Ux Cake

In this episode we talk with the renown brand strategist Marty Neuemeier about a strategy framework he calls Agile Strategy. Marty’s written many strategy books - design strategy, brand strategy, business strategy - and his most recent book Scramble has a very unique approach to the business book genre. It’s set as a novel - Marty calls it a ‘business thriller’ I haven’t read any other business book like it. Marty tells us about why agile strategy is more likely to create innovation and bold change, what are some things to keep in mind if you want your brilliant strategy to see the light of day, and what anyone - from business executives to design leaders to individual contributors - how we all can use this framework for more effective outcomes.Marty is a keynote speaker at Interaction19 - learn more at interaction19.ixda.orgFollow Marty on Twitter @martyneumeierBOOKS & LINKSScramble: How agile strategy can build epic brands in record timeZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance BrandsThe Design

Ep #27: I’m really excited to share with you my conversation with John Maeda — about Reinvention. This episode covers a lot of ground John talked about why we should focus on recover fast vs. fail fast, why inclusive design is so important, and why we should be using Anpanman to train our AI platforms. John is well known for so many things, across design, tech, and business worlds. He wrote one of my favorite books, titled “The Laws of Simplicity.” He’s also written extensively on design, leadership, and technology, has been a professor at MIT Media Lab, the president of Rhode Island School of Design, he has been and is an advisor and board member of many startups and companies, and for the last 3 or so years he has been the global head of computational design and inclusion at Automattic. Whether you know who John is or not, you’re in for a real treat because he’s just so insightful, and truly enjoyable to listen to. John will be speaking at the Interaction19 conference in S

Ep #26: This week we are talking about designing the impossible, with Dr. Nelly Ben Hyoun, founder and experience designer of Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios in London. They create large scale, extreme experiences like being an astronaut, or erupting volcanos, or recreating natural disasters, for organizations as diverse as Nasa, the European Space Agency, Google, Mattel, Nike, Lego, the list goes on and on. So designing impossible things is just part of every day for Nelly and her teams — and even though it sounds kind of wonderful and magical, maybe the end result is magical but the process is what she calls Brutal. And for her, that is a critical aspect of anything that is good design - there has to be contention or friction in creating something meaningful, what you get from a plurality of thinking, through a multi-disciplinary team.Besides creating magnificent experiences at Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios, she’s also founded the University of the Underground in London, created an international Space Orchest

Ep. #25: This week we’re talking about designing withdisability, rather than fordisability, with my guest Liz Jackson. Liz is a disability advocate who is trying to shift the disability narrative. We talked about how the way we currently approach disability in design can actually cause more problems that solutions for people with disabilities, and how language -  phrases we commonly use in design, like accessibility and inclusion, and even design thinking methodology - makes disabled people the recipients, rather than the drivers, of design. And what a product or design team can do to get the perspectives they need and make sure that disabled people are treated as the experts in disability.(Transcript available online)Follow The Disabled List on Instagram and TwitterFollow Liz Jackson on Twitterwww.disabledlist.orgFROM THE SHOWRie Norregaard- SY PartnersMedium article: Designing for Humanity: Do we need a new design frame?Workshop Proceedin

Ep. #24: Welcome to season 2! We are kicking the season off with a fascinating conversation about changing the world with design, with Don Norman. Don Norman has been a well-known name in the design field for over 30 years, and is currently Director of Design Lab at UC San Diego, where he spoke to us from, in between trips around the world spreading the practice of design to change the world. You might know Don from his book The Design of Everyday Things, or maybe you know him as a co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, or any one of the other many influential writingsand talks and work he’s created. Don is generally recognized as one of the early framers of the discipline we now call user experience, which is a term he coined while he was a VP at Apple, though he really doesn’t like how the term UX is being used -- it’s often misused, it’s overused and it’s lost its original intent. He talked about that a little in our conversation, but mostly we talked about why, and how, designers and

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Ayse Birsel, a renown designer and the co-founder of Birsel + Seck, an award-winning design and innovation studio in NY, working with Herman Miller, IKEA, and Toyota, among others. Ayse is also the creator of Design the Life You Love, which is a guide for anyone who wants to create their very best life. Ayse developed this transformative process when she decided to try out a design methodology she created called Deconstruction-Reconstruction, on her own life. Also, we talked about how this is a process you can apply to designing anything - a product, a team, a company, even a family! We did not, however, sing a song. Next time.Ayse is going to be a keynote speaker at Interaction19 in February, IxDA’s global conference, which I’m excited to say will be held in Seattle this year! This year’s conference looks amazing - Go to interaction19.ixda.org to learn more and register.Show highlights:As designers and leaders, we should improve people’s lives and help peop

