Design Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with inspiring guests across diverse creative fields, to help you hone your craft, unlock your creative potential, and learn the art of collaboration. Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re rewinding to one of our favorite episodes from our 6th season, with Vicki Tan. Vicki is a designer and author, who is now a staff product designer at Pinterest. When we spoke with her, Vicki was an associate principal product designer at Spotify, and Earlier in her career, she was a senior product designer at Headspace, worked on communication and UX design at Google and product design at Lyft. Find full show notes, bonus content, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/rewind-vicki-tan Original episode description Vicki Tan has worked at companies that change the way we travel, think about our mental health, and access music from around the globe. To each of these roles she has brought her background in psychology, to better understand the needs of the people using these products. We chat with Vicki about some of the things she has learned over the course of her career, from Lyft to Headspace to Spotify, how her creative process has changed over the years, and how her team does research.  Vicki also talks about why she regularly takes a sabbatical from her work, and why “finding umami” is important to figuring out the core mission of a company.  Bio Vicki Tan is a Staff Product Designer at Pinterest. Earlier in her career, she was an Associate Principal Product Designer at Spotify, a senior product designer at Headspace, worked on communication and UX design at Google, and product design at Lyft. According to Frank Yoo, design director at Lyft, Vicki “is positive and thoughtful and puts as much care into people and teams as she does creating the artifacts themselves.”   *** Premium Episodes on Design Better This ad-supported episode is available to everyone. If you’d like to hear it ad-free, upgrade to our premium subscription, where you’ll get an additional 2 ad-free episodes per month (4 total). Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, early and discounted access to workshops, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show.   Upgrade to paid *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Join us for a coffee break with our friends at Methodical Coffee. In this segment, Methodical Coffee co-founder Will Shurtz teaches us how to select the right roast for our preferred flavor profile. Select your own preferred roast at methodicalcoffee.com, and use code "designbetter" for 10% off of your order. Zeplin: Few things frustrate designers quite as much as seeing the UI they’ve meticulously designed, botched when built out. But Zeplin can help you make every design-to-dev handoff efficient and accurate so you nail every release on time and on budget. Design Better listeners can get their first month of the Basic Plan free. Just go to zeplin.io and use code DESIGNBETTER to get your first month of the Basic Plan free. LinkedIn: Design Better is supported by our pals at LinkedIn—our favorite social network. It’s hard to get your B2B marketing to land with the right audience. Let’s face it, the web can be a very noisy place! If your message isn’t targeted to the right audience—it just disappears into the noise.  With LinkedIn Ads, you can precisely reach the professionals who are more likely to find your ad relevant. With LinkedIn's targeting capabilities, you can reach people by job title, industry, company, and more. Start converting your B2B audience into high quality leads today. To get a $100 credit on your next campaign go to LinkedIn/designbetter to claim your credit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi folks! We hope your summer is going well. Aarron and I are traveling and spending some time with our families this week, so we thought we’d rewind to one of our favorite episodes, with Julie Zhuo. The episode came to mind because one of our listeners asked us what episodes we’d recommend to someone who is growing their team, and Julie’s book The Making of Manager has a lot of helpful advice.  Find the full episode, transcript, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/rewind-julie-zhuo We also suggested Tony Fadell’s episode to our listener…the inventor of the iPhone and iPod has some great tips about hiring people who are skilled but don’t necessarily have the experience that ticks all the boxes of the posted job description. We first aired the interview with Julie back in 2019, when she was the VP of Product Design at Facebook. Since then, she’s gone on to found her own company called Sundial, with the mission to help teams make faster, smarter decisions with data. Original episode description Listen as Julie Zhuo, former VP of Product Design at Facebook and author of The Making of a Manager, recalls some of her earliest professional experiences at one of the fastest growing companies on the planet. She reveals how she got her start and grew to be a highly influential design leader renowned for building top-notch teams. Julie talks about the difference between leading and managing, and shares personal examples that can help you advance your career. Bio Julie Zhuo started building products as employee ~100 at Facebook and went on to head up product design for the Facebook app for many years. She’s kept a blog called The Looking Glass, about design, technology and leadership for much of that time. In 2019 she wrote a bestselling leadership book called The Making of a Manager. Currently, she’s living the entrepreneurial journey with her start-up Sundial whose mission is to help teams make faster, smarter decisions with data. *** Premium Episodes on Design Better This ad-supported episode is available to everyone. If you’d like to hear it ad-free, upgrade to our premium subscription, where you’ll get an additional 2 ad-free episodes per month (4 total). Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, early and discounted access to workshops, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show.   Upgrade to paid *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Zeplin: Few things frustrate designers quite as much as seeing the UI they’ve meticulously designed, botched when built out. But Zeplin can help you make every design-to-dev handoff efficient and accurate so you nail every release on time and on budget. Design Better listeners can get their first month of the Basic Plan free. Just go to zeplin.io and use code DESIGNBETTER to get your first month of the Basic Plan free. Greenlight: Years ago, Aarron and Eli set up their kids with Greenlight, a debit card and money app made for families. Their allowance is automatically deposited into their account and is divided into three buckets: spending, saving, and giving. With Greenlight’s investing tools, we’ve helped our kids learn how to invest in stocks and mutual funds and they can see those investments grow. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free: http://greenlight.com/designbetter Babbel: Babbel’s quick 10-minute lessons are hand-crafted by over 200 language experts to help you start speaking a new language in as little as 3 weeks. Here's a special, (limited time) deal for our listeners: Right now get up to 60% off your Babbel subscription by visiting http://babbel.com/designbetter. Rules and restrictions may apply. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find full show notes, bonus content and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/rewind-sara-seager It’s a holiday week—happy 4th of July to those celebrating it 🎆—so we’re rewinding to one of our favorite episodes. NASA has been making a lot of headlines with the discovery of planets outside of our solar system that may harbor life, and our guest, Sara Seager, is a big part of these pioneering projects. While we have you here, make sure to check out some of our upcoming workshops and a Design Better happy hour in August, in San Francisco. Early and discounted access goes to our premium members, and we’ll be opening up tickets next week to everyone. *** If you’re lucky enough to look up into a clear night sky and see the thousands of stars visible to the naked eye, it’s hard not to wonder, “are there other planets like ours out there?” Our guest for this episode, Professor Sara Seager, is on a mission to discover potentially habitable planets outside our solar system.  Sara is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT, and to discover these exoplanets, she relies not only on her own brilliance—she’s the recipient of a Macarthur Fellowship, otherwise known as the “Genius Grant”—but also on some pretty extreme collaboration across different disciplines. In the course of our conversation, we talk to Sara about how these teams push beyond initial friction, and how giving herself permission to fail has driven much of her success. Sara is also the author of a memoir titled The Smallest Lights in the Universe, and we talk to her about the book and bringing her full self to work Bio Sara Seager is the Class of 1941 Professor of Planetary Science, Professor of Physics, and Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her past research is credited with laying the foundation for the field of exoplanet atmospheres, while her current research focuses on exoplanet atmospheres and the future search for signs of life by way of atmospheric biosignature gases.  Professor Seager is involved with a number of space-based exoplanet searches including as the Deputy Science Director for the MIT-led NASA mission TESS, as the PI for the on-orbit JPL/MIT CubeSat ASTERIA, and as a lead for Starshade Rendezvous Mission (a space-based mission concept under technology development for direct imaging discovery and characterization of Earth analogs). *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee HelloFresh: At the end of a busy workday, it’s hard to muster the energy to put together a healthy meal. Cut down on time spent in the kitchen so you can get back to enjoying the summer sunshine and the people you love thanks to HelloFresh’s Quick & Easy recipes. Go to hellofresh.com/designbetterapps for FREE appetizers for life! One appetizer item per box while subscription is active. Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Greenlight: Years ago, Aarron and Eli set up their kids with Greenlight, a debit card and money app made for families. Their allowance is automatically deposited into their account and is divided into three buckets: spending, saving, and giving. With Greenlight’s investing tools, we’ve helped our kids learn how to invest in stocks and mutual funds and they can see those investments grow. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free: http://greenlight.com/designbetter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, everybody. We're sharing something special today from our pals over at the Say More podcast, where in a special series, Boston Globe columnist Shirley Leung is opening up the conversation about stress and burnout to help listeners feel less alone and inspired to get help. She connects with experts like Krista Tippett and Emily Nagoski, who use medical science, social science, and philosophy to answer deep questions about how stress works on our bodies and our minds so we can work better and live better. In this episode that we're sharing with you, computer scientist and best selling author Cal Newport says we've been thinking about productivity all wrong. We are big fans of Cal Newport. Shirley talks to Cal about the ways the modern office worker is primed for professional burnout, how hybrid work is just making it worse, and what we can do about it. He's not a Luddite by any stretch, but he says that we should quit social media and leave our phones behind whenever possible. Okay, here comes the preview. You can listen to Say More here: https://link.chtbl.com/saymore?sid=designbetter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Generative AI is finding its way into the tools and processes that power creative work. Exciting? Terrifying? Maybe a little of both. Adobe has been not only shipping impressive generative AI tools and features, but thinking about the implications this new technology could have on creative careers.  Adobe invited us to their offices in San Francisco for a conversation with a panel of leaders including Rachana Rele, Samantha Warren, Danielle Morimoto, and Laura Herman who shared how they and their teams are building and training AI models ethically while bringing innovation to the creative process. Find the transcript, show notes and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/bonus-ai-and-the-creative-process Panelists Rachana Rele, VP of Design, Generative AI, Emerging Products, & Adobe Ventures Rachana is at the forefront of shaping the future of design and technology. In her role, she leads the charge in harnessing the power of generative AI, and Adobe Firefly, to unlock creativity for creatives, communicators, and marketers. She serves as a product leader, shepherding incubations from zero to one and guiding emerging businesses like Adobe Stock to achieve scale. With a deep-seated passion for fostering world-class design teams, Rachana thrives on crafting experiences that resonate with customers and drive tangible value for businesses. Rachana holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial engineering with a specialized focus on human-computer interaction. Her student-always mindset has led her to pursue an Executive MBA at Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley (class of 2025). Samantha Warren, Sr Design Director, Machine Intelligence and New Technologies Samantha is the Senior Design Director for MINT (Machine Intelligence and New Technologies), where we focus on Emerging projects, Adobe Firefly, and Artificial Intelligence across Adobe software. Samantha specializes in product strategy and user experience design. Her superpower is leading teams with vision while managing practical execution. Danielle Morimoto, Sr Design Manager, Adobe Firefly Danielle Morimoto a Sr. Design Manager for Generative AI with the Machine Intelligence and New Technologies team at Adobe. I’ve worked on a range of projects from initiatives supporting emerging artists ages 13 to 24 that are using creativity as a force for positive impact, to the next evolution of Creative Cloud on the web. I've helped define the most compelling experiences for development over the next 1–3 years by uncovering untapped potential and ultimately identifying how people could be using Adobe in the future. I’m an avid road cyclist, NBA Golden State Warriors fan and lover of ice cream. Laura Herman, Sr Research Manager, Adobe Firefly Laura Herman is the Head of AI Research at Adobe and a doctoral researcher at the University of Oxford’s Internet Institute. Laura’s academic research examines the impact of algorithmic curation on global visual cultures, taking an inclusive and international approach with a particular focus on the Global South. At Adobe, Laura leads the team that researches Generative AI for Creative Cloud. Previous technologies that she has worked on have been acknowledged as Apple’s “App of the Day” and as a Webby People’s Choice Award winner. Laura has previously held research positions at Intel, Harvard University, and Princeton University, from which she graduated with honors in Neuroscience & Psychology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tldr; We’re transitioning to weekly episode releases, publishing an enhanced newsletter, and simplifying our premium subscription which will now be on Substack. Read the details below … Upgrade to paid Weekly episodes For years, we’ve been on a semi-weekly cadence for new episodes, but this schedule is proving too limiting for the amount of interviews we’re producing. Starting today, we’re shifting to a weekly release schedule for our premium subscribers who will receive a new episode every Tuesday morning.  Simpler pricing model, more affordable We’re also simplifying our pricing model based on feedback we’ve received. There’s now just one tier that gets you access to bonus content and new ways to learn. For $7/month or $72/year (15% discount), subscribers get 2 extra episodes per month, access to our monthly AMAs (Ask Me Anything) events with big names in design and tech, recordings from all past AMAs, ad-free episodes, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show.  One plan, one price, you get everything we have to offer to support your personal and career growth. If you’re between jobs, a student, or otherwise on a budget that puts a $7/month subscription out of reach, get in touch at [email protected]. We’ll happily set you up with a free subscription. Subscriptions through Substack We’ve loved publishing through Substack. It’s a platform that can help us spread our wings as we expand our offerings and engage our community more. Going forward, all our premium subscriptions will happen through Substack.  We’re very grateful for our early subscribers who have already supported us through DB+. As a small token of our gratitude, for subscribers currently on our Accelerated Learner plan, we’ll be making you Founding Members and extending your subscription by a year. Our Power Listeners will be transitioned to our premium plan on Substack and given an additional 6 months free. Why subscribe We have exciting episodes coming soon with Jonathan Adler (famed potter and furniture designer), Roger Horrocks (My Octopus Teacher cinematographer), Hillary Coe (former SpaceX head of design), Natsai Audrey Chieza (bio-designer), and Ben Clymer (founder of Hodinkee) to name a few. Plus, we have AMAs coming with Greg Hoffman (former CMO of Nike), John Maeda (Microsoft AI), James Buckhouse (Sequoia Capital), Scott Doorley (Stanford d.school), and more. By subscribing you ensure you never miss any opportunity to learn from the people who are pushing the bounds of creative thinking, design, and technology.  Expense it If you have a learning and development budget at work, we’ve made subscribing to Design Better affordable enough that this line item won’t raise any eyebrows. We’ve even put together a helpful expense template (thanks to the ByteByteGo newsletter for the inspiration). We’re proud of what Design Better has become over the last seven years, but the best is yet to come. Invest in yourself and in your design community by becoming a paid Design Better subscriber. Thank you so much for your support. Upgrade to paid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Find the transcript, show notes, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/eric-snowden Adobe has been the big wrench in our creative toolbox for decades. But there’s a new tool shaking up our workflow —Generative AI. Eric Snowden, leader of Adobe’s design team, sees a big opportunity for designers to extend and enhance the creative process by folding generative AI into each of our tools and we wanted to get his take on what’s around the corner.  We spoke with Eric about his journey from Atlantic records during a period of upheaval in the music industry and what he learned there, to his time on the Behance product team and working his way up through leadership roles at Adobe. Eric leads a team of over 600 people, so we also talk about finding the right size for teams (and Amazon’s “Two Pizza Team” framework), as well as how R&D works at Adobe. Bio Eric Snowden is the Vice President of Design at Adobe overseeing a multidisciplinary team of designers responsible for the Creative Cloud & Document Cloud suite of product and services. His team is responsible for the Digital Video & Audio, Digital Imaging, Design & Web, Documents, Mobile, Portfolio, and Services across web, desktop, and mobile surfaces. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Crashplan: You may have heard horror stories of people being locked out of their Apple or Google accounts, and losing decades worth of precious files like family photos. That’s why we’ve been using Crashplan for a decade and a half now to back up all of our important files. Visit Crashplan.com/DESIGNBETTER for 50% off your first year of CrashPlan. Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER5 at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up.

