Founder @ Syqi Lab | Design Agency |🎤 Podcast Host | Lifelong Apprentice of Design | 📚🎨

With over seven years of experience in various design roles, I am a passionate and versatile creative entrepreneur and design strategist. I founded Syqi, a design ops agency that helps create meaningful customer experiences with a high level of empathy.

Our mission is to bridge the gap between the business and design worlds with effective design strategies that deliver value and delight. I have a master's degree in Design Management and skills in Creative Direction, Brand Building, and Business of Design.

I also host Groundbreakin Podcast, where I share insights and stories about design, entrepreneurship, and creativity.

Dipaq S

Hey folks, our team at Syqi growing bit by bit, and we're on the lookout for a few good people to jump in.

We mess around with fintech AI stuff, building brands, products, and just nice things overall. Supporting enterprises in solving important problems.

We handle client work, plus we're starting up an R&D side.
Not huge yet, but getting there brick by brick.

Hiring:
2 Design Manager: 3+ years under your belt, comfy with AI processes, up for digging into case studies and shaping fintech AI bits.

2 Junior Visual/Graphic Designers: Newbies with AI smarts, jazzed about ai agent builds, case studies, and growing with our R&D crew.

2 Design Generalist Interns: Journalists who get AI flows, keen on telling stories through design and building cool stuff.

Everything's fully remote!

If this vibes with you, hit me up in the comments, DM, Email: dipaq[at]syqi[dot]design
or shoot over your resume. Let's chat.

PS: We're looking for folks with killer taste - elegant, thoughtful design sense that shines throughout.

#Hiring #Design #SyqiStateOfMind #AIPowered #Remote

Dipaq  ⭐️

Founder @ Syqi® | We work with teams and enterprises on fixing design chaos as they scale |🎙️ Groundbreakin® Podcast

At Syqi, we have a specific ritual for staying sharp.
It involves inviting builders to our table to tell us the truth, not the PR version.

No agenda.
No pitch.
No performance.

Just someone who's deep in the work, sharing how they're thinking about it.

This week it was Nikita, PMM at Pine Labs.

She came in to talk about the Bharat Yatra Card - India's answer to a unified transit card. Metro, bus, parking. One tap. Zero KYC. The kind of product that sounds simple until you realise how hard simple actually is to build.

But what I'll remember most from the session wasn't the product.
It was the way she opened.

"When I was handed this product, I had zero conviction in it."

And then she told us about her college days. A ₹15 bus ticket. Taking turns with a friend to pay the conductor because neither of them ever had ₹5 change.

That's it. That's the whole product brief.
A small, unglamorous friction that millions of people just quietly accept as part of their day.

The best builders always find that moment. The thing nobody complains about because they've stopped noticing it.

Nikita noticed it.

She talked about how the distribution was the quiet smart move - Pine Labs already had the B2B network, RuPay already had the infrastructure. Instead of building from scratch, they just connected the right dots and launched through platforms people already open every day.
Blinkit.
Zepto. Literally with your groceries.

She talked about the organic Instagram wave that changed her own mind about the product.

No paid push.
Just real commuters, real reactions.
That's when she knew something was actually working.

By the end of the session the room was buzzing. That specific kind of energy where everyone's talking at once because something actually sparked a thought.

That's the kind of conversation we love having at Syqi.

We're a small, sharp team that works at the intersection of design and strategy. And we genuinely believe that the most interesting ideas don't come from conferences or keynotes.

They come from people who are actually in the middle of figuring something out - and are willing to talk about it honestly.

So we keep the door open. We keep inviting people in.
Clients, collaborators, builders, thinkers.

If you're doing something interesting and want to sit with us - you know where to find us.

Thank you Nikita for bringing this to the Syqi table. And for keeping it real the whole way through.

Your first critic is no longer human.

Everything you know about creative approval is backwards.

Last week on The State Of Mind, I broke down how do we move with this dual-layered reality: https://lnkd.in/g46ru-GZ

We used to design for the eyes of a mentor, a creative director, or a client. We optimized for the "gut feeling" and the human spark.

Today, your work passes through a machine before it ever touches a person.

An algorithm ranks it.
A search model interprets it.
An AI assistant summarizes it.

If the system doesn't understand your intent, the human never gets the chance to.

// The invisible gatekeeper
Machines don't feel inspiration; they classify and score.
Execution used to be about aesthetics. Now, it’s about signal.
If your work is misinterpreted at the structural layer, it effectively doesn't exist.

// The new dimension of craft
We are now designing for two distinct audiences simultaneously:
• Systems that decide exposure.
• Humans who decide impact.

One requires precision, naming, and clear metadata.
The other requires emotion, tone, and distinctiveness.

// The shift in responsibility
Ambiguity used to be a stylistic choice. Today, it’s a tax on reach.
The modern designer must be a systems architect as much as a visual storyteller.

You have to ensure the work survives the translation through the feed.

Clarity determines if you are seen.
Meaning determines if you are remembered.

