📰 3 THINGS TO CHECK OUT
A Note from Designlab's New CEO
- After many years leading Designlab, co-founder Harish is stepping back from the CEO role (though he'll remain involved at the board and strategy level, particularly around new programs). Cam Lay, who has been serving as Designlab's VP of Growth for nearly three years, is stepping in as CEO and will lead the company day-to-day alongside co-founder and CTO Daniel Shapiro.
- Designlab's foundation—our team, mentors, and community of 25,000+ designers—remains unchanged. But the world around us is moving fast, and as a company, we're leaning into this moment.
- The focus going forward: helping people work effectively with AI in practical, real-world contexts; doubling down on the skills that hold their value over time; and continuing to evolve core programs like UX Academy to reflect how the path into design is changing. The bottom line: we're excited about where Designlab is going, and we hope you are too.
Build with More Context and Control in Figma Make
- Figma has introduced two new features for Make that address one of its biggest limitations: AI-generated prototypes that look good but don't reflect your actual design system. Make kits now let designers package their components and guidelines so that Make builds from your real component library from the start. The result is less cleanup before review and output that engineers can actually recognize.
- Make attachments go further, letting you bring real project context—PDFs, datasets, screenshots, brand guidelines, legal copy—directly into the prompt. Instead of describing a complex flow in text and getting an idealized version back, Make references the actual source material.
- "With Make kits and Make attachments, Figma Make becomes a starting point grounded in how your product actually looks, feels, and behaves."
Designers Finally Have a Say in the Product They Design
- Designer Daniel Mitev argues that each time a design gets handed off, something gets lost. Not because developers don't care about the details—they're solving a different problem. But the gap between intent and implementation has always existed...at least until now.
- AI is removing the organizational justification for keeping designers out of the codebase. A designer with strong design system knowledge, working in a structured environment with AI assistance and engineering review, can take ownership of the implementation of their own work. The discipline doesn’t disappear; the interpreter does.
- If you're interested in exploring what's possible and learning to build and ship real products yourself, our Vibe Coding Camp is designed for exactly that—helping designers move beyond static mockups and work directly with the tools that make it happen. The next cohort launches in May.
💜 PORTFOLIO INSPIRATION
UX Academy graduate Melanie Schellberg brings a people-first mindset shaped by her background in customer service and full-stack development. Her work reflects a strong balance of empathy and systems thinking, whether she’s simplifying complex, real-world workflows or designing for multiple user types. In her project PetPaths, she tackles the fragmented experience of planning road trips with pets, using AI to turn a stressful process into a seamless, personalized journey. In another project, she designed a transparent maintenance platform that helps landlords stay informed and in control, improving communication across tenants and service providers. Across both projects, Melanie focuses on clarity, usability, and building trust—creating experiences that are intuitive and grounded in real user needs.
Got a portfolio you love that you’d like to share with our audience? Email your suggestions to hello@designlab.com.
💡 INTERESTING STUFF...
- Advice From the Creative Community for New Designers
- Perspective Is the One Thing AI Can't Generate
- The Era of Liquid UI
- Cursor 3: A Unified Workspace for Building With Agents
The most important thing is that you love what you are doing, and the second that you are not afraid of where your next idea will lead. — Charles Eames, designer
🧪 FROM THE LAB
Join AI for UX Design on April 17th
AI for UX Design is where designers move from experimenting with AI to actually integrating it into their workflows.
In this hands-on course, you’ll learn how to apply AI across research, ideation, prototyping, and testing—while building the judgment and strategy needed to use it well. If you’re curious to learn more, join our live info session on Tuesday, April 14 at 1pm ET. Ready to save your seat in the next cohort? Enroll here.
Want to Upskill Alongside Your Team?
If you’re a designer or design leader thinking about leveling up—for you and your team—it might be worth exploring team training.
We partner with teams of all sizes to build fluency with emerging tools, strengthen core design practices, and work more effectively together. Our trainings cover everything from integrating AI into your design workflows, essential Figma skills, UX training for non-design teams, and more—plus custom training options.
Schedule a chat to learn more and talk through your goals.
