Manali Bapat

Product Designer and Builder. Design @mindtickle @tekion.
@iithyderabad grad

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

The more I use @X, the more it feels like LinkedIn. But at least the stuff here is pure eye-candy, much preferable to ‘This, not that’. ‘It’s not just this, it’s also that’.

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

Experimenting with some loader for my portfolio ~
Figma + Claude + Framer

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

Potato is a medium to make art.

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

@charmiekapoor This wall might just be the sweetest thing I read today!🥹

So good! @charmiekapoor

[DANN© @DannPetty]

Frank Bach hasn't opened Figma in a month because he built his own tool. Brian Lovin went back to Figma and dialed the AI way down. Honestly love both of these.

I went the third way: I use Figma/Paper and creative direct Claude with it. New screens, prototypes, design files, all happening at once while I drive the system. I'm basically a design team of three. Me the creative director, me the designer, me the developer.

One thing I've learned though you just can't trust AI's UX thinking, and you definitely can't trust it's eye/taste for design. I see so many people blindly shipping whatever it makes with zero design thinking and it shows. Like Brian said, be careful bc once it knows what you like, it just starts trying to please you.

So between Frank, Brian, and me, that's three designers who have worked with the best design teams in the world and we now have three completely different design processes using AI.

One thing in common is that none of us are waiting for a tool to match our process anymore nor do we restrict ourselves to one way of designing. We just go, move, adjust and build the setup ourselves that work best for us on that particular project.

Design was never about the tools or specific processes. Still isn't. You could know how to use Figma, Paper, Claude, Codex, Cursor perfectly but still not know how to design.

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

Anyone else finds “What keeps me up at night” sections on profile/portfolios funny?
Because I am like - I don’t want to be up at night. I want sound sleep with a full belly on a comfortable mattress and cozy blanket. That’s the fundamental-(one of the) reasons we all do stuff.

[Tobias van Schneider @vanschneider]

As a Designer, if you care about making well-designed things, you should surround yourself with well designed things in your life.

You'll absorb more than you think.

The watch you wear, your furniture, the car you drive, the software you use... everything you passively use throughout the day becomes a reference point, or think of it as a baseline of the standard you hold yourself to in your own work.

And no, this doesn't mean only buying expensive things. Well designed doesn't necessarily mean costly, it just means well considered.

Live among things made by people who deeply cared, because its contagious (:

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

Just published my first Framer component: Pencil Cursor ✏️

A hand-drawn pencil replaces your default pointer. Great for portfolios, design tools or anything with a creative feel.

Free to grab on the Framer Community 👇
https://t.co/ykiPSkq4IL

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

~ for the love of kiwi ~

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

~ for the love of kiwi ~

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

~ Dither gradients but beach-inspired ~

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

~ A warm color pallette is always an inspiration ~

Calm Sunday morning + Good coffee + Warm view + Figma shaders!

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

Thrilled to be speaking at #UXINDIA2025 this September with my lightning talk:
✨ The Case of Missing Design Documentation ✨

📍 Catch me at the Trident, Hyderabad, India on Sept 19, 2025 under the User Experience track.

@uxindiaconf

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

@WeWork @WeWorkIndia
As a Puneite, Very curious to know - why this iteration was finalized for the sticker?
😅🤔

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

@figma @BU_Tweets Waiting for this to reach Bengaluru🥹

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

@ialimustufa @Google

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

@help_delhivery Unpleasant is under-describing the situation.

[Doug Collins @DougCollinsUX]

Reminder to all my perfectionist #ux and #design friends out there:

Done is better than perfect.

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

@clickup You guys turn off your laptops?👀

[Manali Bapat @manali_mb1]

Joined the Bengaluru club today!