Dive Club 🤿

Remember when the Carl Rivera (https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/carl-rivera) told us about his vision to create the new Shopify Product Design Studio?Well in this episode I got to sit down with Marvin Schwaibold (https://x.com/MSchwaibold) from Molly studio who Shopify recently acquired to bring that vision to life.We go deep into creativity, Marvin's journey with Molly, how he's building his ideas with AI, and a lot more.Some highlights:- How to become a well of creative ideas- How AI unlocks how designers work at Shopify- What design differentiation looks like at Shopify- What Marvin has learned diving into Claude Code- How designers at Shopify create and leverage internal tools- Behind-the-scenes of redesigning the famous Collins website- + a lot more- Jaytel - Marvin’s design partner from Molly studio https://x.com/Jaytel- Brian Collins - legendary designer who worked on the Collins website redesign https://wearecollins.com/- Carl Rivera - Shopify’s Chief Design Officer (referenced previous Dive Club episode) https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/carl-rivera- Design Fluid Interfaces video from Apple’s Human Interface team (2019) [https://developer.apple.com/br/videos/play/wwdc2018/803/?time=1551](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/808/)- Claude Code - AI coding tool by Anthropic https://claude.ai/login- Artifact - internal Shopify tool for showcasing design work https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jaytel_this-was-meant-to-stay-inside-shopify-but-activity-7422739773561384960-oqiU/

Flora Guo (https://x.com/floguo) has one of the more impressive career trajectories of anyone I've interviewed on this show.She's currently the founding design engineer at Paradigm. But before that Guillermo (Vercel CEO) personally DM'd her to join the Vercel team.So we're going deep into career growth, design engineering, what it's like being a founding designer at an AI-native startup.- What it’s like being a founding design engineer at Paradigm- The challenges of designing AI-first products that work at scale- Flora’s experiments with new design tools like Paper and Variant- What Flora learned working alongside top design engineers at Vercel- How Flora evolved her workflow with Claude Code over the past year- Mental models for using AI as a learning tool rather than just a task executor- + a lot more- Tokyo Design Forum (February 2026) - https://www.tokyodesignforum.com/- UI Engineering 101 by Mariana Castillo and Derek Briggs - https://maven.com/pixeljanitor/uiengineering-101-for-designers- We talked about Rauno Freiberg's portfolio (Vercel design engineer) - https://rauno.me/- New tools: Paper - https://join.dive.club/paper-ad-email

Today's episode is with Kris Puckett who has led design at Mercury, Dropbox, and now as a design manager at Stripe.His journey is the perfect example of what it looks like to lean into this moment in time with AI.Some highlights:- Behind the scenes of Kris’s Epilogue app- How to create custom skills with Claude Code- How to start building personal systems with AI- How Kris taught Claude to be a metal shader expert- Building internal tools and workflows with AI at Stripe- + a lot more

What does it look like to demonstrate uncommon care in the way you design and build an interface?Josh Puckett has has spent nearly two decades designing products like Wealthfront, Dropbox and helping dozens of startups.But recently he released Interface Craft which is a library of everything he's learned about through the years about designing with “uncommon care” 👇⭐ Use this code for 20% off Interface Craft: DIVE20Some highlights:Josh’s principles for great designMorphing strategies for micro-interactionsHow the value proposition of design is shiftingHe builds a custom pattern generator on the flyHow Josh makes storyboards to collaborate with AIWalks us through how he designed the onboarding flow

Today's episode is with Luis Ouriach (https://x.com/disco_lu) whose role as a designer advocate at Figma means he's constantly helping teams navigate this rapidly changing landscape... especially when it comes to design systems.So we're going to do a deep dive into the trends he's noticing and what it all means for designers.Some highlights:- How design systems are changing with AI- Luis’s ideas around agentic design systems- Pitfalls to avoid when adopting AI with your team- What trends we can ignore vs. what is really important- Luis’s journey as a builder and his career plan moving forward- What Figma's new integration with Claude and Codex unlocksLuis’s agentic design systems article: https://medium.com/@disco_lu/building-agentic-design-systems-the-future-of-ai-enhanced-design-6ad0470cf1e3

