Gunnar Gray - Designing Perplexity, shaders, and voice interfaces
Dive Club 🤿
2025/07/18
Gunnar Gray - Designing Perplexity, shaders, and voice interfaces
Gunnar Gray - Designing Perplexity, shaders, and voice interfaces
Dive Club 🤿
2025/07/18
In this episode, Gunnar Gray, Mobile Design Lead at Perplexity, shares insights into the evolving world of AI-native product design. He reflects on his journey from being a founding designer at Artifact to shaping voice experiences and dynamic interfaces at Perplexity. The conversation dives into the intersection of design and engineering, emphasizing the importance of speed, iteration, and cross-disciplinary collaboration in a fast-moving startup environment.
Gunnar discusses the design philosophy at Perplexity, where rapid prototyping and shipping working code are essential for learning and iteration. He details the evolution of Voice Mode, highlighting how tactile and visual feedback enhance user interaction. He also explores how learning to code with tools like Cursor has expanded his design capabilities and enabled deeper collaboration with engineers. The conversation touches on brand integration in mobile design, the importance of designing for specific product surfaces, and the value of a generalist mindset in product design. Throughout, Gunnar emphasizes continuous skill development and strategic investment in technical abilities to thrive in a dynamic startup environment.
09:01
09:01
AI-native products represent a new medium requiring outcome-driven design approaches.
16:00
16:00
Rapid prototyping in code is crucial for effective voice design.
22:01
22:01
Real-time interaction in v3 allowed for a particle sphere visualizer
31:48
31:48
Cursor helped bridge coding gaps and enabled practical shader development.
41:26
41:26
The redesigned Discover feed led to better retention and engagement.
47:28
47:28
The speaker plans to upskill in coding using Cursor for speed and efficiency.
50:39
50:39
One speaker shares their annual goal of learning new skills, and this year it's coding with Cursor.
