Dive Club is an interview series hosted by Ridd that is designed to unlock knowledge from today's most prolific designers. We go deep into craft, storytelling, tools, design engineering, startups, and much more.
You can find all of the episodes, key takeaways, and bonus resources here 👉 Dive.club
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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 proces...
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 ...
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 desig...
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 fairies Steve’s principles for good tool design How he was able to learn...
This episode dives deep into designing great AI experiences with Emily Campbell, VP of Design at HackerRank and creator of Shape of AI. She outlines key design patterns like "Wayfinders" for onboarding and "Tuners" for enhancing user control and prompt refinement, emphasizing the crucial shift to a human-in-the-loop model. Campbell also discusses the ethical considerations of AI's data collection and relationship-building, while exploring how the role of UX designers is evolving to foster trust and intuitive 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 ...
Ryan Scott discusses how designers can secure promotions by focusing on business impact over traditional craft skills, especially in a rapidly changing job market. He shares strategies for communicating value to business leaders, utilizing data for insights, and identifying new strategic opportunities. The episode also delves into effective collaboration with product managers and engineers, and a unique framework for project prioritization based on value, cost, and risk.
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...
A panel of design leaders, including Henry Modisette (Perplexity), Pranati Perry (Vercel), and Nick Pattison (Branding expert), discusses the profound impact of AI on design. They demonstrate how custom AI tools accelerate branding, enable rapid prototyping in product design with platforms like V0, and expand the scope of design deliverables beyond static mockups to interactive, code-based solutions. The conversation also covers the blurring lines between design and engineering roles, the importance of continuous learning, and key qualities for designers in this new AI-driven landscape.
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 - Ho...
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 h...
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 highlig...
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 f...
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...
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 influence Strategies for getting distribution for your ideas How t...
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 d...
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 model How to sell a client on fractional design Gabe’s rules of thumb for pricing himself How Gabe’s new appren...
Too much of designing a startup happens behind closed doors So 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...
Dan Winer, Director of Product Design at KIT, shares strategies for designers to advance their careers in the age of AI. He discusses the crucial role of visual design skills in hiring, how to effectively prove business impact even without direct data, and the importance of expanding one's role beyond pixel pushing to become a strategic partner. The episode also explores the evolving significance of design systems in an AI-driven workflow and practical steps for designers to take on more discovery and leadership responsibilities.
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 polish Thinking through design patterns and packaging features Bridging the gap between technical features and intuitive UX Saying “no” to features to preserve the simplicity of the system He also shares some great stories and advice including: What it was like working as an inte...
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 AI How to design a less painful refinement journey The best AI...
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, th...
This week’s episode is with Pietro Schirano who is the founder of the new design tool MagicPath and one of the true forward thinkers on AI. We go deep into the future of prototyping, design workflows, and what it takes to catalyze your career with AI. Some highlights: How design workflows will evolve Using AI as a collaborator not just a tool How Pietro was able to build influence at Anthropic Why interactive prototypes are becoming table stakes What designers need to understand to master the mo...
This week I got an inside look at Figma Make while talking to Holly and Nikolas all about the future of prototyping… We get into real world use cases for different kinds of prototypes and how our workflow is evolving as designers. One thing is abundantly clear, things aren’t so linear anymore. Some highlights: How Figma Make fits into your workflow Rethinking what “high fidelity” means for a prototype How code is the glue and what it means for collaboration What are the less obvious use cases fo...
Last month we did the ultimate Raycast Deep Dive , but there's a lot in there… so this week I want to highlight just the segment from the product design team. We go deep into how they collaborate, why they’ve started shipping more code, and what it takes to build a culture obsessed with craft. Don’t forget to use code DIVE20YT to get 20% off your first purchase of any Lovable plan ❤️ Valid until August 21, 2025. Go to dive.club/lovable to start creating Full Raycast episode - The Raycast Deep Di...
This week, Gunnar Gray (Product Design Lead at Perplexity) dives into the art of designing AI-native experiences. He shares lessons from shaping Voice Mode and how prototyping with AI is changing the design process at Perplexity. Some highlights: Why Perplexity is racing to get ideas into code What it’s like designing at a hyper growth startup What it’s like designing dynamic voice experiences Gunnar’s journey learning metal shaders with Cursor How Gunnar strategically invests in his design skil...
Cursor is easily one of the most impactful companies in all of tech… And this week's episode is with their Head of Design, Ryo Lu. You might've heard of Ryo in this episode back when we talked about early Notion and systems design. So this week we're going to get an inside look at how design operates at Cursor and all of Ryo's experiments with AI 👀 Some highlights: What Ryo believes about the future of HCI How Ryo handles a barrage of user feedback How Ryo approaches systems thinking at Cursor ...
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: Julian’s sources of inspiration Understanding Julian’s creative process The n...
You probably know Intercom… but did you know they recently incubated a new startup called Fin that has already surpassed the core business? They’ve pulled off a massive transition to an AI-native product and design org so today we’re 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...
In last week’s 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). I’m literally doing this with a side project right now and I’ve learned a lot so I decided to share my new playbook for vibe coding 👇 Teo Connor (VP of Design at Airbnb): https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/air-bnb Alex Schleifer (former Chie...
