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

Sound is the unsung hero of interaction design. The iconic chorus you hear as you boot up your Mac, the double knock of an arriving Slack message, and the ascending notes Airpods make as they connect to a device all provide context and feedback without visual interactions. Without sound in our design toolbox, interacting with technology would be much more cumbersome. Connor Moore has helped companies like Tesla, Uber, Peloton, and Youtube shape their brand and enhance the user experience through sound design. We spoke with Connor about how he found a career in sound design, his creative process and the tools he uses, and how sound shapes a brand experience. *** 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.   We’re also hosting a monthly welcome call on Zoom, where new subscribers can say hi, meet other members, and let us know what you are most excited to learn about and be inspired by. 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 in this episode 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

Get access to the full episode on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/celene-aubry Back in 2010, Aarron visited Hatch Show Print, a small print shop with a storied history that began in 1879. Hand cut wood block type and illustrations filled the shelves around presses busy producing posters for famous bands and artists. Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, and so many other legendary folks have used Hatch Show Print to promote their tours, and their aesthetic has been a major influence on design for more than 100 years. They’re still producing beautiful print work today and operate out of the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum.  We spoke with Celene Aubry, Associate Director and Manager at Hatch Show Print, about the origins of Hatch Show, the role of letterpress in the digital era and why their mantra is “preservation through production,” the challenges and joys of working with old tools, and how they are going about educating the next generation of letterpress designers. Bio Celene Aubry is the Associate Director and Manager at Hatch Show Print, the iconic letterpress print shop continuously operating since 1879 in Nashville, Tennessee. Aubry becomes the first woman to run the letterpress print shop in its 140-year history. Celene is also guiding the development of additional Hatch Show Print programs and activities that leverage a classroom and gallery, while still carrying on the shop’s tradition of preservation through production, making posters for the customers whenever time allows. Premium Episodes on Design Better This is a premium episode on Design Better (learn more in the announcement here). We’ll be releasing two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, 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: 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

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/richard-banfield-alison-rand 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/stephen-gates-jennifer-aldrich 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jehad-affoneh In this episode, we speak with VMWare’s Head of Design Jehad Affoneh about how he measures the business impact of design, and aligns design goals with engineering goals. We learn why he thinks it’s important to lead with context, and how he goes about ensuring that the diverse voices on his team are heard. You’ll hear: How OKRs can align goals across design and engineering Lessons from running an internal conference for designers and executives Tactics for ensuring diverse voices on your team are heard Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/joanna-pena-bickley Joanna Peña-Bickley has had an amazing arc to her design leadership career: from Chief Creative Officer at Matter Worldwide and IBM, to her current role as Head of Research and Design for Alexa Devices at Amazon, Joanna has always sought to design things that are “useful, usable, and magical.” In this interview, we talk with Joanna about working cross functionally with both software and hardware teams, and what she’s learned about building a more connected workflow. We also get Joanna’s take on speaking design in the language of business, and how she works to bring more diversity into leadership at the companies where she's worked. Takeaways: How Joanna approaches building high-functioning teams. What the opportunities and challenges are when designing for invisible interfaces. How to create partnerships that will make your team successful. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/natalya-shelburne Natalya Shelburne, Tech Lead for Design Engineering at The New York Times, sits at a fascinating crossroad of design and development. She leads a team of front-end developers and brings her own experience as a designer and art director to her current role. We chat with Natalya about her move from design to front-end dev, and some of the fears she faced along the way. We also talk about her approach to bridging design and dev, and what she brings from her prior career as a teacher into product design. Takeaways: Ways to approach the unnecessary dichotomy between designers and engineers Why respect is key to developing good cross-functional partnerships How to overcome fear of moving into a technical role as a designer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/kristin-wisnewski In the tech world, it's rare these days to spend more than a few years at one company. So we were curious to learn more about Kristin Wisnewski after hearing she’d been at IBM for 18 years. In her words, she “basically grew up at IBM,” and made a rapid transition from an individual contributor role to a leadership position in 2016, where she now leads an award-winning design team. We got to know the story of that career transformation, and what it took to get there. We also spoke with Kristin about clearing roadblocks for better work, and how to bring women into more leadership roles at technology companies. Takeaways: How to remain authentic to yourself as a leader The keys to peak team performance The way DesignOps works at IBM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/nancy-douyon Nancy Douyon has a remarkable story that lead her into a career in technology. From her childhood in Haiti, to moving to Boston and taking part in an MIT program as a kid, to running away from home and then teaching as a teenager, and on to design roles at Google and Uber, Nancy’s unconventional path gives her a unique perspective on how to approach product design for an audience that includes everyone. We chat with Nancy about her initial reluctance to enter a technical field despite her talent, how she thinks about making sure research represents a diverse set of users, and understanding global perspectives in product design. Takeaways: Approach hiring by looking at someone’s story Tips for making user research more representative How to tackle ethical product design Quick episode summary: 2:03 Roundtable discussion 35:39 Interview with Nancy Douyon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

