Ben Silbermann, Cofounder and CEO
Evan Sharp, Cofounder
Sharp: It starts with people. There’s nothing more inspirational to engineers than working alongside world-class designers, and vice versa.
Silbermann: Design is how a product works: the code that enables an action, the pixels users see, the words we use to describe it.
Sharp: Agreed. Design, writing, brand, and support are all parts of the same whole.

Silbermann: We always start projects with a specific experience for our users and then communicate that through words and prototypes. When it looks promising, we figure out how to build it.
Sharp: I don’t personally value design for its own sake. I value design because it lets us build the most effective, meaningful, and easy-to-use products, and we think that’s valuable for pinners and for Pinterest.
Read More On Pinterest
- Can Ben Silbermann Turn Pinterest Into The World’s Greatest Shopfront?
- The Ultimate Guide To Pinterest For Every Brand
- Most Creative People 2013: Pinterest Lead Designer Jason Wilson
Read more pairings from Fast Company‘s 10th Annual Innovation By Design issue:
- Michael Bloomberg and Janette Sadik-Khan On The Future Of Walking, Biking, Driving
- J. Crew’s Libby Wadle And Jenna Lyons On Tension
- Burberry’s Angela Ahrendts And Christopher Bailey On Trust
- Airbnb’s Brian Chesky And Joe Gebbia On Design Running The Boardroom
- Flipboard’s Mike McCue and Marcos Weskamp On Spiraling Toward Solutions
- Jawbone’s Hosain Rahman And Yves Béhar On The Power Of Trust
- 5 Ways Nike Factors Design Into Its Innovation Equation
- PepsiCo’s Indra Nooyi And Mauro Porcini On Design-Led Innovation
- The Role Of Design At Pinterest
- Samsung On Global Design Influences
- 5 Brilliant Business Lessons From Warby Parker’s CEOs
[Photo by Art Streiber]