This page is a curated library of resources, books, podcasts, design tools, and AI references that Tejj — Product Designer at Microsoft AI and Microsoft Windows — keeps coming back to.
The collection draws from his work designing for over a billion users, his research as a best-selling Amazon author of Nodes of Wisdom, and the conversations he has hosted with 100+ creative legends on Nodes of Design — India's #1 design podcast. It also reflects what Tejj recommends to the 800+ designers he has mentored on ADPlist.
Topics include product design, AI design, design leadership, creative coding, sound design, mentorship, and design education. Based in India.
AI × Design Education
Curated assets to help product teams navigate the shift into AI-native design. No theoretical abstractions. Just foundational material to scale your craft, understand engineering constraints, and ship better experiences.
A highly vetted library of actionable books, podcasts, and technical courses that replace guesswork with deep product intuition.
Resources for the next wave of rebels & builders
Early in your career
Start with Read + Listen
Pick one book and one podcast from those sections. Build your mental model before you touch any tool. Most people skip this and regret it.
Go to Read & PodcastsWant a weekly drip
Subscribe to the inbox rack
Four newsletters I open every week — Lenny on product, Pragmatic Engineer on how Big Tech really ships, UX Collective for design writing, Stratechery for strategy. One inbox, no fluff.
Go to NewslettersLeading teams
Mine for workshops
Every item here has been vetted. Assign a book, spin up a listening club around a podcast, or use the Watch section to anchor a team offsite.
Browse all sectionsDon't Make Me Think
Designing Agentive Technology
Ruined by Design
UX for AI: Designing AI-Driven Products
The Design of Everyday Things
Machine Learning for Designers
Nodes of Wisdom
The Alignment Problem
Human Compatible
Thinking, Fast and Slow
Creative Selection
Superintelligence
Sprint
Machine Learning for Designers
Explains ML in designer language — capabilities and constraints rather than equations. The book that bridges the gap between what engineers build and what designers need to know.
Use it for — Building intuition about AI capabilities inside your product
"Top AI × Design Thinking Resources" — Curated list of books, articles, courses, and tools for designers entering the AI space.
IDEO U →"AI and UX: The State of AI in Design" — Nielsen Norman Group's research on how designers are actually using AI tools and where the gaps remain.
NNGroup →"People + AI Guidebook" — Google's open playbook for designing human-centered AI products, with patterns, exercises, and real examples from Google teams.
Google PAIR →"Guidelines for Human-AI Interaction" — 18 design guidelines from Microsoft Research for building AI systems that work with people, not against them.
Microsoft →"Designing for AI: Building Responsible AI Experiences" — Practical frameworks for responsible AI design with real-world case studies.
A List Apart →"Designing With AI: Practical Tips for Product Designers" — Hands-on guide covering prompt design, feedback loops, and error states in AI products.
Smashing Mag →If you're a designer new to AI — start here
Design Better
Conversations with design leaders on systems, org design, and product thinking. The foundation you need before you layer in AI — teaches you how to think, not just what to build.
Hard Fork — Kevin Roose & Casey Newton
The clearest weekly read on where AI and tech are actually heading. Two reporters who explain frontier models, agents, and industry moves in plain English — perfect for designers building AI fluency without an engineering background.
99% Invisible
Trains your eye to see systems and invisible design decisions everywhere — critical for AI and service design. Roman Mars makes you notice what no one else notices.
If you already know AI — deepen your design brain
Lenny's Podcast
Long-form interviews with the operators behind the AI products you actually use. The clearest signal on how AI products get built, shipped, and grown — straight from PMs at OpenAI, Linear, Notion, Figma.
Nodes of Design
India's first design podcast — 100+ episodes, listeners in 60+ countries. Guests include Don Norman and Christopher Reardon. Covers craft, culture, and career.
Seed content — what to search for
AI engineering and systems talks from "best AI engineering books / talks for beginners" roundups — covering end-to-end AI product lifecycles and real-world constraints. Search "AI product design teardown", "responsible AI UX", and "agentive design patterns" on YouTube for a strong starting library.
Lenny's Newsletter
The PM playbook from people who've actually shipped at Airbnb, Stripe, Linear, Notion. Career, hiring, frameworks — no fluff.
SubscribeThe Pragmatic Engineer
Inside-tech reporting on how Big Tech actually builds. Engineering management, compensation, career arcs — the real picture.
SubscribeUX Collective
The best design writing on the internet, surfaced daily. Hand-picked essays across UX, branding, product, and design careers.
SubscribeStratechery
Tech-strategy analysis that goes deeper than any business publication. Aggregation theory, platforms, and where AI is really heading.
SubscribeMaggie Appleton
AI × Knowledge · Essayist
The clearest essays on AI agents, language models, and what designing for thinking looks like. Illustrated, generous, sharp.
Linus Lee
AI × HCI · Notion Research
Builds the most interesting interfaces for thinking with AI. Reads like a designer, ships like an engineer.
John Maeda
SVA · Design Lab Director
Posts daily AI design observations from the front line — annual Design in Tech report still required reading.
Khoi Vinh
Adobe Principal · Subtraction
Two decades of design writing at subtraction.com — now mostly on AI tools, design taste, and the craft of making.
Mia Blume
Designing with AI · Educator
Direct, useful takes on what designing with AI actually looks like — no hype, no jargon, just shipped lessons.
Yuhki Yamashita
Figma CPO
From the inside of the tool every designer uses. Threads on AI-in-Figma, taste, and where design tooling actually goes next.
