Elisa Sunga

The secret most product designers miss about getting promoted? It's not about waiting to be recognized—it's about owning your career growth. I talked with Ran Liu about how to set clear goals with your manager, document wins, and consistently show next-level thinking. What career growth strategy has worked best for you? #ProductDesignCareer #UXLeadership https://lnkd.in/ggn4vMqk

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I asked Katie Dill, Stripe’s Head of Design, what’s changed in the last year with AI and design. Her answer: AI is showing up early in the rough stages where you don’t expect doneness or excellence. Designers are using AI to jam, sketch & try things on for size - moving faster through the process. And there’s less pressure for polish at that stage, making it easier to take risks with new tools. Hear it from Katie 📹

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High-performing teams aren’t built through comfort. Like it or not, friction is the currency of building a talent-dense organization, especially one in hypergrowth. When I was at Coinbase, talent density was a constant focus. Now at Engine, I see how that same principle comes to life in new ways. Raising the bar isn’t just about better performance. It’s about creating a culture where peers, managers, and direct reports all push each other for more and better. That can feel uncomfortable, especially for people who haven’t worked in an environment where expectations keep rising. But that discomfort is what growth feels like. The right kind of friction shows who leans into challenge and who prefers comfort. I see it in hiring too. When there’s some friction in the process, you uncover grit and conviction. Discomfort isn’t the goal. It’s the natural result of ambition and accountability coming together. Friction is how talent density grows. And it’s how great cultures stay great. 💪

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Your first 90 days as a TA leader set the tone for your team and your credibility. Ben Chung, Director of TA at Dialogue, joined us on Open Source Hiring to break down how he approaches those first months and what builds trust fast (hint: it’s not big wins). His 3-pillar approach: 🧠sk questions constantly “I parked myself by the coffee machine and booked as many 1:1s as I could. You don’t get the first 90 days back.” 🍽️ Meet everyone “Lunch with a different team each time. That trust is built in casual conversations.” 📈 Structure your leadership 1:1s Ask: – What’s been your experience with hiring? – What’s your biggest challenge this year? – How do you see us working together? And one habit that sets you apart? Close the loop. “Tell them what you’ll do. Do it. Then report back. Most people skip the last step—that’s how trust erodes.” We also dig into: – How to hire great recruiters (and avoid the common traps) – Mock intake calls and scenario-based assessments – TA market signals and how his team stays lean and effective 🎧 Full episode in comments

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I’ve run ~150 initial interviews this past month, and a few big themes keep coming up that prevent people from moving forward. Sharing them here in case it helps you prep: 1. Not having a story or pitch Why this company? What do you want to do next and why are you the best person to do it? Make sure you practice a general storyline about your goals and your experience before each interview. 2. Talking way too long Check in with your interviewer before you spend more time walking down a rabbit hole ("I'll pause there, is there anything else you'd like me to go into more detail on?"). Conciseness is a learned but extremely important skill. 3. No energy This is esp important for younger gens, don't let your facial expressions or lack thereof betray you! Ask questions, react to responses, or pretend to be curious about things that the interviewer brought up if you struggle with energy in general. I know it's hard to have to do a song and dance over and over again -- really, I get it, because I'm on the other side doing the same thing. It’s okay to relax into it and be yourself. Sometimes that’s what makes the conversation most memorable for the person you're speaking with.

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What We Learned from Recent Hiring for Bay Area Startups As we’ve been hiring for engineering, product, and sales roles across several Bay Area startups, here are some key lessons we’ve learned along the way: Cultural Alignment is Key: The best candidates aren’t just skilled, they’re a great fit for the company’s culture and vision. It’s all about finding people who genuinely resonate with the mission. Flexibility is Invaluable: In fast-paced startup environments, candidates who are adaptable and can juggle multiple roles or responsibilities are highly sought after. Collaboration Over Hierarchy: Startups value team players who thrive in collaborative, flat-structure environments. It’s all about strong communication and being hands-on. Excited to continue helping startups build great teams and scale effectively! #BayAreaStartups #HiringInsights #TechRecruiting #RamRakRecruiting

