In this episode of Practical UX Methods: Research and Design Thinking, host Dr Chris Parker sits down with Douglas Ferguson — entrepreneur, human-centered technologist, and president of Voltage Control, an Austin-based agency known for its Design Sprints and innovation workshops.

Douglas shares actionable insights from his book Beyond The Prototype, revealing six practical steps to move from idea discovery to product launch. We explore the most powerful life lessons in design, the mindset behind lasting innovation, and how design thinking can drive change in today’s rapidly evolving world — from the challenges of COVID-19 to the cultural impact of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Whether you’re a UX designer, product leader, or creative strategist, this episode is packed with inspiration and methods to help you design with purpose, empathy, and real-world impact.

Connect With Douglas:

• ⁠Voltage Control⁠
• ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Douglas’s Books

• ⁠Beyond the Prototype⁠
• ⁠Start Within

Host: Dr Chris Parker
Email: c.parker@lboro.ac.uk

In this episode of Practical UX, we go beyond buttons and screens to explore what’s next for user experience: trustworthy AI, physiological synchrony in social VR, foldable device ergonomics, designing for the moments after a crash, and a bold provocation to design for human connection, not screen time.

• Why explainable AI changes user behaviour by improving trust calibration (and why “AI literacy” talks aren’t enough).

• How people’s heart rate and skin responses can sync in VR, offering a powerful new metric for co-experience.

• What a foldable phone’s hinge teaches us about emotional ergonomics and multi-state interface design.

• How post-crash UX should prioritise clarity, calm, and familiarity when fear overwhelms cognition.

• A provocative case for Relation Artefact Design (RAD): tools that help us look at people rather than screens.

1. Explainable AI & Trust (mushroom task) — journal article
   Leichtmann, B., Humer, C., Hinterreiter, A., Streit, M., & Mara, M. (2023). Effects of Explainable Artificial Intelligence on Trust and Human Behavior in a High-Risk Decision Task. Computers in Human Behavior, 139, 107539.
   Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563222003594 (ScienceDirect)

2. Physiological synchrony in Social VR — preprint
   Kloft, A. M., Fabinc, J. M., Hirsch, L., Slezas, A., Hachmann, H., Cunneen, M., Brandt, S. S., Sams, M., & Welsch, R. (2025). It’s Always Better When We’re Together: Physiological Synchrony and Shared Experiences in Social VR. (Preprint).
   Link: https://sciety-labs.elifesciences.org/articles/by?article_doi=10.21203%2Frs.3.rs-7134151%2Fv1 (Sciety)

3. Foldable smartphones UX framework — journal article
   Liu, Y., Dong, L., & Rau, P.-L. P. (2025). Unfolding the User Experience: A Comprehensive UX Framework for Foldable Smartphones. International Journal of Industrial Engineering, 32(5), 1396–1412.
   Abstract page: https://journals.sfu.ca/ijietap/index.php/ijie/article/view/10935
   Direct PDF: https://journals.sfu.ca/ijietap/index.php/ijie/article/download/10935/1871/65113 (Public Knowledge Project)

4. Post-Crash UX (multi-modal guidance) — conference paper
   Cho, Y., Kim, H., Ku, M., Yu, S., & Lee, J. (2025). Post-Crash UX: An Empirical Study on Multi-modal Interfaces for Immediate Driver Response. In AutomotiveUI Adjunct ’25 (ACM).
   Link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3744335.3758486 (ACM Digital Library)

5. Provocation: Relation Artefact Design — journal article
   Clemmensen, T. (2025). Stop Doing User Experience Design, Start Doing Relation Artefact Design. Interacting with Computers (Oxford University Press).
   Link: https://academic.oup.com/iwc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/iwc/iwaf044/8283768 (OUP Academic)

If this episode sparked ideas for your project, class, or lab, please follow/subscribe on your favourite podcast app and share with a colleague. The next great design conversation might start here.

Do you have questions for the show, or want to suggest a paper? Email Dr Chris Parker at c.parker@lboro.ac.uk.

Dr Chris Parker returns for Season Four of the UX Usability Podcast. We kick off in conversation with Sarah Doody about her trailblazing work shaping UX designers' career strategies, portfolios, and ways of working.

