LP
35 years of product design wisdom from Apple, Disney, Pinterest and beyond | Bob Baxley
@ Lenny's Podcast
06/12/25
Takeaways
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
The best products come from small teams of 4 to 6 people, rather than large teams, which can dilute focus and creativity.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
We have an obligation as product people to put emotional energy back into people's lives through design.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Design is about imagining the future you want to live in and taking steps to make it real.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
A company being design-led does not mean it's designer-led; design must be part of the company's DNA from the beginning.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
My stint at Pinterest wasn't successful; I bounced off the culture because I tried to behave like I did at Apple, which was very direct and intense.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
At Apple, the culture is about constantly asking how to make things better, which is infused in every aspect of the company.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
When evaluating a company, I look for a credible story about how they value design from the very beginning, as design cannot be grafted on later.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Design is clear thinking made visible; it's a holistic mindset that goes beyond just visual expression.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
The magic of design lies in achieving organizational alignment around the company's vision and how everything ladders up to execution.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
A smaller team can operate with greater efficiency and clarity of vision, which is why Apple can achieve so much with fewer designers.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
The Beatles exemplify how a small group can create something extraordinary, while larger teams often dilute creativity and effectiveness.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
It's important to respect the boundaries between design and product management roles to ensure effective collaboration.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
We all need each other in product development; each mindset—design, engineering, product management—brings unique value that cannot be replaced. I believe design should report to engineering because it allows design to be considered phase zero of the engineering process, ensuring that what ships at the end is well-integrated and technically feasible.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
When design and engineering teams are tightly connected, it fosters collaboration and ensures that both teams are aligned on the product vision, which ultimately leads to better outcomes.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Design tenets are decision-making tools that help guide the design process, unlike vague principles that don't provide clear direction.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Every interaction with software should start simple, allowing users to opt into complexity, which is crucial for creating a user-friendly experience.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
As product creators, we have a moral obligation to build great products that reduce frustration and confusion in people's daily interactions with technology.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
It's important to observe how people use software in real time, as this can provide valuable insights that metrics alone cannot capture. Relying solely on metrics to understand user behavior is like observing raw data from a radio telescope instead of experiencing the night sky directly.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
To truly understand how people interact with software, we need to observe them using it in real-world scenarios, similar to how filmmakers and comedians study their audiences.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
It's crucial to develop an intuition about how users navigate human-computer interactions by watching them use various software, including ATMs and point-of-sale systems.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
When redesigning a checkout system, I learned valuable insights by observing users interact with checkout processes on other platforms like eBay and Amazon, rather than just our own product.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
The best design outcomes come from having a clear vision and understanding of what you're trying to achieve before involving designers in the process.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
To make the design process efficient, provide designers with a clear creative brief that outlines the desired emotional response from users, rather than leaving it ambiguous.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Design is fundamentally a problem-solving methodology; the more clarity you provide upfront, the more efficient the design process will be.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
It's important to give designers constraints to work within, as this helps them focus their creativity and produce better outcomes.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Waiting as long as possible to create a visual representation of an idea can prevent premature narrowing of possibilities and encourage exploration of multiple concepts.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
AI prototyping tools can be useful for creating actionable prototypes, but they should be used only after a clear understanding of the idea has been established.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
We need to create something great and sustainable, not just go faster. If you're just throwing spaghetti at the wall, having a faster throwing machine doesn't help.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Using AI as a life coach can help clarify thoughts and reflect back patterns that exist in your mind, making it a useful tool for self-discovery.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
The Apollo program is the greatest peacetime accomplishment of mankind, offering profound leadership lessons and individual insights.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
John Hubalt championed the lunar orbit rendezvous concept, which was crucial for the moon landing, demonstrating that great ideas need champions willing to advocate for them.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Habitica is a unique habit tracker that gamifies productivity, blending role-playing game elements with task management to shift user perspectives.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
Design is clear thinking made visible, and there's nothing worse than a brilliant image of a fuzzy concept.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. This highlights the importance of teamwork in achieving long-term goals.
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Bob Baxley
06/12/25
@ Lenny's Podcast
The digital world we create should be safe and nurturing for future generations; we have a moral obligation to improve it.