Dive Club 🤿 Carl Rivera - Shopify’s big bet on design and craft as the differentiator
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Sep 19, 2025 Carl Rivera, Chief Design Officer at Shopify, leads the charge in redefining e-commerce design for the AI era. He discusses the implications of AI enabling more designers, how to create authentic AI experiences, and the importance of every designer being production-ready. Rivera also shares insights on why design teams often miss the mark and discusses Shopify's acquisition of Molly Studio to enhance talent density. With a focus on craft and strategic curiosity, he showcases a vision that places design at the heart of innovation.
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Design As The Strategic North Star
- Design can be the strategic tool to imagine and align a company's future in an AI era.
- Visual North Stars create a high-fidelity conversation that helps teams converge on product direction.
Why Shopify Bought MOLLY Studio
- Shopify acquired MOLLY Studio to inject a small, strategic team that showcases centralized, fluid ways of working.
- The team will operate like an internal agency to augment product teams and push ambitious, end-to-end experiences.
Build An Unrestricted North Star First
- Start design work by imagining the unrestricted North Star before trimming scope to reality.
- Use the long-term vision and short-term runnable ideas to cut out the weak middle and drive better trade-offs.