Today's episode with Cameron Worboys (Head of Product Design at Cash App) is an inside look at how an AI-native design org operates and the ways designers can thrive in this new world.We go deep into:The new archetypes of designersCam's vision for bespoke softwareThe #1 trait that Cam looks for in design hiresHow >90% of designers at Cash are shipping PRsWhat to do if you don't want to become an IC builderHow to create an emotional attachment to your productHow Cash has replaced the old engineering/product/design triadJulien Martin's episode - https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/julien-martin

A few weeks ago, Stripe launched their [new site (https://stripe.com/) and reminded everyone who the 🐐 of web design is…So I asked their Head of Design, Katie Dill (https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-dill-79168b3) , to walk us through some of the tiny design decisions that make it so special.But we also did a deep dive into how the practice of design is evolving at Stripe and everything they’re doing to push past the status quo.Some highlights:- How the “call for a new aesthetic” is influencing design culture at Stripe- How their internal tool Protodash is changing the way designers prototype- The most important signals that Katie looks for when hiring designers- What the concentration of craft looks like in an AI era- + a lot moreCall for a new aesthetic - Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen’s grant program (https://newaesthetics.art/)Cultural Tutor YouTube video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=tWYxrowovts“Beauty is the New Business Tool” - 1927 Atlantic article (https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1927/08/beauty-the-new-business-tool/376227/)

As software becomes easier to create than ever, what does it look like to truly differentiate with design?Today's episode with Julien Martin (https://x.com/julienmartin_?lang=en) is an attempt to answer that question.He was the Head of Design at Zenly, Snapchat, and Amo which is some of the most uniquely impressive consumer design I've ever seen.Some highlights:- Behind the scenes of early Amo explorations- How the composition of design orgs is changing- The unlock that led to Amo's unique visual language- Julien’s advice for how to succeed in today’s job market- The untold story of how Julien joined in the early days of Behance- Why side projects are now the strongest signal when hiring designers*- Andy Allen (https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/andy-allen) (referenced multiple times for his “not boring” article and Camera app)- Off Market (https://offmarketjobs.substack.com/) (Julien’s talent agency for designers)- Retro app (https://retro.app/) and Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com/) (mentioned as inspiration)

Today's episode is with Tommy Smith who recently landed a new role as a part of the Dive Talent Network.So we're doing a deep dive into what makes his portfolio so effective:Making his side project a first-class citizenPositioning himself as a new design engineerAdding personality by experimenting with RiveHighlighting what matters most in his case studiesFlexing his craft muscles and nailed the finer details

Ryan Stephen (https://x.com/Ryan__Stephen) is a product designer at Microsoft, but the reason I wanted to interview him is because he's the man behind some of my favorite design experiments on Twitter.So in this episode Ryan gives us a behind-the-scenes look at his creative process, the tools in his stack, and how he approaches effective storytelling in design.Some highlights:- How Ryan sparks creativity- The power of putting your work on Twitter- How Ryan thinks about investing in his career- Ryan’s mental model for fidelity and prototyping- The lessons Ryan’s learned about effective storytelling- The tools and techniques Ryan uses to make ideas feel real- + a lot more

Today's episode is with Hannah Hearth who recently became the Head of Product Design at Vercel. We talk about all of the changes that are happening in our industry and what it all means for designers. Everything from how AI tools are changing the practice of design to how this impact the way we think about our career paths.Some highlights:Hannah’s #1 trait for great designersThe most underrated storytelling tacticDoing more with less while not burning outExamples of how AI is changing the design processHow design orgs should think about adopting AI toolsHow much coding is happening on the Vercel design teamPreserving craft and design thinking with collapsed timelinesa lot more

