Some founders consider starting with two designers and one engineer
The OpenAI design chief sees a big opening for designers to turn research ideas into products.
Lenny's Podcast: Product | Career | Growth · OpenAI’s Head of Design: This is the best time in history to be a designer | Ian SilberIan Silber, head of product design at OpenAI, says the startup ratio he has seen is about one designer to 15 engineers.
Friends who are considering founding a startup told him that maybe they would have two designers and one engineer, Silber says. The engineer would be really good and make sure the product is rock solid, while the two creative people would think about how to build the product.
Silber says he sees a huge opportunity for designers. At OpenAI, he says, designers are fully empowered to take an early lab idea and attempt to package it into something that solves an unmet need for customers.
Silber said "more and more people start to think of themselves as designers" as that work becomes central to building products.
Questions people ask
Can AI do the designer’s job now?
No. The designer still needs to understand what people need, test ideas, and shape something people want to use. AI can produce screens and code quickly, but deciding what is worth building, and why, remains human work.
How would a two-designer, one-engineer team actually ship software?
They use AI coding helpers to turn a sketch or idea into a working prototype in minutes, then click through it, share it, and revise it. The staff engineer then reviews the work, fixes the fragile parts, and makes sure it is secure, fast, and reliable enough to ship.