We’ve spoken to a lot of design leaders over the course of the Design Better Podcast, but this episode is the first chance we’ve had to speak with someone who has made the move from being an engineering leader to a design leader. Naveen Gavini, Head of Design and User Experience at Pinterest, spent time as an engineering manager and then as head of product engineering before taking on his current role, and he brings a unique perspective on leading design teams with him from his journey.
Naveen shares how they “knit” different disciplines together at Pinterest, and we explore what he’s learned from scaling a team in hypergrowth. We also ask about the strategic advantage that co-founder Evan Sharp’s design background has brought to the company from day one.
Takeaways:
How product magic can happen when the boundaries blur between designers and engineers. Why scaling a team in hypergrowth is a lot like making soup. How design ops serves as the connective tissue at Pinterest.Bonus: AI and the Creative Process
Ben Clymer: Hodinkee founder on watch design and creating a compelling content brand
Natsai Audrey Chieza: Designing with biology
Pablo Stanley: A creative force of nature on the importance persistence and hustle
Tasha Golden: Avoiding burnout while pursuing creativity with passion
Jonathan Adler: Famed potter and designer on bringing creativity into all aspects of life
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Brian Tyler, composer for Yellowstone, Crazy Rich Asians, Mario Brothers, and more, on his creative process
Bonus: Eric Snowden, Head of Adobe Design, on AI + Design
Kate Aronowitz: Shaping the story of design in business
Ellen Lupton: Thinking With Type
Jonathan Hoefler: Typography legend on type history, philosophy, and entrepreneurship
Bonus: Hamish Smyth of Standards
Bonus: Hiroki Asai, Global Head of Marketing at Airbnb
Vanessa Gennarelli: Surviving Change at Work
Scott Rice: Creative lessons learned teaching film with Matthew McConaughey
Autumn Durald Arkapaw: Cinematographer for Wakanda Forever and Loki on the overlap between design and photography
Rewind: Midcentury modern design principles and Heath Ceramics
Barry Katz: The history and philosophy of design in Silicon Valley and beyond
Bonus Episode: Dorrian Porter, CEO of Vestaboard
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