Dive Club 🤿

Co-founders Gab and Nim unveil an innovative prototyping tool that lets designers work directly within production code. They demonstrate creating interactive components and animations on the fly without developer assistance. The discussion highlights the importance of real production context for decision-making, and how AI can elevate designers' strategic roles. Emphasis is placed on reusing existing UX patterns and the shift toward design curation over mere execution. Exciting announcements on the public beta make this a must-listen for design enthusiasts!

Henry Modisett, VP of Design at Perplexity, shares insights from his extensive experience in building a vibrant design culture. He discusses the rapid growth of his team and the complexities of balancing parallel product work. Henry explores his unique hiring strategies, emphasizing the need for founders-style designers who thrive in ambiguity. He also highlights the importance of decisiveness and organic feedback, while promoting a culture of experimentation over imitation. His approach to leadership encourages ownership and agility within a fast-paced environment.

In this engaging discussion, Kyle Zantos, a design technologist and expert in UX Tools Labs, shares insights on enhancing design workflows with AI. He emphasizes the importance of using visual tools like Cursor for quick edits and highlights the value of creating 'playgrounds' for prototyping ideas. Kyle advises designers on combining references to refine aesthetic judgment and discusses automating style with the compound engineering plugin. He also stresses learning design philosophies over commands for a dynamic approach in a rapidly evolving tech landscape.

Lewis Healey, a design technologist at Atlassian specializing in AI prototyping, joins Kylor Hall, a design systems engineer, to explore scaling AI in established companies. They discuss the creation of pre-coded templates to enhance prototype consistency and strategies to reduce AI hallucinations. Hear about their innovative approach to simplifying design workflows and adapting roles in design systems. Plus, learn about benchmarking, engaging training tactics for non-technical users, and their vision for AI-native design systems that empower anyone to ship software.

Enrico Tartarotti, a product-minded solo builder and creator of Flask, shares his journey from PM to launching a standout video collaboration tool. He discusses the unique idea of using voice over text for creativity and highlights lessons learned from user research using the Mom Test. Enrico dives into design challenges, the importance of critique, and his strategic approach to building features efficiently. He emphasizes the balance of using AI in coding while maintaining solid architecture and turning early users into passionate advocates for his product.

Nad Chishtie, Head of Design at Lovable, shares his insights on hiring multidimensional designers in a rapidly growing company. He emphasizes the importance of portfolios that showcase strong design elements and personal contributions. Nad values curiosity and side projects, alerting candidates to frame their experiences clearly. He critiques traditional hiring processes and promotes a lean structure while advising on how to excel in interviews, particularly during the trial phase, by demonstrating impactful, thoughtful design work.

Roman Tesliuk, a designer at Eleven Labs, shares his journey from side projects to leading web design at a top AI company. He dives into the challenges of designing without strict brand guidelines and how he embarks on playful pixel experiments. Roman discusses the intricate details of mobile design, including typography and interactive elements. Excitingly, he unveils his bitmap icon tool and how AI enhances prototypes. Ultimately, he emphasizes balancing fun with deadlines, showcasing how creativity fuels innovation in product design.

Matt Smith, known as MDS, is a designer and maker who shares fascinating insights into his creative process. He discusses the challenges of brand-driven design and balancing personal identity. Delving into his Figma explorations, Matt reveals his meticulous work on pixel icons and the emergence of the mosaic motif. He also covers the development of a bitmap icon builder and the integration of playful animations. Ultimately, Matt highlights the importance of curiosity, exploration, and thoughtful design choices in his work.

Steve Ruiz, founder of tldraw and expert in canvas tooling, dives into the future of AI collaboration through canvas-based UX. He shares his journey from fine art to tech, emphasizing the importance of tool design principles and the potential of canvases in workflows. Steve discusses fascinating concepts like integrating AI agents, playful metaphors like fairies to visualize collaboration, and the unique challenges of real-time AI interactions. His insights shed light on how visual tools can empower both humans and AIs to work together creatively.

Emily Campbell, VP of Design and creator of Shape of AI, dives into the future of AI interaction. She discusses building trust in AI experiences and essential design patterns for enhancing prompts. Emily emphasizes the importance of guiding users through AI with wayfinder patterns and tuners to improve interactivity. She also highlights the risks of deep personalization and the need for transparency in AI. Hiring designers with curiosity and developing hands-on experience is her strategy for cultivating great AI talent. This engaging conversation unpacks the evolving landscape of AI UX.