Discover Sarah's Career Strategy Lab at: https://www.uxportfolioformula.com/

Subscribe to hear Season 4 of the UX Usability Podcast as soon as it launches.

Cees de Bont (Dean of the School of Design and Creative Arts at Loughborough University) discusses his career inventing the Senseo coffee machine at Philips, managing design at Delft, and leading Design at Hong Kong University. We explore why emotion and dedication are essential skills in success and touching to hearts of others.

Dr Keneilwe Munyai describes her journey through fashion, design, and sustainability. We discover what a small Italian leather tanner has to offer African sustainability and the power of resilience.

Connect with Dr Parker

• LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchrisparker/
• TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ChrisUXD
• EMAIL: c.parker@lboro.ac.uk

Discover Enterprise Design Thinking: https://www.ibm.com/design/

Dr Parker sits down with the incredible Karel Vredenburg (IBM) to discuss design education, enterprise design thinking, and the role designers have in a more responsible future.

Connect with Dr Parker

• TWITTER: https://twitter.com/ChrisUXD
• EMAIL: c.parker@lboro.ac.uk

Dr Parker and Eugene Murphy discuss how Indeemo is revolutionising ethnography and diary studies for Design Research, why emotions are critical, and the future of technology.

Check out Indeemo: https://indeemo.com/

Follow Dr Parker via

• Twitter: @ChrisUXD
• Clubhouse: @ChrisUX

Dr Parker talks with Abhijeet Shukla, UX Designer at Tata Design Consultancy Services (Mumbai), about his work beyond design thinking, working effectively in business, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in design.

Read more about PSAV design method:

• Application of PSAV method in interaction steps optimization for user experience design
  International Journal of Advanced Research, Ideas and Innovations in Technology
  ISSN: 2454-132X, Vol.4, Issue 5, page no.841-843

Connect with Abhijeet on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijeetme1/

Dr Parker sits down with Mariam Braimah, product designer at Netflix and founder of the Kimoyo Fellowship to talk about creativity, inspiration, and Nigeria's stunning creative culture.

Visit The Kimoyo Fellowship  https://www.kimoyofellowship.org/

Kimoyo Fellowship's Twitter: https://twitter.com/kimoyofellows

Mariam's Twitter: https://twitter.com/mbraimah_

Dr Chris Parker and Liangchao Xue discuss how to design Augmented Reality apps for fashion retail based on her award-winning PhD research.

Presentation slides:  https://doi.org/10.17028/rd.lboro.13560320.v1

Read Liangchao's publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=P1d1sUkAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Liangchao on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liangchao-xue/

Dr Chris Parker and Hellen Pitikaris - Head of Conversion Rate-Optimierung & User Experience at Morefire GmbH - talk about the fundamentals of psychology that guide her in crafting excellent user experiences.

FREE eBook - The Scientific Foundation of the Limbic Approach: https://digital-commerce.post.ch/-/media/post-maxisites/e-commerce/dokumente/The-scientific-foundation-of-the-Limbic-approach.pdf

Practical UX kicks off with Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users (2nd ed.). We dig into why solid research sometimes says “don’t ship,” how the practice has matured (ops, leadership, insourcing), and why there’s no one “right way”—just better questions, synthesis, and confidence. Plus, Steve’s take on the future of research and a reminder to listen to ourselves. Follow and subscribe for more practitioner-level UX insights.

Buy Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (second edition): https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users-second-edition/

Formally: The UX Usability Podcast

Dr Parker chats with UX Design Consultants Pete Underwood and Cathy Carr about how they work as UX Designers in one of the UK's leading design agencies: Bunnyfoot.

Connect with Bunnyfoot: https://www.bunnyfoot.com/

Connect with Frances Brown CEO at Nightingale Design Research: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-brown-b5922356/

Nightingale Design Research: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nightingaledesignresearch/

Find Gerry's book - Top Tasks - here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1916444601?pf_rd_r=JFSFFGCWKEDECGV2DT2P&pf_rd_p=e632fea2-678f-4848-9a97-bcecda59cb4e

We sit down with Senior UX Designer Heidi Smith (of Aviva) to talk about UX Design within the insurance industry, her passions, the future UX design, and thematic analysis's role as a key design skill.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UserGenDesign

YouTube: youtube.com/designelearningtutorials

User Experience Designer Lou Oakham speaks with Chris Parker about working as a UX Designer, Accessibility, and the skills designers learn at university Vs. in the workplace.

