Building with AI
Serato meets FigJam
Over a weekend with Figma and Claude Code, I built an app to help me plan DJ sets the way I think. Fully integrated with Serato, I can sketch out ideas for sets, then import the final set into Serato to perform.
Leading by Design
I’m Dwight Battle, a product designer and design leader. For 25 years I’ve built things I didn’t know how to build yet.
What I’m working on.
DJ/Music production
Earlier this year, I fulfilled a lifelong goal and learned how to DJ. As part of that, I also started dabbling in music production. Both have opened my creative mind in ways I never anticipated.
What I believe.
New challenges move me.
Every move in my career has been intentional. I joined HBO to dig deeper into streaming right as it was beginning to take off, Amazon to work on hardware and software with the Kindle, and Fanatics to build a product and a team in a space entirely new to me - betting and gaming. Taking on work outside my comfort zone forces me to learn, adapt, and grow quickly. Each move has made me a better designer and leader and helped me build stronger products and teams.
Diverse teams build better products.
At Fanatics, we wanted to build a better sportsbook. I wasn’t going to do that by filling the design team with the same kinds of people already building our competitors’ products. I wanted our team to look like our potential customers: diverse in thought, background, and identity, with different perspectives and experiences in the room. That diversity changed what we noticed, what we questioned, and ultimately what we built.
Generation is not design.
AI can make a product look finished before the thinking underneath it is resolved. It can help make an idea real enough to test, but a polished screen doesn’t know which constraints are real, which tradeoffs matter, or how the experience holds together from point A to point B. That still requires judgment. Opinionated design isn’t a layer on top of the product. It is the product.
Who I am.
My career hasn’t followed the obvious path. I started in print production, moved through exhibit and event design, and eventually forced my way into UX and product design. Since then, I’ve designed the first in-suite television experience for Princess Cruises, designed Alaska Airlines’ in-flight tablet experience, shipped Emmy-winning work at Amazon, and built design teams at Fanatics with nothing more than a Google search and a prayer.
Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, I've lived in Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Seattle before settling down in Los Angeles last year. A retired kickball player and aspiring DJ, I spend fall Saturdays settled into my couch, cheering for my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes.
Say hello.
The work I’m doing matters more to me than where I’m doing it. I’m drawn to companies with a point of view about a problem that hasn’t been neatly solved, especially when design, craft, and systems thinking plays a real role in finding the answer. If that sounds like something you’re building, say hello.
If you’re an old friend wondering what I've been up to, I'd love to hear from you too.