I recently joined a start-up called Spruce Up so topics related to startups have been top-of-mind for me. In this episode of UX Cake, I am joined by Phillip Hunter of Pulse Labs and Cassie Wallender of Invio, Inc. We really enjoyed recording live in Seattle and had a candid conversation about the challenges and benefits of being in UX at a start-up and shared the techniques we have found effective while working in this type of start-up environment. Phillip Hunter is VP of Products at Pulse Labs in Seattle, WA, and has designed and created strategy for voice-based products and services for hundreds of customer service systems, and has led, managed, inspired, trained, and mentored hundreds of UX and product management professionals. Cassie Wallender is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Invio, Inc in Seattle. Cassie is an effective senior contributor and team manager in both product and design for several successful startups (iLike, acquired by Myspace for over $20m in 2009, and Appature, acq

This week on UX Cake I had a chance to catch up with David and Mary Sherwin about their new book, Turning People Into Teams. I love this topic — how do we go from being just a bunch individual people with different motivations, attitudes, working styles, communication styles, into a team where the whole is better than the sum parts? It’s about redesigning the way we work together. And the exciting thing about it is that it can happen in small incremental ways; it doesn’t mean a big re-org or overhaul. This is great for all kinds of working collaboration with very practical techniques you can put into place. David and Mary Sherwin are co-founders of Ask The Sherwins, LLC, a consulting and training firm that helps organizations around the world develop the capabilities they need for stronger teamwork. They have coached product and service design teams and developed innovation training for organizations such as Philips Oral Healthcare, Google UX Community and Culture, and Eventbrite. The Sherwins

Even if we consider ourselves advocates for diversity and inclusion when it comes to considering gender, race, age, LGBTQ or ableness, how do we stretch ourselves even further? How can we create a truly diverse team in thought, background, and culture, and how do we make sure we are creating products that are inclusive to all? How do we break the molds that are exclusive in their very nature? On today’s show, I have a candid conversation with Timothy Bardlavens, an outspoken advocate for equity, about cultivating a culture of diversity and inclusion, and what that really means.Timothy Bardlavens is a Product Design Leader, Cultural Strategist and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Specialist who approaches Organizational Culture challenges through the lens of of Design strategy. His work shifts the focus of DEI from a Human Resources to a User Experience challenge, helping business leaders to understand teams, organizations and companies are designed entities which need unique approaches to cultivat

Ep. #19: Much of the time we like to work independently, maybe because of work environment, preference, or pride. And yet we know there are great benefits and advantages to working as a team and collaborating with other people. This week’s episode is a re-edit of episode 3, one of my favorite episodes, when I spoke with David and Mary Sherwin, co-founders of Ask the Sherwins, about doing the impactful work we want to do, through improved collaboration and effective teams. David and Mary work with companies and teach workshops around the globe about effective teamwork and affecting change within the workplace. In this interview we discussed how to affect change when there doesn’t seem to be much traction, how to get collaboration from teams across orgs, helpful resources like the Sherwins’ Team Words, and much more. The Sherwins help teams 'make better cake' (we love that!) and you can learn more on their website at askthesherwins.com where you can also find advice, info about their books and product

Ep. #18: Over the past few years we’ve seen a growing trend of designer founded startups. There are a few really notable designer-founded startups like — Airbnb, Kickstarter and Lynda.com have paved the way… and in general startups are realize the value of user-centered design as a competitive differentiator, so there’s definitely more value placed on design and user experience. But the designer as founder is still not the norm for startups. This week I’m talking with designer-founder Will Sykora of Covailnt, to find out more about the benefits and challenges he's faced as a designer in the startup world. ​Will Sykora is a Product and UX Designer, and startup founder. When not focused on Covailnt, he works with companies to craft, validate, and focus their product experiences on their customers. Over the years, he's experienced the success that comes from putting people first, staying grounded in empathy, and delivering on custome

Ep. #17: Using tarot cards to create outcomes-focused designis a very out-of-the-box approach, and yet it's actually really simple and approachable. In this episode I talked with Sheryl Cababa, an executive creative director at Artefact Group design agency, about their Tarot Cards of Tech. It's a card deck of prompts for team discussions, a fun product that's meant to be playful, but with a serious purpose – to get teams thinking differently about their strategy and design. In this fun interview we touch on everything from British vs american spelling, and "satanic strategists,” to the more serious subject of design ethics and taking responsibility for the consequences of the products we create. But mostly we discussed how to use these cards to think more broadly about the bigger picture of your strategy and design."Think first about the outcomes you want to achieve, and work backwards from that."Sheryl is a multi-disciplinary executive creative director at Artefact Gro

