How I lead
Draft. Each principle comes from something I've said publicly, and each example quotes or condenses a public post. Draft note: to write: rewrite in your own words
Context beats the model.
"The model was never the bottleneck. Everyone has access to the same models. The gap is context." Invest in the knowledge base (strategy, design system, content standards, critique heuristics) before chasing the newest model.
ExampleThe Kit at Microsoft AI: one repository with our standards, context and skills, the markdown files that produced the best outcomes, plus MCPs and agents for harder tasks. "Quality went high and more teams joined!" (X, Sep 1, 2026)
Build what builds the product.
The highest-leverage thing a design org can make is the system its product is made with.
Example"We're not building the product anymore, we're building the machine that builds it: model, harness, context, tools, evals." Ours does ~60 min prompt to publish, and every kit release runs three scored reference builds. (X, Sep 15, 2026)
Small teams, real tools.
"You can achieve a lot with building 1P software nowadays and you don't need a ton of people for it." Four part-time people built ours.
ExampleOur AI-native building tools were built by a part-time PgM, a part-time UX designer on MCP, a part-time UX designer on the Kit and a part-time UX engineer. (X, Sep 1, 2026)
Design for how different people use the tool.
Exploration, craft and executive vision need different models and different guardrails. One harness doesn't fit all.
ExampleNon-product folks want an idea fast and can use a lighter model. Practitioners use the strongest models and want the harness to overvalue consistency with platform design rules. Execs need state-of-the-art models, looser guidance and high quality in one shot. (X, Sep 1, 2026)
The design system is the floor for the frontier.
You can only race ahead if the floor holds (Frontiers & Foundations).
ExampleAt Microsoft Ads my team rebuilt the foundation: 431 pages of UI across two front-end stacks and four generations of design system. We built an agent, Frankie, that takes a component from Figma, builds it in code, runs the visual diff and hands it to Storybook. We're 90% migrated. (Frontiers & Foundations, Sep 22, 2026)
Standardize, then break through.
UI cycles between efficiency and expression. Agents are pushing us into the efficient phase. Plan for the next expressive one.
ExampleLe Corbusier's Villa Savoye and Saint-Pierre: "We break through with the new, standardize it to the point of boredom, then break through again with more expression." Agents are pushing interfaces into the Savoye phase. (X, Sep 21, 2026)
Put design where there wasn't any.
Twice I joined companies without a design function (Roomer, Jobcase) and built one.
ExampleFrom my old site: "I establish design processes and teams in design-less companies and position design as an essential force in turning visions into reality." Draft note: to write: one concrete thing you did first each time
Credit the team by name.
The work is a team's work. Say who did what.
ExampleThe Sep 1 thread ends by naming who did what: Lucas Colusso started the Kit, Jeeyoung Jung built the design system foundations, Ankita Dasgupta beat the drum, Max Parola built the MCP, and Eugene Gavriloff brought it all together. Draft note: confirm each person is OK being named