This week's episode is with Julian Lehr who is the storytelling lead at Linear So we're going to step out of the pixels for this conversation and focus more on how you can get people excited about what you're designing. Because in the age of AI, stories are what makes your product defensible. So we're going to go deep into Julian's creative process and how he kinda thinks of his role more as packaging. Some highlights: Julianās sources of inspiration Understanding Julianās creative process The n...
Jul 02, 2025ā¢51 minā¢Ep. 114
You probably know Intercomā¦ but did you know they recently incubated a new startup called Fin that has already surpassed the core business? Theyāve pulled off a massive transition to an AI-native product and design org so today weāre going behind-the-scenes with their VP of Design Emmet Connolly . Some highlights: Why Emmett believes designers will own the frontend The opportunity for design systems in an AI-first world What Emmett looks for when hiring designers in the AI era Why liquid glass r...
Jun 27, 2025ā¢1 hr 4 minā¢Ep. 113
In last weekās episode , the Head of Design at The Browser Company shared a totally new way to think about your portfolio. He says one of the most valuable things you can demonstrate today is the ability to solve real problems with code (no matter how small). Iām literally doing this with a side project right now and Iāve learned a lot so I decided to share my new playbook for vibe coding š Teo Connor (VP of Design at Airbnb): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/air-bnb Alex Schleifer (former Chie...
Jun 25, 2025ā¢9 min
Dia from The Browser Company has completely taken over the internet. Weāre finally seeing what an AI-native browser can be and itās pretty exciting :) So this episode is a behind-the-scenes with their Head of Design, Dustin Senos . Some highlights: How to build a product strategy around AI How The Browser Co approaches prototyping Dustinās perspective on MCP and agentic design How their definition of āgoodā evolved from Arc to Dia Their process for exploring patterns for interacting with AI The ...
Jun 20, 2025ā¢58 minā¢Ep. 112
This weekās episode is a first of its kind because weāre doing the ultimate deep dive into one of my favorite products: Raycast Weāll here from the founders, design team, and even the hype team and go deep into all kinds of topics: The hilarious story of Raycastās YC application 3 weekly rituals that are perfect for remote teams What theyāve learned about designing AI experiences What we can learn from how their hype team operates How the design team has changed the way they collab with engineer...
Jun 16, 2025ā¢2 hr 3 minā¢Ep. 111
The last two weeks with Inflight have been the most exhilarating of my entire careerā¦ So I want to use Dive Club to provide unprecedented levels of access to life as a design founder. Iām talking about the messy behind-the-scenes, hideous Figma concepts, and all of the winding turns that we've taken to get where we're at today. This is gonna be as raw as it gets. And hopefully by shining a light on some of the things I'm learning, it turns into a video series that you want to keep watching āļø...
Jun 11, 2025ā¢13 min
This week's episode is with Darrin Henein who is the VP of Design at Shopify. We talk about how they create a culture of excellence and how AI is influencing the way they practice the design. Some highlights: What makes for a great design critique culture Darrinās expectation for how designers prototype How Shopifyās new AI mandate impacts designers Traits Darrin notices in promising younger designers What designers can learn from the best communicators at Shopify Why Darrin believes designers n...
Jun 06, 2025ā¢1 hr 3 minā¢Ep. 110
Thereās a new design tool called Subframe thatās officially caught my eye š So I asked their co-founder Filip Skrzesinksi to give us a demo and talk through their vision. I found some of their AI interaction patterns fascinating (especially the way they approach prototyping and contextual edits). If youāre interested in the future of design tooling then I think youāll like this episode and you can use the code DIVECLUB to get your first month free š...
Jun 04, 2025ā¢38 min
There are two types of companies today: Startups birthed out of AI Existing companies figuring out how to adapt to AI This weekās episode is all about #2 because we get to hear from Ioana Teleanu who was the first AI designer at Miro and is now a dedicated AI+Design consultant. So a big theme of this conversation is how to identify the right opportunities to design AI into a product thatās already working. Ioana shares a bunch of stories and lessons learned from her time at Miro as well as a ref...
May 30, 2025ā¢1 hr 4 minā¢Ep. 109
This week we get to hear from Jesse Kulp who is the original designer for Google AI Studio. He shares what it was like going 0ā1 as the sole designer and his ideas for where AI design is headed next I think we're gonna look back in a couple years, the kind of silly stuff we're doing today and say it looks like child's playā¦ Jesse Kulp some highlights: How Jesse transformed into the ultimate generalist What Jesse learned about managing lots of stakeholders Exploring different interaction modaliti...
