Naveen Gavini: Uniting design and engineering at Pinterest

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/podcast

We’ve spoken to a lot of design leaders over the course of the Design Better Podcast, but this episode is the first chance we’ve had to speak with someone who has made the move from being an engineering leader to a design leader. Naveen Gavini, Head of Design and User Experience at Pinterest, spent time as an engineering manager and then as head of product engineering before taking on his current role, and he brings a unique perspective on leading design teams with him from his journey.

Naveen shares how they “knit” different disciplines together at Pinterest, and we explore what he’s learned from scaling a team in hypergrowth. We also ask about the strategic advantage that co-founder Evan Sharp’s design background has brought to the company from day one.

Takeaways:

• How product magic can happen when the boundaries blur between designers and engineers.
• Why scaling a team in hypergrowth is a lot like making soup.
• How design ops serves as the connective tissue at Pinterest.