Hang Xu shares why he’s trying to make recruitment more ethical, how candidates can secure the best possible compensation, and what to watch out for when working with recruiters. Highlights include: Why is it important to always go for the maximum salary available? What can a candidate do to positively influence a levelling decision? Why do candidates with the same skills get paid vastly different amounts? Do you still believe that candidates should sometimes go back on their word? What is...

A’verria Martin shares her remarkable story of reinvention, the challenges of establishing a global ReOps practice, and how she’s making the ‘seat at the table’ her own. Highlights include: How did you become a licensed marriage and family therapist? How did you navigate the transition from academia to industry? How have you worked with UXR leaders as you’ve built ReOps? How have you been developing your executive presence? How do you work with stakeholders to achieve your...

Alla Weinberg constructively unpacks unsafe workplace cultures, shares her thoughts on how we can change them, and why we should do just that. Highlights include: Why is the opposite of fear safety and not courage?   What do you focus on first when changing a culture? How can people read between the lines to better understand a culture? What have corporations forgotten about the humans that work for them? Can you create safety only as long as you don’t make your boss look bad? ====== Who is...

Jane Portman shares the twists and turns of becoming a founder, how it has changed her view on design’s value, and the role of writing in career success. Highlights include: Why is it best not to know in advance how difficult something is? What made you realise that UX is not a big part of startup success? Why is a product’s marketing website more important than the product? Why do designers need to understand their contribution to revenue? Why is it important for designers to also be good...

Wendy Johansson shares some of her leadership learnings, speaks frankly about the challenge of changing the status quo, and what she’s observed in the best designers. Highlights include: How do you balance your personal views with what’s best for your business? What can people ask themselves if they’re not able to effect change at work? Why is it important to focus changing the minds of the people in the middle? What can we do when we're asked to do something we strongly disagree with? Why is...

Ronnie Battista shares why it’s important to be true to yourself, how designers can maintain their relevance, and what separates pretenders from innovators. Highlights include: How did you come to play in a British punk band? Should more designers be taking on product management roles? Is UX strategy as relevant today as it was five years ago? What distinguishes those who innovate from those who don’t? What is Shoshin and why should we embrace it, right now? ====== Who is Ronnie...

Jon Fukuda illuminates the dark corners of enterprise DesignOps, reinforces the importance of connecting design to value, and shares what’s kept him consulting for nearly 20 years. Highlights include: What is the big lie of enterprises’ adoption of DesignOps? Why has IT largely left Design to implement its own systems? How do you frame the value of DesignOps to your customers? What does it mean to be culturally ready to embrace DesignOps? Are designers being laid off because their orgs. don’t...

Satyam Kantamneni shares how he articulates the value of design, why design is a profession and not a skill, and why there’s no such thing as a UX/UI designer. Highlights include: Why does the profession of design find itself in crisis? What surprises you about design leaders’ understanding of business value? What is the difference between design as a skill and design as a profession? Why do you want to be in the pain killer and not vitamin business? How do you encourage senior leaders to...

Irene Au shares some of the learnings from her stellar career, the early life experiences that have helped her to succeed, and the importance of sweating the right stuff. Highlights include: What role does the C-Suite play in a company’s ability to realise good design? How did you navigate the strong points of view of founder executives? What did you see in the designers you’ve hired that wasn’t in those you didn’t? Why do design leaders need to carefully choose their stakeholders? Why do you...

Sara Wachter-Boettcher inspires us through her actions, reminds us why it’s important to see shades of grey, and helps us to design the careers we actually want. Highlights include: Is it career limiting to enforce a work/life boundary? Do we have to accept that companies exist to serve shareholders? Should we ever sacrifice our wellbeing to solve important problems? Who or what inspired you to become a feminist leader? Why are some people uncomfortable with life’s shades of grey? ====== Who...

Alastair Simpson shares how rejection fuels progress, the role design has played in transforming Dropbox’s work culture, and how to build effective executive-level influence.  Highlights include: What is the beauty of rejection? Why don’t you like the phrase “getting a seat at the table”? Why have you designed your VP of design role so broadly? How have you supported people to find their feet with virtual-first? Why do you find business conversations intriguing and empowering? ====== Who is...

Jeff Gothelf shares his experiences travelling with the circus, why humility is essential for innovation, and the role design plays in breaking through local maximums. Highlights include: Why did you join the circus after graduating college? How do you help executives to embrace uncertainty? What is keyhole decision making and why is it a problem? What role should design play in breaking local maximums? Why do leaders need strong opinions that they’re willing to change? ====== Who is Jeff...

Shelley Evenson unpacks the challenges of designing for corporate innovation, the dark-side of design thinking, and how AI may help and hinder us. Highlights include: Why shouldn’t big corporates try to emulate startups? How is that we’re not designing experiences for people? What reservations do you have about corporate design thinking? How do we know if AI is providing us with accurate information? What role does timing play in the success or failure of innovation? ====== Who is Shelley...

Laith Ulaby shares his colourful journey from academia to applied, how frameworks articulate and influence thinking, and the role of power in practice. Highlights include: What is reflexivity and how is it useful for researchers? Should there be an independent body to oversee UX research? Has the democratisation of UX research been a positive thing? What are the dangers of using frameworks in shaping thinking? How has seeing yourself as a facilitator transformed your practice? ====== Who is...

Tom Greever speaks to the heart of articulating design decisions, becoming someone worth following, and making yourself an influential force for good design. Highlights include: Is it true that you occasionally wear costumes to meetings? What is it important for leaders to remember? Should you ever tell someone that you disagree with them? How can we get difficult stakeholders onboard? Why is important to be intentional in your relationships? ====== Who is Tom Greever? Tom is a Senior...

Noam Segal shares his early experiences working for the Israeli military, whether democratisation has been positive for UX, and the importance of telling a good story. Highlights include: What makes for an impactful research story?Why is NPS the worst thing to happen to UX research?Has the democratisation of UX research been a good thing?Has UX become less innovative since becoming part of enterprise?Why is it important for people in tech to believe in magic? ====== Who is Noam Segal? Noam is...

Andy Budd speaks frankly about designers’ limiting beliefs, the siren song of perfection, and how to start playing business better. Highlights include: How does one wrangle sharks at the Great Barrier Reef? What is the best way to ensure design is valued? How many designers does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Why should designers start playing poker and stop playing chess? What is the most limiting belief that design leaders have? ====== Who is Andy Budd? Andy is an independent executive...

Pete Sena shares his story of building a design agency from scratch, how he’s become a better person and leader along the way, and why each of us need to know our unique value.  Highlights include: What led a 'scrawny, introverted, nerdy kid’ to take up martial arts? What question does every designer need a compelling answer to? How has your self-image and what you value changed over-time? Do design leaders need to sacrifice personal time to stay relevant? How can something that we’re great...

Kat Vellos shares with us why we need meaningful friendship, what we can do to design better ones, and how to safely navigate uncharted conversational waters. Highlights include: How did a conversation with a stranger change your life? How do you ‘crack open the door’ to a more meaningful friendship? What role does company culture play in enabling meaningful connection? Should we have clear boundaries between our work life and home life? Why are we getting lonelier when we have so many tools...

Jonas Rinde delves into designing tech that doesn’t feel technical, the challenge of product-market fit, and his relationship with risk and adventure. Highlights include: How do you mitigate the risks of growing a startup? What can go wrong when you build a prototype too fast? How do you know what to pay attention to? Why do you want to make the technology disappear? Who gets to decide what makes it onto the product roadmap? ====== Who is Jonas Rinde? Jonas is the Co-Founder and CEO of...

Mike Monteiro sets fire to design orthodoxy, tech overlords, and his own Portuguese American history in this delightfully dark conversation. Highlights include: Why is it important to re-examine your beliefs? Why do you have nothing further to tell people? What shocked you about your Portuguese heritage? How is unionisation a positive thing for tech workers? Why do you want some people who listen to you to get angry? ====== Who is Mike Monteiro? Mike is the Design Director of Mule Design, the...

Julia DeBari shares her experience as a design recruiter,  how to navigate compensation and benefits, and what to ask to work out if a role is right for you. Highlights include: Why are recruiters told not to disclose salary ranges? When and how should you bring up compensation? Why should you invite doubt into a hiring conversation? What do designers need to know about recruitment? Why ask interviewers what makes them proud of their company? ====== Who is Julia DeBari? Julia is the head of...

Hussain Almossawi explores the mindset and practices he's successfully employed while designing products at some of the worlds most innovative companies. Highlights include: What is the first step in unlocking the potential of product innovation? Why is innovation an often overly complicated and opaque subject? How have you become comfortable with the risk and reality of failure? What is the biggest blocker of product innovation? What is the role of diversity in innovation? ====== Who is...

Jim Kalbach shares insights from jazz into collaboration, how experience maps help us navigate design, and why Jobs To Be Done deserves our attention. Highlights include: Why do we confuse ideas with innovation? What does it mean to have ‘big ears’ and how is that useful? How do you manage challenges to your recommendations? What gets in the way of effective collaboration? How can Jobs To Be Done help to find the right problems to fix? ====== Who is Jim Kalbach? Jim is the Chief Evangelist...

This is a special archived episode of Brave UX. Amy Santee encourages us to take control of our careers, to take action when we see something that’s not right, and to realise we have more power than we think we do. Highlights include: ⭐ Are jobs in UX and other ares of HCD b******t jobs?⭐ Why did you write and publish your own code of ethics?⭐ How do you help people to establish useful career goals?⭐ What should people considering a career change to think about?⭐ What can people do when they...