DX Perspective: The Next Great Distribution Shift, A Historic Moment for Design Founders, and The Infinite Workday
Exploring the historic moment for designer founders, Brian Balfour's take on the next great distribution shift, and Microsoft's blueprint for breaking the infinite workday cycle.
Hi all!
Here’s your weekly dose of DX Perspective, a list of what I’m exploring and thinking about. Feel free to forward this along to friends.
kw picks
The Next Great Distribution Shift by Brian Balfour
Here's something that should keep every product leader up at night: We're living through one of the most significant technology shifts in history, yet we're still distributing products like it's 2015.
Designer founders on pain-hunting, seeking competitive markets, and why now is the time to build
AI has fundamentally shifted the playing field for designers who want to build products. With the tools available today, you can ship faster and with smaller teams than ever before, no longer constrained by eng bottlenecks or lengthy approval processes. The question isn’t just whether this changes everything for designers who want to start companies, it’s whether you'll move fast enough to take advantage of this historic moment.
What I'm watching + listening to
How OpenAI's Head of Business Products Uses ChatGPT to Save Time at Work
Nate leads ChatGPT for Work which is now used by 92% of Fortune 500 companies. In our chat, he reveals how OpenAI runs with less than 30 PMs, what they look for in new hires, how he personally uses ChatGPT to save time at work, and more.
Craig Federighi And Alan Dye – Design Matters podcast
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering, and Alan Dye, Apple’s vice president of Human Interface Design, are two of the most influential creative and technological leaders shaping how we experience the digital world. Together, they represent the rare combination of engineering and design at its highest level, shaping how Apple products feel and behave. They join live at the Apple Headquarters to discuss the much anticipated launch of iOS 26.
Julie Zhuo – Mom, Designer, Author, Sundial, Facebook, The Making of a Manager | Linus Podcast #002
The episode kicks off with Julie recounting her early career at Facebook, where she joined as a computer scientist when the company was just 100 people. Over 14 years, she helped scale the design and user experience teams while working on core features like News Feed and the Like button. Julie shares the leap she took five years ago to start her own company, Sundial, which aims to make data insights more accessible to decision-makers—likening it to a “cursor for analytics.”
What I'm reading
When Growth Plateaus: How Does Brand Marketing Fit In?
This post is the fourth post in an unintentional series on the levers founders reach for when trying to scale their company’s growth.
Future of Software Design by Armond Schneider
AI is changing the way we build software. Basic dashboards, recipe apps, to-do lists; these used to be go to projects for designers to show off their skills. Now, AI can crank out a decent version of these in minutes. That’s not a threat. It’s a shift. The real value of a designer is moving from just getting things to work to making them truly stand out.
No more Mr. Nice Guy: The incomparable Michael Bierut steps down
The man who defined 21st-century logo design is retiring (or something like it) to make room for a new generation of designers.
Emerging Tech
How to get your entire team prototyping with AI
In this post, I’ll walk you through three ways to create component libraries that consistently create great mocks; team workflows to reduce rework; and a step-by-step guide on how prototypes should be used. I’ll also give you plenty of time-, token-, and headache-saving tricks for most popular AI prototyping tools. I’ll be including v0, Bolt, Cursor, and Magic Patterns in this post, but these techniques work with any AI prototyping tool.
With today's wide adoption of LLM products like ChatGPT from OpenAI, humans and businesses engage and use LLMs on a daily basis. Like any other tool, it carries its own set of advantages and limitations. This study focuses on finding out the cognitive cost of using an LLM in the educational context of writing an essay.
Tools and Resources
Breaking down the infinite workday
AI offers a way out of the mire, especially if paired with a reimagined rhythm of work. Otherwise, we risk using AI to accelerate a broken system. To get a handle on this barrier to transformation, let’s start our infinite workday.
My recent articles
Are You Actually Making Progress? How I Rewired My Weekly Reflection to Drive Real Impact
Strategic Design Leadership: Essential Questions for Design Executives
Fueling Innovation: How Design Leaders Drive Product Transformation
Moving Beyond Execution — The Evolution to Strategic Design Leadership
Decoding The Future: The Evolution Of Intelligent Interfaces
🔈 Design Leadership at Scale — Shape The Future of Business
DLS courses are built for design leaders ready to sharpen their strategy, expand their influence, and lead at the highest level. Whether you‘re mapping your next career move, strengthening design operations, or stepping into executive leadership, these programs give you the frameworks and insights to drive real impact.
DLS: Career Strategy (Sept 13–14)
Your career journey deserves intention and strategy. This weekend immersive is designed for design leaders who are ready to map out their path, elevate their impact, and align their leadership trajectory with long-term goals. Whether refining your current role or preparing for new opportunities, you’ll gain actionable frameworks to craft a career that stands out in a competitive market.
DLS: Executive (June 23–July 3)
This advanced course is tailored for senior design leaders—Senior Directors, VPs, SVPs, and CDOs — who are ready to lead at the intersection of design, business strategy, and emerging technology. Dive deep into aligning design with business objectives, fostering product culture transformation, and building scalable operations that support innovation and growth.
DLS: Operations (Sept 16–25)
Scaling a design organization without compromising quality or culture is a challenge every design leader faces. This course equips senior and emerging design operations leaders with the tools to build robust infrastructure, optimize processes, and drive operational excellence. From talent development to systems that support rapid growth, this program is crafted for leaders ready to take their teams to the next level.
DLS: Director+
Built for experienced design leaders ready to step up to executive roles, Director+ focuses on leading in complex, matrixed organizations, scaling your influence, and making high-impact decisions. This course will empower you to lead with clarity and confidence, bridging design with broader business goals to drive value across the organization.
And please give me feedback. Which bullet above is your favorite? What do you want more or less of? Other suggestions? Please let me know.
Have a great weekend.
— Rachel