All designers: Mickaël Denié, Senior Design Manager at Adobe

The career of a Senior Design Manager at Adobe

From Shanghai to New York, Mickaël Denié has built an international career in Product Design, honing his skills with the big names in IT and nurturing his vision of a future where humans and AI collaborate harmoniously.

This interview is part of the publication "All Designers" launched by the school to highlight the inspiring career paths of 18 alumni and discover their vision as designers facing technological, environmental and societal challenges. This publication was published in September 2024.

"What's more, the designer's role within companies has grown, becoming an essential player right from the design phase of a digital product."

Mickaël Denié

Senior Design Manager at Adobe

Combining design and AI to boost creativity

After graduating with a Master's degree in Hypermedia from L'École de design Nantes Atlantique in 2011, Mickaël flew to Shanghai, where he completed his first internship at Microsoft. Eager for new experiences, he then moved to New York and joined the 80/20 agency, specialized in Product Design, where he put his expertise to work for prestigious customers such as Nokia, Motorola and Google.

In 2012 Mickaël was recruited by Square, a fast-growing start-up, where he worked on e-commerce products. After acquiring the start-up Caviar, he worked on a high-end meal delivery application. He then joined another start-up, where he was involved in the development of a videophone, before finally joining Adobe in 2017.

Mickaël Denié, Senior Design Manager chez Adobe

From designer to senior designer manager

Mickaël first joined the Adobe team as a designer, but quickly rose through the ranks to become Senior Design Manager. He leads a team of three designers who work on creating intuitive, immersive user experiences for the brand's flagship products such as Creative Cloud.

At Adobe, artificial intelligence is at the heart of innovation. Mickaël is convinced that AI, through solutions like Firefly, does not replace the designer, but assists him or her by enabling them to concentrate on the essence of their profession: creativity. "AI automates repetitive tasks and opens up new possibilities,
giving free rein to the imagination and inspiration of designers."

Design... increasingly upstream

Product design has undergone a major transformation in recent years. Design software has become more advanced, offering designers an ever richer and more powerful palette of tools. What's more, the designer's role within companies has grown, becoming an essential player right from the design phase of a digital product.

Mickaël insists on the importance of collaboration between designers, engineers and product managers to guarantee an optimal user experience. "Where the engineer ensures product performance and functionality, and the product manager defines the roadmap and development priorities, the designer must understand the user's needs and translate them into an intuitive, efficient interface. A winning trio," he declares.

Product design: new perspectives

Mickaël is enthusiastic about the future of product design. Artificial intelligence, virtual reality and augmented reality are opening up new perspectives and offering users immersive and interactive experiences. The designer, with his vision and sensitivity, will always be at the heart of this innovation process, to guarantee a future where humans and technology coexist in harmony.