Visit our Substack for the transcript, links, and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/hamish-smyth Design systems have been on the minds of those of us in the software industry for more than a decade now and for good reason. To create large scale software with a consistent experience, standards are needed to guide contributors.  This is not a new problem, though. Before software designers created design systems, brand and print designers created design standards to guide creative collaboration. We had a chance to talk with Hamish Smyth, co-founder of the popular tool Standards, and we relished the opportunity to nerd out with him on this subject. We spoke with Hamish about what design standards are and how they differ from design systems, some examples of famous standards like Massimo Vignellli’s NYC Subway map and NASAs Standards Manual, and also about what Hamish learned about getting corporate buy-in from working with famed designer Michael Beirut from Pentagram. Bio Hamish Smyth is the co-founder of Standards and partner at Order. Prior to co-founding Order, Hamish worked as an associate partner the New York office of Pentagram Design under partner Michael Bierut. In 2014 he co-founded Standards Manual, an independent publishing imprint focusing on the preservation of graphic design history. *** Subscribe to DB+ to get episodes a week early and ad-free. Plus, every month, you're invited to exclusive AMAs (Ask Me Anything) with big names in design and tech, from companies like Nike, Netflix, and the New York Times who will answer your questions directly. Early bird subscribers get 50% off for the first three months. Visit designbetter.plus to learn more and subscribe. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up.

