We’ve spoken to a lot of design leaders of the course of the Design Better Podcast, but this episode is the first chance we’ve had to speak with someone who has made the move from being an engineering leader to being a design leader. Naveen Gavini, Head of Design and User Experience at Pinterest, spent time as an engineering manager and then as head of product engineering before taking on his current role, and he brings a unique perspective on leading design teams with him from his journey.

We speak with Naveen about how they “Knit” different disciplines together at Pinterest, and explore what he’s learned from scaling a team in hypergrowth. We also ask about the strategic advantage that co-founder Evan Sharp’s design background has brought to the company from day one.

Takeaways:

• How magic can happen when the boundaries blur between designers and engineers.
• Why scaling a team in hypergrowth is a lot like cooking a soup or a stew.
• How design ops serves as the connective tissue at Pinterest.

Bio:

Naveen Gavini began his career as a software engineer at Yahoo, and then rose up the ranks at Pinterest from Technical Lead, to Engineering Manager, to Head of Engineering and then Head of Design and User Experience. In April, after our interview, he took on the role of SVP of Products at Pinterest.