Explore every episode of the podcast The UX Level-Up
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 094 - Dan Brown: Product IA (with AI) as the Ultimate Level Up | 28 May 2026 | 01:00:17 | |
Dan Brown is the kind of person who will walk into your organization, look at your product, and immediately see the structural problems nobody else will name — because he's been doing exactly that for enterprise teams for over two decades. After 18 years co-founding 8Shapes, he now runs Curious Squid Design Lab, where he focuses on product information architecture and the deep craft work that most teams are too rushed to do. In this episode of The UX Level-Up Podcast, Sophia and Dan get into a tension that's been building for years — information architects and product designers are working in the same problem space and barely talking to each other, and AI is about to make that very, very expensive. They talk about what actually goes wrong on teams that skip the structural work, why the frenzy to use AI tools is adding pressure instead of removing it, and what Dan said at a recent workshop that made Sophia write it down on the spot. LINKS: Dan's newsletter, Spilling Ink: https://curioussquid.substack.com/ The Unchecked Podcast: https://unchecked.buzzsprout.com/ Connect with Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmbrown/ Find out more about Dan: https://www.curious-squid.com Continue the conversation in the OOUX Forum: https://forum.ooux.com/posts/dan-brown-product-ia-with-ai-as-the-ultimate-level-up Connect with Sophia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiav/ Follow Sophia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiavux/ Check out the OOUX Website: https://ooux.com Follow Sophia on Medium: https://sophiavux.medium.com Interested in training your team on OOUX? Book a call here: https://calendly.com/ooux/opportunity Get on the Cohort 12 waitlist: https://ooux.com/certification | |||
| 093 - The Key to Leveling Up for Content Designers with Angie King | 08 May 2026 | 00:58:15 | |
Angie King went from contractor to VP of UX Design at US Bank in five years — not because she had all the answers, but because she was the person in the room asking the right questions. She's now the content strategy manager at Mayo Clinic, where she's putting the ORCA framework to work on one of the most complex content systems in healthcare. In this episode of The UX Level-Up Podcast, Sophia and Angie get into what it actually looks like when a veteran content strategist finds a framework that finally clicks — and why Angie believes it's not just career-changing, but field-changing. If you've ever felt like the smartest person in a conversation but struggled to explain why something was off, this episode is for you. Note: Angie King appeared on this episode in her individual professional capacity. Any views, stories, or experiences shared in this conversation are Angie’s own and should not be interpreted as official positions of Mayo Clinic. LINKS: Register for Angie’s Button Conference Talk: https://www.buttonevents.com/2026-sessions/object-oriented-ux-a-content-first-approach-to-meaningful-content-design Connect with Angie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angieking/ Continue the conversation in the OOUX Forum: Connect with Sophia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiav/ Follow Sophia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiavux/ Check out the OOUX Website: https://ooux.com Follow Sophia on Medium: https://sophiavux.medium.com Interested in training your team on OOUX? Book a call here: https://calendly.com/ooux/opportunity Get on the Cohort 12 waitlist: https://ooux.com/certification Check out Zoe: https://ooux.com/zoe | |||
| 092 - The 6 Ingredients for Flow (and why your UX practice thwarts them all) | 16 Apr 2026 | 00:34:31 | |
Sophia Prater is the founder of OOUX and the creator of the ORCA process, a practical system for untangling complexity and designing more intuitive digital products. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia shares what she’s learning from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow, why so many status quo UX practices actually keep designers stuck between boredom and overwhelm, and how ORCA helps create the conditions for deeper focus, clearer thinking, and more intrinsically rewarding work. She also explores the six ingredients of flow state, why UX often thwarts them, and how AI can either support or sabotage the kind of meaningful problem-solving designers are really hungry for.LINKS:Get access to the Free Training here Join the OOUX Forum Message me on Instagram and tell me what you think Continue the Conversation in the Forum | |||
