Kevin Cannon

Design Director at Superhuman (formerly Grammarly)

Not really active here any more. You can find me on other sites these days 🦋

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

I sat down with Tom Scott recently to talk about a wide range of topics about how we design at @Superhuman (formerly Grammarly).

We touched on hiring, how roles are shifting and how AI is still continuing to change everything.

[joshpuckett @joshpuckett]

I think this is worth some nuance.

In recent history, many companies have employed 'product designers' whose primary activity and output has been the creation of software interface facsimiles, e.g. mockups in a drawing tool like Figma.

Those making mockups have of course been doing more than just that, to varying extents leading or more commonly participating in the process of deciding what to build and why. But there was value in that tangible output itself.

I think @gokulr is directionally correct that the role of someone whose primary output is the creating of an interface mockup is quickly disappearing.

But the role of someone who figures out what needs to exist, why, how it should work, how it should should be positioned, differentiated and made memorable has never been more in demand.

I speak with founders on a near weekly basis (many of them in Gokul's own portfolio) desperate for this kind of person.

His conclusions though I agree with almost entirely:

there will always be an opportunity to specialize in the creation of visual interfaces, but more broadly most product designers who want to be employees (totally fine) should take on more responsibilities that have historically been done by PMs or Engineers, to varying degrees.

From my POV, this is just what a product designer is and what we should have been doing the whole time, but that's another post.

[Torben Schulz @torbschulz]

Big day:@RowsHQ will be joining Superhuman🚀
Our mission was to make spreadsheets easy, automated & beautiful. Now we’ll bring what we’ve learned to @Superhuman's AI productivity suite.
Excited for what’s next. Deep gratitude to our team, my co-founder @patife, and our customers

[Soren @sorenblank]

ever seen these small dead zones in a list of closely stacked elements? im seeing this more often.

this can be easily fixed using css `::before` pseudo element on each element:

::before {
content: "";
position: absolute;
inset: -10px 0; /* extends 10px vertically */
}

[Alex Socoloff @socoloffalex]

As a former Google Principal Product Designer, I’m having the best time of my life working on brand identities and delivering a complete toolkit for my clients, not just to create consistent content but also micrographics for their products.

Being a brand designer in this AI era is a creative heaven. No limits, just your imagination.

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@zachkrall @fleetingbits I would've thought that a text-based portfolio would be faster 🫠

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

Here's the link to the interview:

https://t.co/TOn5oOXK3X

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

I sat down with Tom Scott recently to talk about a wide range of topics about how we design at @Superhuman (formerly Grammarly).

We touched on hiring, how roles are shifting and how AI is still continuing to change everything.

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@FredrikHjelm4 If Sweden brings it's Eurovision energy to the startup world, people better watch out!

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@vanschneider Ikea have a wonderful design principle when it comes to home technology they call The Escalator Principle.

Because if an escalator stops working, it's still usable just as normal stairs.

[Andreas Storm @avstorm]

Superhuman’s logo explanation is a masterclass

[Max Marchione @maxmarchione]

grammarly just rebranded to superhuman

and we're fed up with being called Superhuman

so we did a thing

go to superpower . com / superhuman

you won't regret it

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@benblumenrose Yes, the eink approach of this would be really interesting too.

More board game, and less flat console!

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@sethsaler @ndrewpignanelli https://t.co/AGBx2hXOEc

[brandon @burcs]

wild rebrand...

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@linuz90 @fedesimio I had to check what date it was!

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@valeriekraemer No one will accuse us of not making bold moves, that's for sure!

[Andreas Storm @avstorm]

Grammerly is now Superhuman

[Shishir @shishirmehrotra]

Huge news: We’re changing our company name from @Grammarly to Superhuman and launching a new product!

The Grammarly brand isn’t going anywhere, but we’re evolving into a multi-product company that includes Grammarly, Coda, Superhuman Mail, and a new AI assistant called Superhuman Go. 🧵

[The Verge @verge]

Grammarly is changing its name to Superhuman https://t.co/cUQG0g8ALb

[Superhuman @Superhuman]

Meet Superhuman: the new AI platform that combines powerful tools like Grammarly, @Superhuman Mail, @coda_hq, and Go, our new proactive AI assistant.

Write, research, automate, schedule, and organize—all in one subscription. Learn more: https://t.co/W5aKxF4XPl

[Kevin Cannon @multikev]

@itsjackcohen Having kids kicks up a lot dust from your childhood, so maybe do some therapy before the kid arrives to heal some old wounds in advance rather than on-the-fly.