Rafa Conde: Delight Through Surprise and Humanity
Design engineer Rafa Conde reveals how to craft memorable software via surprise moments, video storytelling, humor, and calculated risks—balancing delight against drop-offs, as seen in Retro's onboarding and his side projects.
Origin Moments That Shape Design Ambition
Rafa Conde traces his passion for emotional design to visceral first encounters with technology. His pivotal experience came unboxing his first MacBook in a mall food court: the starry startup video evoked "cool cool"—not just functional polish, but sci-fi wonder that framed every subsequent interaction as magical. Host Rid echoes this with Draw Something, an iOS game that shattered expectations of software's role in daily joy, shifting his career trajectory despite a computer science background.
Video games like Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid (PlayStation 1) amplified this. Rafa recounts two fourth-wall breaks: Meryl's codec frequency hidden on the game box, turning frustration into triumphant discovery; and Psycho Mantis, who "reads your mind" via save file analysis, demands switching the controller from port 1 to 2, and uses rumble pak vibration as a "magic trick." These moments, blending irritation with genius, imprinted the value of surprise. "This is what I would love to make other people feel using software... Inject some of that humanity. Inject some of yourself in it."
Modern echoes include Sunlit, a gyroscope-driven sun-tracking app with polished, unexpected UI for filmmakers; Tolan (T-O-L-A-N), an AI companion game that immerses users in a branded world from launch; and browser onboardings like Arc, DIA, and Perplexity's cosmic overlays with sound effects. These prove delight thrives in first impressions, even for commodified tools.
Trade-offs: Delight vs. Conversion in Production
At Retro—a private social network evoking early Instagram—Rafa engineered onboarding that prioritizes emotional pull. A haptic slideshow of emotionally charged photos races fast (mirroring a noisy world of ads and AI slop), then slows to urge reconnection with essentials. Soundtrack and haptics amplify feel, but tests revealed 20-30% signup drops.
Lessons emerged: Tap-hold-to-skip reduced accidental exits; respecting mute switches accommodated silent-mode users; auto-play sound risked alienating enterprise setups (echoing Apple's Mac video retirement). "If you try to design for everyone... it's harder to make these things." Rafa argues smaller teams like Retro or indies can risk more than big companies, where mass appeal stifles Kojima-style boldness. Side projects thrive here—pressure off means fuller experimentation.
Retro's hybrid apps highlight this: core Retro for family sharing; Splat, a generative AI coloring book from kids' photos. Balancing accessibility (no hijacking devices) with targeted delight yields higher retention for engaged users, even if initial funnels narrow.
Video as Superpower for Ideas and Experiences
Rafa champions video over static mocks for pitching. "When you are working on something, you have the vision... The goal is to communicate this idea as cleanly as you can... don't just design the feature and share mock-ups... Make an ad, right? Sell this idea." At Retro, his design engineer role merges craft and code: Final Cut Pro edits sell concepts internally.
Roles converge in small teams—designers code, engineers design. Rafa's process: prototype in code, record usage videos with personality. This nods to Gabe Valdivia's advice (early Dive Club ep. ~30): designers as "little TikTok creators" in orgs. Video scales delight: Retro's launch video with haptics; personal site (rafa.design) video that host Rid remembers viscerally.
Side Projects: Pure Expression Without Compromise
Hand Mirror, Rafa's hit menu bar camera app (handmirror.app), exemplifies unconstrained creativity. Built solo, it packs delights absent in day jobs: humor, Easter eggs, surprises. Pressure-free, it loses 10% users? Fine—core audience loves it. "My own side projects are full of these little things that I don't really do on my day job... cuz the pressure is off."
These outlets test bold ideas: frustration-to-eureka (Metal Gear style), sensory immersion (haptics, gyroscopes). They inform pro work, proving delight's ROI in loyalty over raw acquisition.
Humor and Humanity as Design Differentiators
Humor humanizes software, countering sterile tools. Rafa injects personality—self-aware podcast quips, playful frustrations—mirroring Kojima's auteur stamp ("a game by Hideo Kojima"). In a slop-filled world, this stands out: Retro slows users emotionally; browsers dazzle unboxings.
"Surprise and delight" (yes, overused) via "oh wow" moments: hidden clues, controller tricks, haptic narratives. Accessibility tempers: no intrusive sounds, skippable videos. Yet, generalize too much, and magic vanishes. Target vibes—friends/family for Retro—maximizes impact.
"I want to make people feel something like that." —Rafa on chasing MacBook unboxing magic.
"Frustration ignited creativity... when you get it... that feeling is so memorable." —Rafa on Metal Gear Solid's box-clue puzzle.
"Make an ad, right? Sell this idea." —Rafa on video-pitching features over mocks.
"In a world where I feel like you design for everyone... it's harder to do those more like targeted experiences." —Rafa on delight's accessibility trade-offs.
"Inject some of yourself in it a little bit. Be creative when you can and just create those moments of surprise." —Rafa on humanity in software.
Key Takeaways
- Chase "cool cool" moments: Study unboxings, games like Metal Gear Solid for frustration-to-delight arcs that imprint emotionally.
- Prototype with video: Ditch mocks; edit Final Cut Pro "ads" to sell visions, embodying Gabe Valdivia's TikTok-creator mindset.
- Weigh delight drops: Test onboardings like Retro's—20-30% funnel loss ok if retention rises for right users; add skips, respect mutes.
- Side projects unlock risks: Build Hand Mirror-style experiments freely; pressure-off yields purest delights informing pro work.
- Balance accessibility and surprise: Target audiences (e.g., families for Retro); avoid hijacks but haptic/video for immersion.
- Inject humor/humanity: Fourth-wall breaks, Easter eggs counter AI slop; be the "Hideo Kojima" of your app.
- Use sensors boldly: Gyro (Sunlit), haptics (Retro) for unexpected polish in commodified spaces like browsers.
- Converge roles: Design engineers code delights directly; small teams enable this over siloed big cos.