Find a transcript and more show notes on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/hiroki-asai Airbnb and Apple have a few things in common: They’re both design-centric companies, they sell products through best-in-class marketing, and they’ve achieved incredible success by focusing on the customer. There’s one more thing they have in common—Hiroki Asai who currently leads marketing at Airbnb and formerly led marketing at Apple during their most historic product launches. We spoke with Hiroki about his time at Apple and the key elements of their marketing playbook, as well as how he reinterpreted Apple’s values in Airbnb’s culture. We also spoke about the importance of dogfooding, or as John Maeda calls it, “wine tasting,” your own products. And we learn how Airbnb shifted away from traditional product managers, and how that affected their marketing and design processes. Bio Hiroki Asai oversees all of Airbnb’s marketing efforts, as well as Airbnb's in-house creative teams. Hiroki is responsible for maintaining Airbnb's strong global brand and sharing the story of our millions of hosts who offer unique homes and experiences to guests around the world. *** Subscribe to DB+ to get episodes a week early and ad-free. Plus, every month, you're invited to exclusive AMAs (Ask Me Anything) with big names in design and tech, from companies like Nike, Netflix, and the New York Times who will answer your questions directly. Early bird subscribers get 50% off for the first three months. Visit designbetter.plus to learn more and subscribe. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓. We have our very own Design Better roast at Methodical, grab some here to fuel your creativity: https://methodicalcoffee.com/products/design-better-coffee American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Gusto: We’re big fans of Gusto, who make it easy to run payroll, set up healthcare and other benefits for your business. They’ve made setting up the HR infrastructure for Design Better a breeze. Gusto is also one of the best designed SaaS tools out there. Design Better listeners get 3 months free once they run their first payroll - Go to gusto.com/designbetter to sign up.

We hope that you’re having a festive holiday season, and that you’re able to take some time off to be with friends and family. Today we’re rewinding to our interview with Robin Petravic, co-owner of Heath Ceramics. We love Heath Ceramics. They're the types of objects you pass on from generation to generation, the kind of gift you bring to a wedding, or the dishes that you'd want to put on a beautiful holiday table. Speaking of which, If you have a little holiday money to spend, you can support our show, bring Heath home and get 15% off between now and December 31st . Just go to dbtr.co/heathceramics and use code DBholiday23. *** If you’re a fan of architecture and design, you’re probably familiar with the mid-century modern movement. It brought a simple, clean aesthetic inspired by the Bauhaus and International movements to the US. Heath Ceramics, founded by Edith Heath in 1948 and influenced by mid-century modern principles, is still making beautiful hand-crafted tableware and architectural tile in Sausalito, California.  We wanted to chat with Heath’s current owner, Robin Petravic, to find out how they approach designing within the legacy of the Heath brand, as well as the story of how he and his partner and co-owner Catherine Bailey came to be owners of the company.  We also talk with Robin about how the pandemic affected their business, and some of the collaborative challenges and opportunities they faced in transitioning to a hybrid-remote scenario. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: American Giant: Makers of the best hoodie on the planet, their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? Save 20% off your first order with American Giant using our promo code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. dbtr.co/americangiant Uplift Desks: For people like us who spend countless hours at our desk, ergonomics are an essential consideration. A standing desk from Uplift Desk can help you avoid the negative effects of sitting all day by improving circulation and reducing strain. Design Better can get a special deal by visiting UPLIFTDesk.com. Use the code DESIGNBETTER at checkout for 5% off your order. Free shipping, free returns, and an industry-leading 15-year warranty. They’re a great company. Factor, America’s #1 Ready-To-Eat Meal Delivery Service, can help you fuel up fast for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with chef-prepared, dietitian-approved ready-to-eat meals delivered straight to your door. You’ll save time, eat well, and stay on track with your healthy lifestyle while tackling all your holiday to-dos. https://factormeals.com/designbetter50 (use code "designbetter50" for 50% off ). Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓 : https://methodicalcoffee.com (use code "designbetter" for 10% off of your order). Brain.fm: Music scientifically proven to increase focus. We use it to focus on important work, tap into our creativity, and wind down at night when we need to rest. As a Design Better subscriber, you can take 30% off of your subscription: https://www.brain.fm/designbetter

Find the transcript, show notes, and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/dorrian-porter-vestaboard The sound and movement of a split flap display mesmerizes us like few things can. There’s a charm to these things. Travelers linger in front of them in train stations anticipating new information, happy to stick around to watch the magic. Dorrian Porter’s encounter with a split flap display in Paris inspired a product idea that would later turn into a company—Vestaboard. In our interview with Dorrian, we learn about the arc of his career, from corporate lawyer to serial entrepreneur, co-founding two software companies before taking on the new challenge of a company making a sophisticated hardware product.  We talk about what inspired him to create Vestaboard, as well as their mission and vision, and how people are using the product in unique ways both at home and in the office. This is a sponsored bonus episode we’re excited to share as Vestaboard is a brand we love. Their mission to inspire and connect people resonates with us and we think it will with you too. Why we love Vestaboard Vestaboard’s mission is to build products that can inspire others, which resonates with us here at Design Better as it aligns with our own mission to educate and inspire. We also love how the product uses design to connect us to one another. In a world where so many of us, including our kids, are often glued to screens, the Vestaboard creates a space for sharing inspiring quotes or creative imagery that causes us to look up and reflect. Until 12/31/2023, Design Better listeners can get $500 off one of these magical displays from Vestaboard. Visit Vestaboard.com and use the code “DESIGNBETTER” at checkout to save $500.

As designers, we can’t help but be particular about the gifts we give and receive. We’ve put together a list of beautiful and useful gifts at varying price ranges to help you satisfy everyone on your holiday shopping list this year, including yourself. Wishing you and yours a happy, safe holiday season filled with love, gratitude, and connection. Your pals, Aarron and Eli *** For the full gift guide, visit our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/design-better-holiday-gift-guide#details *** Gift ideas that support our sponsors and the show Eli: I'm kind of a coffee heathen, and tend to like really dark roast coffees, old school…and so I was a little skeptical because a lot of Methodical’s coffees tend to be a little lighter or medium roast. But this one that Aarron picked out is just great and I drink it all the time.  Design Better coffee, $22 Eli: You've probably heard us talk about American Giant. They're a clothing company based here in the US. They're all manufactured here in the States. We actually had their CEO Bayard Winthrop on an episode that got a really good reception from folks. Aarron: It was one of our more popular episodes this year. Bayard's an amazing person. And the company is just so cool. Eli: And their mission is great about revitalizing manufacturing here in the U. S., and they make great clothing. American Giant hoodie (m) (w), $138 but get 20% off with code DESIGNBETTER Eli: Heath Ceramics is another brand that we're really close to. A few years back we had on Robin Petravic who's the current co-owner of Heath ceramics. Their brand is rooted in the Bay Area, another local manufacturer, and they just make these beautiful, very handmade feeling dinnerware, tableware, vases...they're beautiful. Heath Ceramics: Small Modern Cup $24 dbtr.co/heathceramics get 15% off between now and December 31st with code DBholiday23 Aarron: We’ve been talking with our friends over at Vestaboard, and in this list of awesome gifts, this is like right there at the top. If you're familiar with a split flap display: when you go to an airport, a train station, and you see those [mechanical] displays that show what time your departures and arrivals are, that’s a split flap display. This is a great office thing as well, and could be a holiday gift to the office. So what's cool about VestaBoard is there's a mobile app that's associated with it. You can connect it to different data sources, like amazing quotes, latest scores in a game that you're watching. It's wonderful for families to be able to communicate with each other. If you're not at home and you've got a kid that's just gotten home, you can send them a quick message on this. There's so many different creative and cool things you can do. Vestaboard $3,295 Eli: Some people can't listen to any kind of music while they're writing or focusing on a task but, brain.fm has actually done the scientific work to create soundtracks for your creative or focus work, and it's really great. I've been using it all the time, especially if I'm having to have deep focus and write something. Brain.fm: $34.99/year Aarron: DB+, if you haven't heard about it already, it's our subscription service. We've got a really good discount going on it right now through the holidays. You can get ad free versions of the show. You can get episodes of the show early and get invited to our exclusive AMAs with some big names in design and technology. We have one coming up with Meredith Black, who's probably the foremost authority on design and ops. What we want to create with DB Plus is just a way for the community to get more, to learn more, and we're adding more to that subscription service as well. DB+ subscription, $3.75 (ad-free episodes 1 week early) or $8.75 (monthly AMAs with design luminaries). Charities Girls Who Code Nuçi’s space World Central Kitchen

