Ewa Ding

𝗗𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗡 𝗛𝗔𝗦 𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗨𝗘. 𝗜𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗡𝗬 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. Watch t𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗯 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿. Karri Saarinen, Co-founder & CEO of Linear, discusses the importance of quality and craft in a presentation at Figma's Config 2025. "𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲. 𝗖𝗿𝗮𝗳𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁, 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝘀𝘂𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁" —𝗞𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶 Here's a summary of the key points: 🟢 Saarinen opens by pondering why, despite technological advancements, true quality in products and services remains elusive 🟢 He defines craft as an intrinsic human element that imbues work with meaning, a process of transforming an idea into something tangible with a personal touch 🟢 The advent of mass production, while increasing output, led to a disconnection from the final product, shifting the focus towards the process itself 🟢 This trend is mirrored in the software industry, which has evolved from small, craft-focused teams to a more manufacturing-oriented approach 🟢 Quality, though difficult to define precisely, is described as an objective, tangible feeling that something is "right" or "alive" 🟢 The pursuit of quality, therefore, is about striving for this inherent feeling of "rightness" in the design and creation process 🟢 In a crowded marketplace, quality can be a significant differentiator, organically attracting customers and fostering loyalty 🟢 High quality positively impacts various business aspects, including marketing, sales, product adoption, customer retention, and overall brand reputation 🟢 Saarinen shares that his company, Linear, has prioritized quality, which has led to profitability and strong customer loyalty 🟢 Achieving quality is guided by principles such as making it a central goal for every team, hiring individuals who value craft, and addressing issues like bugs promptly 🟢 Ultimately, Saarinen emphasizes that embedding quality into work is a conscious choice, urging individuals to prioritize craft and care in their endeavors https://lnkd.in/gPzXR_q7

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Great article from Hardik Pandya about leading design in the AI era: https://lnkd.in/gN9smkKa. Essentially, design leaders need to stay close to the material (actually use and test AI themselves) to develop intuition for how it behaves and redefine what “quality” means (including empathy, consistency, and human-like tone). A tangible way I've been trying to do this is to actually just build an AI side project with AI. Specifically, I've been using tools like Cursor and Claude Code to build my own conversational assistant. This process has allowed me to see how different models perform for building, conversing, summarizing data, etc, etc.

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This is what investing in AI in design looks like. As with many other job families, the design industry focuses on what might the impact of AI be: will it lower the quality with slop? Will it replace humans? Etc But I don't see much focus on to understand and really capitalise on the potential AI brings to design. We are largely treating it as any other tool: a way to get incrementally better. At best it's a short course for the designers, at worst it's expecting designers to already know how to use it. But AI has the potential for making radical shifts and leaps. I'd love to hear, and learn, from anyone who is making significant strides to drive AI transformation in design.

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“Be human first. The rest will follow.” That’s the leadership headline from Manvi Singh's essay for MassArt Design Innovation. Her post - “What Makes a Great Leader? It’s Simpler Than You Think” - is a clear call for the good kind of design leadership: one that prioritizes empathy, honesty, and real connection over empty performance. With practical ideas like “build rituals, not just deadlines” and “let others lead,” she offers more than inspiration, she offers a blueprint for design leaders in training. https://lnkd.in/eU2f29sc #DesignLeadership #MassArtMDES #EmpathyInAction #HumanFirst #FutureOfWork

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Strong DesignOps isn't just about process; it's how design organizations run like a business At the heart of a successful design organization, we find a strong DesignOps practice. Design Executives elevate the DesignOps Leader to play a critical role in managing the design organization with the same discipline and rigor as a General Manager leads a business unit. DesignOps enables this level of business rigor by: 🔸 Becoming financial stewards with a deep understanding of our team's budget, funding, and the costs 🔸 Aligning the design portfolio with organizational goals and priorities 🔸 Connecting the dots about how the design work contributes directly to business outcomes 🔸 Advocating with balance for design and, when necessary, for the product team. 🔸 Communicate with transparency within the design team and with other business leaders 🔸 Striving for Operational Excellence with solid, repeatable, efficient processes that allow the design team to scale without compromising quality. In two days, on Thursday, I will be announcing a new DesignOps Masterclass for operators, designers, and design leaders. I will expand on these frameworks and more. The Masterclass will focus on how to build the capabilities, systems, and influence that design needs to scale. Follow me for the announcement, a discount code, and early access to the program details. #DesignOps #Masterclass #Design #Leadership #DesignatScale #Business #Impact

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"The one way you can differentiate is with great UX and great design which still requires humans." In his latest Prof G Pod, The Great Slopification of OpenAI, https://lnkd.in/gUjz4bkV, Scott Galloway gets it right. Differentiating your product or service through great UX and Design is not a new concept, it's a business strategy and it's not likely you'll get it through AI alone. Real humans are always needed when social intelligence, complex critical thinking and creative problem solving are needed (which is all the time!).

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Design is evolving fast. We’re no longer just shipping artifacts, rather, we’re shaping intelligent systems that learn, adapt, and co-create with us. This next era asks more of us:
more judgment, orchestration, contextual intelligence, and the ability to guide systems that won’t stay static. Our work now is to design conditions for emergence and to keep humanity in the loop. Here’s my take on what’s ahead: https://lnkd.in/gjbey3nZ #designexcellence #designleadership #humancentereddesign #designingwithAI #enterprisedesign

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Love this post from Aparna Chennapragada on Design and Interaction primitives per product/modal horizon and how enterprise design and digital need to adapt. As more channels open up for enterprises, I continue to encourage our product (all disciplines) teams to think beyond interaction experience parity or competing for the exact same set of behaviours and engagement outcomes. Luckily, I think certain principles remain true: 1️⃣Start with user intent and target behaviours as it aligns to business goals and end user value. 2️⃣Understand channel or “era” context. 3️⃣Test rapidly for fit and behaviour change. 4️⃣Share emerging interaction patterns early to better inform other teams. One parity interaction experience for all channels cannot be the only way to achieve success. The accelerating global pace does not allow for it. #digitalstrategy #productmanagement #UX #design

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