May 23, 2025ā¢58 minā¢Ep. 108
Stephen previously co-founded Modulz which created Radix UI, now used by Vercel, Linear, and Jetsi. Now heās the founder of the most influential design tool on the market ā Paper . In this episode, Stephen gives us a look at how Paper is fundamentally changing the speed of traditional design flows. Some highlights: How to drive alignment as a company How Stephen cultivates empathy in designers How Stephen views the traditional design role How Paper is paving the way for modern design tools How P...
May 16, 2025ā¢55 minā¢Ep. 107
A year ago, it felt like AI-generated UI was about to have its moment. But now the landscape looks a LOT different than what people expected. So this episode answers the question "what's next?" Because there's still an untapped opportunity that I believe will become very real soon... Kyle Turman (Designer at Anthropic) https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/kyle-turman Nad Chishtie (1st designer at Lovable) https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/nad-chishtie Zach Leach (Head of Design at Gamma) https://www....
May 13, 2025ā¢11 min
This week, Zach Leach (Head of Design at Gamma ) gives a behind-the-scenes of what itās like designing one of the hottest AI products in the world today. He shares a ton of techniques and lessons learned from working with LLMsāincluding some ways to make AI fun again :) And we also learn what makes design at Gamma a bit unorthodox in all the best ways. Some highlights: What makes Gamma a team of āAI Pioneersā How Gamma designers prototype ideas in code How Zach has iterated on interaction patter...
May 09, 2025ā¢46 minā¢Ep. 106
The more I study today's top design teams, the more clear itās becoming that we're entering the era of a new type of design leaderā one with taste and the skills necessary to uphold craft. So this episode studies this new archetype of leader by highlighting clips from design leaders at Airbnb, Ramp, Duolingo, and moreā¦ Alex Schleifer (Former Chief Design Officer at Airbnb) Mig Reyes (VP of Product Experience at Duolingo) Derek Briggs (Design + Code at Hypermode) Teo Connor (VP of Design at Airbn...
May 06, 2025ā¢8 min
Mig Reyes is the VP of Product Experience at Duolingo (and a design director at Instagram before that). In this episode he shared a behind-the-scenes of how design operates at Duolingo (as well as some harsh truths designers need to hear). Common portfolio review mistakes How communication skills build influence Migās strategy behind hiring junior designers How to succeed in executive product reviews Migās mandate to raise the design bar at Duolingo How Mig revamped design management at Duolingo...
May 02, 2025ā¢1 hr 1 minā¢Ep. 105
I talk to a lot of designers at the pinnacle of their careerā¦ So Iām always trying to figure out how theyāve evolved the way they practice design over the years. Once I hear the same answer from a few different people I start to pay attention š So here are a few trends Iām noticing for how the best designers get alignment on their teams. Alex Cornell (Gen AI at Meta) Yuan Wang (Head of Design at Maven) Rich Arnold (Design Manager at Coinbase) Michael Wandelmaier (Principal Designer at Dropbox) ...
Apr 29, 2025ā¢9 min
Anthropic has quickly become a category-defining company and in this episode Kyle Turman (their first full-time designer) shares a behind-the-scenes of what it was like designing Claude. If youāre interested in startups, AI products, or the art of prompting then this conversation will be right up your alley. Some highlights: Kyleās story of wearing every hat for Claude What itās like designing conversational UX flows How Kyle uses Claude in his personal design process Why Kyle only half-finished...
Apr 25, 2025ā¢1 hr 2 minā¢Ep. 104
There's a parallel I'm noticing between what's happening today with AI and what happened way back in 2013. So this episode studies the early days of Snapchat, the emergence of high-fidelity prototyping tools, and answers the question āwhat does it look like to have agency in 2025?ā Jack Brody (Chief Product Officer at Suno) Jorn van Dijk (CEO of Framer) Julius Tarng (Research engineer at Anthropic) Tuhin Kumar (Head of Design at Luma AI) Maheen Sohail (Gen AI at Meta) Meng To (Founder of Design+...
Apr 22, 2025ā¢9 min
Tuhin Kumar has designed at some of the most prolific companies in the world (early Facebook, Airbnb and Apple). But everythingās changing in his new roleā¦ Because now heās the Head of Design at Luma AI which is one of the companies leading the charge on generative AI. So this episode goes deep on how the value prop of design is shifting. Some highlights: The #1 trait of craft-oriented companies Why you canāt think of AI products as just a tool How to invest in the right skills as a designer tod...
