Danrui Sun

🤝Designing Together: The Power of Trust in Cross-Functional Teams Let’s talk about something often overlooked in the hustle of deadlines, roadmaps, and launches: the human connections that hold our squads together. As product designers, we live at the intersection of user needs, business goals, and technical feasibility. In this space, our product managers and engineers aren’t just “other functions.” They are our partners—the people we rely on to bring ideas to life. Yet, the real challenge is less about tools, processes, or even skillsets, and more about building relationships rooted in honesty, transparency, and trust. Here’s the truth: without these values, even the most brilliant designs can falter. Why? Because product development isn’t a solo act. It’s a collaborative symphony, where alignment, constructive friction, and mutual respect drive success. Honesty: The Foundation Honesty starts with dropping the ego. Be real about what you know, what you don’t, and where you need help. For example, if a design direction feels risky, say so. Likewise, invite your PM and engineers to challenge your assumptions. The best ideas emerge when all perspectives are heard, not when we hold back to avoid discomfort. Transparency: The Glue Transparency isn’t just about sharing updates—it’s about inviting others into the process. Share your messy explorations, involve engineers in user research, and talk openly about constraints. A transparent team is a team that avoids surprises. And when everyone understands the “why” behind decisions, alignment comes naturally. Trust: The Multiplier Trust doesn’t happen overnight—it’s earned through actions. It’s being consistent in your delivery, showing empathy when conflicts arise, and treating criticism as an opportunity rather than an attack. When trust is solid, something powerful happens: debates shift from “proving a point” to “solving a problem.” The Role of Feedback Feedback is where these values are put to the test. Constructive criticism isn’t just about improving a design—it’s about building a better partnership. When a PM critiques your work, they’re helping align it with the strategy. When an engineer pushes back on feasibility, they’re ensuring it’s buildable. Embrace these moments. They’re not threats; they’re gifts. The Big Picture In a squad, the lines between roles blur. Success isn’t about who “owns” the best idea—it’s about delivering the best solution together. When honesty, transparency, and trust become your defaults, your team stops being just a collection of functions. You become a unit, operating with shared purpose and collective accountability. So, product designers: How are you fostering these values in your squads? What’s one thing you’ll do differently this week to strengthen your partnerships? Let’s commit to designing not just great products, but great relationships. That’s where the real magic happens. #Collaboration #ProductDesign #TrustMatters #Teamwork #productdesign

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Our company is acquired. Now what? “Business as usual” applies no more to us UX professionals if we must navigate organizational changes. Here are a few questions to consider to handle uncertainty. #UX #productDesign

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Hiring for design system roles differs from hiring for other design or engineering roles. Clarifying what makes the roles unique is essential for screening candidates. Here are some nuances that I've found to be helpful. When asking for a presentation, stop using the word "portfolio" and start using "case studies." They tell similar stories but change the expectations from traditional visual portfolios. Include clear bullet points about expected responsibilities; don't just copy and paste requirements from other similar, existing roles. Just because they have the word "designer" or "engineer" in the title doesn't mean the job is the same. If your org still insists on doing a design exercise, tailor it to reflect what you expect from a design system practitioner. The day-to-day is unique, so don't waste time on an exercise that provides no value for you and sets the candidate up for failure. If hiring a design system team manager, you're not hiring an independent contributor and vice versa. Managing and building design systems is a lot of work. One person can't do both roles well simultaneously, so pick one and focus the interview questions on the expected role. What did I miss?