Get 10% off Karl's Become a Design Engineer course: https://join.dive.club/karlToday’s episode is with Karl Koch (https://x.com/_kejk?lang=en) and it’s filled with practical tips for new design engineers looking to push past what AI gives you out of the box.We go deep into:- Adopting the design engineering mindset- What the job market looks like for design engineers- The difference between frontend and design engineers- Specific language to create better interaction design- The details Karl is sweating in his role at Duck Duck Go- + a lot moreGet 10% off Karl's Become a Design Engineer course: https://join.dive.club/karl

This episode is a deep dive into Rive—the engine powering experiences like Spotify Wrapped, next-gen car dashboards, and so much more.After hearing Luigi and Guido Rosso’s vision for the future of interactive software, I’m convinced it will be a big deal for designers 👀

One of the biggest parts of my design practice is knowing which tool to reach for when coding with AI.There are a lot of options and they’re changing every week 😅So in this episode, I break down:1. The mental model I use to think about different types of AI coding workflows2. How that model guides which tools I actually reach for day to day3. The new AI coding product I’m completely hooked on right now- Tools listed: - Lovable (https://lovable.dev/) - Figma Make (https://www.figma.com/make/) - Dessn (https://www.dessn.ai/) - Conductor (https://www.conductor.build/) - Warp (https://www.warp.dev/) - Inflight (https://www.inflight.co)

Sometimes you open up a website and it's so good that you're left wondering... how the heck did they pull that off?In this episode the designer of the original Amie website, Xavier Jack (https://x.com/KMkota0), is going to give us a little tutorial of what it looks like to bring web experiences to life with 3D.Some highlights:- How he prototyped the viral Amie website- How he made the Amie interactive balloons from scratch- How he uses mental models to understand 3D design tools- Amie.so (http://amie.so/)- Desktop.fm (https://desktop.fm/)- Three.tools (https://three.tools/)- Shopify Winter 2026 https://shopify.com/editions/winter2026- Wiggle bones https://wiggle.three.tools/docs/manual/getting-started- Blender (3D modeling software)- Three.js (JavaScript 3D library)

Last month the head of design at Lovable, Nad Chishtie, walked us through the portfolio of one of their recent design hires, Matt Sellers.So today's episode is a behind-the-scenes of what it actually takes to create a portfolio that gets you hired at one of today's top startups.He shares some really tactical mental models that I think everyone can benefit from.Some highlights:Why Matt removed 80%+ of his workWhat made Matt's micro copy so effectiveHow Matt built his micro animations in FramerThe finer details of Matt’s portfolio and micro-interactionsHow Matt changed his portfolio strategy and why it workedWhat it takes to make your portfolio an experience rather than a cataloga lot moreNad Chishtie’s episode

There's been a heck of a debate around the future of coding and design tools lately... but what's actually happening inside of today's top teams?Where is all this headed and how does the future of our tools shape the role of a designer?Today's episode is with Stephen Haney (https://x.com/sdothaney) who is the founder of the new design tool Paper.And for the last few months he's studied how design teams actually use AI in their everyday roles... everything from tooling to prototyping to process.He walks us through some of his key findings and how that's shaping his product strategy for Paper 👇Some highlights:- The “designer playground” approach- How AI adoption looks at startups vs. big companies- Why designers at big companies aren’t PRing to production- AI usage being mandated in performance reviews for designers- The new localhost sharing problem and how teams are solving it- Why local development is winning over cloud tools for design teams- Why companies use of AI tools doesn’t match what you see on Twitter- + a lot moreBasecamp’s “Shape Up” project management philosophy (https://basecamp.com/shapeup)

Gab and Nim are the co-founders of a startup called Dessn which allows designers to prototype in the context of their production codebase (without any of the setup).So I asked them to hook it up to the Inflight repo and give me a little demo to see what’s possible.I’m pretty sold 👀

