<p><strong>Jenny Wen</strong> leads design for Claude at Anthropic. Prior to this, she was Director of Design at Figma, where she led the teams behind FigJam and Slides. Before that, she was a designer at Dropbox, Square, and Shopify.</p><p>—</p><p><strong>We discuss:</strong></p><p>1. Why the classic discovery → mock → iterate design process is becoming obsolete</p><p>2. What a day in the life of a designer at Anthropic looks like, including her AI tool stack</p><p>3. Whether AI will eventually surpass humans in taste and judgment</p><p>4. Why Jenny left a director role at Figma to return to IC work at Anthropic</p><p>5. The three archetypes Jenny is hiring for now</p><p>6. Why chatbot interfaces may be more durable than most people expect</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Brought to you by:</strong></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://mercury.com/?utm_source=lennys&utm_medium=sponsored_newsletter&utm_campaign=26q1_brand_campaign"><strong>Mercury</strong></a>—Radically different banking: <a target="_blank" href="https://mercury.com/?utm_source=lennys&utm_medium=sponsored_newsletter&utm_campaign=26q1_brand_campaign">https://mercury.com/?utm_source=lennys&utm_medium=sponsored_newsletter&utm_campaign=26q1_brand_campaign</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.orkes.io/"><strong>Orkes</strong></a>—The enterprise platform for reliable applications and agentic workflows: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.orkes.io/">https://www.orkes.io/</a></p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://omni.co/lenny"><strong>Omni</strong></a>—AI analytics your customers can trust: <a target="_blank" href="https://omni.co/lenny">https://omni.co/lenny</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Episode transcript:</strong> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-design-process-is-dead">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/the-design-process-is-dead</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Archive of all Lenny's Podcast transcripts:</strong> <a target="_blank" href="https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0">https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxi4s2w998p1gvtpu4193/AMdNPR8AOw0lMklwtnC0TrQ?rlkey=j06x0nipoti519e0xgm23zsn9&st=ahz0fj11&dl=0</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Jenny Wen:</strong></p><p>• X: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/jenny_wen">https://x.com/jenny_wen</a></p><p>• LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennywen">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennywen</a></p><p>• Substack: <a target="_blank" href="https://jennywen.substack.com">https://jennywen.substack.com</a></p><p>• Website: <a target="_blank" href="https://jennywen.ca">https://jennywen.ca</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Where to find Lenny:</strong></p><p>• Newsletter: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com</a></p><p>• X: <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/lennysan">https://twitter.com/lennysan</a></p><p>• LinkedIn: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/">https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>In this episode, we cover:</strong></p><p>(00:00) Introduction to Jenny Wen</p><p>(04:23) Why the traditional design process is dead</p><p>(06:33) The two new types of design work</p><p>(10:00) How widespread this shift will be</p><p>(13:00) Day-to-day life as a designer at Anthropic</p><p>(18:45) Jenny’s AI stack</p><p>(20:03) Why Figma still matters for exploration</p><p>(22:25) Advice for working with engineers</p><p>(24:19) How to maintain craft, quality, and trust in the AI era</p><p>(27:35) Will AI ever have “taste”?</p><p>(31:38) The future of chatbot interfaces</p><p>(35:33) Moving from director back to IC</p><p>(41:00) The 10-day build of Claude Cowork</p><p>(46:06) Hiring: the three archetypes</p><p>(50:44) Advice for new and senior designers</p><p>(54:42) The value of “low leverage” tasks for managers</p><p>(57:52) Why the best teams roast each other</p><p>(01:01:45) The legibility framework</p><p>(01:07:22) Lightning round and final thoughts</p><p>—</p><p><strong>Referenced:</strong></p><p>• Figma: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.figma.com">https://www.figma.com</a></p><p>• Anthropic: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.anthropic.com">https://www.anthropic.com</a></p><p>• v0: <a target="_blank" href="https://v0.app">https://v0.app</a></p><p>• Navigating a Design Career with Jenny Wen | Figma at Waterloo: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHcBPMh2ivk">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHcBPMh2ivk</a></p><p>• Claude Cowork: <a