running app, and assorted letter prototypes. So this conversation is a deep dive into his creative process and how heās redefined his career path over the past ~10 months. We go deep into:
Samās go-to source of design inspirationThe power of setting the right constraintsWhat Sam has learned about building with v0How to think creatively and design out of the boxHow to position yourself for the type of work you want to doa lot moreKoto branding studio is where Sam worked previouslySam likes Arena for design inspirationWe talked about the episode with Dennis from Amie -
Episodes manquant?
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Designers have become servants of āthe processā so this episode features stories of people who are breaking the mold in the way they explore and prototype ideas.
It includes insights from:
Gabe Valdivia (Fractional design leader): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/gabe-valdivia
Dennis Muller (Designer + founder of Amie):
https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/dennis-muller
Gavin Nelson (Designing Linear mobile app):
https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/gavin-nelson
Nikolas Klein (Designing Prototyping at Figma):
https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/figma-prototyping
Michael Wandelmaier (Former Head of Design at Metalab): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/michael-wandelmaier
And lastly it features insights from Jenny Wen including her original blog post that inspired this episode (definitely bookmark this itās awesome)š
https://jennywen.substack.com/p/dont-trust-the-design-process
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Did you know that the very first interface designer at Adobe was also the first designer to work on Figma? š¤Æ
His name is Andrei Herasimchuk and he knows a lot about design toolingā¦
So this weekās episode is jam-packed with stories about designing the earliest interfaces for Illustrator and Photoshop, as well as what it was like seeing the original seed of an idea that became Figma.
Not only thatā¦ Andrei gives us a behind-the-scenes of his new design tooling startup and shares his vision for where software creation is headed next š
Some highlights to expect:
How AI fits into his new product strategyThe bizarre story of Andreiās first day at AdobeThe 3 types of designers that will exist in the futureWhat it was like joining Figma as the first designer in 2012How Andrei defined the initial keyboard shortcuts in design toolsThe #1 trait of designers heās worked with over the last 3 decadesWhen to break out of the familiar interaction patterns for design toolinga lot moreBryan Lamkin was Andreiās first manager at AdobeMark Hamburg was who he collaborated with on the original keyboard shortcuts -
Many of my favorite episodes are when we get to hear from the earliest designers at companies like Linear, Perplexity, Ramp, Facebook, etc.
So this episode pulls out the key insights so you can learn what it takes to thrive as a startup designer:
Nate Parrott (Founding designer of Arc): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/nate-parrottAdrien Griveau (Founding designer of Linear): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/adrien-griveauSoleio (2nd designer at Facebook): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/soleio-2Marco Cornacchia (Founding designer at Diagram): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/marco-cornacchiaHenry Modisett (Founding designer at Perplexity): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/henry-modisettHelen Tran(Design leader at AngelList): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/helen-tranDiego Zaks (2nd designer at Ramp): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/diego-zaks -
Imagine joining an early stage startup as the first senior designer and within a few years, it becomes the fastest growing company ever.
Wellā¦ that's the story of Diego Zaks who is now the VP of design at Ramp.
This weekās episode is all about how they were able to win with design and what makes their culture so special. We go deep into:
Why velocity is the key to qualityThe impact of ātruth seeking podsāHow Diego creates a culture of collaborationWhat it takes to be a great founding designerThe #1 trait Diego looks for in design candidatesHow Diego has changed the way he gives feedbackHow designers are empowered to make strategic callsa lot moreā¦Want to work with Diego at Ramp? Theyāre hiring āļø
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Imagine youāre asked to lead the design of a new project. Itās complex, open-ended, and full of interconnected problemsā¦
How do you attack that ambiguity and get momentum quickly?
This episode is an attempt to answer that question by unpacking tactics used by designers like:
Jenny Wen (Original designer of Figjam): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/jenny-wenMichael Wandelmaier (Former head of design at Metalab): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/michael-wandelmaierAlex Cornell (Director of Design at Meta AI): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/alex-cornellRich Arnold (Design leader at Vine, IG, and Coinbase): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/rich-arnoldAndrei Herasimchuk (first designer at Adobe and Figma): Episode coming soonJenny Wenās Eigenquestions Figjam template
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2024 was the year the Perplexity brand took over the design community. And a big reason why is because of Phi Hoang.
So this weekās episode is a deep dive into brand experience design and creativity with AI tools. We get an inside look at:
Phiās creative process with MidjourneyWhy Perplexity thinks of the brand in āseasonsāPhiās tool stack for creating marketing videos with AIBehind-the-scenes of how Phi stumped the founder of MidjourneyWhy Perplexity cares about creative consistency > visual consistencya lot morePhi referenced the episode with Henry Modisett the Head of Design at PerplexityMike Smith from Smith & Diction is who Phi collaborated with on the initial brand identityPhi uses Midjourney for image creationHe also mentioned Runway, Luma, and Krea for video work. -
It doesnāt matter how good your designs are if they never get built. So this episode breaks down specific tactics you can use to become a better storyteller and get people excited to build your ideas.