Someone asked me recently... if you had to join a design team, who would you want to work for?And my answer was easy... PerplexitySo today's episode with Henry Modisett (https://x.com/henrymodis) (Perplexity's VP of Design) is a deep dive into what makes their design culture so special.Some highlights:- How to create a culture of decisiveness- What signals Henry is looking for in designers- Factors that influence Henry’s leadership style- How to lay the right foundation for your design org- Why Henry is doing feedback differently at Perplexity- Henry’s strategies for building world class design teams- + a lot more

Kyle Zantos is leading the new UX Tools Labs where he's responsible for figuring out what matters for new design tools and workflows.As a result, he's pretty quickly become my go-to source as I transition into more of a builder with AI.So this conversation is a deep dive into very specific tactics you can use on your own design engineering journey.We'll go through recommended tools, workflows, and Kyle's process for building a design engineering "Skill" using Claude Code.Kyle’s portfolio site: https://zantos.coLeva control panel: https://threejsresources.com/tool/levaCompound Engineering plugin: https://github.com/EveryInc/compound-engineering-pluginJhey Tompkins: https://x.com/jh3yyDerek Briggs: https://x.com/PixelJanitorWill King: https://x.com/willkingEmil Kowalski: https://x.com/emilkowalski

We talk a lot about using AI at startups…But what are more established companies doing to scale AI prototyping?What are the best ways to use AI to prototype with your design system?That's what today's episode is all about because we're talking with Lewis Healey (https://x.com/Lewishealey) and Kylor Hall (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylorhall/) about how they scaled AI prototyping at Atlassian.Some highlights 👇- Their vision for a truly AI-native design system- What's worked to scale AI prototyping adoption- Tips for reducing hallucinations when prototyping- ways to help AI make sense of your design system- Their novel approach to prototyping with “templates”- How the role of design system designers is changing with AI- + a lot more- Atlassian Design System (https://atlassian.design/)- Figma Make (https://www.figma.com/make/?gad_campaignid=23356954992&gbraid=0AAAABCTX0ItGAe7RZBBeUOUindISLe0Un) (AI prototyping tool)- AI Builders Week (Atlassian internal program) (https://www.atlassian.com/blog/inside-atlassian/ai-product-builders-week)

Today's episode goes deep into all of the design details in a new video collaboration tool called Flask.But the reason I’m so inspired by this product goes far beyond the UI/UX…Flask is designed and built by one person—Enrico Tartarotti—who was a PM before this so his journey is the perfect example of what it looks like to thrive as a generalist builder.So this episode tells the story of what it took to build a well-crafted product and all of the lessons that he learned along the way.Enrico references the Mom Test for user research and the episode with the Supercut Founders

As one of the fastest growing companies in the world, Lovable is scaling their design team by tapping into the [Dive Talent Network](https://www.dive.club/talent-network).So I interviewed their Head of Design, [Nad Chishtie](https://x.com/nadonomy), to learn everything I can about how to get hired as a designer at Lovable.Some highlights:- A breakdown of a recent design hire’s portfolio- How to avoid getting your portfolio screened out- How to crush the later stages of the hiring process- How you can win Nad over with side projects alone- What to do if you’re not confident in your visual skills- The 2 things Nad cares most about when hiring designers- Spotify’s cross-functional squad model (https://medium.com/found-ation/agile-team-organization-a-deep-dive-on-the-spotify-model-f5b32dfc37dd)- Matt’s portfolio (designer hired through Dive Talent Network) (https://www.lfs.gd/)

What does it look like to own web design for one of the fastest growing AI companies in the world?And how do you get that opportunity if you don’t have companies like Apple or Airbnb on your resumé?That’s what this episode with [Roman Tesliuk](https://x.com/RomaTesla) is all about.He walks us through the Eleven Labs Figma and talks about the tiniest of design decisions all the way to how he’s building a scalable website system.We also go deep into Roman's side projects and all of the ways he's becoming a builder with AI 💪Roman’s App Stacks project - https://appstacks.club/ and portfolio site - https://pixelwrld.co/

I’ve probably learned more about visual design from MDS than anyone in the design community.So I wanted to go deep into the creative process behind the all-new Shift Nudge website to see how he explores visual ideas.He takes us through his Figma file that is full of very good ideas that didn't ship.And he even shows us how he built his own Mosaic tool in v0 which became the core motif of the site.So if you're interested in seeing the windy creative process behind one of the truly great designers today then I think you're going to enjoy this one.

