Dive Club 🤿

Andy Madrick - Why AI changed design handoff forever

⭐️ Check out Andy’s course - Craft at Speed https://join.dive.club/maven-aff-andy-madrick [https://join.dive.club/maven-aff-andy-madrick] Use code DIVECLUB for 15% off Andy Madrick ( https://x.com/andymadrick [https://x.com/andymadrick] ) is rethinking what it means to be a designer in 2026. While at Notion, he’s developed a workflow where he prototypes directly in code, ships frontend PRs, and uses AI tools like Cursor to own the final polish of user interfaces. In this episode we get a look into how he keeps all these things in motion and still designs with insane attention to detail. Some highlights: * Building one of Notion’s most visible UIs * Why recreating interactions teaches you craft * Owning the last 5-20% of frontend polish work * The “jelly bean factory” problem with AI output * When to start in Figma vs. jumping straight to code * How Andy creates prototypes that content teams can edit * a lot more

Tommy Geoco - The state of the design industry right now

Over the last few months, Tommy Geoco [https://x.com/designertom] has went on site to study today’s top design teams (Vercel, Perplexity, Metalab, Ramp, etc.). So this week’s episode is a deep dive into all of the trends he’s seeing around AI workflows and where design is headed next. Some highlights: * Why 59% of designers build their own tools * Tommy’s current tool stack for AI design work * What signals show AI fluency in job interviews * Why internal tool building is the new career path * Why now is the best time to grow in the design community * How design workflows have become creative director roles * a lot more Ben Blumenrose (mentioned as having good insights on design)

Katarina Batina - Making big bets with design

How do the best designers shape strategy at companies like Shopify? That’s what today’s episode with Design Director Katarina Batina [https://x.com/katarinabatina] is all about. Some highlights: * Balancing metrics and vision * Redesigning the shopping cart UX * Taking a big bet on the shopping feed * How product strategy has changed with AI * How to get people excited about your ideas * How to make sure you don't overcook your app * a lot more * Katarina mentioned John Rundle [https://x.com/jonrundle] and Luke Dupont [https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukedupont/]

Rafa Conde - Make your designs memorable

Rafa Conde (https://x.com/rafahari [https://x.com/rafahari]) is a design engineer at Retro and one of the most creative designers I know. I still remember where I was when I first saw the video on his personal site (https://rafa.design/ [https://rafa.design/]) 😂 In this episode we unpack what it means to design experiences that bring delight :) Some highlights: - Finding ways to introduce delight - How to make users feel something - The power of humor in your design - How to lean into video as a superpower - Balancing accessibility and delightful UX - Behind the scenes of Rafa's side projects - + a lot more - Metal Gear Solid (PlayStation 1) — directed by Hideo Kojima, referenced for its fourth-wall-breaking design moments (Meryl’s codec frequency hidden on the game box; Psycho Mantis boss fight requiring the controller to be switched from port 1 to port 2) - Sunlit app — gyroscope-based app for tracking sun position and light direction, referenced as a recent example of surprising UI: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.lonepalm.coloringworld&pli=1 [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.lonepalm.coloringworld&pli=1] - Retro app — private social network for friends and family (what Instagram used to be); Rafa’s current employer: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retro-photos-with-friends/id6443709020 [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/retro-photos-with-friends/id6443709020] - Splat app — Retro’s generative AI app for iPad/iPhone that turns photos of kids into coloring book pages: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/splat-magic-coloring-book/id6749165093 [https://apps.apple.com/us/app/splat-magic-coloring-book/id6749165093] - Hand Mirror app — Rafa’s most popular side project, a menu bar camera app: [https://handmirror.app](https://handmirror.app/) [https://handmirror.app](https://handmirror.app/)] - Gabe Valdivia’s episode — early Dive Club episode (~ep. 30) where Gabe talked about designers needing to be like “little TikTok creators” inside their orgs: https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/gabe-valdivia [https://www.dive.club/deep-dives/gabe-valdivia] - Final Cut Pro — Rafa’s video editing tool of choice: https://creatorstudio.apple.com/info/try?itscg=20201&itsct=acs-sem-187498456050-794866723417&pt=2003&ct=css-187498456050-794866723417 [https://creatorstudio.apple.com/info/try?itscg=20201&itsct=acs-sem-187498456050-794866723417&pt=2003&ct=css-187498456050-794866723417]

Polly D’Arcy - Going from IC to VP of Design at Wealthsimple

Imagine going from IC to leading the Wealthsimple design team in a few short years… That was Polly D’arcy’s (https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollydarcy/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pollydarcy/]) journey and today’s episode covers everything she’s learned along the way. We go deep into design leadership, craft, hiring, and a lot more. Some highlights: - Why Polly hires specialists over generalists - Tactics to nail your next portfolio presentation - What it looks like to lean into the moment with AI - How Polly defines design quality at WealthSimple - Polly’s go-to interview question to evaluate designers - How AI is changing team composition and design roles