Chris Halaska

Product designer, 6 years leading design @Google
Running @HalaskaStudio design + build for tech founders
Clients have raised $400M+

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

A year ago I moved to Dubai with my wife and our son, who's now two and a half.

It hasn't been a quiet year. The conflict in the region made things unpredictable for a while, and we've just moved house again.

But we're settled now. The new place has a separate level for my office, which changes everything when you live with a toddler.

Waking up, looking out the window and seeing a Rolls-Royce, a Bentley, a Lamborghini and a few Porsches go past, then hearing the familiar rumble of a G-Wagon, is a decent hit of motivation too.

What I keep noticing here is the people. Everyone I meet is positive, driven and quick to offer help. There's an energy I didn't feel back in Australia.

Running my own studio from here is the setup I always wanted. I can go hard on the work and still be there for my son.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@nbulrich https://t.co/9vZKGahic4 is what i’m experimenting with exactly for this use case.

pushing from 80 - 90%

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@emblemo well speaking of...I just hit some limits in Framer so many still do that haha

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

Such a timely announcement.

Seconds before myself and others jumped on the trend of switching from Framer to custom.

This is what I needed.

[Framer @framer]

The Framer MCP is here. Design, build, and update your site with AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and Grok. Without giving up Framer’s flexibility, reliability, and control. https://t.co/yt43GiqLBu

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@imRazvanBadea I found the Framer agent limiting from my experience

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@emblemo maybe so, but there are probably a lot of people (myself included) that have been contemplating moving off framer to their own stacks for the mass edits ability with claude.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@imRazvanBadea Does for me

I was about to migrate off framer because I wanted to be able to do mass edits with claude.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

Tried directing Claude Code into our Figma design system three months ago. Unusable. Shelved it.

Tried again recently on a live client project. It's executing better than I expected.

The gap between "doesn't work" and "works" is now about a quarter. Plan accordingly.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

Last year I shared the spin the chair test. Push back from the desk, turn around, spin back and notice what your eye lands on first.

I still do it on every screen we ship. These days it's mostly on products founders have built with AI tools.

They tend to fail it the same way. Everything's the same weight. Four buttons all asking to be clicked. Nothing tells you where to look.

So I spin, see what I see, and fix that one thing first. Usually it's picking the action that matters and letting the rest step back.

Try it on whatever's open right now. What did you see first?

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

It's actually crazy trying to nail down the perfect offering right now.

The way we work is changing, which means our processes need to adapt, and the operational/pricing models we've had (especially for the studio) need to change.

I'm going to just try embrace the constant fluidity and hope to attract clients that are also open to the changing times.

We can work it out together.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@gobidash yes

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

Exploring

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@soluna_stensale @httpslinus Nice! I've actually met @httpslinus briefly at the OP offices :)

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

How many designers and studio founders are in Dubai?

I run Halaska Studio from here. A year in, I've only occasionally bumped into great people, but I'm realising there are a lot more of you around.

Reply or tag someone. Would love to meet more of you.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@lifeofmansoor we're overdue for a catch up

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@mstweek sounds great!

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@benjaminbalazs We have to meet up soon!

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

Specifically talking about content?

For me I have created a skill based on how I actually speak trained on a whole lot of chat transcripts. Which I use for all drafts, then I go in and give rough edits using dictation, then go through and re-write what I need to for it to be authentic to what I want to communicate.

I am still seeing push back on AI generated designs though.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

After 20 years in design, six of them at Google, I've spent the last year going headfirst into AI at Halaska Studio.

It's in how we design, how we run the studio, what we ship, and how we build MVPs for clients.

And it's changed what I think the future of agencies and designers looks like, now that AI is getting properly good at design.

AMA.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@NPCRectangler Mostly the unknown deliverables, as it's more of a 'I'll get as much done in X time' thing at the moment, something I might need to rethink

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@alex_villacres7 Making sure that there's enough guardrails and direction there so the output is on brand.

e.g. I would only ask claude to design screens in a file that has a robust design system to start with

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@designsbychirag How much context-switching is needed to keep ontop of things.

GrokBot has been great for helping reduce the noise though.

[Chris Halaska @chalaska]

@kosta4a Why would I stop mentioning one of the strongest draw cards?

I understand it's repetitive for designers who follow me but not for people who just come across.