Dave Gray describes himself as a possibilitarian. He focuses on helping people and teams realize their creative potential. Dave the author of several influential books, including Liminal Thinking and Gamestorming, which he co-authored with Sunni Brown and James Macanudo. He also founded the pioneering visual thinking company XPLANE. In this conversation, we discuss how to move beyond mental models that constrain us to open up new possibilities. Show notes Dave GrayDave Gray - LinkedInThe...

Nikki Anderson is an independent user research consultant, instructor, author, and speaker. Nikki uses her background in education and psychology to mentor people and organizations on the value of user research. And now, she’s written a book to help them build up their research operations. That’s the focus of our conversation today. Show notes Nikki AndersonImpact: A complete guide to creating a user research practice at your organization by Nikki AndersonUser Research AcademyUser Research...

Michael Anton Dila describes himself as a “designer of conversation” and someone with a passion for starting things. Among the things he’s started are ventures in online learning, co-working, and mobile technology. He’s also held several leadership roles in an elite innovation unit in the U.S. Department of Defense. In this conversation, we discuss his latest initiative, Oslo for AI, which seeks to design better processes for governing artificial intelligence. Show notes Michael Anton...

Dave Elfving is an experience designer and educator. He spent eleven years at apple, where his last role was as Head of Interactive Strategy. These days, he’s my colleague teaching interaction design at the California College of the Arts. He’s also co-chairperson at Gray Area, a San Francisco-based nonprofit interdisciplinary cultural incubator. Gray Area is fostering fascinating work, and I wanted to discuss it with Dave. Show notes Dave Elfving - LinkedInaught.ioGray AreaRafael...

Joey deVilla describes himself as an experienced, engaging, accordion-playing, golden-voiced developer advocate looking for a new role. He’s had a long career in the technology space and writes about his experiences in two long-running blogs, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the Twenty-First Century and Global Nerdy. Recently, Joey became one of the many people in tech who’s lost their job in the last couple of years. That is the subject of our conversation today. Show notes 🪗 Joey...

Elizabeth McGuane is a UX director at Shopify and the author of Design by Definition, a book about the impact of language in user experience. As you might imagine, that’s a subject I’m keenly interested in, so I was excited to speak with Elizabeth about it. Show notes Elizabeth McGuane - LinkedInElizabeth McGuane – MediumDesign by Definition by Elizabeth McGuaneShopifyIntercomEames chairsShow notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these...

Pierluigi Dalla Rosa is an interaction designer at Humane, the makers of the AI Pin. But that isn’t the focus of our conversation today. Instead, we discuss novel computer interfaces in general, and interactive environments in particular. This is a subject that’s near to my heart, as it points to exciting possibilities for future digital experiences. Show notes pierdr - Pier’s websitePierluigi Dalla Rosa - LinkedInpier dr (@pierdr) - InstagramIxD Research (@ixdresearch) -...

Nathan Shedroff is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and educator. Like me, he teaches at the graduate interaction design program of the California College of the Arts. This conversation focuses on his new book, A Whole New Strategy, which teaches strategic thinking. Show notes Nathan ShedroffDesign Strategy MBA - CCAA Whole New Strategy by Nathan ShedroffHenry MintzbergCharles EamesPorter’s five forces analysisSWOT analysisDouble Diamond (design process model) Regis McKennaAdobe...

This episode is a compilation of conversations from 2023. It’s not meant as a best-of collection, but an opportunity to highlight some themes that emerged during our conversations throughout the year. The episode is also an experiment, with the themes being curated partly by an AI. Cover photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash. Show notes Episode 107: Michael Becker on Knowledge WorkEpisode 108: Carrie Hane on Content ModelsEpisode 110: Nicole van der Hoeven on ObsidianEpisode 111: Andy...

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve and I both have new books, so we thought it’d be fun to compare notes on writing non-fiction. In this, the second of two episodes on the subject, we focus on the process of writing. If you haven’t done so already, listen to our previous conversation, which focused on our motivations. Show notes Steve PortigalSteve Portigal - LinkedInPortigal...

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve was previously on the show last year, talking about research skills. This conversation is a bit different: both of us have written new books, and we thought it’d be fun to compare notes about the process. We decided to split our conversation into two parts. This episode focuses on the motivations for writing, and the second part will focus on...

Audrey Crane is the Head of Growth at DesignMap, a product and strategy design firm. She’s also the author of What CEOs Need to Know About Design, a book that helps leaders understand and tap into the power of design in their organizations. In this, Audrey’s second appearance on the show, we focused on how organizations can ensure they’re getting the best design work for their money. Show notes Audrey Crane - LinkedInDesignMapWhat CEOs Need to Know About Design by Audrey CraneBanish Shadow...