Twitter: @UserGenDesign

YouTube: Design eLearning Tutorials

Connect with Grace Francis via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graciefrancis/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UserGenDesign

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/designelearningtutorials

Connect with Marg via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marglaing/

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/UserGenDesign

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/designelearningtutorials

TRANSCRIPT

Szymon is a UX Designer for Alior Bank SA, podcaster for UX po Godzinach, and recent graduate from Loughborough University. In tonight's conversation, we discuss starting out as a young UX designer, the post-COVID world, and starting a podcast to share his passion.

Listen to Szymon's podcast UX po Godzinach: https://anchor.fm/ux-po-godzinach

Watch the video presentation: https://youtu.be/WBtBg-LqY5o

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Twitter: https://twitter.com/UserGenDesign

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/designelearningtutorials

Research: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=oQbSNL8AAAAJ&hl=en

Douglas Ferguson is an entrepreneur, human-centred technologist, and president of Voltage Control - an Austin-based workshop agency that specialises in Design Sprints and innovation workshops. Douglas’s recent book Beyond The Prototype offers six clear steps to shift from idea discovery to product launch.

In tonight’s conversation, we discuss the greatest life lessons in design, secrets to success, and the role design can play in this fast-evolving world of COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter protests.

• Voltage Control
• LinkedIn

• Beyond the Prototype
• Start Within

The UX Usability podcast returns after a prolonged hiatus. Dr Chris Parker talks about the show, its future, UX's role in the world around us, and life as an academic.

Junior UX Crunch at Home: https://www.bigmarker.com/tech-circus-tv/Junior-UX-Crunch-at-Home-Usability-Testing

TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to the UX Usability Podcast.

I am Dr Chris Parker, and this is not your standard episode.

The coronavirus has touched everyone in the world, and has changed the way we work, forever.

The other week I thought I would start a series of bonus episodes between seasons, inspired by the rapid changes coronavirus is bringing to our homes. But then, like many of you, my life changed. So instead, I’m bringing season 2 of The UX Usability Podcast Forward.

We’re working hard on bringing you interviews, insights, and analysis of this changing world, and we want you to come along. So if you haven’t subscribed yet, hit that button and be notified when the first episode is ready; in the very, very near future.

But until then, I have an announcement. On the 15th April 2020, I am presenting at UX Crunch, and I want you to join me. This is a live webinar series for everyone starting out in UX or wanting to further their knowledge of our diverse and exciting field. I am joined by Moonpig’s strategy-lead researcher: Aly Abel and passionate UX Consultant: Marg Laing. Together, we will discuss the what, the why, and then when of usability testing, the secret research goals you need, and how to stand out and be excellent at UX Design.

Tickets are just £12, so a great and affordable way to turn your lockdown into a productive learning experience. I hope I can see you there. Links are in the show notes, or visit tinyurl.com/TheUXTalk. That’s tinyurl.com/TheUXTalk.

So that is it for now. I look forward to speaking with you soon in Season 2 of The UX Usability Podcast, or maybe live at UX Crunch.

Medical Advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19): https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Why Hand Sanitiser is useless against viruses: https://aem.asm.org/content/76/2/394.short

Dr Parker, in this Extra episode between seasons, covers UX Design's role in helping the public understand and deal with COVID-19.

We are not doctors, we are UX designers. Designers are powerful communicators. The public needs better communication of medical advice to feel better.

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/designelearningtutorials
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/UserGenDesign

What research methods do you use at each design stage? In this last episode of Season 1, we find out!

Book: The Tao of Statistics: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/148337792X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=148337792X&linkCode=as2&tag=usergendesign-21&linkId=8fb6b7d0be4a43404a9b0be10851f26a

youtube.com/designelearningtutorials

A look back at usability's evolution through 2019: the methods, approaches, and developments to use in 2020.

How to create great user experiences with dark UX?

A short perspective on what we can learn from Dark UX patterns as UX Designers.