I get shown a lot of tool demos and one thing is clear…Canvas-based UX will play a pivotal role in how we interface with AI.It’s a big reason why Figma just bought Weavy 👀So I interviewed Steve Ruiz who is the founder of tldraw where he's spent over 3 years and $5 million dollars building the perfect canvas (which powers many of the startups that we've studied on this show).Some highlights:Why he’s been obsessing over fairiesSteve’s principles for good tool designHow he was able to learn to code so quicklyWhat Steve’s learned through his AI experimentsHow he’s thinking about the future of agentic designa lot more

In one of the most popular episodes yet, Vitaly Friedman talked about what’s next for AI design patterns (https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/vitaly-friedman).In that episode he frequently referenced Shape of AIl (https://www.shapeof.ai/) which is an incredible database of AI design patterns.So I wanted to get to the source and go deep with the creator Emily Campbell (https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmiecampbell/) to learn how to design great AI experiences. Because she’s studied AI products more than just about anyone I’ve ever seen 👀Some of my favorite highlights:- Ways to build trust in agentic products- Her favorite patterns for enhancing prompts- The traits she looks for when hiring AI designers- + a lot more- Shape of AI (https://www.shapeof.ai/) (her database of patterns)- Poke app (https://x.com/interaction/status/1965093198482866317/video/1) from Interaction

AI is fundamentally shifting the way we think about digital products and the core deliverables that we're bringing to the table as designers.So I asked Geoffrey Litt (https://x.com/geoffreylitt) (Design Engineer at Notion) to share his vision for the future of malleable software and AI system design.Here’s some highlights:- The keys to effective system design- Geoffrey’s workflow for “working like a surgeon”- Why too many products become “nightmare bicycles”- The principles of malleable software vs. disposable software- Why version control is the most important AI interaction problem- Inside Geoffrey’s malleable software experiments at Ink & Switch- + a lot more-[Ink & Switch is the research lab (https://www.inkandswitch.com/)- Changing Minds by Seymour Papert (https://worrydream.com/refs/Papert_1980_-_Mindstorms,_1st_ed.pdf)- Geoffrey’s nightmare bicycle article (https://www.geoffreylitt.com/2025/03/03/the-nightmare-bicycle)- Don Norman’s Living with Complexity (https://www.amazon.com/Living-Complexity-Press-Donald-Norman/dp/0262014866)- Spell Burst by Tyler Angert (https://spellburstllm.github.io/)- A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander (https://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Language-Buildings-Construction-Environmental/dp/0195019199)- Patchwork - Geoffrey’s collaboration environment at Ink & Switch (https://www.inkandswitch.com/patchwork/notebook/)⭐️ You can use the code DIVECLUB to get 20% off your first month of Lovable Pro 1!

Craft gets you hired.But business impact gets you promoted.So this week’s episode with [Ryan Scott](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanscottcreative/) is a deep dive into how designers can think strategically about their career.He shares a ton of lessons from his [PM Masterclass for designers](https://join.dive.club/ryan-scott-pm-masterclass-affiliate):- What it looks like to grow your product muscles- The right (and wrong) ways to get buy-in for your ideas- Strategies for making data a part of your design practice- Ways to spot new strategic opportunities for your company- How to position your work to be compelling to a business leader- What Ryan learned making big ideas happen at Airbnb and Doordash- + a lot more⭐️ Get $100 off Ryan’s course when you us the code DIVECLUB- Andy Budd’s talk in Berlin (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eYH6Z3LmhU)- Builder.io (http://builder.io/) mentioned as AI tool for engineers- booking.com (http://booking.com/) vs Airbnb competitive positioning example