Over the seven years doing the show, we noticed a pattern in those who achieve their career goals fastest—they consciously invest in themselves by building skills and knowledge. And one of the best ways to learn is to have direct access to people who inform and inspire. Today, we’re launching a premium service called DB+ designed to help you learn faster and grow your career. Subscribers to the Power Listener plan get access to episodes ad-free and a week before everyone else for the price of your daily coffee. For folks who want direct access to some of the guests we’ve had on the show and industry experts, we have another tier for Accelerated Learners. Each month, we’ll invite you to AMA (Ask Me Anything) conversations with big names in design and tech from companies like Nike, Netflix, and The New York Times.  We’ll dive into topics most relevant to your work to help you learn from those with deep experience. You’ll have a chance to ask questions about UX research, UI design, the creative process, getting ahead in your career, and more. Here are some of our upcoming AMAs: Meredith Black, DesignOps superstar at the New York Times Greg Hoffman, former Chief Marketing Officer at Nike Brad Frost, author of Atomic Design Felix Lee, founder of ADPList If you’re unable to attend, no sweat. You’ll get a private feed of every AMA so you never miss an opportunity to learn. And it’s also affordable. For less than what you’d pay for a sandwich at your local deli, you can become a DB+ Accelerated Learner. Also, entire teams can get access to DB+ too. To learn more, get in touch with us at [email protected]. We love this show, and we’re excited to continue to expand Design Better to feed your passion for design. We want to help you learn more and stay inspired. Subscribing to DB+ is one of the best ways to do that. Early bird subscribers get 50% off for the first three months (until November 17th when the sale ends). Visit designbetter.plus to learn more and subscribe. You’ll also get early access to our interview with one of the most creative bands in the world, OK Go. Thank you so much for your support, and for being a fan of the show. -Eli & Aarron

Hey everybody, we have a special bonus episode for you today. We're having a conversation with Bayard Winthrop, the founder and CEO of American Giant, one of our favorite clothing companies. This episode is all about the intersection of design and entrepreneurship. Designers often hear that they need to develop business acumen: they need to know how a business works, and how a product makes money. And Bayard shares some of those insights here in our conversation. This episode is different in one other way: it's our very first sponsored episode. We want to occasionally bring you stories from brands that we love, who share our values, and who we feel have something to teach us about design. Why we love American Giant American Giant’s mission is threefold: to make clothing that stands apart, grow jobs for people who need them, and revitalize local communities. They also care deeply about sustainability, and makes clothes that are durable, not disposable. Bayard speaks in depth about their mission in this episode, and it’s one of the reasons we love the brand. Another reason is the clothing itself. Sometimes being a designer can be painful, because we pay attention to all the details: we check into a hotel room and the faucet doesn't work right, or the light switch is in the wrong place, or they don't have space in the closet for your luggage. So when we encounter a company like American Giant— where it’s clear that every little detail from the zippers to the stitching has been cared for immensely—it’s something that we want to bring into our lives. We love everything about American Giant, and we know you will too. Their clothing is American-made, ethically produced, and built to last. What more could you ask for? We’ve got a special partnership running with American Giant, where Design Better listeners can get 20% off your first order. Just go to dbtr.co/americangiant and use the code “DESIGNBETTER” at checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Design Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with inspiring guests across many creative fields. Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Episodes are released semi-weekly. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We recently hit our 100th episode, and we have a big announcement to share. If you haven't already subscribed to our Substack at https://designbetterpodcast.com/ head over there so you can stay up to day with all the latest episodes, as well as our free newsletter. Thank you for your support! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/bonus-episode-with-don-norman-panel In this special bonus episode, renowned scholar and author Don Norman (The Design of Everyday Things, Design for a Better World) leads a discussion with recognized design leaders about how design can and should play a role in solving the biggest challenges of humanity today. This conversation was recorded at a live online event August 17, 2023 produced by the UX Design Institute. Panelists who participated in the conversation with Don Norman include Brenda Laurel (researcher, writer, and consultant), Irene Au (Design partner at Khosla Ventures and former Design Better guest), and our own Aarron Walter. Gareth Dunlop is the MC of the event.In this hour-long conversation the panelists discuss: The role of design in understanding and navigating our current socio-economic challenges How to think about design and UX as humanity-centered versus human-centered How to harness the power of design in creating a better future for all of us Learn more about the UX Design Institute, the gold standard in UX education at: https://www.uxdesigninstitute.com/ Get Don Norman’s new book Designing for a Better World at: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262047951/design-for-a-better-world/

Hi Folks- We hope that everyone is enjoying their summer so far. We’re taking a few weeks off to be with our families, and to prepare for an exciting announcement that we plan to share soon. In the meantime, we’re rewinding to one of our favorite episodes with Eileen Fisher, founder of her eponymous fashion brand Eileen Fisher, Inc. Enjoy the episode, and we’ll see you in a few weeks. You can subscribe to our Substack to receive episodes a week early, our monthly newsletter with job opportunities and career advice, and more bonus content: https://designbetterpodcast.com/ We’d also like to give a huge thank you and shout-out to our sponsors so far this season. Please help us continue to bring you great guests by visiting the links below: Fable: Build inclusive products: https://makeitfable.com/designbetter/ Methodical Coffee: Roasted, blended, brewed, served and perfected by verified coffee nerds 🤓 : https://methodicalcoffee.com/ (use code "designbetter" for 10% off of your order). Freehand by InVision: The intelligent whiteboard that's half the price of Miro and Mural: https://freehandapp.com/ Cruise: Cruise is a team of researchers and designers creating a self-driving transportation service for the people and cities we love. Visit design.getcruise.com to learn more about how you can help design the future of transportation!   In his book The Laws of Simplicity, John Maeda says that “simplicity is about subtracting the obvious, and adding the meaningful.” Our final guest this season, Eileen Fisher, is a master at making the simple, meaningful. Eileen is the founder of her eponymous and iconic fashion brand Eileen Fisher, Inc., which is known for its ethical & sustainable practices, and elegant yet simple clothing. She started the company in 1984, and grew it from her first sale of $3000, to annual revenue of over $300 million. We speak with Eileen about her design principles, how she thinks about form, function, and sustainability, and how systems thinking has helped her develop a brand that stands the test of time. We’re so glad you joined us for the sixth season of our show, and hope you were inspired along the way. Stay tuned for the next season, and in the meantime, we’ll be sharing some of our best episodes from past seasons, in case you missed them. Thanks for listening. Bio   Eileen Fisher founded her women's fashion brand in 1984, with $350 of startup money. It's since grown into a company with over 1200 employees and hundreds of millions of dollars a year in revenue. The company focuses on producing simple, timeless clothing, with sustainability initiatives including selling used pieces in excellent condition, resold through their Renew take-back program, as well as a Waste No More program which transforms damaged clothes into a new felted fabric, used to create wall hangings, pillows, and other accessories.

If you don’t know who Seth Godin is, just type “Seth” into Google or DuckDuckGo. The first entry will lead you to his blog, where he writes—every day—about marketing, design, writing, how being a better human will make you better at your job. Once you’ve started to read his blog, you’ll probably be hungry for more of his wisdom. He’s written over eighteen bestselling books on business and marketing, including Linchpin, Purple Cow, and The Dip. We’ve been following Seth for a long time, and his writing and speaking have influenced how we think about creating and marketing products. So it was a huge honor to have him on our show, where we spoke about subjects ranging from how to take risks in your career, to why being creative is an act of generosity, to the idea of “creative destruction.” We hope you enjoy our conversation with Seth as much as we did, and after you finish, we encourage you to go make a ruckus.   Takeaways: Why the counterintuitive idea of “surplus” means that, despite everything going on in the world, we all have access to more resources than the last King of France did. Why writing is often the best starting point for almost any type of creative work. Why a company is more like an organism than an organization   Bio Seth is an entrepreneur, best-selling author, speaker and teacher. In addition to launching one of the most popular blogs in the world, he has written 19 best-selling books, including The Dip, Linchpin, Purple Cow, Tribes, and What To Do When It's Your Turn (And It's Always Your Turn). His most recent book, This is Marketing, was an instant bestseller in countries around the world. Though renowned for his writing and speaking, Seth also founded two companies, Squidoo and Yoyodyne (acquired by Yahoo!). By focusing on everything from effective marketing and leadership, to the spread of ideas and changing everything, Seth has been able to motivate and inspire countless people around the world. In 2013, Seth was one of just three professionals inducted into the Direct Marketing Hall of Fame. In an astonishing turn of events, in May 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame as well. He might be the only person in both. Seth created the altMBA and Marketing Seminar to transform online education and help people connect with their audience.