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Join Fangru Wu and me on Sep 18th to talk all about Burnout! Fangru is a Senior UX Designer at Amazon and will be sharing her personal journey with burnout, drawing from personal experiences in both corporate settings and startups. She will cover the real challenges faced, what helped, what didn’t work - all from her perspective as a designer. Fangru will take you through the specific moments when burnout was overwhelming and how she navigated through those tough times. Hear about burnout from someone who has experienced it firsthand, and explore what made a difference in overcoming it. $5 tix below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gxgG3i9m

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🚀 Exploring AI & User-Centered Design: Where UCD Falls Short 🤖🔍 AI is transforming our world, but is User-Centered Design (UCD) keeping up? In my latest blog, I dive into my experience and challenges of integrating UCD with AI, covering key points like: 🔹 The Dilemma of Unknown Unknowns: How AI introduces new, unpredictable issues. 🔹 Data Gaps: The impact of missing data on inclusivity and fairness. 🔹 Big Data Complexity: Why designers need new skills in data analysis. 🔹 End-User Complexity: Making AI understandable for users. 🔹 AI Behavior: The need for ongoing maintenance and refinement. Drop your thoughts and experiences in the comments—I’d love to hear your perspective! 👇📢 https://lnkd.in/g9yAHQ5p #AI #Design #UserCenteredDesign

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I’ve had the privilege of working with designers and engineers so deeply committed to creating exceptional user experiences that they go beyond their defined roles, stretching the boundaries of design and engineering alike. Designers start coding to bring interactions to life exactly as they envision—something hard to achieve with design tools alone. Engineers move beyond just “making it work” to crafting every detail, caring about the nuances that make an experience delightful. In previous roles, to support and amplify these talents, I’ve set up "design prototyping" or "design technology" teams that bridge engineering, product, and design. These teams help close gaps, allowing designers and engineers to collaborate seamlessly and push their boundaries. At Slack, we’ve established the Design Engineering function—a role critical to our mission of elevating craft, accelerating prototyping, and strengthening design-engineering collaboration. This function came to life through an ongoing journey of learning and adapting how best to align design and engineering to unlock product innovation, led by Chris Delbuck. Big thanks to Ethan Eismann for the support. Transformations like this happen only with passionate leaders and doers like Chris, Gleb Denisov, and Naman Kedia, work together to unlock their skills and people superpowers. Their dedication and example drive change. Chris and Naman have documented this journey in a blog post, where they also lay out the career paths and foundational blueprint for Design Engineers. Their insights can serve as a guide for others setting up design engineering teams for success. 🔗 Check it out here:

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Mihika Kapoor builds successful 0-to-1 products without writing any PRDs. Here's Mihika (product lead at Figma) on why she doesn't like PRDs and what she does instead. If you enjoyed this clip, you'll love my full interview with Mihika about how to: - Build internal excitement for your 0 to 1 idea - Get leadership buy-in for your vision - Overcome the odds to launch a great product 📌 Watch now: https://t.co/SwGSgbpIY4

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I'm hearing a lot of pain and confusion from a lot of designers and technologists and other folks trying to navigate jobs in these times. You as an individual worker (or as a customer or user of the products of design and technology) will never be valued for your own sake by an organization striving to maximize shareholder value. Collective action is the only way to counter this mandate and increase the cost of unethical, inhumane, or otherwise unreasonable practices. Sometimes this means working together more or less formally to influence policy and regulation, sometimes this means unionization. Asking nicely isn't going to do it. Nor is throwing your peers under the bus. If you need a pep talk (only $9):

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AI is the buzzword of the day, but it's simply the next step in our technology evolution. Evolving generative AI interactions are repeating human-computer interaction history. Remember those green screens and books filled with computer prompts, or learning how to use a search engine? Perhaps you do, maybe you don't, but either way AI has modified the way we do this by using natural language! #AI #technologyevolution #naturalanguageprocessing

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As a design leader, I'm always looking for 'leadership' portfolio inspiration. There's plenty of awesome inspiration for mid-career IC designers, but it's much harder to find out how design leaders are telling their story in a portfolio format. Needless to say I was excited when I came across Loe Lee's portfolio the other day she's a director of product design (growth) at Zillow. Her portfolio is an elegant guide to her leadership style. She includes product work (behind a password), but also a list of values in addition to longer articles she's written about leading design teams. It's a tough ask to make someone read a longer piece at the stage where they're looking at a portfolio. On the other hand, even after interviews, longer writings can give the hiring manger a window into how a candidate for an important leadership role frames and approaches their work. And, how else can you tell the story of what leadership looks like? Not rhetorical, if you have suggestions I'd love to hear them. Anyways, I thought I'd share. #designleader #portfolio #uxleader #directorofdesign https://lnkd.in/gKTkypUn