https://www.designbetterpodcast.com Next week we'll be launching our fourth season of the Design Better Podcast by InVision. Listen now for a special preview of the new season and get ready for new episodes coming to you weekly starting February 18th. In this new season we’re taking a closer look at how teams can work better together for greater impact across design, engineering, business, and product. We speak with Joanna Peña-Bickley about bringing more diversity into leadership, the head of cloud engineering at Atlassian, Steve Deasy, about psychological safety and the keys to high velocity teams, and Kristin Wisnewski of IBM discusses how to inspire teams to go farther and empower managers to build trust and vulnerability. Jehad Affoneh from VMWare shares his philosophy on how empathy for his colleagues and assuming good intention helps him create the best experiences possible for customers. And Marty Cagan from Silicon Valley Product Group shares his behind-the-scenes lessons on the differences between product teams and feature teams, and why product management is often misunderstood. Hear from the people shaping design and engineering transformation at The New York Times, Uber, Amazon, Pinterest, IBM, and even NASA. And you'll learn more about how to communicate the business impact of design at your company and how teams are leveling up their design maturity for even greater influence at work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/david-kelley-creative-confidence 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/stephen-gates 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 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

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/season3recap 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/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.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/diego-rodriguez Diego Rodriguez has had a remarkable career at the intersection of design, business, and education. He has served as Global Managing Director of design firm IDEO, founding faculty member of Stanford’s d.school, and is currently Executive Vice President, Chief Product and Design Officer at Intuit. In this episode, we discuss how design can influence broader business goals. Diego shares Intuit’s unique approach to product design, and the need to build a certain level of trust and empathy with customers when designing financial products. Takeaways: How to build design into the culture of an organization How Intuit acts on its mission to Design for Delight How design thinking brings a diversity of perspectives to the design process  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we prepare for the last episode of Season 3, take a look back at some of the stories that have inspired us. In this short update episode, hear from hosts Aarron Walter and Eli Woolery about what they've enjoyed about this season of the Design Better Podcast so far and preview our upcoming episode with Diego Rodriguez, Executive Vice President, Chief Product and Design Officer at Intuit. There's lots more to come, so be sure to subscribe for updates at www.designbetterpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/che-douglas Che Douglas led the transformation of the design team at The Wall Street Journal, from a service-based organization to a strategic component of an embedded Engineering, Product and Design (EPD) structure. We chat with Che, who is now VP of Design at Booking.com, about how he got the right people involved to transform their design organization and spread design throughout the company. Che discusses the use of design sprints and how he showed the value of design to the organization through some of the team's key initiatives. Takeaways: How the design team can best collaborate with key partners Showing the value of design with a direct impact on the bottom line Going beyond defensiveness and being open to critique Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/lori-kaplan Lori Kaplan is a veteran design leader, whose pioneering work includes authorship of the original Macintosh Human Interface Guidelines in the 1980s. In this episode we speak with Lori about how the Atlassian playbook helps both internal and external teams address design challenges, the deep roots of cross-functional collaboration at the company, as well as Lori’s perspective on how attitudes towards design have shifted in recent years across industries. Takeaways: How Atlassian “designs across the seams” with a broad view of the customer The habits and rituals of teams within Atlassian that help create better cross-functional collaboration How quantitative and qualitative metrics work together to measure the impact of design. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/quinton-larson Quinton Larson is a design leader who has consistently brought thoughtful leadership into the companies where he works. In this episode we speak with Quinton about his prior work at IDEO and eBay, his involvement with Indeed’s Job Seeker Journey team, how he makes sure the right people are involved in project kickoffs, and how design systems help create a more connected workflow between designers and developers. Takeaways: Getting the right people involved in project kickoffs Being adaptable as a design leader Working efficiently and thoughtfully with key partners Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/bob-baxley What do Yahoo, Apple, and Pinterest have in common? Silicon Valley design vet Bob Baxley. With extensive design leadership experience under his belt, Bob knows a thing or two about bridging the gaps between teams to help champion a connected workflow. In this episode, Aarron and Eli tap Bob’s insights on productive design reviews, getting in sync with engineers, and what it takes to build key relationships with executives—all in the name of making products people can’t imagine living without. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/josh-ulm Josh Ulm has quite the CV—Adobe Design Lead, Vodafone Head of UX, Oracle VP of Design, and now Wells Fargo SVP of Strategic Design and Insights. One thing he’s learned along the way is that “the most valuable role for design to play is influencing the business—not just the product." In this episode of the Design Better Podcast, Aarron and Eli covered subjects ranging from where the connected workflow is most broken, to the one critical question to ask executive sponsors when starting a project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/brad-frost-dan-mall Enter design system pros Brad Frost and Dan Mall, long-time collaborators known for their expertise in bridging the gap between designers and developers. In this episode of the Design Better Podcast, Aarron and Eli talk with Dan and Brad about reducing friction between these two very different disciplines. They explore a few misconceptions around agile methodology, the risks of the creative technologist role, and breaking the design process to fix it. This is a conversation you don’t want to miss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Visit our Substack for a video of the live interview, transcript, and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/hillary-coe This is our 100th episode of Design Better. 🥳 It’s an amazing milestone! Whether you’ve been with us for years or you’re brand new to the show, thanks for listening and supporting our work. We saved something very special for our 100th episode: a live episode with Hillary Coe, formerly a design leader at SpaceX who is now leading design at Vast, who are building commercial space stations. When we first learned about Hillary, we weren’t entirely sure she was a real person: currently Chief Design & Marketing Officer for Vast and working on the world’s first commercial space station, Hilary was a design leader for SpaceX and creative director for Apple and Google, a certified commercial pilot, astronaut candidate, drag racing record holder and advocate for young women and men entering STEM fields: how can so many talents and accomplishments be wrapped up in a single human being? But Hillary is real—we’re lucky enough to have her here with us today for a very special live episode of Design Better at NYCxDesign Festival, resented in partnership with Automattic—makers of Wordpress— and Wert&Co—who have for decades connected inspiring brands and incredible talent. Space exploration has transformed from a big government program to a global commercial enterprise. As we increase our presence among the stars, there’s a role for design to play in shaping our experience. Who better to help us understand design in space than Hillary Coe, Chief Design & Marketing Officer at Vast who are making commercial space stations. Bio Hillary Coe is an Emmy award-winning design leader employing bold, multi-platform innovations to solve the world’s greatest challenges. As SpaceX's first Director of Design, she defined the visual strategy and narrative for human spaceflight in the 21st century while leading efforts to conceptualize human experience for current and future spacecraft. As Chief Design & Marketing Officer at Vast her mission continues with the development of a permanent human presence in space, and the world’s first Commercial Space Station. Outside of aerospace, her background in design leadership extends to Google mobile AR, Apple Watch fitness and ground-up product development for the high speed satellite internet service Starlink. Outside of her career, she is a commercial pilot, astronaut candidate, drag racing record holder and advocate for young women and men entering STEM fields. More specifically, her humanitarian efforts include working with the Department Of Education on the National STEM Challenge and advising XPRIZE on new ways to incentivize radical breakthroughs that move humanity forward. *** Premium Episodes on Design Better The audio of this ad-supported episode is available to everyone. If you’d like to hear it ad-free, and watch video footage of our live episode, 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, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show.  *** Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/benjamin-evans 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/abigail-gray Abigail Hart Gray, Director of UX at Google, is one of the most inspiring design leaders we know. A self-proclaimed analytics nerd, Abigail uses numbers to deftly communicate the value of design to her colleagues, giving her team the runway to do great work. In this episode of the Design Better Podcast, Eli and Aarron get Abigail’s take on measuring design’s impact on business, how parenthood has changed her approach to problem solving, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/julie-zhuo 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jake-knapp-make-time 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 Design Better 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/margaret-gould-stewart 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 Design Better 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/kim-williams 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/irene-au 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 Design Better 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/vas-natarajan 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. 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

