Metalab's "Kind Not Nice" Rule Changed How I Give Feedback

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Sara Vienna is the Chief Design Officer at Metalab. Slack, Uber, Coinbase... the list of products that came out of that shop is GOAT'd.

We talked about how they actually ship that work, their Tarantino process, why measuring velocity is "absolute bullshit," and a culture rule called "kind not nice" that changed how I think about feedback.

Chapters

[00:00] - "Designers are at a huge advantage"

[01:58] - Learning Photoshop because tobacco companies lost a lawsuit

[04:54] - "I was a really shitty designer first"

[08:45] - Speed vs quality: earning space for the work you're proud of

[12:05] - How MetaLab ships consistently

[15:21] - The Tarantino process explained

[17:16] - Building a culture of candid feedback

[19:45] - "Kind not nice"

[20:26] - Making space for play

[26:45] - Burnout and what actually helps

[30:05] - How MetaLab uses AI

[35:07] - Designers marry the head and the heart

[38:47] - Team structures: smaller but mightier

[41:59] - T-shaped designers and specialists

[44:34] - Why leaders need to stay in the work

[48:00] - Advice for first-time design leaders

Metalab's "Kind Not Nice" Rule Changed How I Give Feedback

Episodes