Back to the LeaderboardThe Design Leadership Index

Ridd

Founding designer at Maven, creator of Figma Academy, host of Dive Club, and co-founder of Inflight

SeniorLeads from the frontNew schoolAIProductContent
He is reskilling tens of thousands of designers for the AI era and building with AI himself (Inflight on Claude/Cursor) — a people-first elevator of the practice, not a replacer of it.

Signature win. Built Figma Academy and Dive Club into the trusted craft-education engine that 5,000+ designers from Stripe, Shopify, and Amazon learn from, while moving the field toward designers owning the AI-assisted front end.

The case

editorial · CCBEI · with sources
CraftKnown as 'the most trusted man in design' for taste and curation; Figma Academy sets the advanced craft bar that Stripe/Shopify/Amazon designers learn from.9
CommunicationDive Club podcast/newsletter reaches 10,000+ designers; his entire brand is making design craft and AI tooling legible to a mass audience.9
BusinessBuilt Figma Academy into a profitable education business ($300K+ in first months) and co-founded Inflight; founding designer at Maven — entrepreneurial, though less proven on enterprise P&L outcomes.7
Education[Education recalibrated toward editorial baseline] Reskilled 5,000+ designers via Figma Academy and 10,000+ via Dive Club; education and elevating peers is his core identity.8
InnovationCo-founded Inflight (AI feedback tool with Claude/Cursor/MCP) and champions designers 'owning the front end' with AI — adoption that lifts the practice and people, not replaces them.8

Endorsed by peers

illustrative · opens with verified accounts
OverallI'd work for them83
CraftRaised my craft bar93
CommunicationMade the case for design93
BusinessMade design matter to the business72
EducationTaught me something I still use82
InnovationShowed me a new way to work82

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

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