Experience Designed

Dr. Nick Fine⁠ is user research leader, known for advocating standards within the broader UX design community. He is also a recurring guest on our podcast. In this follow-up session, we continue exploring the theme of 'Better at UX Research than AI' and delve into the future of user research practices. We discuss how the UX industry and its user-centric approach will evolve over the next five years, emphasizing the significance of evaluative research in today's landscape, among other topics.

Kevin Richard⁠⁠ is a strategist, critical thinking and design leader. Also, a regular guest on the podcast with whom we dive into industry intricacies and specific hot topics. In this episode, we will revisit sustainable futures, in particular, the Solarpunk as an upcoming design trend. We will also chat about the vanishing UX industry and often problematic positioning of design in businesses.

Cal Thompson (they/them) is a design leader and the VP of User Experience at Headspace. They are leading a talented and mindful team of researchers and designers. Cal has extensive experience working with emerging tech, enterprise and customer experience challenges. In this conversation, we will focus on strategic product design, how UX is done at Headspace, what matters most to them when crafting mindful experiences, a career in design tips and much more.

Debbie Levitt, MBA, a CX leader focused on strategy, research and Human-Centered Design/User-Centered Design. She’s the author of a recently published Customer Know You Suck book which covers actionable CX strategies to understand, attract, and retain customers. In this session, we discuss her book, the tech industry dysfunctions, how UX professionals are being gaslighted and ideas to correct the course for designers and tech teams alike.

Dan Saffer is a UX design leader, author and assistant professor at CMU Human-Computer Interaction Institute. Dan's work has directly influenced my career development as such this conversation will also be extremely valuable to buddying and leading user researchers, designers and product managers. We discuss everything AI: the industry, the good and not-so-great examples, principles that UXers and product folk should keep in mind and much more.

Hang Xu is a UX leader turned recruiter and one of the most prominent design industry figures on Linkedin. In this session, we discuss the current state of the UX industry and what's to come. We also will delve into job-seeking aspects and what designers need to showcase in their portfolio to land the job in probably the most difficult time in history. Hang will also share his philosophy on what makes and breaks UX portfolios and much more.

In this episode, I'm talking to strategist and designer ⁠Kevin Richard⁠. We delve into a few sustainable futures-focused topics and how designers can design them. In particular, Kevin shares his thoughts and ideas about Solarpunk as a concept and assemblage of narratives that could inspire more sustainable action.

Jennifer Blatz is a UX leader, strategist, and co-founder of the UX Research and Strategy group. We delve into the world of user personas in UX, exploring their strengths, limitations, and innovative alternatives. Jennifer introduces her latest framework, the Scenario Alignment Canvas, aimed at aiding product teams in fostering a deeper understanding of their users.

Steve Bromley is a highly regarded figure in the user research community, renowned for his expertise in game user research and playtesting. He has authored numerous books aimed at developing and guiding researchers. In this session, we will delve into the distinctive aspects of conducting playtests, explore his insights gained from both the gaming and software development industries, and discuss the future of UX research.

In this episode, I'm talking with Michelle P., a UXer, product marketing researcher and former community manager at Fatshark Games. Michelle shares her unique perspective from her community-building experiences in the gaming industry. We will draw a lot of learnings and parallels to more standard/web product and service community building. As well as explore the user research nuances and the differences between healthy and performant communities.

In this episode, I'm talking with Daiana Zavate, Krasi Bozhinkova and Kevin Richard - the strategic design trio who most recently published a new strategy framework for business and product teams and strategic professionals called Multi-Ocean Strategy Framework. In this session, we will deconstruct this framework, discuss its application and benefits and more. Make sure to check more information to familiarise and start using it here and here.

In this episode, I'm talking with Samuel Huber. Samuel is one of the leading voices for planet-centric design, design thinking for AI coach, one of the founding members of For Planet Strategy Lab and many other things that we will cover in this session. We will also discuss strategy prototyping, human-centred design pitfalls and how absolutely anyone can create sustainability-focused movements within their organizations.

In this episode, I'm talking with Dr. Nick Fine. Nick has been one of the leading UX researchers and a bold voice for the wider UX design community. He has kickstarted initiatives like UX Psychology, as well as influenced the development of user-centric design standards and methods. We will discuss a few hot topics, such as AI and automation tools being a potential threat to UX research and design, ongoing job market difficulties and how to stay relevant and many more topics.

In this episode, I'm talking with Sean McGuire. Sean is a design thinker and author of his own Billboard design thinking method, UX architect, and master workshop facilitator at Microsoft. We will cover recent controversies around design thinking, what meaningful and impactful workshops are like, how empathy and a new setting to bring people together can work as an antidote to egos, and many more topics.

In this episode, I’m joined by strategist and designer Kevin Richard. Kevin is a critical, design, systems, and strategic thinker and practitioner. As part of the wider discussion on handling uncertainty and complexity, we will cover how designers can become more strategic, he shares his take on what strategy really means.

In the first episode of the Experience Designed podcast, I'll share a few underlying notions: the upcoming end of the hackers and painters era with the rise of automation, future thinking, and why now is the right time to reflect on what matters in designing experience for products and services that work not only today but years later too, guest appearances, the building of the collective intelligence and many more factors that will all shape the upcoming episodes.