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Ari Zilnik
Ari Zilnik

Ari Zilnik

Design leader who still ships.

Head of Design at Join, helping humanize construction. I prototype in code with AI — the latest platform bet landed as ~25 Claude Code PRs against real customer data — and my team ships the same way. Before that, founding designer at Blockdaemon, where design grew from one person (me) to seven, and design lead at Gradle and Walmart.

"Ari is one of the most talented people I know. He brings a keen design expertise to every project, paired with deep empathy for the user. He's equally at home working with product, design, or engineers — most often balancing all three simultaneously."

"Ari is one of the strongest design leaders I've worked with. From a product management perspective, he was an exceptional partner — highly organized, detail-oriented, and deeply thoughtful, while remaining practical and collaborative throughout."

"Ari is an exceptional product design leader who brings clarity and vision to difficult projects. He built a supportive and collaborative environment, encouraging the team to push creative boundaries and deliver work that mattered."

"Ari significantly improved our understanding of UX issues within the main product and led our design system initiative. His understanding of design strategy and his communication skills make him an exceptional leader."

"Ari has been a tremendous mentor throughout my journey as a designer. He offers clear, constructive feedback grounded in real-world experience, with a unique ability to really listen, understand, and provide relevant advice."

"What stands out about Ari is his desire and ability to focus on the true challenge and solve the problem in every possible way. Time and again, I have watched him be highly influential on teams and with clients in delivering excellent work."

"Ari is a wonderfully positive and creative designer. He pushes himself to go beyond expectations and uses his knowledge of design and human psychology to create great experiences."

Selected work

Join Items Report prototype: AG Grid working view with four donut summary widgets and the items list below

Join

Reporting Platform

Customers spent 5–10 hrs/week stitching PDFs into owner packets. Reframed reports as a first-class surface — ~25 AI-coded PRs in two months.

Building