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/maria-giudice 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/megan-quinn Do you ever wonder what it’s like to be part of fast-growing, design-led companies like Slack or Medium? 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/meriah-garrett 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/ts-balaji 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/diana-mounter 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/meredith-black 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/lynsey-thornton 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/mia-blume “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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/christian-madsbjerg 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jake-knapp-design-sprint 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get access to the full episode on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/ben-clymer Aarron fell down a rabbit hole when the Apple Watch came out. He knew nothing about watches, their design history and the immense investment of human effort it’s taken to engineer accurate timepieces until he bought an Apple Watch. He loves wearing a watch, but notifications and tracking caused him to abandon it for something simpler and mechanical. Anyone curious about watches will inevitably end up at Hodinkee.com, the premier publication about watches and the rich culture around them. Hodinkee was founded by Ben Clymer, who found his way into watches when his grandfather gave him the Omega watch right off his wrist. It sparked not only a deep passion for watches, but a company that has built a community of enthusiasts around the world. You might be thinking, watches are a strange topic for Design Better to cover. But they represent a beautiful intersection of design and technology that has been pursued for centuries. They’re also one of the few trans-generational objects in our lives that connect us with the people we love, as Ben Clymer shared with us in our conversation. We spoke with Ben about consulting with Jony Ive on Apple’s watch design, Jony’s deep dive into horology, how Ben went about creating such a compelling content brand, and his journey from being a founder and CEO back to being an individual contributor to the company he started. Bio Benjamin Clymer is widely considered to be a leading voice in the wristwatch industry. He is regularly quoted in major publications including The New York Times, Reuters, Forbes, Departures, GQ, and the Financial Times, and was dubbed “The High Priest of Horology” by The New York Times in 2013. Benjamin has acted as a consultant and guest speaker for Apple, and was named to “The Hypebeast Hundred” as one of the 100 most important influencers in global culture in both 2013 and 2014.  *** Premium Episodes on Design Better This is a premium episode on Design Better (learn more in the announcement here). We’ll be releasing two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, and our new enhanced newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show.  Upgraid to paid *** 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 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

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/007-laura-martini-getting-to-the-right-finish-line If there’s anyone we’ve interviewed on the Design Better 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's article on Medium entitled, "So your boss doesn’t believe in design research" caught our attention as it speaks to a common challenge we hear in design teams and offers a smart way to reframe things. https://blog.prototypr.io/so-your-boss-doesn-t-believe-in-user-research-40d8128db08e 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/michael-leon 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! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/alex-schleifer 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices