Design lessons from Soleio, the designer who created the Facebook like button
If you’ve ever hit “like” on a Facebook post (so, basically all of us), you’ve already used a piece of design history.
That tiny thumbs-up came from Soleio Cuervo, one of Facebook’s early designers who helped define how billions of people interact online.
Since then, he’s led design at Dropbox, invested in tools like Figma, Framer, and Delphi, and now spends his time helping the next generation of founders and designers.
Soleio joined a live event with Design Buddies and Delphi that brought together over a hundred designers from around the world. The chat was full of energy and great questions, but the real highlight was hearing Soleio talk about what design actually means in today’s AI age.
1. Design starts with strategy, not pixels
When Soleio thinks back on his time at Facebook and Dropbox, his biggest realization isn’t about layouts or colors, it’s about connecting design to the company’s actual goals.
“Design bridges what the company wants to become with what users experience,” he said.
“A lot of early designers don’t spend enough time understanding the company’s strategy. That’s where the biggest impact comes from.”
If you’re early in your career, don’t just make things look good, figure out why you’re making them. Ask your PM or your boss what the real goal is. If you can show that your design decisions push the business forward, you’ll instantly stand out.
2. AI isn’t here to replace you, it’s here to multiply you
Yes, AI is everywhere, and it feels like every week there’s a new tool that “changes everything.” But Soleio sees it differently.
“It’s easy to be the best when you’re among the first,” he said.
“Don’t think about AI as replacing your job. Think of it as increasing your surface area of impact.”
In other words, AI gives you more reach. If you use it well, you can go from idea to prototype in a day, and from prototype to launch in a week. Nobody has a head start right now, so this is your window.
3. Speed is a kind of quality
A student asked him whether designers should prioritize quality or speed in this new, hyper-fast world.
“Speed is a quality all its own,” he said. “Sometimes something simpler and sooner is higher quality than something perfect but late.”
He explained that once something is live, you get real feedback, real data, and a real sense of what matters. So instead of polishing every pixel in your portfolio, ship things, test them, and learn in public.
Done is better than perfect wasn’t just a Facebook slogan, it’s a design philosophy.
4. The Like Button wasn’t magic, it was iteration
The team at Facebook was constantly experimenting. They built features, watched how people used them, killed what didn’t work, and kept what did.
“It was one of a thousand things we shipped,” he said. “We just iterated like crazy.”
The lesson here is simple. You can’t think your way to a great product. You have to ship your way there.
Recommended read from Soleio: 📘 Good Strategy, Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt.
(“It’s secretly a book about design,” he said.)
5. Designers are becoming orchestrators, not just pixel pushers
Soleio believes the next big shift in design is about orchestration. Designers will spend less time pushing pixels and more time guiding intelligent systems.
“Designers will need to understand how their choices affect the company’s metrics, not just the visuals,” he said.
AI tools are going to blur the lines between design, data, and engineering. Your future design environment might tell you how every decision impacts user behavior and business performance.
So, start caring about numbers now. Learn how to read analytics. Understand what “conversion” actually means. Because the best designers in the next few years will be the ones who can tie creativity to measurable results.
6. From designer to investor to storyteller
These days, Soleio’s not just designing, he’s investing. He backs founders who are shaping how people create, collaborate, and express themselves. When asked what he looks for in a founder, he didn’t hesitate,
“Ferocity,” he said. “Every amazing company you admire was built by someone who stared into the abyss and kept going.”
He also mentioned he’s been writing fiction lately, using AI tools like ChatGPT as a creative partner. It’s wild to think that the same person who designed the Like button is now experimenting with storytelling and writing fables. But that’s kind of the point: the best designers are endlessly curious.
7. Final advice for new designers
“You can watch people ride bikes forever, but you don’t learn until you get on the bike and fall a few times,” he said.
Just start small. Make things. Break them. Find what you care about. The only way to discover your path is to put in the reps.
“Don’t be precious. Ship. Learn. Iterate. Reality is the best teacher.”
Resources
You can chat with Soleio’s Delphi AI, a digital version of his thoughts and voice that you can ask questions, get advice, or even pitch your startup to. He’s using it as a way to mentor people 24/7, even while he sleeps.
👉 Try chatting with Soleio on Delphi
20% off for Mobbin, the world’s largest library of real-world design inspiration! https://mobbin.com/designbuddies
Vibe coding with AI agents (fun short video), featuring Replit’s Agent 3! $10 free Replit credits for you to build
Event recording: Big LinkedIn Energy - How to go viral while not sounding like an NPC
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