The craft of design

Design systems now have to work for people and AI agents. What changes when components alone aren't enough?

I sit down with Gavin Elliott to look at the work behind that shift at Deel: giving agents useful context, evaluating what they produce, and keeping human judgement in the loop.

We talk about what public and private sector design can learn from each other, the Crafting Table and Builder Flywheel, prototyping with Claude in Slack, and how designers can explore new ideas while keeping a product consistent. Gavin also shows how he stays close to the craft as a leader, using a data-grid redesign and a tool for mapping mobile journeys as practical examples.

Chapters
00:00 Preview: AI, craft and the human in the loop
01:00 Meet Gavin Elliott
02:14 Public sector and private sector design
04:38 Getting better services to citizens faster
09:18 Why design systems matter more with AI
14:45 The Crafting Table: context for agents
17:50 Where human judgement is still needed
19:53 Prototyping and collaboration in Slack
22:16 AI exploration and product consistency
27:26 Staying hands-on as a design leader
30:04 Data-grid redesign and handing work forward
35:51 Mapping mobile journeys
39:35 Closing

Mark Aquino, a Group Design Manager at Deel, began his career with a psychology background before transitioning into design. His entry into the field was unconventional, stemming from an entrepreneurial venture in electronic dance music (Echo Drop Entertainment). After selling the business, he moved to agency consulting, which eventually led him to work with design teams. He played a pivotal role in helping major Canadian banks build their first product and design teams in the early 2010s. His career progressed through companies like Intellects (where he gained a strong product mindset) and Procurify (his first full-time management role), before joining Deel in 2023. At Deel, he scaled the payroll design team from 4 to 25 designers, contributing to the overall design team's growth from 40 to nearly 100. His management trajectory is rooted in a natural inclination towards leadership, honed through programs like Sea Cadets, and an ability to identify and build effective processes and teams.

1. Career Roots & Startup Speed

After growing frustrated with the slow pace and rigid stakeholder approvals at enterprise giants like British Telecom (BT), Muhammed Salim pivoted to hyper-growth startups where speed and autonomy are prioritized.

2. The Revolute Era: Grinding to a "Super App"

• The Culture: Salim highlights an autonomous, high-grit environment where design teams routinely worked late nights out of a pure desire to build the best product.
• Frictionless Strategy: To outpace competitors like Monzo, the team minimized user friction, implemented viral social features (like adding GIFs to payments), and navigated internal "best design wins" competitions mandated by the CEO to morph the platform into a financial "super app."

3. Scaling Deel from 1 to 90+ Designers

• Hyper-Growth: Salim left Revolute to build a world-class design organization at Deel, scaling the team from a single designer to over 90 professionals spanning 35 countries.
• Managing "Deel Speed": At scale, Salim shifted from being a quality bottleneck to empowering "captains." To sustain Deel's breakneck speed and deep customer obsession without burning out, his management strategy relies on intense collaboration, shared documentation, and flexible, proactive time off.

4. Advice & The Future of Design

• For Designers: Salim advises young designers to master time management, embrace chaos, and have the confidence to "break" existing design systems if it creates a better solution.
• AI Integration: Deel is actively experimenting with "AI-empowered designers" to rapidly prototype, explore complex concepts, and launch automated customer workflows at unprecedented speeds.