Board (https://board.fun/) has taken over social social media (and for good reason).It’s one of the most obvious yet innovative products I’ve ever seen.So as soon as Kevin Twohy (https://x.com/kevintwohy) shared a preview with me I knew we had to do an interview to get the behind-the-scenes (spoiler: I did buy it lol).So this episode is a deep dive into his design process for the first ever tabletop game console:- What he learned about prototyping hardware products- How they figured out the “brand moves” for Board- How Kevin makes the most of AI tools- + a lot moreKevin referenced Mike and Chara Smith’s episode talking about “brand moves” multiple times - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jhxx6yK2J08&t=392s

AI is reshaping how we design and build software, creating huge opportunities for designers who experiment, adapt, and help define what the practice looks like next. This session is your opportunity to learn directly from some of the best in the industry.

Imagine a world where handoff no longer exists and designers are moving fluidly in code…[Drew Wilson](https://x.com/drewwilson) is one of the people pulling that future into the present so this week’s episode is a deep dive into his vision for the new design tool [Opacity](https://opacity.app/).Some highlights:- How team structures are changing- How to stand out when everyone is a builder- What design’s “Github moment” will look like- The fracturing of the market for design talent- How Drew is approaching this startup differently- Where the new technical threshold is for designers- + a lot moreDrew is also building his new IDE called Loop - https://loupe.build/

Over the last few months one product has risen to the top of my inspiration list… ツSupercut (https://supercut.ai/)The point of this episode is to figure out what it takes to consistently reach that level of excellence.How do you maintain that level of attention to detail while preserving the speed that you need to hit when going 0 -> 1 on a new product?This week's episode is with David (https://x.com/okuiux?lang=en) and [Neil](https://x.com/neiltak) the cofounders of Supercut which has quickly become one of my favorite pieces of software in my stack.So we're going deep into how they work, how they think about product, and all of the little decisions they make that together create a truly excellent user experience. 👇- When design works in Figma vs. in code- How AI + small teams changes the design process- Supercut’s playbook for achieving design excellence- Strategies for weaving AI into the fabric of a product- Specific examples of how they sweat the details with animations- Float (https://float.build/)- Supercut (https://supercut.ai/)- Soleio (https://x.com/soleio)- Typeform (https://www.typeform.com/try/typeformbrand?&tf_campaign=US_CA-Brand-Core-English-Combined+Exact-Negs-US_23072929907&tf_source=google&tf_medium=paid&tf_content=187015558460_712286961333&tf_term=typeform&tf_dv=c&tf_matchtype=e&tf_location=9191275&gad_campaignid=23072929907&gbraid=0AAAAADLdz00gdIHfhkPP72sgfJ9L3UUg_)

We’re talking about craft in B2B SaaS... but what is it like designing for frontier interfaces like the Apple watch or even neural interfaces?We find out in this week’s episode with Rooz Mahdavian. (https://x.com/roozm)He’s the design engineer at Neuralink so we're about to get pretty nerdy and talk about what it’s like designing an experience that allows someone to use a computer with just their mind.The level of detail and first-principles design thinking is truly impressive.Some highlights:- What it looks like to design for delight in neural interfaces- What Neuralink is looking for in their 2nd design engineer role- What it takes to design frontier interfaces at Apple and Neuralink- The evolution from Apple Watch Siri face to brain-computer interfaces- Rooz’s vision for “daydreaming with computers” and direct visual imagery transfer- Reimagining a cursor for a neural interface - from color-based feedback to circular reticles- + a lot more- Apple Watch Faces team (https://www.youtube.com/embed/oaqHdULqet0?start=585&end=705&autoplay=1&controls=0)- Siri Watch Face (intern project that shipped) (https://www.youtube.com/embed/oaqHdULqet0?start=585&end=705&autoplay=1&controls=0)- Neuralink (https://neuralink.com/) - brain computer interface company- Blindside - Neuralink’s vision restoration project (https://neuralink.com/trials/visual-prosthesis/)

