I remember the exact moment where I first explored MercuryOS. It was clear Jason Yuan was one of the most skilled design thinkers I'd ever encountered. No wonder he landed a role designing AI products at Apple shortly after.

But the main reason I wanted to interview him was to learn more about his new product called Dot. It's by far my favorite personal AI and a beautifully designed experience. So this conversation is a behind-the-scenes of his latest journey and a fun glimpse at what the future might hold for software products. We go deep into:

What it looks like to design with soul
What makes Jason’s design process unique
Why Jason left Apple to build New Computer
How Dot is the spiritual successor to MercuryOS
How more designers need to become AI engineers
Why Jason thinks dynamic interfaces are over-hyped
How to design a product based on one magical interaction
What Jason learned about storytelling from his background in theatre
a lot more

Download Dot or check out the website
Jason's original MercuryOS project
The original Dot website featuring Mei’s story (from the Wayback machine so give it a minute to load)
Jason references Shigeru Miyamoto (the creator of Super Mario Bros)

S8 | E1: Janum Trivedi - What makes a software product feel great

Dive Club 🤿