Michael Wandelmaier (former Head of Design at Metalab): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/michael-wandelmaier
Gavin Nelson (designing the Linear mobile app): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/gavin-nelson
Ian Wharton (storytelling coach): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/ian-wharton
Kathy Zheng (head of design at Optimism): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/kathy-zheng
Yuan Wang (head of design at Maven): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/yuan-wang
Alex Cornell (design lead for Gen AI at Meta): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/alex-cornell
Noam Segal (senior research leader): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/noam-segal
Femke (design lead at Gusto): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/femke
Gabe Valdivia (independent designer): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/gabe-valdivia
Dive is where the best designers never stop learning š¤æ š dive.club š¦ twitter.com/joindiveclub
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A little over a year ago, Joey Banks and I were DMāing each other in Slack about leaving our W-2 jobs and going independent.
So this weekās episode is a reflection on his journey working for himself and itās as human and relatable as any conversation Iāve ever had on this show. We go deep into:
Managing your pipeline of clientsCreating a personal knowledge system in NotionFinding companionship as an independent designerStructuring your schedule and maintaining momentumCommunicating your services and pricing yourself effectivelyDealing with uncertainty and all of the unknowns in your first yeara lot moreGet a special offer on Joeyās āLevel Up with Figmaā courseJoeyās Baseline website and newsletterPaul Millerdās āPathless Pathā book and his episode on Lennyās podcastJoey mentioned Oliurās episode as one of his favorite YouTube creatorsHe also mentioned Stephen Robles YouTube channel -
The pendulum has swung too far with design systems. Somehow theyāve become synonymous with scale. But I believe theyāre the perfect first step for startups. So this episode looks at stories from Perplexity and Cron to reframe design systems as the key to speed in the early days.
Henry Modisett (Head of Design at Perplexity): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/henry-modisett
Raphael Schaad (founder of Cron / Notion Calendar): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/raphael-schaad
Brad Frost (author of Atomic Design): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/brad-frost
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After writing a viral article called āThe Missing Toolā I was fortunate to meet Gab and Nim who are the co-founders of a startup called Dessn.
Dessn is a new way to ship design changes without having to write code. Their extension overlays a Figma-like interface on your live web app so designers can easily make changes. Their AI then writes the code and pushes it to your Github. That means designers can now contribute directly to production.
Over the last few months weāve had regular jam sessions about the future of design tooling, how AI impacts software creation, and everything in betweenā¦
These jam sessions have been some of the most inspiring conversations Iāve had this year. So this weekās episode is a way to loop you in on some of those conversations. We go deep into:
The future of design systems with AICrafting a product strategy in todayās landscapeNavigating the idea maze as an early stage founderWhat it means to have an āAI nativeā product strategyHow the flattening of the talent stack impacts designersWhy Nim was so inspired by the head of design at UnsplashWhat ātasteā looks like when operating as a creative directora lot moreCheck out the Dessn websiteNim mentioned V0.dev as a way to create software (also might like Meng Toās recent episode)The short story Library of BabelStudio Ghibli animation studiosGraza olive oil as an example of what a strong brand looks like in a commoditized product line -
Over the last few months, Iāve interviewed the people designing cutting edge AI products like Perplexity, Claude, Dot, Humane, Visual Electric, and moreā¦
During that time Iāve created a running list of all the metaphors and mental models theyāve used to explain what itās like.
So this episode breaks down 7 mental models for designing AI products.
Maggie Appleton (Design engineer at Normally): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/maggie-appleton
Henry Modisett (Head of Design at Perplexity): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/henry-modisett Joel Lewenstein (Head of Product Design at Anthropic): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/joel-lewenstein George Kedenburg III (Designer at Humane): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/george-kedenburg-iii Colin Dunn (Co-founder of Visual Electric): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/colin-dunn Jason Yuan (Co-founder of Dot): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/jason-yuan
Chapters 0:00 AI as an organism we grew 1:49 AI as the middle of a field 6:24 AI as a chef in a kitchen 7:37 AI as a new child 8:42 AI as a new material 10:20 AI as the meat of our design deliverable 12:11 AI as electricity
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One of the most impressive things Iāve seen a designer make all year is Meng Toās Dreamcut.
Itās the perfect example of what it looks like to transition from traditional designer to builder šŖ So if youāre interested in becoming a designer who ships then this is the episode for you.
Meng gives a highly practical breakdown of what it looks like to go from 0 to 50,000+ lines of code as a designer. And Meng is the perfect person to onboard you into tools like Claude and Cursor because heās spent 10+ years teaching designers how to code through Design+Code. So in this episode we go deep into:
Mengās tech stack and go-to AI toolsHow to fine-tune visual details in codeThe secret to an effective first 10 promptsHow to find the perfect first project to buildHow much code you need to know to build with AIWhat parts were easier/harder than Meng expectedWhy Meng considers Claude the newest design toola lot moreā¦Meng uses Claude + Cursor to build his ideasMengās original .svg pattern product that he build to get startedMengās new Dream Cut editorMeng previously used Screen Studio (which is awesome), CapCut, and Eleven Labs for videosAI typically uses TailwindCSS (Meng also mentioned the Shadcn component library)Meng also mentioned V0 and Bolt as alternatives to ClaudeScratch is visual programming for kids -
Airbnb is making 3 big design investments to bring soul back to the app. So this episode pulls from interviews with their VP of Design, Teo Connor, and prototyping specialist Janum Trivedi. Learn why Airbnb is investing in 3D, motion design, and leaders who still have their hands in the clay.