| 091 - AI Can Design Screens. But Can It Design a System? With Jon Alderink | 02 Apr 2026 | 01:02:01 | |
Jon Alderink is a UX consultant with experience in Industrial IoT, where he’s worked on complex machine software systems, and he previously worked at Twist Think. He has also worked as a color artist for Marvel and DC, and recently created his own website, Norn Forge, where he’s been experimenting with OOUX, AI workflows, and connected tools. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Jon talk about why AI can generate screens but still struggles to design the system underneath, how OOUX helped Jon’s team move faster and make better product decisions, and how designers can use tools like Notion, Claude, and schema markup without offloading the critical thinking that makes their work valuable. LINKS: | |||
| 090 - ADHD and Autism in UX How OOUX Supports Neurodivergent Designers with Meghan Logan | 20 Mar 2026 | 01:01:03 | |
Meghan Logan is a Lead Product Designer at Stripe, and her work sits at the intersection of systems thinking, systems architecture, product strategy, and neurodiverse thinking. She also speaks at conferences about how design frameworks can better support neurodivergent brains and create safer, more effective ways of working. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Meghan talk about Meghan’s ADHD diagnosis and the masking that so many neurodivergent designers experience at work, why OOUX and ORCA can feel like such a safe and clarifying framework for ambiguous design problems, and how structured systems thinking can help designers communicate better, reduce bias, and create more inclusive products. LINKS: Register for The UX Level Up Live Connect with Meghan on LinkedIn Podcast with Karen Hewell on applying OOUX to your own inner world | |||
| 089 - What Game UX can Teach Us about Wrangling Complexity with Mandi Geiselman | 05 Mar 2026 | 00:40:50 | |
Mandi Geiselman has worked as Senior UX Designer at Autodesk, where she designs for complex media & entertainment tools (like Maya and 3DS Max), and she is an Advanced OOUX Strategist who’s created resources on building an OOUX community of practice inside big organizations. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Mandi talk about OOUXing Horizon Forbidden West, why game UX isn’t about “making it easy,” and how bases, extensions, and conditional logic can make even the most complex systems more understandable (and more shareable for teams). LINKS: 💪 Get access to the free training and get 20 strategies to level up your UX practice! OOUX.com/levelup | |||
| 088 - My Big Mistake of 2025 and the Lesson Learned | 23 Jan 2026 | 00:15:45 | |
In this short solo episode, Sophia shares a big mistake she made in 2025 — one that directly contradicts a core OOUX principle she teaches. Using real examples from EdTech, Mighty Networks, and OOUX’s own course offerings, she breaks down the problem of overlapping objects and the three ways teams can handle them: combine, differentiate, or live with confusion. She also announces an important shift in how OOUX training will be structured moving forward — and why this change makes things clearer for everyone. LINKS: OOUX Forum (free to join) | |||
| 087 - Teaching OOUX Without Making People Feel Dumb: Elena’s No-BS OOUX Process with Elena Haskins | 07 Jan 2026 | 00:58:43 | |
Elena Haskins is the founder of Anele UX Studio, where she helps B2B companies design clearer, more intuitive software across industries ranging from early-stage startups to enterprise giants like Prudential, Party City, and the NFL. She’s also an Advanced OOUX Certified practitioner—one of the earliest Cohorts to complete the training—and a sought-after workshop facilitator known for making complex OOUX concepts feel accessible, even fun. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Elena dig into how to teach OOUX without overwhelming people, why asking sharper questions can instantly elevate your UX practice, and how Elena bridges the gap between designers and developers using a stripped-down, practical ORCA workflow. They also explore client-friendly documentation, role-based prioritization, and Elena’s signature philosophy: people stick around when you make them feel smarter—not confused. Links: Connect with Elena on LinkedIn Read "A List Apart: Object-Oriented UX" Article Explore the Throughline Conference program (Jan 29–30) - throughlineconf.com - Use the discount code: OOUX50 (get $50 off) | |||
