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Brendan Kearns

Founder of DAWNLABS (AI design tool dawn.design) and author of Everything is a Prototype; ex-Google, Twitter, InVision designer.

SeniorLeads from the frontNew school0→1AIProduct

A hands-on senior designer actively building with AI, betting that taste and judgment — not output — are what AI should amplify in software-making.

Signature win. Authored Everything is a Prototype and built DAWNLABS, turning a prototyping-as-judgment philosophy into an AI tool that composes production-ready design.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources

Craft~20 yrs senior design at Google (Senior Interaction Designer), Twitter, InVision; book frames prototyping as judgment-led craft, and DAWNLABS pitches 'structure, taste, and judgment.'8

CommunicationPublished author (Everything is a Prototype, Hachette/BIS), recurring conference speaker (Birmingham, UX Spain) and podcast guest, GA instructor — strong record of making design legible.8

BusinessFounding partner of RIVAL (0->1 design lab) and founder of DAWNLABS; clear venture/outcome orientation, but no large-scale org/P&L impact publicly verifiable.6

Education[Education recalibrated toward editorial baseline] General Assembly instructor and prolific writer/speaker; book is explicitly a teaching artifact reskilling teams toward a prototyping mindset.6

InnovationBuilding DAWNLABS AI design tool and writing on AI's future for software; framed around taste/judgment (elevating) though same-day auto-composed UI flirts with replacing craft — mixed.7

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts

OverallI'd work for them35

CraftRaised my craft bar41

CommunicationMade the case for design41

BusinessMade design matter to the business31

EducationTaught me something I still use31

InnovationShowed me a new way to work36

Verified peers only — one tap with LinkedIn. Names stay private; we show role and industry. Bars are illustrative until the participation backend is live.

Stories

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