After writing a viral article called “The Missing Tool” I was fortunate to meet Gab and Nim who are the co-founders of a startup called Dessn.

Dessn is a new way to ship design changes without having to write code. Their extension overlays a Figma-like interface on your live web app so designers can easily make changes. Their AI then writes the code and pushes it to your Github. That means designers can now contribute directly to production.

Over the last few months we’ve had regular jam sessions about the future of design tooling, how AI impacts software creation, and everything in between…

These jam sessions have been some of the most inspiring conversations I’ve had this year. So this week’s episode is a way to loop you in on some of those conversations. We go deep into:

The future of design systems with AI
Crafting a product strategy in today’s landscape
Navigating the idea maze as an early stage founder
What it means to have an “AI native” product strategy
How the flattening of the talent stack impacts designers
Why Nim was so inspired by the head of design at Unsplash
What “taste” looks like when operating as a creative director
a lot more

Check out the Dessn website
Nim mentioned V0.dev as a way to create software (also might like Meng To’s recent episode)
The short story Library of Babel
Studio Ghibli animation studios
Graza olive oil as an example of what a strong brand looks like in a commoditized product line

Dessn - The missing tool for product designers

Episode description