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An excellent interview with our Product Design Director Kevin Cannon about how Design works at Superhuman. Design isn’t just a function for us — it’s a muscle that helps shape our future product suite. Since the rebrand and expansion from Grammarly into Superhuman, design has moved to the forefront of how we innovate. ✨ What makes our design way of working unique: We’ve flipped the traditional design process: starting with mid-fidelity AI prototypes to get closer to real experience before polishing in Figma — letting us iterate fast and stay grounded in user reality. We’re inventing new UX patterns for AI-powered tools. This means ambiguity is built into the process, and experimentation drives clarity on what works. Roles are fluid — designers contribute across craft, code, and product thinking, while PMs often prototype too. Collaboration and versatility aren’t just nice-to-have — they’re how we ship. 🚀 How we hire great designers: Craft first: strong basics — visual design, spacing, interaction — get you into the conversation. Portfolio & live exercises: we evaluate real thinking — how you frame problems, explore alternatives, and collaborate. Cross-functional fit: we look for designers who can communicate with PMs and engineers and thrive in fast-moving, uncertain terrain. 🌍 Who thrives here? Designers who enjoy building in the open, experimenting with emerging tech, and delighting users with elegant, thoughtful experiences. https://lnkd.in/dEWufksY 

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Lots of buzz lately about Super IC Product Design roles… If you're a Senior, Lead, Staff, or Principal Product Designer this is your moment. Teams are hiring for high-impact ICs who want to stay hands-on, lead big design challenges, and shape product strategy without going the manager route. Want to find these hidden roles? Here are some Boolean search tricks to help you: 1. Job Titles + Hiring Signals ("Senior Product Designer" OR "Staff Product Designer" OR "Principal Product Designer" OR "Lead Product Designer") ("we're hiring" OR "open role" OR "join our team") 2. Founders & Team Leads Posting Openings ("Senior Product Designer" OR "Lead Product Designer") ("looking for" OR "need a designer" OR "design partner needed") 3. X/Twitter-style Buzzwords ("Principal Product Designer") ("dream job" OR "next big thing" OR "zero to one") 4. Hidden Company Pages ("Product Designer") (site:angel.co OR site:wellfound.com OR site:notion.so) ("we’re hiring" OR "open roles") 5. Remote-friendly Roles ("Staff Product Designer") ("remote" OR "work from anywhere") ("hiring now") These searches work great on Google and LinkedIn. You'll dig up roles that never hit the big job boards. Time to go find the new job! #design #designer #superic #staffdesigner #principaldesigner #leaddesigner #seniordesigner #productdesigner #ux #ui #interactiondesigner #userexperience #supericdesinger #productdesign #designjobs

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Got approached by an early-stage AI startup looking for a founding designer. Their process? A take home design challenge and a multi-day work trial. I get wanting to ensure culture fit and execution in a small team, but as someone who’s hired dozens across design and tech, this signals a team that doesn’t know how to evaluate talent. It makes you appreciate the value of a thoughtful hiring process and the impact great recruiters have in shaping it. So my note to startups: hire good recruiters. It matters. PS. Here are some design hiring activities you can do instead: Live whiteboard collaboration, values fit conversation w/ Q&A, coffee or lunch with team, portfolio and case study walkthroughs, 1:1s with cross functional members, or a live critique of your product or other product designs. Also through out the hiring process take note of the questions they ask about process, the product, users, etc as these are great signals of expertise, interests, and care.

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Since I got laid off from Lindy at the beginning of the year, during January, I had a lot of interviews with a range of various levels of companies such as Uber, Intercom, Plain, Profound and more. While I got offers from some of them, I was rejected many times, I had some visa issues, etc. However, I learned many things, especially from my interviewing process with Uber (I got to the final stage, had an issue with O1-A), about interviewing with high-tech companies. I've prepared a presentation where I present 2 projects from my past experiences to explain how I approach major and minor projects. It starts with briefly talking about myself and past experiences. Then I talk about why I want to join the company that I am interviewing with. Sometimes it could be related to designing for bigger scales, or could be industry-related interest and etc. This step could take 5-10 seconds to explain but its effect is so important because it shows that you're aware of what you are going to face if you join the company and you're already interested in those things. While I am diving into projects, I always start from outlining the scope, my role, the team I've worked with, and the timeline. Mentioning every single thing you use, know and achieved is important. If you don't tell, they won't know. Then I start from outlining the problem and how we validated that it's an actual problem for us. tl;dr: I am explaining how I approached each step of the design process. (Discovery, definition, development and deliver) (I usually follow the structure of double-diamond) And, the most important part is answering these 3 questions as clearly as possible: . What was the problem . How did you approach it . What was the impact? Most of the time, it doesn't really matter if you have real metrics or insights. What does matter is whether you know how you ''would'' approach those questions if you were able to. I highly recommend designers to read this book. It covers everything that actually need to know. https://lnkd.in/d7n3ZNun

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