🤿 ferrari products

Palantir is one of the most powerful products in existence today.

It provides critical government and enterprise infrastructure from the factory floors to the front lines.

You can literally use their developer platform to build anything (even your own version of Airbnb).

And it’s a big reason their growth looks like this even after 20+ years 👀 

So what’s it like being a designer at Palantir?

I was curious so I interviewed longtime design lead Aashman Goghari to go behind-the-scenes. Here are a few ideas that stood out 👇

🤝 WITH RAYCAST

Just when I thought I understood how powerful Raycast is…

They just released their all-new AI extensions ✨

So you can interact with all kinds of apps using natural language and string together actions to create custom workflows.

For example in a single command I can start a focus mode, change my slack status and press play on my favorite Spotify playlist.

And that is just the start… there are already extensions for Shopify, Linear, Zoom, Google Calendar, etc.

This is a big time building block for the future of AI and productivity. And I’ve never been more excited to be all-in on Raycast.

If you want to learn more they have a really compelling video you can watch here 👇

🎓 KEY TAKEAWAYS

Breaking down complex design problems

1 — Handling complexity in UI

Aashman designs for a wide spectrum of technical ability. On one hand you have business analysts who simply interpret data, and on the other you have backend engineers building complex systems architecture.

So how do you design interfaces that preserve some semblance of simplicity while allowing users to tap into the full power of the “Ferrari”?

a) Progressive Disclosure

One strategy you might be familiar with is to slowly reveal necessary elements as they get more familiar with the system.

That way less technical users aren’t overwhelmed but this can also add permanent friction for more technical users.

That’s why Aashman often uses a second strategy 👇

b) Multiple entry points

It’s common for Palantir to allow users multiple ways to achieve tasks with various entry points.

This way advanced users have a dedicated place to “open the hood of the Ferrari” when needed.

Redundancy isn’t always a bad thing 🤷‍♂️

2 — Ask dumb questions

It’s not uncommon for Aashman to sit in highly technical conversations where he understands <50% of what’s being discussed.

That’s why he’s often coaching other designers at Palantir to help them get comfortable asking dumb questions (which can be scary, I admit).

He brought this idea up multiple times so it’s obviously a big part of succeeding as a designer at Palantir.

3 — How to crush an interview at Palantir

You don’t have to have an enterprise background to demonstrate your ability to handle complexity as a designer.

Aashman says he can “derive second-order complexity questions” out of something as simple as a calculator or weather app.

He’s looking for designers who are capable of getting ultra-specific in a single set of decisions.

So the next time you’re preparing for a portfolio presentation, consider dedicating a chunk of time to go incredibly deep in a single sliver of the project (we did this during Maven interviews too).

Where did you have a concrete opinion about a seemingly small detail? Go deep there.

4 — Breaking down problems like a developer

Aashman also shares fantastic mental models for systems thinking, breaking down problems like a developer, and a lot more… but I’ll save that for the full episode :)

Listen on YouTube, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts 👇

Meet the Dive partners 

I made a list of my favorite products and asked them to come on as sponsors of the newsletter/podcast. They said yes 🥹

The #1 way to support Dive Club is to check them out👇

Dessn → How I ship like a design engineer

Framer​ → How I build my websites

Genway → How I do research

Jitter​ → How I animate my designs

Play → How I design mobile apps

Raycast ​ → How I do most things on my computer

Visual Electric → How I generate imagery

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