Kevin Cannon

I sat down with Tom Scott recently to talk about a wide range of topics about how we design at @Superhuman (formerly Grammarly). We touched on hiring, how roles are shifting and how AI is still continuing to change everything.

I think this is worth some nuance. In recent history, many companies have employed 'product designers' whose primary activity and output has been the creation of software interface facsimiles, e.g. mockups in a drawing tool like Figma. Those making mockups have of course been doing more than just that, to varying extents leading or more commonly participating in the process of deciding what to build and why. But there was value in that tangible output itself. I think @gokulr is directionally correct that the role of someone whose primary output is the creating of an interface mockup is quickly disappearing. But the role of someone who figures out what needs to exist, why, how it should work, how it should should be positioned, differentiated and made memorable has never been more in demand. I speak with founders on a near weekly basis (many of them in Gokul's own portfolio) desperate for this kind of person. His conclusions though I agree with almost entirely: there will always be an opportunity to specialize in the creation of visual interfaces, but more broadly most product designers who want to be employees (totally fine) should take on more responsibilities that have historically been done by PMs or Engineers, to varying degrees. From my POV, this is just what a product designer is and what we should have been doing the whole time, but that's another post.

Big day:@RowsHQ will be joining Superhuman🚀 Our mission was to make spreadsheets easy, automated & beautiful. Now we’ll bring what we’ve learned to @Superhuman's AI productivity suite. Excited for what’s next. Deep gratitude to our team, my co-founder @patife, and our customers

ever seen these small dead zones in a list of closely stacked elements? im seeing this more often. this can be easily fixed using css `::before` pseudo element on each element: ::before { content: ""; position: absolute; inset: -10px 0; /* extends 10px vertically */ }

As a former Google Principal Product Designer, I’m having the best time of my life working on brand identities and delivering a complete toolkit for my clients, not just to create consistent content but also micrographics for their products. Being a brand designer in this AI era is a creative heaven. No limits, just your imagination.

@zachkrall @fleetingbits I would've thought that a text-based portfolio would be faster 🫠

@fleetingbits I think there are just way more people visiting it than I anticipated 😅

the terminal is quietly becoming one of the most interesting surfaces in interaction design i've been experimenting with what a personal website feels like when it lives in the terminal instead of a browser

Here's the link to the interview: open.substack.com/pub/verifiedin…

I sat down with Tom Scott recently to talk about a wide range of topics about how we design at @Superhuman (formerly Grammarly). We touched on hiring, how roles are shifting and how AI is still continuing to change everything.

@FredrikHjelm4 If Sweden brings it's Eurovision energy to the startup world, people better watch out!

Something is happening in Stockholm tech and it is hard to ignore. The pace is higher, the rooms are fuller, the energy is different. You can now walk into a real startup event any day of the week. Not the old invite only VC gatherings. Actual community events. Hackathons. Builders sharing how they work. Operators sharing their playbooks. Companies opening their doors and letting anyone learn. Most of it is fully open. Fireside chats. Product and design workshops. People giving away knowledge that used to stay locked inside teams. I meet teenagers who want to start their first company and veterans starting their next one. It is the full spectrum, and they are all showing up. Sweden has a pattern. We are great at riding technological shifts even if we do not create the underlying platforms. It feels like that again. A new wave of hackers is out building and spotting opportunities everywhere. Investing is widening too. Not just insiders. First time angels. The circle is broader than ever. Capital is here. Global funds fly in every week. Early stage rounds close fast as US firms move quickly and local funds compete. I have seen pre seed and seed rounds of three to ten million close in days. The government is even looking at allowing private assets in ISK which could open up private company investing for many more people. And all of this sits within a short walk. The internet and mobile generation with Spotify, King, Klarna and others. The digitize the physical world generation with Voi, Kry, Einride, Instabee and more. And now the AI first wave with Sana, Tandem and Lovable. It feels like the start of a new cycle for Stockholm.

@vanschneider Ikea have a wonderful design principle when it comes to home technology they call The Escalator Principle. Because if an escalator stops working, it's still usable just as normal stairs.

Superhuman’s logo explanation is a masterclass

grammarly just rebranded to superhuman and we're fed up with being called Superhuman so we did a thing go to superpower . com / superhuman you won't regret it

@benblumenrose Yes, the eink approach of this would be really interesting too. More board game, and less flat console!

Not sure I want board game time becoming semi screen time but a version of this in color e-ink that turns into any board game, checkers, chess etc… I could see that…

@sethsaler @ndrewpignanelli x.com/burcs/status/1…

@ndrewpignanelli The Jira Company of New York.

waiting for atlassian to rename themselves to browser company

@linuz90 @fedesimio I had to check what date it was!

@fedesimio I must admit I thought this one was a joke 😂 wow

We've officially agreed to acquire AOL! 😍 (And, coincidentally, raised $2.8B in debt.)

@valeriekraemer No one will accuse us of not making bold moves, that's for sure!

grammarly is doing lots of things very differently — unconventional even 1) acquiring a company and turning its founder into their ceo 2) acquiring a second company and turning its brand into its overall identity love this on so many levels

Grammerly is now Superhuman

Huge news: We’re changing our company name from @Grammarly to Superhuman and launching a new product! The Grammarly brand isn’t going anywhere, but we’re evolving into a multi-product company that includes Grammarly, Coda, Superhuman Mail, and a new AI assistant called Superhuman Go. 🧵

Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman theverge.com/news/808472/gr…

Meet Superhuman: the new AI platform that combines powerful tools like Grammarly, @Superhuman Mail, @coda_hq, and Go, our new proactive AI assistant. Write, research, automate, schedule, and organize—all in one subscription. Learn more: sprh.mn/47Mi6P8

@itsjackcohen Having kids kicks up a lot dust from your childhood, so maybe do some therapy before the kid arrives to heal some old wounds in advance rather than on-the-fly.

Newly expecting father here. :) Fathers, what’s one piece of advice? Could be something to read, watch, think more/less about. Our baby girl arrives in March.