| 086 - ORCA Series #15: Why Your Buttons Are Broken (and How to Fix Them) | 18 Dec 2025 | 00:35:10 | |
Allie Ofisher has worked as a UX consultant for complex systems, served as the lead instructor for the Representation Round in the OOUX Foundations program, and is a Certified Advanced OOUX Strategist. She’s also one of the core contributors to the newly refilmed OOUX Masterclass, leading the way on rethinking CTA Representation and object integrity.In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Allie talk about how broken CTAs sabotage UX (and trust), why screen-first design leads to bloated prototypes and stakeholder distractions, and how to align affordances across object views without creating chaos.LINKS: Allie Ofisher https://www.allieofisher.com/• Connect with Allie Ofisher on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allieofisher• OOUX We did it Again https://www.youtube.com/@OOUXwediditagain | |||
| 085 - Teams that OOUX: Saving Time while Tackling Wildly Complex Product Design with Kayla Ferris and Ryan Young | 05 Dec 2025 | 00:55:36 | |
Ryan Young and Kayla Ferris are Certified OOUX Strategists and UX leaders at P3+Uplift, an IT consulting firm based in Des Moines, Iowa. Ryan serves as Senior Director of Product and Design, while Kayla is a UX and Product Designer and mentor for the OOUX Certification Program. In this episode of the UX Level-Up Podcast, Sophia talks with Ryan and Kayla about how OOUX became P3’s “test-driven design” process, why it helps them ramp up on complex projects at lightning speed, and how mapping objects with clients—even those with PhDs in microbiology—turns confusion into clarity. They also share real stories of saving weeks of rework and being told they knew more about their clients’ businesses than ten-year veterans. LINKS: A List Apart: Object-Oriented UX — https://alistapart.com/article/object-oriented-ux/ Learn more about OOUX Certification — https://ooux.com/certification | |||
| 084 - (ORCA Series #14) - Relationship Representation: Connect Your Objects, Connect Your Teams with Allie Ofisher | 24 Nov 2025 | 00:32:15 | |
Allie Ofisher is a UX designer and consultant with deep roots in systems thinking, visual design, and user research. She’s worked with countless teams to help them understand what they’re building, why they’re building it, and how to bring clarity to complex products using OOUX. As the lead steward of the Representation Round at OOUX, Allie brings her sharp visual eye and her obsession with relationships, context, and user mental models to everything she touches.In this episode of the UX Level Up Podcast, Sophia and Allie dig into Relationship Representation—how to avoid isolated objects, why contextual navigation matters more than top-down menus, and how Nested Object Matrixes (NOM) unlock innovation, break down silos, and transform collaboration with product owners and developers. They explore how disconnected UI patterns often point to deeper organizational issues, how research questions reveal real user needs, and how OOUX gives teams a shared language for designing systems that actually think the way users think. LINKS: Connect with Allie on LinkedIn Catch up on episodes of OOUX We did it Again The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass 3.0 is coming soon! Join the waitlist now for a black Friday surprise! | |||
| 083 - (ORCA Series #13) - If Users Can’t Name It, They Can’t Value It - With Allie Ofisher | 08 Nov 2025 | 00:37:44 | |
Allie Ofisher has worked as a UX consultant across AgTech and nonprofit product spaces, teaches the OOUX Representation Round in Foundations, and co-hosts the YouTube series “OOUX: We Did It Again.” In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Allie talk about using OOUX since 2020 to navigate the trickiest projects, why designing against the four UX “fails” (especially masked objects) helps teams onboard and audit existing products quickly, and how reverse-engineering Representation first—with intentional choices in shapes, labels, and attributes—keeps designs clear and resilient. LINKS: Allie Ofisher https://www.allieofisher.com/• Connect with Allie Ofisher on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allieofisher• OOUX We did it Again https://www.youtube.com/@OOUXwediditagain | |||
| 082 - (ORCA Series #12) - Building Trust Through Attributes - Attribute Prioritization With Jake Zukowski | 24 Oct 2025 | 00:40:33 | |
