From Designer to Product Maker

Welcome to the first episode of AI Party! In this episode, Antonija announces the rebranding of Design Party to AI Party, reflecting a broader focus on AI, product making, and shipping things that matter.Podcast Rebrand: From Design Party to AI Party.Hosting Shift: Moving to a custom Cloudflare solution.AI Psychosis: Discussing the overwhelming nature of AI productivity and the desire for more focused, slower work (e.g., Remarkable tablet).Agentic Workflows: Leveraging advanced AI models like Fable for reports, then feeding them to Opus and Sonnet for refined tasks.Critique of Design Tools: Antonija expresses dissatisfaction with Figma's lack of innovation and proposes features for a more efficient design experience.Pencil.dev: Exploring Pencil.dev as a promising tool for integrating code and design.The Future of AI Party: A look ahead at topics, listener engagement, and the new motto: "AI Party for makers with a taste."

- Why we both stopped calling ourselves designers - Service design + ethnography + AI = service operations re-engineered end to end - The Figma MCP bridge Antonija built to fix the official one's gaps - Real talk on vibe coding: lovable.dev, Bolt, and what "spaghetti held together" actually ships - The 3.2-jobs-per-AI-expert market and why so many roles stay open - AI as excuse for layoffs vs companies genuinely transforming (one in five OpenAI/Anthropic employees…) - Training the 80% from 101 → 201: prompting, context sculpting, agent vs chatbot - Why ugly enterprise tools don't doom your portfolio anymore - A side trip into Antonija's column OS and the interview-agent that talks to users for you

It's tough out there. Whether you're fresh out of school, switching industries, or just trying to stand out in a sea of AI-generated applications, the job hunt in 2026 will be brutal.In this episode, Antonija sits down with ⁠⁠Sohvi Silius⁠⁠, User Insights Lead and fellow colleague, to share honest, no-fluff advice on CVs, interviews, LinkedIn, and everything in between.What we cover:Why the one-page CV rule is outdatedHow to describe your experience without sounding like a robotThe "biggest weakness" question (and what to actually say)Why your summer job matters less than your 10 years of competitive sportsHow to network without feeling sleazyLinkedIn: trash bin or secret weapon?How recruiters spot AI-written applications instantlyStanding out when everyone uses the same toolsWhy your grandpa had it easier (and what to do about it)Being yourself in a professional setting (yes, jokes are allowed)Key takeaway: It's all storytelling. Every experience, hobby, failure, and weird side project can become a case study if you frame it right.Mentioned in this episode:"Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon

It's tough out there. Whether you're fresh out of school, switching industries, or just trying to stand out in a sea of AI-generated applications, the job hunt in 2026 will be brutal.In this episode, Antonija sits down with ⁠Sohvi Silius⁠, User Insights Lead and fellow colleague, to share honest, no-fluff advice on CVs, interviews, LinkedIn, and everything in between.What we cover:Why the one-page CV rule is outdatedHow to describe your experience without sounding like a robotThe "biggest weakness" question (and what to actually say)Why your summer job matters less than your 10 years of competitive sportsHow to network without feeling sleazyLinkedIn: trash bin or secret weapon?How recruiters spot AI-written applications instantlyStanding out when everyone uses the same toolsWhy your grandpa had it easier (and what to do about it)Being yourself in a professional setting (yes, jokes are allowed)Key takeaway: It's all storytelling. Every experience, hobby, failure, and weird side project can become a case study if you frame it right.Mentioned in this episode:"Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon

It's tough out there. Whether you're fresh out of school, switching industries, or just trying to stand out in a sea of AI-generated applications, the job hunt in 2026 will be brutal.In this episode, Antonija sits down with Sohvi Silius, User Insights Lead and fellow colleague, to share honest, no-fluff advice on CVs, interviews, LinkedIn, and everything in between.What we cover:Why the one-page CV rule is outdatedHow to describe your experience without sounding like a robotThe "biggest weakness" question (and what to actually say)Why your summer job matters less than your 10 years of competitive sportsHow to network without feeling sleazyLinkedIn: trash bin or secret weapon?How recruiters spot AI-written applications instantlyStanding out when everyone uses the same toolsWhy your grandpa had it easier (and what to do about it)Being yourself in a professional setting (yes, jokes are allowed)Key takeaway: It's all storytelling. Every experience, hobby, failure, and weird side project can become a case study if you frame it right.Mentioned in this episode:"Show Your Work" by Austin Kleon