The Ministry of Silly Walks. The Cheese Shop. French Taunting. If you haven’t seen any of these Monty Python sketches before, do us a favor and go watch one or two of them. You’ll discover—or re-discover—why our guest for this episode is a creative comic legend. John Cleese starred in and co-wrote the award-winning series Fawlty Towers, was nominated for an Academy Award for the screenplay of A Fish Called Wanda, and even has a species of lemur named after him (Cleese’s wooly lemur, Avahi cleesei). He’s also an expert on the creative process, and so if you’re looking for a new framework to level-up your own workflow, his book Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide is a great resource. We talk with John about his new book, and also about creative collaboration in the midst of friction, how to be comfortable with ambiguity, and creating boundaries of space and time to get in a creative mode. We also get to ask him a question that’s been bugging us ever since we first watched Monty Python and The Holy Grail. After everything that happened in 2020, we can all use a little more laughter in our lives. We hope our interview with John sparks some joy, and leaves you with some new creative tools. Thanks for listening.  Takeaways: How John’s childhood influences the way he approaches creativity Why John uses writing to explore ideas What “closed mode” and “open mode” are (and how they relate to convergent and divergent modes of thinking). Bio John Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s, he co-founded Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films, And Now for Something Completely Different, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Life of Brian, and The Meaning of Life. In the mid-1970s, Cleese and his first wife, Connie Booth, co-wrote and starred in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis, and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. He also starred in Clockwise, and has appeared in many other films, including two James Bond films, two Harry Potter films, and the last three Shrek films. He is also the author of Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide.

Benjamin Evans, Inclusive Design Lead for Airbnb, is part of a new kind of problem solvers tackling issues like racism, sexism, and bias in digital product design. In this episode of the Design Better Podcast, Eli and Aarron chat with Benjamin about using techniques like design thinking, research, and storytelling to ensure a more inclusive experience for all your users.

Listen as Julie Zhuo, VP of Product Design at Facebook and author of The Making of a Manager, recalls some of her earliest professional experiences at one of the fastest growing companies on the planet.  She reveals how she got her start and grew to be a highly influential design leader renowned for building top-notch teams. Julie talks about the difference between leading and managing, and shares personal examples that can help you advance your career. Bio Julie Zhuo is one of Silicon Valley’s top product design executives and author of The Making of a Manager. Aside from her day job as VP of Product Design at Facebook, Julie writes about technology, design, and leadership on her popular blog The Year of the Looking Glass and in The New York Times and Fast Company.

To celebrate the new InVision DSM, we're sharing one of our favorite episodes in conversation with Design Systems Advocate, Jina Anne. If you’re engaged in any sort of community surrounding Design Systems, whether it’s the Design Systems Slack, or the Clarity Conference, then you have likely benefited from Jina Anne’s work. A self-styled Design Systems Advocate, Jina has been passionate about creating events, content and resources that bring together communities of people who care about design systems and how they impact product design. In this bonus episode of the Design Better Podcast, we chat with Jina about how she got into Design Systems, what she has learned from building these communities, and how being a hybrid designer-developer influences her understanding of Design Systems. Takeaways: How having a Design System affects company culture. What to consider when deciding to go public with your Design System, or keeping it private. How Design Systems can be effectively maintained.

In today’s episode, we talk with Boyuan Gao and Jahan Mantin—the founders of Project Inkblot—who have built a practical framework that can help everyone design for diversity, and can also be a guide for challenging conversations. We discuss how they see design as an opportunity to bridge the divide and bring people into the conversation about designing products and services that address everyone’s needs, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, or religion. We also talk to them about their definition of intent vs. impact, and how to close the loop on making sure your impact is what you intended. We hope you can use some of their ideas as a way to open the door to difficult conversations, and better understand your colleagues and customers. Takeaways: Understanding why the impact of a product can vary greatly from its intent. How design can act as an invitation to participate in difficult conversations. Learn about Project Inkblot’s D4D framework to start building more equitable products, services, and content.

We’ve just published a new book on DesignBetter.com called Business Thinking for Designers by Ryan Rumsey, formerly of Apple, USAA, EA, and Nestlé. It’s a challenging time out there, and we know many of you are facing uncertainty in your work, whether you’re in an industry that’s been heavily hit by the current crisis, or even if you’re lucky enough to be with a company that is navigating the current storm more or less intact. Now more than ever, designers need to be able to demonstrate an understanding of the business they work within, and show a return on investment for the work that they do. This is why we’ve released this book now, and in this bonus episode with author Ryan Rumsey you’ll learn: Why an analytical approach to storytelling is crucial to conveying your vision How to prepare for negotiations after you pitch to stakeholders Ways business thinking can help individual contributors in addition to managers In the new book Business Thinking for Designers, you’ll get to know how to speak design in the language of business, learn essential strategies to effectively communicate with your business partners, and tools, tips, and frameworks that you can put right to work. If you’re eager to download the book now, for free, just head over to https://www.designbetter.co/business-thinking-for-designers.

We’ve just published a new book on DesignBetter.com called Remote Work for Design Teams, to help you make a graceful transition from the office to a remote work environment. In this bonus episode, we speak with the authors of the book (all from InVision): Abby Sinnott, Managing Editor, Greg Storey, Senior Director of Executive Programs, and Ben Goldman, Director of InVision Films. We chat with Abby, Greg and Ben about their own remote collaboration and teamwork while writing this book, which the team turned around in record time. We also review some tips for leaders during this crisis, and discuss why being productive at work shouldn’t necessarily be top priority for everyone on the team. If your team needs a little helping hand during these challenging times, you can head over to designbetter.com/remotework, and download the book for free. In this episode, you’ll learn: The non-obvious advantages of being a distributed team when creating this book How remote work lends itself to both divergent and convergent modes of creativity Why remote collaboration can build trust through vulnerability

In this bonus episode, we’re once more focused on remote teams, and more specifically on best practices for facilitating remote design sprints, building trust between teams in a remote environment, and running effective critiques and design reviews remotely. In the first half of the episode, we chat with Richard Banfield, VP of Design Transformation at InVision, and author of the book Enterprise Design Sprints, who gives us practical guidance on how to run a remote design sprint effectively. In the second half, Alison Rand, our Senior Director of Design Operations, will reveal the inner workings of how our own design teams perform design reviews remotely, and make sure that work is visible across teams. You’ll learn: How to facilitate a remote design sprints and run effective design reviews The virtuous cycle that you need to put in place to build trust with your remote teams Why preparation is the most critical part of running a design sprint remotely How our veteran distributed team at InVision runs remote design reviews To discover more remote work resources from InVision, check out www.invisionapp.com/remote.

In this bonus episode, we chat about balancing personal and professional demands in a remote environment, especially during these challenging times. Join special guests Jennifer Aldrich, Senior Manager of Design Community Partnerships, and Stephen Gates, Head Design Evangelist, at InVision, as we discuss best practices for remote communication and how to build trust within your remote teams. We hope this episode helps you and your teams as you transition to remote work during this time of change in the face of our current health crisis. You’ll learn: How to set expectations for remote communication Tips for creating boundaries between work and life Establishing documentation and processes for team collaboration The value of soft skills in remote leadership Benefits of working from home in building trust and connection for teams

To celebrate 1 million listens to the Design Better Podcast, we're rewinding to our episode with David Kelley, Founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, in honor of David just receiving the Edison Award for Innovation. And we're sending a special thanks to YOU for listening and helping us reach this 1 million milestone. We're tremendously grateful to you, your friends, and colleagues for tuning in and joining the journey with us. David Kelley doesn’t like to claim to have come up with the term design thinking, even though most people would say he did. But regardless of who coined it, as founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school he has been one of the most influential proponents of design thinking, and human-centered design in general. When it comes to bringing together engineering, product, and design teams early in the design process, and aligning those teams towards a common goal, design thinking has few equals, and should be part of the toolkit for every product driven company. In this episode, Eli and Aarron speak with David about what it takes to bring designers and engineers together, how our workspace influences our work, and how we can encourage creative confidence in our companies. Enjoy the chat and cheers to 1 million listens to the Design Better Podcast. Thank you so much for listening.