In this 12th installment of the ORCA Series, Jake Z is back to wrap up the Prioritization Round with Attribute Prioritization. In this episode we discuss content clashes, marketing demands, and how to align across teams when everyone wants their data front and center. LINKS: Check out Jake's previous appearances on the UX Level Up Podcast: 079 - ORCA Series #11 - CTA Prioritization 077 - ORCA Series #10 - Relationship Prioritization 038 - OOUX at Hello Fresh with Jake Zukowski Join the waitlist for the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass 3.0! Continue the conversation on the OOUX Forum! | |||
| 081 - UX That Ships - Better Project Launches Using OOUX with Philippe Fara | 21 Oct 2025 | 00:47:50 | |
After leading a major gov site launch, Philippe Fara is back to share how OOUX helped him deliver better outcomes with less chaos. From mastering the ORCA Process to mentoring others, he spills the tea on scaling UX strategy, building confidence, and making complexity intuitive. OOUX LINKS: Check out Philippe's last appearance on the UX Level-Up Podcast! Admire Philippe's work on Renfrewshire.gov.uk | |||
| 080 - OOUX and Jobs to be Done with Jim Kalbach | 26 Sep 2025 | 01:00:58 | |
Jobs To Be Done meets Object-Oriented UX! Sophia and JTBD legend, Jim Kalbach, nerd out on frameworks, the magic of teaching to learn, and evolving your process. It’s a fun, honest convo about clarity, complexity, and cringey first diagrams. Enjoy! #UX #JTBD # OOUXLINKS: | |||
| 079 - (ORCA Series #11) - CTAs That Align Teams and Earn Trust - CTA Prioritization with Jake Zukowski | 05 Sep 2025 | 00:39:28 | |
Jake Zukowski has worked as Vice President of Global Design and Research at HelloFresh, led design teams at Frog and Fjord (now Accenture Song), and contributed his expertise to innovative companies like Magic Leap, Microsoft, and Expedia. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Cosmic Plumbing, where he creates professional astrology and tarot tools. In this episode, Sophia and Jake unpack CTA prioritization—how to balance user needs with business goals, why “contra CTAs” matter for ethical UX, and how to navigate tough stakeholder convos to build trust and deliver real, lasting value. LINKS: Connect with Jake on LinkedIn! Join the waitlist for Cohort 12 of the OOUX Masterclass (Fall 2026) | |||
| 078 - Bossy UX - Why I’m Calling BS on the Doom-and-Gloom Era | 28 Aug 2025 | 00:31:41 | |
A viral LinkedIn post claims UX is “just battles and compromises.” In this episode, Sophia gets spicy about why that’s wrong. Tune in for a soapbox rant on why we shouldn’t settle for burnout culture — and how to reclaim UX as the world-changing craft it was meant to be. LINKS: Join Cohort 11 of the OOUX Masterclass! Doors close August 29th at 11:59 PM EDT! Continue the conversation on the OOUX Forum! | |||
| 077 - (ORCA Series #10) - From Inheriting Strategy to Shaping It - Relationship Prioritization with Jake Zukowski | 25 Aug 2025 | 00:40:57 | |
What if prioritizing relationships could boost your bottom line? In this 10th ORCA Series installment, Sophia is joined by former VP of design at Hello Fresh, Certified OOUX Strategist, and Cohort 11 Mentor, Jake Zukowski, to explore how ORCA’s Relationship Prio helps businesses build trust, create clarity around revenue objects, and design strategies that work for both users and businesses. LINKS: 1. Join Cohort 11 of the OOUX Certification! Doors are open until Friday 8/29 at 11:59 PM EDT. 2. Check out all the amazing testimonials for the OOUX Certification on OOUX.com/testimonials. | |||
| 076 - Streamline Change Management using OOUX with Karen Hewell | 11 Aug 2025 | 00:52:08 | |
Advanced OOUXer Karen Hewell joins me to share how she’s helping government agencies shift from page-based chaos to object-based clarity. We talk breaking silos, creating shared ownership, and making massive content ecosystems easier to manage (and actually intuitive). 🎯 LINKS: Keep up with Karen's work at Anthro-tech Get on the waitlist for Cohort 11 of The OOUX Certification Program! | |||
| 075 - (ORCA Series #9) - Object Prio - A New Kind of Road Map | 17 Jul 2025 | 00:35:54 | |
In this ninth installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia kicks off the Prioritization round with Object Prioritization. Tune in as she shares how this step can bring clarity to your design process and your project backlog — plus a personal story on tackling creative chaos with compassion and strategy. LINKS: Get 20 powerful strategies to elevate your practice IMMEDIATELY with the UX Level-Up! Start your OOUX journey the RIGHT way with OOUX Foundations. Enroll here! | |||
