Where designers never stop learning 💪Dive Club is an interview series hosted by Ridd that is designed to unlock knowledge from today's most prolific designers....
Catt Small - How to influence and lead as a staff designer
How do the best staff designers influence and lead as individual contributors?I interviewed Catt Small to answer that question and it turned into one of the most practical episodes yet. She pulls from her 14+ years of experience designing products like Etsy, Asana, and Soundcloud to share techniques you can use to level up your influence and scale your impact as an IC.Some highlights:Ways to get out of the execution trapThe key to having “executive presence”Catt’s advice for better time managementHow designers can encourage people to think biggerHow Catt has evolved the way she does async videosUnderstanding the different archetypes of staff designersBehind-the-scenes of the massive “Goals” project at Asanaa lot moreCheck out Catt’s course Staff Designer: Influence & Lead as an Individual Contributor (Dive Club listeners get $100 off)Catt mentions the books Radical Candor & 15 Commitments of Conscious LeadershipMicah Bennett was the designer she learned so much from
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How to get hired by the best teams
What are the best teams looking for in design candidates?That’s become one of my favorite questions to ask so this episode shines a light on some of those traits and what you can do to stand out.It includes insights from:Diego Zaks (VP of Design at Ramp)Soleio (2nd designer at Facebook)Pranathi Peri (designing v0 at Vercel)Maheen Sohail (Gen AI at Meta)Mariana Castilho (Designer at Poolside)
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11:50
Tyler Angert - The rise of spontaneous software
This week’s episode is with Tyler Angert who was the first design hire at Replit. So we get a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s like designing for a hyper growth startup. However in early 2024, Tyler left to pursue a startup of his own, so a good chunk of this discussion focuses on his vision for Patina and the future of “spontaneous software”.Some highlights:Why the camera roll is pivotal for AITyler’s advice to his 23 year old selfTactics for learning to code with ClaudeWhat it takes to design complex systemsThe skills that will be most valuable in 2025The biggest design challenges for AI productsStrategies for learning more technical skillsetsHow to succeed as a young designer at a startupTyler’s Freezeframe app with Jason YuanGenesis physics announcementGranola meeting recordingsDaylight computer
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48:51
You’re an AI product designer now 💡
I’m designing a new product and a few months ago I would’ve confidently said it’s not an AI product. But I was wrong.This new technology creates endless opportunities… we just have to be able to see what AI makes possible. And that’s what this episode is all about.Maggie Appleton (former design lead at Elicit)Joel Lewenstein (head of product design at Anthropic)George Kedenburg III (designer at Humane)Michael Wandelmaier (designer at Dropbox)
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Mike and Chara Smith - Designing for the love of the game
I’ve followed Mike Smith ever since he designed the Perplexity brand identity and quickly realized he’s one of the most creative designers I’ve ever seen. Turns out his wife Chara is a positioning mastermind too so it makes sense why Smith & Diction is one of the hottest agencies in the game today.So this week’s episode is a deep dive into brand strategy and what it takes to stand out in 2025 and beyond. We get into:What it takes to stand out in an AI worldTheir hacks for cracking a brand strategyWhy the best brands have lots of “moves”Mike’s #1 piece of advice for younger designersWhat people really mean when they say “timeless”Their experience using Visual Electric in brand designPositioning Smith & Diction in today’s agency landscapea lot moreWe talk about how they used Visual Electric for their latest project (Alma Food). ⭐ Don’t forget you can use the code DIVECLUB to get your first month free.You can also check out the episode with Colin Dunn (CEO of Visual Electric)Mike says to make sure you watch the episode with Phi from PerplexityWe talk about Topo, Cotopaxi and Steady bags
Where designers never stop learning 💪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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