The environment has quietly reshaped the job.

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #DesignLeadership #CreativeStrategy #AIInDesign

Legacy brands can afford to look like they are from 2005.

You cannot. 

When a legacy giant ships a janky, outdated interface, it doesn’t kill their business. 

They have decades of institutional trust and a captive market. 
The friction is annoying, but the user stays because the risk of leaving is higher than the cost of a bad UI.

For a startup, that same jank is a death sentence.

-- The Trust Gap
New B2B brands start at a deficit. 
Nobody knows if you’ll exist in eighteen months. 
Nobody knows if your security is tight or if your backend is held together by duct tape.

In this environment, design is about the proxy for stability.

-- Execution as Evidence
When your product looks polished and functions seamlessly, you are sending a signal.
You are telling the market that you have the resources, the intent, and the discipline to sweat the details. 

If you can’t get the padding right on a landing page, why should a CTO trust you with their data?

-- The New Standard
Design is how you bridge the gap between being a "risky bet" and a "strategic partner."
Incumbents rely on their past. 
You have to design for the chapter ahead.

The business grows into the quality you project. 
Don't let a "minimum viable" interface create a maximum trust deficit.

#BusinessOfDesign #SyqiStateOfMind #AgencyLife #BrandBuilding #ProductDesign

Your next loyal customer might not be a person.
Everything you know about brand loyalty is about to be tested.

For years, brands fought for hearts.
Points programs.
Emotional campaigns.
Brand mascots. 
Anniversary emails.

The entire game was built on one truth:
Humans are creatures of habit. We return to what we know.

But a quiet shift is happening - and most brands haven't noticed yet.

AI agents are beginning to make purchase decisions on our behalf.
And agents don't get attached.

They don't remember your ad.
They don't feel nostalgia for your packaging.
They don't forgive inconsistency.

They just check: does this product do what it promised, every time?

// The loyalty structure is changing

Here's what most people miss: a lot of what we called brand loyalty was never emotional.
It was structural. Friction. Habit masking preference.

Changing took effort, so we didn't.

Agentic AI removes that friction entirely.
And when the friction disappears, so does passive loyalty.

// Two types of loyalty now exist

Emotional loyalty asks: does this brand make me feel something?
Algorithmic loyalty asks: does this brand consistently deliver what it promised?

• One has been the entire strategy for most brands.
• The other has been an afterthought.

That balance is about to shift -- fast.

// The relationship is moving

If an AI agent learns your preferences, tracks your satisfaction, and keeps making accurate choices for you — where does the real brand relationship actually live?

With the brand? Or with the agent that knows you better than the brand ever did?

The brand that used to own the customer relationship may now be one layer removed from it.

The future question isn't: do customers trust your brand?
It may be: Does their AI keep choosing you?

But in an agentic world, getting picked comes first.

-- I went deep on this in this week's The State Of Mind: https://lnkd.in/gR6sxN7H

At Grumspot, a Shopify Plus design and development agency, I lead a team dedicated to crafting visually stunning and frictionless Shopify storefronts and Shopify applications.

On a daily basis, my team and I at Grumspot assist e-commerce businesses in enhancing their online presence through:

✅ Custom Storefronts: Developing bespoke Shopify stores tailored to unique brand aesthetics and functionalities.

✅ UX/UI Design: Conducting in-depth research to understand target audience behaviors, ensuring designs that are both visually appealing and user-centric.

✅ Web Design: Seamlessly integrating branding into responsive web designs that perform optimally across all devices.

✅ Development: Building robust, scalable architectures and integrating third-party services to enhance store functionality.

✅ Maintenance: Providing ongoing support, updates, and issue resolution to ensure smooth operation of Shopify stores and apps.

✅ Customizations: Personalizing themes and adding custom features to optimize store performance.

✅ Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Analyzing conversion funnels and conducting A/B testing to boost sales and engagement.

My Background:

✅ Extensive Design Experience: Over a decade in the industry, specializing in UI/UX, web design, and branding.

✅ High-Profile Collaborations: Worked with renowned brands, delivering exceptional creative solutions that align with their vision.

✅ Leadership at Grumspot: Leading a talented team in delivering comprehensive Shopify solutions, from custom apps to store migrations.

At Grumspot, we are committed to deploying stellar Shopify solutions that propel your e-commerce business to new heights. Let's build something extraordinary together.

Follow me for the latest in the Shopify and ecommerce space:
X - https://x.com/stanpeev
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stanpeev

If you need support with anything Shopify-related, book an introductory call now - https://calendly.com/business-7my/grumspot-initial-project-meeting

Stan Peev

A moment of appreciation. It is absolutely insane how rewarding it is to build stuff in the Shopify ecosystem. There are a lot of people to be inspired by -from merchants who scale their online businesses to $50m/year global brands with a 10-person team to very young app developers building world-class applications serving thousands of merchants worldwide.

We've had the opportunity to work with people from Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, and the US, all from Grumspot's office in Sofia, Bulgaria.