Ep. #16: This special episode of uxcake was a panel discussion recorded live in front of an audience in Seattle on June 28. If you’ve been in ux design or research for awhile, it's almost certain you’ve been involved in a review of your work, or your team’s work, and chances are you’ve experienced a review that goes off the rails, or that causes chaos after the fact, or you just don't get the feedback you really need. In this episode we discuss lessons learned and techniques you can use to make ux reviews more effective, and how to prepare for, and deal with, the sharks and the other perils that can derail ux reviews.My guests on the panel were Laura Barboza, a CX Research Strategist at REI, (you can also hear Laura on UX Cake podcast episodes 11 & 12); Tony Yates, Director of Design Strategy at Smartsheet; Laura Blanchard, co-founder and creative director of Blamo Corps Agency; and Ruth Kiken-gil, a product designer and innovation strategist at 

Ep. #15: Have you ever had a meeting with a stakeholder or client who you thought you were in alignment with, and afterward thought “What the heck just happened in there?” Well it happened often enough to Morag Johnston and her team that she’s created a website and blog dedicated to the problem of understanding client dynamics, called understandingclients.com. Morag is a digital strategist and leadership coach at Effective by Design in Toronto, Canada, and she joined me for a conversation about how to have more effective UX outcomes through understanding client dynamics, and she shares some specific techniques she uses to do this.Show links:Four Stages of Learning model: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_stages_of_competenceBooks on Influence by Robert CialdiniInfluence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert CialdiniInfluence: Science and Practice by Robert CialdiniPre-suasion: Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini Connect with Morag JohnstonLinkedInMoragjohnston

Ep. #14: Besides needing strong technical skills, much of the work in UX and in our careers requires convincing others, about our ideas, our work, or our ability to do the work we want to do. My guest is Fiz Yazdi, a managing director at cxpartners in London and Bristol, UK. Fiz developed an approach to selling based on what’s called a ‘consultative’ model which Fiz adapted into a simple framework she uses in her own UX practice and has begun sharing it with others.Fiz Yazdi is generously offering her tips on 'Getting the work you want to do' to UX Cake listeners, so you can see the full details of her framework. Get a link to download the PDF from UX CakeBooks referenced in the podcast:The Challenger Sale by Matthew Dixon & Brent AdamsonSPIN Selling by Neil RackhamConsultative Selling by Mack HananConnect with Fiz and cxpartnerslinkedin.com/in/fizyazdi/www.cxpartners.co.uk/Twitter: @cxpartners Connect with UX Cake!Twitter @uxcake_FB @uxcakepodcastInstagram @uxcake www.u

Ep. #13: No one would argue about the relationship between UX and development being a critical one, but it’s not easy. Join us for a conversation with Jaime Lopez, an experienced developer and co-host of the More Than Just Code podcast (www.mtjc.fm) about the UX and developer relationship, creating solutions together, and increasing collaboration and communication.Jaime is an experienced software developer with a focus on iOS development. He led the iOS development team at OfferUp where he helped make the buying and selling experience simpler, faster, and safer. Jaime is currently an iOS developer at Simple, where he helps make personal banking delightful. He also worked on the StoreMode™ technologies at Point Inside. Jaime often enjoys a nice cup of coffee and conversation on various topics. He is also a co-host of the More Than Just Code podcast. mtjc.fm and also a co-host of the Star Trek Discovery podcast, Spockcast spockcast.fireside.fmConnect with Jaime on Twitter:twitter.com/devwiththeha

Ep. #12: Part 2 of Leigh & Laura's conversation about freelancing. In this episode we focus on ways to be more effective in your freelance career, from finding and managing clients to managing balance, and continuing to grow in your career. If freelancing is something you’re considering, or maybe you’ve been doing it for awhile and wondering what other people do, or what mistakes other people make, then listening to our experiences might fill in some blanks. And for lots more online resources, check out the show notes page on our site at uxcake.co, where you can also get the UX Brief template we mention, for your own client on-boarding. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep. #11: In this episode, Leigh and Laura discuss being an independent UX pro — contract, freelance, or consulting. The flexibility is what draws a lot of people to independent work, whether it's to have more time to travel or more time for family or a hobby, but of course there are drawbacks as well. Is there a personality type that works better for independent work? What are the benefits and drawbacks during different parts of your career? How does it affect your career over the long run? If you’ve been wondering if it might be for you, tune in to the conversation. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep. #10: We’re talking with Tamara Adlin, a persona pioneer, about a process for creating personas that not only aligns executives and stakeholders, but that also actually gets those personas used. Tamara’s honed this process over the last decade, and she shares with us what "alignment personas" are, how and why she creates them, and how you can create them too. Plus, how to navigate this potentially political process that is fraught with danger! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ep. #9: Many UX practitioners are interested in transitioning into emerging technology but aren’t sure where to start, or what that path looks like. In this episode we’re talking about the practical aspects of getting into augmented, virtual, or mixed reality, with Di Dang, who’s a UX specialist in AR/VR, and leads an emerging tech department at POP agency in Seattle. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.