target="_blank" href="https://claude.com/product/cowork">https://claude.com/product/cowork</a></p><p>• Use Claude Code in VS Code: <a target="_blank" href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/vs-code">https://code.claude.com/docs/en/vs-code</a></p><p>• Claude Code in Slack: <a target="_blank" href="https://code.claude.com/docs/en/slack">https://code.claude.com/docs/en/slack</a></p><p>• Lex Fridman’s website: <a target="_blank" href="https://lexfridman.com">https://lexfridman.com</a></p><p>• Head of Claude Code: What happens after coding is solved | Boris Cherny: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/head-of-claude-code-what-happens">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/head-of-claude-code-what-happens</a></p><p>• OpenClaw: <a target="_blank" href="https://openclaw.ai">https://openclaw.ai</a></p><p>• OpenAI’s CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, more | Kevin Weil (CPO at OpenAI, ex-Instagram, Twitter): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kevin-weil-open-ai">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/kevin-weil-open-ai</a></p><p>• Marc Andreessen: The real AI boom hasn’t even started yet: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/marc-andreessen-the-real-ai-boom</a></p><p>• Socratica: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.socratica.info">https://www.socratica.info</a></p><p>• Anthropic’s CPO on what comes next | Mike Krieger (co-founder of Instagram): <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropics-cpo-heres-what-comes-next">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/anthropics-cpo-heres-what-comes-next</a></p><p>• Radical Candor: From theory to practice with author Kim Scott: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/radical-candor-from-theory-to-practice</a></p><p>• Evan Tana’s ‘legibility matrix’ on X: <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/evantana/status/1927404374252269667">https://x.com/evantana/status/1927404374252269667</a></p><p>• How to spot a top 1% startup early: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-spot-a-top-1-startup-early">https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-spot-a-top-1-startup-early</a></p><p>• Palantir: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.palantir.com">https://www.palantir.com</a></p><p>• Stripe: <a target="_blank" href="https://stripe.com">https://stripe.com</a></p><p>• Linear: <a target="_blank" href="https://linear.app">https://linear.app</a></p><p>• Notion: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.notion.com">https://www.notion.com</a></p><p>• Julie Zhuo’s website: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.juliezhuo.com">https://www.juliezhuo.com</a></p><p>• <em>Sentimental Value</em>: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27714581">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27714581</a></p><p>• <em>The Pitt </em>on Prime Video: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD">https://www.amazon.com/The-Pitt-Season-1/dp/B0DNRR8QWD</a></p><p>• Noah Wyle: <a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Wyle">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Wyle</a></p><p>• <em>ER</em> on Prime Video: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0FWZSDYRP">https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0FWZSDYRP</a></p><p>• Retro: <a target="_blank" href="https://retro.app">https://retro.app</a></p><p>• Granola: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.granola.ai">https://www.granola.ai</a></p><p>—</p><p><strong>Recommended books:</strong></p><p>• <em>Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity</em>: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-Humanity/dp/1250103509">https://www.amazon.com/Radical-Candor-Kick-Ass-Without-Humanity/dp/1250103509</a></p><p>• <em>The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York</em>: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394480767">https://www.amazon.com/Power-Broker-Robert-Moses-Fall/dp/0394480767</a></p><p>• <em>Insomniac City: New York, Oliver Sacks, and Me</em>: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Insomniac-City-New-York-Oliver/dp/162040494X">https://www.amazon.com/Insomniac-City-New-York-Oliver/dp/162040494X</a></p><p>—</p><p>Production and marketing by <a target="_blank" href="https://penname.co/">https://penname.co/</a>. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email <a target="_blank" href="mailto:
[email protected]">
[email protected]</a>.</p><p>—</p><p><em>Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.</em></p> <br/><br/>To hear more, visit <a href="https://www.lennysnewsletter.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=show-notes-no-free-preview-language">www.lennysnewsletter.com</a>