Tristan L’Abbé | Product Design

Today I’m bringing you Tristan L’Abbé, a product designer and Head of Design at Glide.

We talk about design tools, paradigms, the evolution of web and native, Tristan’s background in design and engineering, the role of constraint in creativity, how tools shape the way we think and work, and a deep look into the process and craft of product design.

Please reach out on X if you have comments, questions, or feedback. And as always, thanks for listening.

We talked about:

Figma and its impact on how Tristan works and thinksHow tools—particularly design tools—influence the way we design and approach problemsSpatial computing and the different paradigms for designers: web, native, mobile, desktop, and VRThe evolution of designing apps for the web, and the gap between web and native app designTristan’s entry into product design — balancing design and engineering in software developmentThe role of constraints in creativity—not just from tools, but how you intentionally build constraints into products to guide and empower usersDesign aesthetics and how to build trust through a design systemThe process of product design and how ideas are distilled into what actually gets builtTristan’s skillset and his approach to personal developmentAnd much moreI admire Tristan a lot—particularly his mindset. He’s calm, humble, and confident. Relaxed and impactful. I’m very grateful to have had this conversation and to share it with you.