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Not just design — any effective IC. The hardest thing to learn is knowing when you're (1) wasting someone's time vs. (2) working in a silo and missing perspective. This sense of intuition can only be earned through time on teams and at your desk doing the work.

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Somtimes the content that can up your UX game comes from unlikly sources. This article puts into context some of the best places to start!

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Tom's recent post really resonated with me, and I wanted to share my thoughts. 📣 In 2024, design shouldn't be a nice to have. Design is a crucial element in creating successful products and businesses. 📣 As a designer, my goal is simple: to add value. I focus on solving user problems while aligning with business objectives. It's about creating experiences that work for everyone - users and companies alike. 🔥 If you see design as a strategic asset, I'd love to connect. Let's explore how we can turn good design into great results. 🔥

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Hot Take: There is a pervading concept in UX that designers have intentionally avoided responsibility to the business and/or the product team for our design work. I think that's a myth, out and out. I've never seen designers actively try to put their product outcomes on others except in the following 2 cases: 1) Design is so junior as to not be capable of driving conversations about product strategy (skills and experience lacking) or 2) There was an epic battle over strategy and the designer was threatened/bullied/harassed by leadership into being quiet. I've been in both positions many times. Once I learned strategic product skills, I stopped being a victim to the former. After that, I was exclusively a victim of the latter, in nearly every design gig I held. If you don't want change or strong opinions, don't get design involved. If you want to blame design, don't do it around me unless you want an earful.

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So late to the post, but ICYMI, we launched some stuff at #Config2024 last week. We've been cooking up a lot on our pillar — going from building Figma's second product (FigJam), to dreaming up its third, Figma Slides. Here's what we announced: Figma Slides: I'm especially proud of the designers on the team: Keeyen Y. Khalil Cader Jakub S Ryan Reid Natasha T. Kylie To. For always asking "what if?" even though slides are a file format as old as time, for dreaming up new ways to interact with AI, for sweating the details on a tool that balances the needs of designers and everyone else alike. Try it out → https://lnkd.in/e_R6Pi_v FigJam Pages: We brought a fan fave Figma feature to FigJam! Big ups to rocky chen ✌️for striving pixel-perfection on this one → figjam.new

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Absolutely true! This is what's often missing in today's UX design. Too many companies and designers focus on executing in Figma or another design tool, mistaking it for the final deliverable. But real success lies in solving core problems and creating solutions that last. When companies think AI can replace the need for experienced designers—or when product designers prioritize aesthetics over functionality—they miss the mark. It's not just about looking good; it's about ensuring usability, logical flow, and strategic systems thinking. Focusing on "pretty pictures" alone won’t save a company millions; thoughtful, effective design will.

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https://lnkd.in/euvDKQHH Great article on fhe importance of building a strong UX design culture today and exponential long term benefits of in-house teams vs hiring external short term resources and consultants. In the ever-shifting digital landscape, I am thriving with a lean in-house cross-functional product design team of committed people who are willing to always pivot, adapt and learn as we pioneer new optimum user experiences. The complexity and rapid evolution of innovation today calls for agile, innovative thinkers to iterate and adapt in real time and that’s exactly what the last 6 months has been for my team. Time and time again, wins rack up when I invest in internal solutions and talent - upskilling my small by mighty team along the way. I find myself leading a culture that embodies the spirit of collaboration and creativity. At Kyra Group, we are pushing boundaries and ourselves in the process. #CultureBuilding #Innovation #UX #TeamCulture #AI #Leadership #Teamwork

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