  InVision is starting a new series of quarterly reports on design trends. The first in the series, a Design Trends Report on Talent, was created to help you learn proactive new ways to recruit, develop, and retain creative talent.  In this bonus episode, we chat with Stephen Gates, Head Design Evangelist at InVision, about some of the things he learned while researching and producing the report as its co-author, and how the report can best be used by design leaders looking to hire, and individual contributors looking to get hired. Also, we’re trying out something new: a roundtable discussion about some current topics in the design world. Aarron and Eli chat with some of their colleagues from InVision (in this episode, Design Specialist Emily Campbell and Stephen Gates). So get ready for our first roundtable, to be followed by an exploration of the Design Trends Report on Talent, with co-author Stephen Gates. Articles discussed in the roundtable: How to run inclusive meetings Bob Baxley on design reviews at Apple You don’t have to be a manager to be a leader with Julie Zhuo

The third season of the Design Better Podcast recently wrapped up, where we explored the connected workflow: how designers can work more effectively and efficiently with their engineering and product counterparts to create incredible customer experiences.  We interviewed guests ranging from Julie Zhuo, VP of Product Design at Facebook and author of The Making of a Manager, to Diego Rodriguez, Chief Product and Design Officer at Intuit. In this episode, Aarron and Eli share what they learned from some of the brightest minds in digital product design. Here are a few of the top takeaways: Learn how Google’s Abigail Hart Gray approaches measuring the value of design. Hear how Lori Kaplan from Atlassian explains “designing across the seams” to create a unified customer experience. Listen to Benjamin Evans discuss how practicing inclusivity can create a framework for inviting roles outside design into the design process. So while we’re hard at work producing Season 4 of the podcast, enjoy this look back at some of the best moments in Season 3.  And for more free articles, videos, books, and stories to level up your design practice, visit https://www.designbetter.com.

If you’re engaged in any sort of community surrounding Design Systems, whether it’s the Design Systems Slack, or the Clarity Conference, then you have likely benefited from Jina Anne’s work. A self-styled Design Systems Advocate, Jina has been passionate about creating events, content and resources that bring together communities of people who care about design systems and how they impact product design. In this bonus episode of the Design Better Podcast, we chat with Jina about how she got into Design Systems, what she has learned from building these communities, and how being a hybrid designer-developer influences her understanding of Design Systems. Takeaways: How having a Design System affects company culture. What to consider when deciding to go public with your Design System, or keeping it private. How Design Systems can be effectively maintained.    

What if you could unlock the full potential for business impact in design? On today's episode we are joined by Leah Buley, InVision's Director of Design Education and author of the new report on design in business, The New Design Frontier. Leah shares the insights she's learned from surveying thousands of companies to explore the relationship between design practices and business performance. We chat with Leah about how teams are measuring success in design, the dimensions of design maturity, and debunk myths around team size and designer to engineer ratios. Check out the full report at http://invisionapp.com/designmaturity.

The next season of the Design Better podcast is nearly here. Listen to a special preview of the upcoming season which focuses on the impact and challenges of the connected workflow. We sat down with some incredible design leaders from Facebook, Airbnb, Google, Wall Street Journal, Atlassian, and Intuit for honest conversations that will give you a fresh perspective on the way you work. Be sure to subscribe for the new season coming soon.

What if you could set aside a distraction-free space to accomplish one meaningful thing in your life each day? How might that change your relationships, hobbies, work, or mental wellbeing? In a special episode of the DesignBetter.Co Podcast, we talk to Jake Knapp, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Sprint, about his new book, Make Time. The book advocates for forgetting about being productive and focusing instead on being purposeful by using design sprints thinking to define a “highlight” for each day. If you enjoy this episode, we hope you’ll leave a review on iTunes or Google Play to help others members of the design community discover the podcast. Bio Jake Knapp is the author of Make Time and the New York Times bestseller Sprint. Jake spent 10 years at Google and Google Ventures, where he created the Design Sprint. He has since coached teams like Slack, Uber, 23andMe, LEGO, and The New York Times on the method. Previously, Jake helped build products like Gmail, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Encarta. He is currently among the world’s tallest designers and is a facilitator for DesignBetter.Co workshops.

As organizations grow, they tend to think in terms of processes and data, and although those elements are vital to scale, teams sometimes lose sight of the why. Key to scaling is building an infrastructure that supports a company’s core mission. In our final Season 2 episode of the DesignBetter.Co Podcast, Facebook Vice President of Product Design Margaret Gould Stewart talks with Aarron and Eli about how storytelling, open communication, and keeping the focus on the customer help the company's design team scale. “The most important thing you can do is have a story around what you're doing, for whom, and why.” If you enjoy this episode, we hope you’ll leave a review on iTunes or Google Play to help others members of the design community discover the podcast. Bio Margaret is a seasoned UX executive with over 15 years experience leading design and research teams, including in her current role as Vice President of Product Design at Facebook. Over the course of her career, she's led user experience for six of the top 10 websites (Facebook, Tripod, Angelfire, Lycos, Google Search, YouTube). She has a proven track record of leadership in a variety of contexts, from startups to Fortune 500.

A design system helps deliver a unified experience for the end user, no matter what the medium. But it also means a cohesive internal experience as well. Design systems unite teams across time and space, bring designers and engineers together through a shared language, and help designers focus on experience over style. In our newest episode of the DesignBetter.Co Podcast, Indeed’s director of design experience, Kim Williams, talks with Aarron and Eli about the evolution of Indeed’s design system, and how collaboration across the company is key to any design system’s success. “I think for us, the design system is one part of how people feel about the brand and the product itself. The design system is really this tool that can help you tell your best story.” If you enjoy this episode, head over to iTunes to leave a review so other members of the design community can learn from Kim too. Bio Kim is the design director for Indeed’s Design Platform Studio, leading a team of copywriters, brand strategists, technologists, user researchers, interaction and visual designers, and illustrators defining Indeed’s product experiences. Before joining Indeed, Kim was head of brand systems at eBay and associate creative director at agency Ogilvy & Mather.

For many years, Google’s engineering-led culture cherished efficiency over user experience. Irene Au arrived at a pivotal moment in the company’s history and helped shape the way Google’s products clearly value design today.   In this Rewind episode of the DesignBetter.Co podcast, Khosla Venture’s Irene Au talks about how she helped scale design at Google, shaped the design philosophy that carries into today, and now, as design partner at Khosla Ventures, helps startups build their own teams and processes to create the best design experiences.   If you like the episode, I hope you’ll post a review on iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast source. It helps other discover the podcast.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to scaling design, but there are similarities between fast-growing companies that prime them for lasting success. In this episode, Accel Partners’ Vas Natarajan talks about effective ways design leaders can operationalize hiring and scaling. He also discusses the hallmarks of a healthy team at any growth stage, what designers and developers can to do collaborate better, and why storytelling is key to growing a company. “Storytelling capability—especially at the founding stages—can really make the difference between something that gets up and off the ground and something that doesn’t.” Listen as Eli and Aarron chat with Vas about design’s role in making companies successful, the importance of balancing data with customer insights, and more. If you enjoy this episode, head over to iTunes to leave a review so other members of the design community can learn from Vas too.

Rallying around a shared vision is one of the biggest challenges for design teams operating at scale. So how can you foster that vision and bring people together to execute it? In this episode, Hot Studio Founder and former Autodesk VP of Experience Design Maria Giudice talks about overcoming team silos and learning to lead with influence instead of authority. She also discusses why diversity is one of the keys to great product design, along with lessons she learned while working with fast-moving companies like Facebook. “Agile was not developed with design in mind—but we as designers can impact that process and bring our own processes in. I call it human-centered Agile...At the end of the day, it doesn't matter about being a designer, or an engineer, or a data scientist—it's more about ‘Did we ship a great product together?’” Listen as Eli and Aarron chat with Maria about everything from Hot Studio’s role in establishing the practice of DesignOps to how companies can reinforce their design culture foundation. If you enjoy this episode, we’d appreciate you leaving a review on iTunes.

Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be part of fast-growing, design-led companies like Slack, Medium, or even InVision? Every team has challenges with scaling—and it turns out those challenges share many common traits when you peek behind the curtain. In this episode, Spark Capital’s Megan Quinn talks about the common hurdles she sees across companies as they scale. She also discusses her own experiences going from the engineering-driven culture at Google to the design-driven culture at Square, and more. “At the end of the day, design is not how something looks or feels. Design is the abstraction of the technology to the end experience for the consumer.” –Megan Quinn Listen as Eli and Aarron chat with Megan about scaling with purpose and overcoming widespread hurdles—like how to incorporate the “why” into your product roadmap along with the “what” and “when.” If you enjoy this episode, head over to iTunes to leave a review so other members of the design community can hear Megan’s perspective too.