| 074 - Why Your “Why” Isn’t Cutting It And How to Dig Deeper | 03 Jul 2025 | 00:28:23 | |
In this episode, Sophia gets real about the tension between OOUX in theory vs. the messy reality of the real world. Learn how to ask those jaw-dropping, scope-shifting “why?” questions without annoying leadership. She breaks it down into four pro-level steps so you can bring more clarity, alignment, and confidence to your work. LINKS: Join the UX Level-Up free on OOUX.com/levelup! | |||
| 073 - What the World Needs From Designers | 25 Jun 2025 | 00:40:22 | |
In this episode of the podcast, Sophia announces a rebrand of the OOUX Podcast: The UX Level-Up! Going forward, the show will center around the five Level-Ups (featured in The UX Level-Up). She also asks a game-changing question that reframes the purpose of our OOUX work, and gives her own answer to that question, laying out an ambitious vision for OOUX and the ORCA process going forward. LINKS: Join the waitlist for The UX Level-Up Join the waitlist for OOUX Foundations | |||
| 072 - UX Innovation Starts With Systems, Not Screens | 25 Apr 2025 | 00:28:53 | |
Frameworks don’t kill creativity — they set it free. In this episode, we're breaking down why UX designers who jump into UI too soon miss the real opportunity for innovation. I’ll show you how ORCA (Objects, Relationships, Calls-to-Action, Attributes) gives you real material to build with — fueling true creativity, better ideas, and a serious competitive edge. 🎧 Tune in to rethink your brainstorming, unleash deeper innovation, and start sketching systems, not just screens. LINKS: | |||
| 071 - OOUX as a Tool for Learning - How OOUX Makes You Smarter | 04 Apr 2025 | 00:33:01 | |
In this more personal solo episode, Sophia shares how she uses OOUX to help her learn and understand complicated things faster, why it's important to budget for and invest in self improvement, plus why OOUX is great for helping you step away from the screens to embody what you're trying to understand. | |||
| 070 - How to Save UX - 5 Ways to Practice Servant Leadership | 16 Mar 2025 | 00:24:23 | |
The UX job market is rough. Veterans are being laid off, juniors are struggling to find jobs, and yet, digital experiences are clunky and getting worse. What gives? In this raw and honest solo-episode, Sophia explores why UX has been set up to fail — why big problems remain unsolved, and why leadership often undervalues UX work. You'll hear how we've been pushed into pixel-pushing and spackling over the cracks of complexity instead of tackling structural solutions. And why that's not good enough anymore. But there’s hope. UX can evolve, and we can take back our craft. Discover the Five Core Level-Ups that will empower you to redefine your role and bring deeper meaning into your work. If you are ready for a deep dive into Sophia’s practical how-to, Join our 90-minute, totally free training: The UX Level-Up. You'll learn 20 actionable strategies to start leveling up immediately—yes, right after the training. 👉 Register here: https://www.ooux.com/levelup Let’s stop spackling. Let’s build better. | |||
| 069 - World Models, OOUX, & AI Consciousness | 06 Mar 2025 | 00:32:56 | |
In this solo episode of the podcast, Sophia discusses, "AI: A Guide for Thinking Humans" by Melanie Mitchell professor at the Santa Fe Institute. Are world models the answer to creating human-like intelligence in AI? What are the arguments for and against world models in training AI? And can OOUX help in creating these models? LINKS: | |||
| 068 - Sensemaking & Storytelling via OOUX with Torrey Podmajersky | 21 Feb 2025 | 01:03:34 | |
As president of Catbird Content, Torrey Podmajersky helps teams solve business and customer problems using UX and content. She has written inclusive and accessible consumer and professional experiences at Google, OfferUp, and Microsoft, and now for clients of Catbird Content. She wrote the best-selling Strategic Writing for UX, and teaches at schools and conferences in North America and Europe. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Torrey talk about why people tend to be biased toward stories they understand, how facilitating with sticky notes helps level the playing field for ideas, and how Torrey used OOUX to untangle the “spaghetti” of requirements, system objects, and team vernacular at a large company we all know.