Teo Connor (VP of Design at Airbnb): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/air-bnb
Alex Schleifer (former Chief Design Offer at Airbnb): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/alex-schleifer
Janum Trivedi (prototyping specialist at Airbnb): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/janum-trivedi
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As soon as I finished our original interview, I knew I had to have Soleio on as the first repeat guest. He led early design efforts at Facebook and Dropbox. Now he invests in design-driven startups like Figma, Framer, Vercel, etc.
So this weekās episode is all about how designers and startups can succeed in a world where everything is changing. We go deep into:
Ideal traits for a founding designerHow startups can strategically attack incumbentsWhy the future belongs to designers who can shipThe backstory behind Soleioās investment in PerplexityA potential future where one designer can service 5+ startupsWhat you can do to invest in your future founder journey todayHow Soleio approaches the design tooling space as an investorWhy we wonāt use smartphones the same way 5 years from nowa lot moreSoleioās first episodeMeng Toās video editing product (episode coming soon)Granola (Sam and Chris are the founders)Interview with Perplexityās head of design (Henry Modisett)Pattern Breakers by Mike Maples, JrChapters 0:00 Intro 1:32 Designers who can ship 11:18 Dealing with the velocity of tech as an investor 13:27 The importance of brand for startups 18:00 Why Soleio beleives we won't be using smartphones the same way in 5 years 34:23 Qualities that Soleio looks for in first-time founders 36:58 How to succeed as a founding designer 44:53 Founders living in the future 55:05 How to invest in your future founder journey today
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This weekās episode is with Joel Lewenstein who is the Head of Product Design at Anthropic where he works on cutting edge AI products like Claude. After 80+ episodes, I can honestly say this oneās ājuice per minuteā score is off the charts.
Some of my favorite highlights:
How the team prototyped Claude ArtifactsNew mental models for designing AI productsThe way designers shape strategy at AnthropicHow to master the dark art of prompting as a designerThe future of language as the dominant interface for AIDesigning for infinite degrees of freedom vs. user journeysHow Joel designed his interview process at Airtable/Anthropica lot moreā¦The CEO of Anthropic (Dario Amodei)ās essay: Machines of Loving GraceA new 3 minute video showing how the team built Claude ArtifactsChad Thornton was the Head of Design at AirtableEverett Katigbak is the Brand Creative Director at AnthropicKim Bost is the design leader Joel collaborates with a lotJoel mentioned Jason Yuanās interview about designing AI products with soul -
Airbnb is one of the truly iconic design-driven companies. They set the bar for design innovation in so many ways. So this weekās episode is a deep dive with their VP of Design, Teo Connor.
She gives us a behind-the-scenes look at how design operates at Airbnb including:
How Airbnb is bringing vitality to the visual languageHow Airbnb is empowering designers to be designersHow to succeed in a design review with Brian CheskyWhy itās not enough to think in terms of flows and screensWhy Airbnb is updating their design system to use more 3DHow they redesigned the checkout and welcome experienceWhy Airbnb has prioritized prototyping in code earlier in the processa lot more -
Imagine your first traditional āproduct designā job is designing the Snapchat messaging UX for millions of people across the globeā¦
Well thatās what Dan Morenoās journey looked like as an engineer turned designer.
So this weekās episode is a deep dive into his 5+ years designing Snapchat as well as his new role at a rocket ship startup called Captions.
Some highlights:
Danās formula for presenting design ideasHow Dan grew his visual skills as an engineerInside look at the AR exploration team at SnapchatHow to get the CEO of Snap excited about your ideaWhy designing at a startup brings more responsibilityHow Dan rethought what Snapchat messaging could bea lot moreSnapās Lens StudioAndrew McPhee (Danās first manager at Snap)Gaurav Misra (founder of Captions)Pop a component plugin for Figma -
I remember the exact moment where I first explored MercuryOS. It was clear Jason Yuan was one of the most skilled design thinkers I'd ever encountered. No wonder he landed a role designing AI products at Apple shortly after.
But the main reason I wanted to interview him was to learn more about his new product called Dot. It's by far my favorite personal AI and a beautifully designed experience. So this conversation is a behind-the-scenes of his latest journey and a fun glimpse at what the future might hold for software products. We go deep into:
What it looks like to design with soulWhat makes Jasonās design process uniqueWhy Jason left Apple to build New ComputerHow Dot is the spiritual successor to MercuryOSHow more designers need to become AI engineersWhy Jason thinks dynamic interfaces are over-hypedHow to design a product based on one magical interactionWhat Jason learned about storytelling from his background in theatrea lot moreDownload Dot or check out the websiteJason's original MercuryOS projectThe original Dot website featuring Meiās story (from the Wayback machine so give it a minute to load)Jason references Shigeru Miyamoto (the creator of Super Mario Bros) - Montre plus