Imagine it’s your first day as a designer at Perplexity... and the VP of Design hands you the keys for their all-new AI browser, [Comet](https://www.perplexity.ai/comet).That’s the story for [Escha Vera](https://x.com/eschadiol).So this week’s episode is a deep dive into her design process and what it looks like to use AI like an artist.- How she designed Comet onboarding experience- Creating generative invite codes using multiple AI tools- How she created the Perplexity design system from scratch- How she productized AI without leading with chat interfaces or prompts- What are her principles for designing AI experiences that prioritize usability- + a lot more- [Soleio](https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/soleio-2) sent the intro to [Henry Modisett](https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/henry-modisett)- She worked at [Descript](https://x.com/descriptapp) before joining [Perplexity](https://x.com/perplexity_ai)- Previously worked on [Daylight Computer](https://x.com/daylightco) and Motif- Collaborating with [Phi Hong](https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/phi-hoang) on branding at Perplexity- Uses [Suno](https://suno.com/home?wpsrc=Google%20AdWords&wpcid=22042553892&wpscid=173890219393&wpcrid=726251362516&wpkwid=kwd-2827037661&wpkwn=suno&wpkmatch=e&wpsnetn=g&gad_campaignid=22042553892&gbraid=0AAAAA9pWpduFan7icL90FczgyQploCsYi) for music generation and remixing

What does the perfect e-commerce platform look like in an AI era?That’s the question Shopify’s Chief Design Officer Carl Rivera has set out to answer so this week’s episode is all about Shopify’s big bet on design and craft as the ultimate differentiator.We go deep into:- What happens when AI makes everyone a 7/10 designer- What most design teams get wrong when casting vision- How design can lead the creation of truly native AI experiences- Why every designer at Shopify is learning to ship to production- Carl’s thesis for why designers are severely undervalued in the market- Why Shopify acquired Molly Studio and what it means for how the org works- + a lot morehttps://www.molly.studio/ - design studio acquired by Shopify

Only a select few have multiple episodes on Dive Club and today Catt Small joins the ranks.She has a gift for turning messy ideas into practical next steps so it’s no wonder her Staff Designer course is one of the top-rated on Maven.In this episode we go deep into all of the ways you can make an impact by building influence on your team and effectively casting vision for your product.Some highlights:The 2 ways to measure your influenceStrategies for getting distribution for your ideasHow to select the ideal format for casting a visionStorytelling tactics used by the best staff designersHow to strategically invest in workplace relationshipsWhat Catt learned while interviewing staff designers for her new book⭐ Get $100 off Catt’s course: Staff Designer: Influence & Lead as an Individual Contributor⭐ Get 15% off pre-orders for her new book: The Staff Designer

What does it take to make people feel something with design...?This week's guest is kind of an expert on the question. Sara Vienna (https://x.com/sravienna?lang=en) , the Chief Design Officer at Metalab, talks about the responsibility that designers have to shape this AI world that we're entering without losing the heartbeat of a brand.We don't hold back on the current state of the industry and what it feels like to be a designer today.Some highlights:- How to not get swept up in current design trends- How Metalab has adopted AI workflows internally- Strategies for leveraging AI to understand research data- What it takes to put meaning at the heart of a brand/product- How Metalab invests in the collective taste of the design org- Where Sara derives signals and how she filters out the noise- Being late on a trend is bad taste even more so than ugly design- + a lot more- Windsurf https://windsurf.com/) and [Suno](https://suno.com/home?wpsrc=Google%20AdWords&wpcid=22042553892&wpscid=173890219393&wpcrid=726251362516&wpkwid=kwd-2827037661&wpkwn=suno&wpkmatch=e&wpsnetn=g&gad_campaignid=22042553892&gbraid=0AAAAA9pWpduFan7icL90FczgyQploCsYi) rebrands- Jony Ive’s Stripe Sessions talk (https://stripe.com/sessions/2025/a-conversation-with-sir-jony-ive)- Erica Hall’s book “Just Enough Research” (https://www.mulebooks.com/just-enough-research)- Anthropic’s Machines of Loving Grace paper (https://www.darioamodei.com/essay/machines-of-loving-grace)- Blok for focus (https://blok.so/)