Apr 19, 2025ā¢1 hr 6 minā¢Ep. 103
There are two goals that designers almost always group together: Make a useful product Make it easy to understand But my interview with Sam Stephenson changed my thinking completely š So this episode breaks down Granola ās go-to-market strategy and why Iām copying it for my own startup. Sam Stephenson (Co-founder of Granola) Colin Dunn (Co-founder of Visual Electric)...
Apr 15, 2025ā¢6 min
Jack Brody joined Snapchat as one of the early designers where he spent 10 years and eventually became Head of Product. So this weekās episode features a lot of lessons learned from the early design team at Snap and an inside look at what makes their culture so special. But we also go deep into Jackās new role as the Chief Product Officer at Suno where heās helping design the future of music. So we end up having quite the discussion on creative launchpads and the impact of AI. Some highlights: S...
Apr 11, 2025ā¢1 hr 1 minā¢Ep. 102
Iāve interviewed a lot of designers who have landed some pretty high profile roles and Iām starting to notice some trends š So this video breaks down 6 portfolio tips that you can use to stand out.
Apr 09, 2025ā¢13 min
Lovable has quickly become the go-to way I build my ideas with AI and this week we get to hear from their first designer Nad Chishtie . We go deep into what it takes to succeed as a founding designer and all of the ways AI is shaping modern product teams. Some highlights: Nadās tips for collaborating creatively with AI tools How designers can be enablers instead of bottlenecks How Nad balances Figma with new AI tools like Lovable Why Lovable built and deleted a Figma-like layers panel What itās ...
Apr 04, 2025ā¢54 minā¢Ep. 101
My #1 source of imposter syndrome is when I see designers prototyping beautiful interactions like this or even this . Itās one thing to create gorgeous interfaces, but crafting complex interactions from first principles is designing on expert mode. And itās a big reason why Linear lists interactions as a requirement three separate times in their job description for principal designer . So this weekās episode is all about how to unlock the skill of interaction design š Gavin Nelson (Mobile desig...
Apr 01, 2025ā¢9 min
I use Granola every single day and itās quickly become a beloved product in the tech community. But it was a winding journey to get thereā¦ So in this episode their co-founder and designer, Sam Stephenson , gives a behind-the-scenes of what it was like going 0 ā 1 with Granola : How to navigate the idea maze for an AI product What Sam has learned about prompt engineering What it takes to succeed as an early stage startup designer How they arrived at Granolaās breakthrough interaction pattern A gl...
Mar 28, 2025ā¢51 minā¢Ep. 100
Iāve spent a lot of time studying how the best design teams operate and two of my favorites are Ramp and Plaid . So this episode shines a light on specific practices they put in place to create a culture of craft š
Mar 25, 2025ā¢7 min
What do Raycast, Daylight, Amo, The Browser Co, and Mainframe all have in common? They all hired Ellis Hamburger to help tell their story. So this episode is a bit different... We're going to get away from the pixels and go deep into how you can use language to tell a compelling story about your product. Some highlights: How to tell a story that people care about Lessons from the Language team at Snapchat Breaking down specific copywriting strategies Questions to help you figure out your product...
Mar 21, 2025ā¢57 minā¢Ep. 99
AI introduces an opportunity for all kinds of novel interaction patterns. But it creates a whole new category of design challenges tooā¦ And this episode breaks down the biggest challenge of all. Colin Dunn (Founder and Designer of Visual Electric) Maheen Sohail (Gen-AI designer at Meta) Tyler Angert (Founder of Patina Systems) Maggie Appleton (Design engineer at Normally) Ammaar Reshi (Head of Design at ElevenLabs)...
Mar 18, 2025ā¢11 min
This weekās episode is with Alejandro Matamala Ortiz , the cofounder and Chief Design Officer at Runway āone of the leading generative AI companies in the world today. The way they work is incredibly unique. So a big focus of this interview is digging into how AI is shifting the way products get built and what it all means for designers: How the lines are blurring between roles How AI flips the order of building new features What it means to ācarveā AI products vs. build them How Alejandro belie...
Mar 14, 2025ā¢46 minā¢Ep. 98
Most designers fall into the same trap when presenting their ideas. So this ~5 min episode breaks down how to pitch your designs like a pro. Chris Abad Gabe Valdivia
Mar 11, 2025ā¢6 min
