Saloni Dwivedi

Design partner for early stage startups | SaaS • B2B • AI | Available for projects.

[Shivangi Jain @atrangiin]

I too wanna be the designer who attends Figma config at SF😭🤞

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@24palettes People not understanding it was a sarcasm 😭😭😭

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

People who can't even write a single line of copy on their own are teaching "DeSiGn EnGiNeeRing" these days.

Bro all your work is AI generated. You can't even write a single line tweet on your own without the help of AI and you are talking about writing code.

[Abhijeet @iabhi1610]

I don't know how designers can teach topics like merging code, because engineers struggle to merge their own code.

Also, people who teach AI workflows, khud 2 hafte se vibe coding kar rahe h, are claiming that they own the future of design workflows.

🧵

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@iabhi1610 They just vibe code a website with generic AI slop design and basic interactions and claim they'll teach "DeSiGn EnGiNeeRing"
Joke of the decade.

[Darius Dan @dariusdan]

I don’t know about you, but I’ll never prefer designing by firing prompts like a machine gun.

I want to draw rectangles, tweak bezier curves, and polish gradients and radiuses for hours. That’s the craft I fell in love with. 🫠

[‎‧₊˚✧ likitha ✧ @likithareddy]

been talking to a lot of people lately and everyone feels stuck in this weird doom loop. some are optimistic, some aren't. we're all watching this massive wave coming and just waiting for it to hit.

a lot of us thought we'd ride the AI wave. become 10x, adapt, whatever. but the goalposts keep moving. nobody knows half the tools that exist today, let alone what's coming next week. it's exhausting trying to keep up when you don't even know what you're aiming for anymore. where's the end point? what's the actual goal?

fwiw i think the answer right now might just be to step back and think about life outside of all this. i like what i do. i am excited to work on little projects or side quests on claude code.

but i want to breathe.

[sam @samdape]

you basically need to be unemployed rn to keep up

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

Come join me on design👀

https://t.co/7orUubSAUX

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@yeshvndr Noo, it was too cool for me to even come up with questions 😭

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

Went to the Ondu Plate yesterday. 10/10 dosas. 10/10 sambhar.
10/10 coffee.

[Siddharth @sidsimharaju]

A traditional BLR breakfast spot with a modern touch.

Solid dosas. Sweet potato dosa is a must.

They are also dairy-free. Surprisingly good filter coffee, and a banger Mysore pak.

📍 Ondu Plate, Indiranagar

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@sidsimharaju Hehe, loved it!!!

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

random discoveries and realizations from this year// in no particular order:
> to be sane, you cannot and should not follow only one ideology by heart. you should keep mixing and matching useful thoughts from everywhere.
> its not easy to keep pets (at all). they come with a huge overhead. you need to plan a lot of stuff and make lifestyle changes according to them.
> it's good to prefer staying near the office. but its more important to choose a place with good locality.
> its okay to not have a big friend circle. cutting off people because you don't feel yourself with them saves a lot of mental energy and effort.
> however, its important to have atleast some good friends in life. they help you not let you lose your individuality.
> its also important to catchup with those friends atleast once or twice a year if you don't live in the same city. have good conversations and catchup on everything whenever you meet.
> learning how to drive is important. self-mobility gives you real freedom. you don't have to depend on anyone else to take you. you don't have to give anyone any reasons or explanations to take you.
> building clear terms and boundaries with parents transforms your life in very atomic ways that you can't see but you feel so much peace.
> learnt the right way to read books - i used to start the book from the very beginning and wanted to sequentially read it till the end. and guess what, i could never complete any book that way. learnt that almost all books can be read in any order. you just pick a section and read it.
> also reading once doesn't make things concrete in your brain. you need to read it again after a few weeks/months to refresh it. after 2-3 reads, it gets permanent in your brain

these pointers might be very small and atomic things but it took me time to realize this. will keep on adding to this when i remember more things.

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

Something weird happens early in your career.

You do the work. You care deeply. You put in the hours.
And still, people hesitate to trust you. I used to think this was unfair. That good work should speak for itself.

But then I noticed something uncomfortable.

People don’t evaluate effort. They evaluate signals. The way you present ideas. The way you structure your thinking. The way your work looks before they even understand it. It’s not arrogance. It’s human nature.

And then, your presentation wins over even if your work is sub-par. Credibility arrives before competence is proven.

And here, I kept thinking what exactly am I doing wrong. The only thing that I needed to learn was presentation and confidence to speak up about it. Be so confident that people just listen to you.
Early in your career, your presentation and confidence will take you way farther than your work will.

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@thatssodhawal Gotta tell her your user acquisition story now😤

[Arpit Bhayani @arpit_bhayani]

Today I realised I have a "fear of finding out" :)

I delay opening messages from my manager, tech leads, and even some friends until the very last moment, when I have literally read every other message and am now left with no choice.

Literally scared.

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@pikkulear05 @aditiitwt Mai toh na sehti bhai😭

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

@divyanshmal Sshhh, my ancestors told me this in my dreams🤫

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

Starter pack for a bad PM (in context to a designer):

> You generate product docs with AI and don't even look at it again. You just throw those at the designer to comprehend.
>You do not try to include the designer in the research process
> You do not explain or even bother to communicate with the designer on how did you conduct research and what exactly did you find.
> You just make the design process one sided. Whenever the designer reaches out to you with any questions you just tell them to not consider "that case"
>You try to jump to solutions on your own. Always. You think that the design implementation in your head that you came up with, is always correct and you do not (never) agree with what the designer is telling you.
> You give the designer as little flexibility as possible on any project. You just want them to implement what you told them to.
> When the designer is done designing, you go to the design file and make changes as you like. You do not even bother telling the designer about this

And they, my dear designers, suck up your ability to think independently. Beware. Run away as fast as you can when you find one.

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

Bhai yeh pura Bangalore Figma event me chala gya hai, mai hi reh gyi lgta

[Saloni Dwivedi @layzmaxx]

I love this spot so much