What actually separates good designers from great ones now | Head of Design, Groww
27K views · 2026-08-04
Product DesignInteraction & UX
What does it take to become a strong product designer today, especially when AI can generate decent-looking work in seconds?
In this conversation, I sit down with Adit Gupta, Head of Design at Groww, to talk about how designers should learn, what makes portfolios stand out now, how Groww’s design team uses AI, and what they look for while hiring.
We also discuss design taste, feedback, building real products, working with engineers, design leadership, burnout, and how the role of a product designer is changing.
One of the biggest ideas from this conversation is that AI gives everyone access to a similar starting point. The designer’s job is to go beyond that first output through better judgment, stronger taste, deeper exploration, and original thinking.
Adit also shares a practical learning path for new designers: recreate great products from scratch, build real things, ask for critique, and explore multiple distinct solutions instead of polishing the first idea.
This episode is for product designers, UI/UX designers, design students, self-taught designers, and anyone trying to understand how AI is changing design careers.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Is product design still worth entering?
01:23 What makes a design portfolio stand out today
04:04 How beginners should learn design
09:00 The right and wrong way to use AI
15:27 How Groww’s design team uses AI
22:06 AI for user research and product decisions
28:13 What Groww looks for while hiring designers
31:16 Design leadership, burnout and staying relevant
ABOUT ADIT GUPTA
Adit Gupta is the Head of Design at Groww. In this conversation, he shares how the Groww design team approaches product quality, simplicity, hiring, feedback, AI adoption, and long-term product thinking.
Let me know in the comments which idea from this conversation stayed with you.
#ProductDesign #UIDesign #UXDesign #DesignCareer #AIDesign #ProductDesigner #Groww #DesignPortfolio #DesignLeadership
In this conversation, I sit down with Adit Gupta, Head of Design at Groww, to talk about how designers should learn, what makes portfolios stand out now, how Groww’s design team uses AI, and what they look for while hiring.
We also discuss design taste, feedback, building real products, working with engineers, design leadership, burnout, and how the role of a product designer is changing.
One of the biggest ideas from this conversation is that AI gives everyone access to a similar starting point. The designer’s job is to go beyond that first output through better judgment, stronger taste, deeper exploration, and original thinking.
Adit also shares a practical learning path for new designers: recreate great products from scratch, build real things, ask for critique, and explore multiple distinct solutions instead of polishing the first idea.
This episode is for product designers, UI/UX designers, design students, self-taught designers, and anyone trying to understand how AI is changing design careers.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Is product design still worth entering?
01:23 What makes a design portfolio stand out today
04:04 How beginners should learn design
09:00 The right and wrong way to use AI
15:27 How Groww’s design team uses AI
22:06 AI for user research and product decisions
28:13 What Groww looks for while hiring designers
31:16 Design leadership, burnout and staying relevant
ABOUT ADIT GUPTA
Adit Gupta is the Head of Design at Groww. In this conversation, he shares how the Groww design team approaches product quality, simplicity, hiring, feedback, AI adoption, and long-term product thinking.
Let me know in the comments which idea from this conversation stayed with you.
#ProductDesign #UIDesign #UXDesign #DesignCareer #AIDesign #ProductDesigner #Groww #DesignPortfolio #DesignLeadership