I think we're entering a world where the market for fractional design is about to explode…So this week's episode is with one of my favorite people in the industry, Gabe Valdivia.We're going to explore his independent journey → how he made the jump, how he's evolved the practice in year two, and all of the lessons he's learned along the way.Some highlights:Gabe’s three-phase client modelHow to sell a client on fractional designGabe’s rules of thumb for pricing himselfHow Gabe’s new apprenticeship program worksHow Gabe vibe-coded his personal Freelance OSHow he has redefined success from year 1 to year 2Gabe’s journey to figure out how to position himself as an independenta lot moreCharlie Sutton who he worked with on VR team at FacebookTeam Human book by Douglas Rushkoff

Too much of designing a startup happens behind closed doorsSo I want to work with the garage door open while building Inflight (https://www.inflight.co/) as much as possible.You already saw a bunch of the nitty gritty UI details (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D39Dv9MSlhs)…But when you’re going 0 to 1 on something, the storytelling piece is often the hardest part.So this episode is a sneak peek of a recent presentation we gave in SF (and some behind-the-scenes commentary to go along with it).

What does it look like to advance your career in the age of AI? That’s what this week’s episode with Dan Winer (Director of Product Design at Kit) is all about. He shares insights from his top-rated Maven course "Strategy and Influence for Product Designers" (https://join.dive.club/dan-winer-course) So if you want to learn how to go from pixel pusher to strategic partner then this is the episode for you 💪Some highlights:- Dan’s strategies for effective storytelling- How to shine a light on the value of your work- Tactics for building alignment across key stakeholders- The 8 skills that Dan is evaluating in the hiring process- Why design systems are becoming more important than ever- Harsh truths designers don’t want to hear about their portfolio- What to do if you don’t have data to prove the impact of your work- + a lot more

This week's episode is with Andy Zhang who was the lead design engineer at Windsurf. So we're going to shine a light on all of the ways you can make an impact as a design engineer including:Owning more of the frontend polishThinking through design patterns and packaging featuresBridging the gap between technical features and intuitive UXSaying “no” to features to preserve the simplicity of the systemHe also shares some great stories and advice including:What it was like working as an intern at Figma with <10 peopleHow designers can start to get more comfortable with codeHow he taps into his experience as a PM at Uber while selecting the right design processa lot moreRasmus Andersson (https://x.com/rsms) - Designer/engineer at Figma, mentor to AndyKevin Hou (https://x.com/kevinhou22?lang=en) - Lead product engineering at Windsurf, Andy’s basketball teammate who helped him get the job

I’d bet real money that you have been on Smashing Magazine at some point in the last 18 years…Good news is, this week I got to interview the founder, Vitaly Friedman, who is also one of the leading thinkers in UX right now.In this episode we go deep into how AI is changing the way we interact with digital products and how our patterns and processes are evolving as a result.Some highlights:The use case for dynamic interfaces with AIHow to design a less painful refinement journeyThe best AI design patterns to use for inspirationWhen to use quiet AI vs. visible AI in your interfacesWhy more products should be “AI-second” not “AI-first”Why we need to slow users down when designing AI productsHow designers can establish trust when users interact with AIa lot moreConsensusElicitaiuxpatterns.comEpisode with the Gamma Head of Designexa.aiPerplexityChatGPTGeminiNorman Nielsen Group

If I told you someone had a background as a senior designer at companies like Uber, Dropbox, Apple, and Patreon then you'd be pretty impressed, right?Same.But Adam Noffsinger walked away from all of that to start Alma (which you might remember from the Smith+Diction episode).So this episode is a deep dive into what it really looks like to go 0→1 as a design founder.Adam even walks us through his Figma file for Alma so if you’re interesting in startups or designing something from nothing, then I think you’ll really enjoy this conversation 👇