[Book] Cognitive Psychology for Dummies

In the latest episode of The UX Usability Podcast, host Dr. Chris Parker from Loughborough University engages in an enlightening conversation with renowned author Irene Pereyra. The spotlight of this episode is Irene's latest masterpiece, "Universal Principles of UX." This groundbreaking book unveils the secrets to mastering the intricate art of user experience (UX) design.

Irene Pereyra's book is nothing short of a comprehensive cross-disciplinary encyclopedia, offering a treasure trove of insights. Through the exploration of 100 meticulously crafted laws, guidelines, human biases, and general considerations, listeners gain a profound understanding of the multifaceted world of UX design. Whether you're a seasoned UX professional or just dipping your toes into the field, this episode promises to be a must-listen, shedding light on the essential principles that shape user-centric design in today's digital landscape. Tune in to uncover the keys to creating exceptional user experiences and elevating your design expertise.

Check out The Universal Principles of UX on Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Universal-Principles-Strategies-Interactions-Technology-ebook/dp/B0BLZPBTTN

Why is navigation important? How do you create a website and app navigation that is perfect for your users? In this episode of the Usability podcast, we find out.

[Book] Top Tasks: View On Amazon

How do you run a professional usability assessment?

Dr Chris Parker's Publications: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=oQbSNL8AAAAJ&hl=en

Twitter: @UserGenDesign

YouTube: Design eLearning Tutorials

How can users thinking aloud while using your product help drive the redesign of more satisfying interfaces? Today, we find out.

• Usability Scales: LINK
• Statistics Tutorials: LINK
• The Tao of Statistics: LINK

How to think about Nielsen’s heuristics and WCAG 2.1

Design eLearning Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/user/FashionManchester

Dr Chris Parker's research: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=oQbSNL8AAAAJ&hl=en

What is Usability and how must UX designers think about it in the future? To find the answer I interview Dr Martin Maguire of Loughborough University's School of Design and Creative Art.

Dr Maguire's academic papers: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=FCZ_GjgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra

The Lazy Marketing Hour @YouTube

We talk with Karl Randay: Product Designer, Human Centred Design advocate, and currently Head of Design for Customer Experience Studio 383. He's worked in fashion and global leisure brands, healthcare, and the energy sector with over 20 years of experience, developing a deep understanding of designing for human behaviour. We discuss crafting authentic experiences, services, and products that make a genuine difference for real people.

• Discover 383: https://383project.com/
• Connect with Karl via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlranday/
• Connect with Dr Chris Parker via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchrisparker/
• Read my latest Research Papers: https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=oQbSNL8AAAAJ&hl=en

Dr Parker talks with Gaurav Sharma about returning to his Masters in UX Design, international design, and life as a  UX Designer at The Economist.

Loughborough University UX Design Courses

• MA: UX and Service Design
• MSc: User Experience Design

Virtual Reality (VR) is one of User Experience Design (UX)'s most exciting and challenging areas. This week, Frank Spillers, CEO and founder of Experience Dynamics shares his thoughts and approaches to designing engaging and meaningful experiences within the virtual world.

Frank Spillers CEO and Founder

Desk +1 503 978 9183 x100

Mobile +1 503 702 3608

Experience Dynamics- a Top 1000 Global Design company www.experiencedynamics.com

UX INNER CIRCLE

Learn UX 1:1 with Frank at www.uxinnercircle.com

Dani Sampson (freelance Brand Strategist) talks about the experience of design, what makes agencies work well, and creating powerful identities beyond UX.

• Connect with Dani: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dani-sampson-37290959/
• Explore Roam for yourself:  https://exploreroam.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/explore.roam/ 

In this episode of Practical UX , we explore how systems thinking can help designers solve complex problems and create more sustainable, impactful solutions.

Our guest is Sheryl Cababa, author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers — a must-read guide for anyone who wants to connect design thinking with real-world systems.

We discuss:

• How systems thinking can improve UX design, service design, and innovation.

• Why designers need to look beyond screens and touchpoints to understand the bigger picture.

• Practical ways to apply systems thinking in your design process, research, and team collaboration.

• How to design for long-term impact, sustainability, and organisational change.

If you’re a UX designer, product designer, researcher, or design strategist, this episode will help you think more holistically and 'close the loop' between design and systems.