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| 067 - The Future of OOUX — And What Is OOUX Anyways? | 06 Jan 2025 | 01:08:39 | |
In this episode, Sophia and Allie get clear on what exactly OOUX is, how the ORCA process works, and why everyone is talking about it! If you have heard about OOUX and were wondering what it can do for you in your UX practice, or if you find yourself faced with intense digital complexity and need a way to break it down, this video is for you! Check out these articles for more on the cognitive science of OOUX: "Don't Dead Him - Why Verbs Are Hard and What It Means For the UX Process" - / dont-dead-him-why-verbs-are-hard-and-what-... "UX For Lizard Brains" - https://alistapart.com/article/ux-for... "The Object-Oriented User" - https://blog.prototypr.io/the-object-... 👻 Get on the waitlist for the Four UX Fails Mini-Course: https://www.ooux.com/offerings/fourfails A deep dive into how to detect and prevent these unsavory flavors of unintuitiveness! ⭐️ Join the waitlist for the OOUX Masterclass: https://www.ooux.com/spmcwaitlist A 22-hour online course that will help you have more confidence in the face of complexity, design more elegant and resilient digital systems, reduce rework while also having more fun, and overall level-up as an advanced, high-value UXer. | |||
| 066 - Getting OOUX Buy-In Using What You've Got With Raktim Chatterjee | 05 Dec 2024 | 00:58:11 | |
Raktim Chatterjee is a Certified OOUX Strategist and the Lead UX Consultant at Xebia, a global IT consultancy. In this episode, Sophia and Raktim talk about how to get buy-in on OOUX with stakeholders by reviewing headaches from previous projects through an OOUX lens and by meeting people where they are, why OOUX becomes exponentially beneficial when all team members know the fundamentals, and just how much OOUX it's possible to do in just 45 minutes. This is a great conversation on the nuts and bolts of getting started with OOUX at work. Enjoy! LINKS: Connect with Raktim on LinkedIn Or email Raktim at raktim.ux@gmail.com. He'd love to talk to you about your OOUX questions. Join the waitlist for Cohort 11 of the OOUX Certification Program Join the waitlist for the new and improved Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass Join the vibrant OOUX Community over on the OOUX Forum! It's free to join. | |||
| 065 - Why I'm Closing the Doors on the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass | 24 Sep 2024 | 00:25:59 | |
The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass is coming off the shelf at midnight on Friday, September 27, 2024. In this solo episode of the podcast, Sophia talks about why she's taking the course off the market, when it will be back, and why you should get this "life-changing," "mind blowing," "career-saving" course today before it's gone, plus two big lessons she's learned over 10 years of entrepreneurship! LINKS: Invest in your future. Join the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass. | |||
| 064 - The Three Transformations Most Designers Crave | 08 Aug 2024 | 00:34:59 | |
In this solo episode of the podcast, Sophia asks, what is the point of OOUX? What are the things people get out of OOUX? Sophia outlines the three glorious transformations that OOUX provides to the weary UX professional. This podcast is for people who are wondering if they should dive deeper into the world of Object-Oriented UX. LINKS: Get started Object-Mapping with OOUX using the Object-Mapping Quickstart Guide. Get it here. Is the OOUX Certification right for you? Take the quiz! Cohort 10 of The OOUX Masterclass Certification is open for enrollment! Get your spot before they run out. Continue the conversation on the OOUX Forum! | |||
| 063 - Upgrading OOUX and ORCA and Why the Masterclass is going on Pause | 18 Jul 2024 | 00:37:17 | |
There are big changes coming to the world of OOUX. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia talks about bumping the ORCA process up from 15 to 16 steps. She also discusses the upcoming Cohort 10, which will mark the tenth anniversary of OOUX! And to celebrate that milestone she has devised four new bonuses for this cohort. Plus, why we will be putting the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass on pause in the coming month. Sales for Cohort 10 of The OOUX Certification Program for Self-Paced Masterclass students will open up July 25! Purchase the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass. Sales for the Cohort 10 Waitlist will open up July 29. Get on the waitlist! Kickoff for Cohort 10 of The OOUX Certification Program is September 2, 2024! LINKS: Connect with Sophia on LinkedIn. If you have taken the OOUX Masterclass and you would like to tackle some more advanced training, check out the 15 Advanced Moves course on The OOUX Forum. | |||