Nate Davis is an independent information architecture consultant and a longtime contributor to the global IA community. In this conversation, we discuss his ideas about IA sub-disciplines that influence the construction of digital user interfaces. Show notes Nathaniel Davis - LinkedInMethodbrainFour Information Architecture Disciplines Every Team Should Consider When Building Digital User Interfaces by Nate DavisGPT-4 - WikipediaShow notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small...

Karl Voit describes himself as “a life hacker trying to make deliberate decisions on every aspect of life.” Among these are the tools he uses to manage his personal information. In particular, Karl is an avid user of Org Mode in Emacs, which is the focus of this conversation. Show notes public voit - Homepage of Karl VoitKarl Voit on Mastodon (@[email protected])Filofax - WikipediaFranklin Planner - WikipediaLaTeX - A document preparation systemEmacs - WikipediaEmacs Lisp -...

Karl Fast is an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist. He’s the co-author with Stephen Anderson of Figure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding. Karl is one of the most avid readers I know, and in this conversation, we compare our reading practices. We discussed this subject in preparation for a personal knowledge management workshop we will teach later this year. Show notes Karl Fast - LinkedInThe Informed Life episode 69 - Karl Fast on Interactionism,...

Jenae Cohn is the Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley. Along with Michael Greer, Jenae recently published Design for Learning, a book about how to teach better using technology, and what online teachers and instructors can learn from UX designers. Show notes Jenae CohnJenae Cohn, PhD - LinkedInDesign for Learning: User Experience in Online Teaching and Learning by Jenae Cohn and Michael GreerCenter for Teaching & Learning - UC BerkeleyCalifornia...

Sönke Ahrens is an independent researcher and coach. He is best known as the author of How to Take Smart Notes, a popular book on the zettelkasten method of note-taking. In this conversation, we discuss the role of notes in thinking and learning, with a focus on zettelkasten-inspired note-taking. Show notes Sönke AhrensHow to Take Smart Notes by Sönke AhrensNiklas Luhmann - WikipediaBielefeld UniversityZettelkasten - WikipediaLuhmann’s digitized zettelkastenPersonal wiki - WikipediaThe...

Chiara Ogan is a former UX designer and information architect. She recently left that career to become a mental health therapist. Chiara’s background is in library science, and in this conversation, we discuss how she organizes her personal book collection — which she just did in preparation for this major life change. Show notes Chiara OganChiara (Berlingo Fox) Ogan - LinkedInInformation Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-scale Web Sites by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter...

Alex Wright is the Head of User Experience at Google News. He’s also an author, and his most recent book, Informatica, is the second edition of Glut, his deep history of the information age. In this conversation, we discuss the history of information technologies and why learning about it matters to people who work in tech. Show notes Alex WrightAlex Wright (@alexgrantwright) / XAlex Wright - LinkedInInformatica: Mastering Information through the Ages by Alex WrightCataloging the World: Paul...

Aidan Helfant is a college student who’s using personal knowledge management (PKM) to improve his learning. He’s also sharing his methods and tools to help other college students succeed. In this conversation, we unpack Aidan’s approach to note-taking for learning. Show notes Aidan HelfantAidan Helfant - YouTubeAidan’s newsletterAidan’s blogAidan Helfant (@AidanHelfant) / TwitterAli AbdaalBuilding a Second BrainThe PARA Method: The Simple System for Organizing Your Digital Life in...

Maggie Appleton is a product designer at Ought, an AI research lab that’s working on ways to scale open-ended thinking with machine learning. She’s also an advocate of sharing personal knowledge online. She publishes one of the best digital gardens I’ve seen, located at maggieappleton.com. In this conversation, we discuss the what, why, and how of digital gardening. Show notes Maggie AppletonMaggie Appleton on TwitterOught[Metaphors We Live](https://amzn.to/43q0eEj) By by George Lakoff and...

Bob Kasenchak is a taxonomist and information architect at Factor. This is the second of two episodes with Bob that focus on what information architects can learn from music. The first conversation, which you can find in episode 116, focused on the structure of music itself. Today’s conversation focuses on how we can make music more findable — but there are insights here for anyone working with any type of information, not just music. Show notes Bob Kasenchak - LinkedInBob Kasenchak...

Bob Kasenchak is a taxonomist and information architect at Factor. Bob’s background is in music, and this conversation delves into what information architects can learn from studying music. We recorded two conversations on the subject: this one focuses on the structure of music itself, and the second covers how we can make music more findable. Look for that one in an upcoming episode. Show notes Bob Kasenchak - LinkedInBob Kasenchak (@taxobob) - TwitterFactorSynapticaAccess InnovationsIAC:...

Are Halland has worked in digital product development, strategy, design, and communication for over a quarter of a century. During that time, he created the core model, a tool for designing websites and products that align business goals and user needs. He has now written a book about the core model, which is due to be published later this year. In this conversation, he explains what the core model is and how it can help us create more effective digital products. Show notes Are Halland -...