We have built custom apps and storefronts for amazing brands, and we are building our own products all within the Shopify ecosystem.

Only 3 years ago, I didn't even know what I'd be doing next or even how I'd be able to pay my bills... 😂 What a time to be alive... thanks to everybody who is trusting us to build the technology powering their businesses, let's f***ing go!

We build Shopify apps written with enterprise-grade code.

It is common to hear us complaining about the state of affairs in Bulgaria. I'm talking about the deep-seated corruption in government and the constant stream of news stories about violent crimes and a lack of accountability. These are significant issues that affect our daily lives, and they deserve our attention.
But today offers a moment for a different kind of reflection. 

While we do have these struggles in our society, we tackle them without the sound of rockets and fighter jets overhead. In times when peace feels increasingly fragile, there is immense value in living in a country not directly involved in active warfare.

I am appreciating the safety we often take for granted and am truly grateful for a peaceful sky. 

Happy Liberation Day! 🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬

Had 39 Shopify App Store ad keywords running.

14 were off-target. 100% of spend went to irrelevant clicks. My campaign was doing nothing, mostly because I am a noob and know nothing about running ads. 

Used Claude to build a keyword analyzer that categorizes every keyword by intent, tracks position and visibility changes week over week, and tells me exactly what to pause, raise, or add.

Best find so far: a whitespace keyword getting 58% visibility at $2 bid while competitors ignore it.

The whole thing - audit, dashboard, recommendations - built in a single conversation inside my SelfServe: Shopify Order Editing & Upsells project. No code repo. No dev team. Just AI + a CSV export. You have to see this to believe it, it works.

So this is what building a Shopify apps actually looks like in 2026.

Everyone is losing their minds over these new Shopify limits, but I think it’s the best thing to happen to the platform in years.

A lot of apps treat metafields like a dumping ground for massive JSON blobs, slowing down every page load and making the merchant’s life a headache. By slashing that write capacity and tightening up app extensions, Shopify isn't just restricting us, I think they’re forcing us to build better.

The move to metaobjects is the real story here. It’s Shopify’s way of saying "stop hacking the system and start building structured data." It’s a shift from lazy storage to high-performance architecture.

At the end of the day, a faster storefront equals a better conversion rate. If an app can’t survive on a lean data diet, it probably shouldn't be running on a high-growth store anyway. The apps that embrace this now are the ones that will still be relevant when the 2026-04 version hits.

Constraints aren't the enemy, bloat is.

In 2025, the AI startup Icon bought Icon.com for $12 Million, and today I woke up to the news that they are now insolvent. Founders fall for the vanity trap all the time. They buy a gold-plated street number sign before they’ve even cleared the mortgage on the house. Icon spent a literal Series A round on a URL before they had a sustainable business model.

I just found icon.gg for $98k. 😂 Even at that premium price, it represents an $11.9 million discount compared to what they actually paid. That is nearly $12 million that could have gone toward product development, customer acquisition, or simply staying alive long enough to find product-market fit. 

If you're spending eight figures on a .com while your unit economics are underwater, you aren't building a legacy; you're just funding the domain seller’s retirement.

Yesterday, we are rolled out a massive new feature for SelfServe: Shopify Order Editing & Upsells: 

Your customers can now apply discount codes post-purchase with SelfServe. 🤩

Instead of flooding your inbox, your customers can simply go to their Order Status page, click "Edit Order," and apply the promo code they forgot.

SelfServe instantly validates the code, recalculates the order total, and automatically processes the partial refund or store credit (depending on how you've set it up in the app)

Zero support tickets. Zero manual accounting.

This will change the unit economics of your promotions. The anxiety gap is closed instantly. The customer goes from frustrated to relieved in 10 seconds, reinforcing trust.

You will also automate the single most tedious ticket of any BFCM or seasonal sale.

And the best part is that you prevent the "cancel and re-order" loop, which very often results in the customer just abandoning the second purchase entirely.

Stop treating forgotten promo codes like a customer service crisis. Treat them like a self-serve automation opportunity.

And last but not least - for anyone willing to give SelfServe a try - we offer the first month completely free! Just DM me and we will onboard you. ;)

The era of legacy Shopify customer accounts is officially coming to a close. While we don’t have a firm sunset date yet, but Shopify has made the deprecation official: new stores can no longer access them, and for the rest of us, the migration clock has started ticking.

We’ve held onto these legacy templates for years because of the heavy custom branding and specific functionality we built into them, but the wait and see period is over. With customer account extensibility, even merchants who aren't on Plus now have access to hundreds of apps to modernize their design and features. If you are an app developer and your integration isn't ready for this shift, the time to update is right now, or even yesterday. 

The benefits of moving to new customer accounts are finally outweighing the nostalgia of the old liquid files. You can already begin managing these customizations within your Checkout settings for order status, orders, and profile pages. 

It is time to stop delaying and start planning your migration.

taplio

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taplio

The Battle

Dipaq S

Stan Peev

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Engagements

Likes

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