Antonija and Vitali dive into the chaotic state of the design industry while running on fumes. From mass layoffs at Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce to the rapid changes AI is bringing to every profession, they discuss what it takes to stay competitive when the rules change weekly.Topics: The new job market reality and why being skilled isn't enough anymore, Canva makes Affinity free and what this means for Adobe's future, AI tools changing the game and how to stay relevant, Figma's frustrating updates and why that hotkey change was pure chaos, building apps solo with Cursor, whipping up Figma plugins in five minutes with AI, career insurance through networking and luck.Tools mentioned: Cursor for AI-powered coding, Affinity Suite now free forever, Flora AI visual workflow tool, Genie AI pushing interaction boundaries, Figma Plugins with View and React starters.

In this episode, Antonija and Vitali dive deep into the weird, wild, and wonderful future of design, AI, and everything in between.Topics we cover:🤖 Sam Altman’s vision of UI disappearing into the background🖖 Star Trek as the blueprint for voice-based interfaces🧠 ChatGPT psychosis and people forming relationships with bots🎤 Dictation tools: Aqua vs. MacWhisper (and why $8 = too much)💀 Trust issues with AI agents booking vacations or spending your money🛡️ Security horror stories from AI-generated apps🧾 Why no one trusts AI with taxes and Verokorti💔 The death of interfaces and rise of parasocial AI relationships🔌 Figma’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) and why it's a game-changer👩‍💻 Designers, please learn some code or you’re toast🧃 Microplastics, content fatigue, and looking 40 at 26🍿 Apple still uses Sketch (??) and why Figma only cares about 2% of users💸 Indie app dev pain + begging for mercy in App Store reviewsAlso: existential dread, universal basic income, and whether AI will ever stop hallucinating.🔗 Links & MentionsMacWhisperOne Sec AppFigma MCP docsCharacter.ai📩 Got thoughts, tears, or predictions?Hit us up in the comments or DM us, we might read your message on the next episode.

Episode 72: Vitali and Antonija dive into Figma Config 2025, why Figma Sites aren’t production-ready, first impressions of Figma Buzz and Make, and how AI is reshaping design workflows. They compare prototyping tools, explore AI content trends and job impacts, and debate “human-first” creativity. Plus, Android’s Material 3 for Gen Z, iPhone 17 wishlists, headphone showdowns, and personal updates, including the Finnish language exam, React Native fixes, Vandal growth, and hopes for sunnier days ahead.

Antonija and Vitali catch up after a weird week in tech, starting with Figma’s unexpected “villain arc” and all the drama around Dev Mode. They dive into how it’s pissing off both designers and developers—and what it says about Figma’s direction lately. Then things get a little existential as they chat about the future of capitalism, burnout, and the weird pressure to constantly innovate. It’s one of those episodes where we laugh a lot, rant a bit, and accidentally unpack our late-stage tech anxieties.

What We Talked AboutAI is eating our jobs? Or is it just making everything more annoying?Ethics in design: Can you really be a “good” designer while working for a business that just wants $$$?The “no experience” job market paradox: Should you just apply and let them say no? (Yes, duh.)Antonija’s app launch fail: Spent months coding, launched it, login was broken. 😭Cursor & AI coding tools: Are they making us smarter or dumber?Big Tech’s mask-off moment: DEI efforts gone, profit-chasing in full force.Design system geekery: Boolean vs. dropdown properties – the war rages on.Why Bootstrap’s 10px grid makes us irrationally angry.The power of being nice: A LinkedIn chat from two years ago came full circle. 🥹