When companies start scaling design, the emphasis is sometimes on getting more shipped—but what if the first deliverable was a balanced team instead of a new feature?   USAA’s Chief Design Officer Meriah Garrett has a unique approach to creating balanced design teams. In this new episode, she also discusses her role in the C-suite and how being mission-driven affects product development across multiple offices.   “We have this power to synthesize the world into something that feels actionable, and that is both a burden and a gift...Your job is not to just put your headphones on and make a beautiful object. Your job is to listen to the world around you and drive a new perspective on it.” –Meriah Garrett   Tune in on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play—and if you enjoy Meriah’s episode, I hope you’ll review and share it with others in the design community.

Design leaders spend a lot of energy trying to get a seat at the table. It’s an ongoing process—and it’s tough to keep design involved over time. What questions should be asked along the way, and what business language can design leaders use? In this episode, LogMeIn’s Vice President Product Design & Customer Experience TS Balaji talks about helping big corporations use design to be competitive in new ways. He covers everything from maturity models and setting up team playbooks to how LogMeIn measures the business impact of design. Listen as Eli and Aarron chat with TS about design’s place in business—and hear why a multidisciplinary background could be the ultimate career boon, even if it does require a bit of statistics. TS Balaji's Bio TS is a user experience and product development executive, currently leading product design, internationalization, and insights and analytics functions for LogMeIn. As a former designer turned strategist, TS specializes in identifying new technologies, spotting trends, introducing business models, and combining all of the above with design to advocate for customers. Prior to his current role, TS established and led digital experience practices at Cox Communications and Sprint.

Design systems give product designers and developers reusable, interchangeable components to make the design process efficient and repeatable. They’re a critical part of scaling—so why build everything from scratch when you can plug in pre-built elements? In this episode, GitHub’s Design Systems Manager Diana Mounter talks about navigating the path from style guide contributor to full-time design systems manager. She covers everything from getting buy-in beyond the design team to deciding whether or not to make a system open source. Listen as Eli and Aarron chat with Diana about refining and growing GitHub’s design system, Primer—and learn how a little-known vegetable became part of her personal brand. Diana's bio Diana Mounter is a designer based in Brooklyn, NY. She specializes in design systems and has a background in user-centered design. Diana currently leads the Design Systems team at GitHub, where she helps manage their design system, Primer. In her spare time, she organizes the NYC Design Systems Coalition, writes, and speaks about design, code, and working with people. Diana is also a co-author of the DesignBetter.Co Design Systems Handbook

A lot of companies are investing more in design. As they do, the organization scales. As it scales, it has to operationalize, become more efficient, and plug into the rest of the company—but what makes all that possible? In this episode, Pinterest’s Head of Design Operations Meredith Black talks about the emerging practice of DesignOps, and how she introduced it to Pinterest more than three years ago. Meredith covers everything from when it’s time to start building a DesignOps team to advice for getting started. She even reveals where she finds most of her best hires. Listen as Eli and Aarron chat with Meredith about starting and growing a DesignOps practice—and how she nearly joined the FBI before finding herself in a different kind of “ops” career. Meredith's bio Meredith Black is the Head of Design Operations at Pinterest, where she's pioneered the Design Program Management organization and grown it to 11 design program managers in almost four years. Within Product Design, she’s also responsible for operations, recruiting, resourcing and risk management. Prior to Pinterest, Meredith worked at design firms Hot Studio (acquired by Facebook) and IDEO. Her love for design runs deep. Real deep.

Over the last 10 years, Shopify has grown from a scrappy 5-person startup to a team of more than 3,000 across five locations. Scaling a company that fast takes a lot of talented people—and Lynsey Thornton is one of them. As Shopify’s VP of UX and Core Product, Lynsey takes on an array of challenging tasks. In the first episode of the season, she talks about everything from building a leadership pipeline to governance of the famed design system Polaris. Her advice and first-hand experiences also highlight major technology pain points—like implementing customer-centric business models and helping individual contributors successfully transition to leadership. Listen as Eli and Aarron talk about scaling design at Shopify with Lynsey—and don’t miss her biggest piece of advice for finding great org design inspiration. Lynsey Thornton's Bio Originally from Ireland, Lynsey is now the VP of UX and Core Product at Shopify in Vancouver, BC. With a background in design, project management, and business, she focuses on building UX teams and practices in high-growth tech companies. Prior to leading Shopify’s front-end developers, designers, researchers, and content strategists—along with the team that builds the core product—Lynsey designed gaming and gambling experiences. In addition to UX, her true loves are ethnographic research and developing women in tech. Follow Lynsey on Twitter @lynseythornton

“Will I lose my creativity? Will I be stuck in meetings all day?” Those are common concerns for any individual contributor transitioning to a managerial role—even experienced product leaders like Mia Blume. Luckily, Mia’s impressive career spans positions at places like IDEO, Pinterest, and Square, so she’s had plenty of opportunities to see what it takes to make a fundamental impact on culture from beyond her laptop screen. In this episode, Mia shares what it was like stepping away from daily design work to lead, how she combats imposter syndrome, and how being a designer ultimately made her a more effective manager. Now, with a motto for time management and loads of experience walking other people through that transition, Mia can expertly explain how to navigate the intricacies of being a great leader—which includes everything from managing priorities to being vulnerable on the job. Mia’s bio As a former design leader at Pinterest, Square, and IDEO, Mia’s work is informed by her deep understanding of the unique challenges and opportunities designers face in hyper-growth start-up environments. She is specifically attuned to the challenges of women in tech—and, more importantly, their potential impact on individuals, teams, and organizations when their authentic, empathetic, and intuitive leadership style is unlocked.

In today’s tech-driven economy, it seems like it can be hard to justify the value of a traditional liberal arts education. But given the speed at which AI-driven advancements are taking over traditional jobs—even technical ones—perhaps a better understanding of humans and their cultures is exactly what we need. Because being product-driven really means people people-driven—and we’re betting few people understand the human experience better than the author of Sensemaking, and co-founder and Senior Partner of ReD Associates, Christian Madsbjerg. In this episode, Aarron and Eli chat with Christian about using tools from human and social sciences to inform business decisions. Christian’s expertise helps clarify the methods a lot of fast-moving companies botch, like gathering proper ethnographic research, and the hazards of conducting focus groups. Together, they also dig into the pros of a liberal arts education and how it helps foster the crucial skill of critical thinking. Put on your thinking cap and enjoy this interview with Christian Madsbjerg, and thanks for listening. Christian Madsbjerg’s bio For the past 20 years, Christian Madsbjerg has worked as a management consultant—but he writes, speaks, and teaches on the practical application of Human Sciences. So far, his work has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, and Bloomberg Businessweek. Madsbjerg’s latest book, Sensemaking: The Power of the Humanities in the Age of the Algorithm, was released in the Spring of 2017 by Hachette Book Group. His first book, Moment of Clarity, co-written with Mikkel Rasmussen and published in the Fall of 2014, has been published in 15+ languages. Christian studied philosophy and political science in Copenhagen and London, and has a master’s degree from the University of London.

If we asked you to name a recent book that’s really changed how product teams address sticky challenges, there’s a good chance Jake Knapp’s Sprint would be at the top of your list. Since publishing and popularizing the process, design sprints have become a tool for teams at organizations as wide ranging as Prudential, the United Nations, and The British Museum. Given the impact of Sprint, we’re delighted to have Jake on the show to dig into questions we’ve been curious about since reading. In this episode, we run through topics like the relationship between design thinking and the sprint process, how design sprints can work in harmony with an agile development cycle, and when not to use design sprints. Jake also shares a sneak peek of his next book. Grab your copy of Sprint and get ready to learn from the guy who literally wrote the book on design sprints. Jake's Bio Jake Knapp the New York Times bestselling author of Sprint. He spent ten years at Google and Google Ventures, where he created the Design Sprint process and ran it over 150 times with companies like Nest, Slack, 23andMe, and Flatiron Health. Today, teams around the world—from Silicon Valley startups to Fortune 500s to schools and governments—are using Design Sprints to solve big problems and test new ideas. Previously, Jake helped build products like Gmail, Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Encarta, and nowadays, he's writing new books and hanging around IDEO as a Visiting Fellow. Jake is currently among the world’s tallest designers.

If there’s anyone we’ve interviewed on the DesignBetter.Co Podcast so far that really embodies the product-driven concept, it’s Laura Martini. Not only does she have a background in both design and engineering, but she also has a keen product sense with a real understanding the business factors behind good design decisions. Laura has had a really interesting career too—from working as a researcher in John Maeda’s Media Lab at MIT and leading the design team at med-tech startup Counsyl to her current role as a senior interaction designer on Google’s Analytics Platform. In this episode, Aarron and Eli chat with Laura about how her engineering and design backgrounds complement each other, how a company’s values shape her own work, and how design leaders can help individual contributors grow.

How do you go from being a self-professed skate punk, to a design director at Nike, creative director at Patagonia, and land as the global creative director for Sonos? As a creative force, Michael Leon has worked with some of the most product driven companies out there. In this episode, Aaron and Eli talk with Michael about the tension between sustainability and business goals, maintaining a consistent voice and tone across a company like Patagonia that sells hundreds of different products globally, and some of the traits that Michael looks for when hiring for his creative teams. So crank up your Sonos and enjoy this episode with Michael Leon!

Airbnb’s mission is both simple and powerful: to help create a world where you can belong anywhere. Alex Schleifer, Airbnb’s head of design, fully embraces this mission. To create the products that make the Airbnb experience so welcoming and immersive, he also believes in being product driven, and organizes his teams in an Engineering, Product, Design (EPD) structure, which they also call “the triforce.” Have a listen as Aarron and Eli talk with Alex about the advantages of this team structure, and about some of the problems companies run into when they try to create a “design-led” culture. They also dig into Airbnb’s mission and vision, and talk about the tradeoffs between quality and speed when building products. Enjoy the episode, and may the triforce be with you! Alex Schleifer’s Bio Alex is a designer, who as a teenager co-founded the digital agency Sideshow, which went on to produce award-winning work for a variety of global clients. They were acquired by Say Media in 2011. He’s been on the incredible design team at Airbnb since 2015.

Albert Lee has had an amazing arc to his career. From his beginnings as a wine-steward at Chez Panisse, to working at Frank Gehry’s architecture studio, and on to the role of Associate Partner at IDEO and now Design Partner at NEA, the nation’s largest VC firm, Albert always strives to work with the best of the best. Given the breadth of his experience at these top institutions, it’s probably not a surprise that even though his expertise is in design, he values the balanced approach between design, engineering, and product teams that are the hallmark of a product-driven company. In this episode, Albert helps us explore subjects like: why the VC world has become more cognizant of the impact of design, how organizational design influences product design, and how to kickstart a design transformation. We hope you’ll get as much as we did from the insights Albert shared, and thanks for listening.   Albert Lee's Bio Albert is currently the Design Partner at NEA (New Enterprise Associates), the world's largest venture capital firm, with a portfolio of over 450 companies. In this role he works closely with portfolio companies, furthers the understanding of design within the tech eco-system, and seeks out design-centric investments. In addition, he coaches CEO's, founders and entrepreneurs as an executive coach with Reboot.io, founded by Jerry Colonna, on all the questions and challenges that come along with building a high-growth company. He is also a Special Partner at Juxtapose, where he supports a multidisciplinary team in their user research, design, and product processes to launch and invest in high-growth consumer concepts. Albert has a deep background in both design and business. Albert was previously the Managing Director of IDEO’s New York office, where he brought more than a decade of experience in digital product, communication, and venture design to bear. He specialized in developing new offerings and incubating ventures for clients based on consumer insights in a wide range of industries, including retail/fashion, financial services, and consumer technology. Prior to IDEO, Albert was a Managing Director at the design firm 2x4, and founded their Asia office in Beijing. Earlier in his career he was a design architect at Frank Gehry’s office. Albert also co-founded the product, Popplet, which provides a visual productivity and collaboration platform for K-12, which has had over 9 million downloads. He was also recently named to Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business in 2014. Albert holds a BA in architecture from U.C. Berkeley, a MFA in graphic design from Yale, and an MBA from Columbia Business School. His work has been recognized and exhibited by SFMoMA and MOMA. In 2006, he was chosen as a Young Gun by the Art Director’s Club. He has served on the board of directors of AIGA/NY

If you’re anything like us, playing with LEGOs was a foundational part of your childhood, and a big part of the reason you got interested in design. And given the arc of their history, it is clear that LEGO is a product-driven company: their products are addictively engaging, highly-engineered design masterpieces, they clearly understand the needs of their customers, and they are constantly evolving and innovating with their products to remain a highly-profitable company. So you can imagine our excitement when we had a chance to chat with Dan Winger, Senior Innovation Designer at the LEGO Future Lab. We had a chance to dive into user testing at LEGO (how do I sign up?!), what the future of physical play looks like in the age of VR, and how story affects product development at LEGO. It turns out the design process at LEGO has a lot in common with the software design world. Dan Winger's Bio Dan designs playful products, experiences and interactive entertainment at the forefront of technology. For over nine years, he has been driving growth through innovation at LEGO, exploring the intersection of physical and digital play, and bringing these new experiences to life. He has also consulted for various companies large and small, ranging from motocross to cosmetics. His experience spans a broad spectrum of projects and many different roles.

David Kelley doesn’t like to claim to have come up with the term design thinking, even though a most people would say he did. But regardless of who coined it, as founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school he has been one of the most influential proponents of design thinking, and human-centered design in general. When it comes to bringing together engineering, product, and design teams early in the design process, and aligning those teams towards a common goal, design thinking has few equals, and should be part of the toolkit for every product driven company. In this episode, Eli and Aarron speak with David about what it takes to bring designers and engineers together, how our workspace influences our work, and how we can encourage creative confidence in our companies. Enjoy their chat with David, and thanks for listening.   David Kelley's Bio (via IDEO.com) David Kelley is the founder and chairman of the global design and innovation company IDEO. Kelley also founded Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, known as the d.school. As Stanford’s Donald W. Whittier Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Kelley is the Academic Director of both of the degree-granting undergraduate and graduate programs in Design within the School of Engineering, and has taught classes in the program for more than 35 years. Kelley’s most enduring contributions are in human-centered design methodology and design thinking. He is most passionate about using design to help unlock creative confidence in everyone from students to business executives. A frequent speaker on these topics, Kelley and his brother co-authored the New York Times best-selling book Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All. After earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, Kelley worked as an engineer at both Boeing and NCR. Drawn to design, he entered Stanford University in 1975, where he earned his master’s degree in Engineering/Product Design. In 1978, he founded the design firm that would become IDEO and, in that same year, began his teaching career at Stanford, receiving tenure in 1990. He also founded an early-stage venture-capital firm in 1984 called Onset, and was instrumental in starting a special effects firm called Edge Innovations, which creates unique Animatronics for the film industry. Kelley was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering in 2000. He holds honorary PhD's from both the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth and Art Center College in Pasadena. He has been recognized with numerous honors, including the Chrysler Design Award and the National Design Award in Product Design from the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Robert Fletcher Award from Dartmouth, and the Edison Achievement Award for Innovation. Preparing the design thinkers of tomorrow earned him the Sir Misha Black Medal for his “distinguished contribution to design education.”

Google could now be considered a product driven company, but it wasn’t always that way. For many years Google’s engineering-led culture cherished efficiency over user experience. Irene Au arrived at a pivotal moment in the company’s history, and helped shape the way that Google’s product’s clearly value design today. Now in her role as a design partner at Khosla Ventures, she helps startups “build high performing teams, establish design practices, mentor and grow the next generation of great designers, and design interfaces and experiences.” Here is her story.   Irene Au's Bio Irene is design partner at Khosla Ventures, where she works with CEOs, executives, and designers to make products and services people can't live without. Irene has extensive experience elevating design at the highest levels of the organization by starting first with an empathetic understanding of human needs, and building high performing teams who create products people can’t live without.   Irene has unprecedented experience elevating the strategic importance of design within internet companies, having built and led the entire User Experience and Design teams at Google (2006-2012), Yahoo! (1998-2006), and Udacity (2012-2014).  She began her career as an interaction designer at Netscape Communications, where she worked on the design of the internet’s first commercial web browser. Irene is also a yoga teacher at internationally-recognized Avalon Yoga in Palo Alto, where she offers an accessible and challenging yoga practice for all.​