| 062 - Proof that OOUX Works with Kate Redfern and Philippe Fara | 27 Jun 2024 | 01:14:19 | |
Kate Redfern is a Senior UX Consultant at Manifesto, a digital experience agency that works with clients in the non-profit and government space. Philippe Fara is the Digital Experience Manager for Renfrewshire Council. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia, Kate, and Philippe discuss using the ORCA process to raise user competency scores for the Renfrewshire Council website, how OOUX makes maintaining digital content easier, and why OOUX is a good investment for companies and governments. LINKS: Connect with Kate on LinkedIn. Connect with Philippe on LinkedIn. Check out Manifesto via their website Join the Waitlist for Cohort 10 of the OOUX Masterclass Certification, kicking off September 2, 2024! | |||
| 061 - OOUXing English Football with Will Poole | 06 Jun 2024 | 01:13:11 | |
Will Poole is Head of User Experience at Kyan, a digital product agency that specializes in strategy, design, and engineering, expertly crafting digital experiences to solve complex problems and drive innovation. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Will talk about Will's journey to finding OOUX, the challenges of bringing OOUX to Kyan, and using ORCA to design continuing ed and personal development for Premier League coaches. LINKS: Watch Will's talk, "Wrangling Complexity with ORCA" Upgrade your career with the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass Take the OOUX Fundamentals course Take the OOUX for AI and AI for OOUX | |||
| 060 - Organizing a Team Around Objects with Ghyslain Olier | 15 May 2024 | 00:59:18 | |
Ghyslain Olier is the Design Director at Content Square and has 15 years of experience in product design. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Ghyslain discuss using OOUX to organize your team, why your O's, R's, C's, and A's are your competitive advantage, plus thoughts on OOUX and AI! LINKS: Connect with Ghyslain on LinkedIn Sign up for the OOUX for AI & AI for OOUX Meetup event, Thursday May 16, 3:00-5:00PM Up-level your career with The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass! | |||
| 059 - Making Sense of Language Messes with Abby Covert | 26 Apr 2024 | 01:02:47 | |
Abby Covert is an information architect, writer and community organizer with two decades of experience helping people make sense of messes. She is the author of the 2014 book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess, "a book to teach IA to everybody," and more recently, Stuck, Diagrams Help, a book for teaching the art of diagramming. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Abby talk about letting go of perfectionism in dealing with tech debt, the power of language and why words are hard, plus why diagramming is a high order skill. LINKS: Connect with Abby on LinkedIn. Keep up with Abby on her website. Purchase Abby's book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess. Purchase Abby's book, Stuck, Diagrams Help. Sign up for the OOUX for AI & AI for OOUX meetup, May 16, 2024 at 3:00PM. Upgrade your career with The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass! | |||
| 058 - OOUX for AI and AI for OOUX | 11 Apr 2024 | 00:59:26 | |
In this solo episode of the podcast, Sophia talks about the coming artificial intelligence revolution and how it could work with OOUX. She discusses AI world models and how OOUX provides a framework for training AIs. Plus she shares all the fun AI/OOUX material coming down the pipeline, including Zoe, the OOUX bot (currently in development) and a meetup on May 16 3-5PM EST, "OOUX for AI and AI for OOUX." LINKS: OOUX for AI and AI for OOUX Training Event Patricia Reiner’ Podcast The Future of UX AI for Designers Course by Patricia (I’ll be there! Join me!) | |||
| 057 - Revolutionizing your UX Process with Elena Haskins | 28 Mar 2024 | 00:59:50 | |
Elena Haskins is a Certified OOUX Strategist and product designer that helps design software for SaaS startups that make users feel effortlessly at home. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Elena discuss how dog owners can teach clients about cardinality, why OOUX helps you ask the questions no one else is asking, and how system objects can be used for team therapy. LINKS: Connect with and follow Elena on LinkedIn Keep up with Elena on her website Reach out to Elena via email: elena@anele.design Revolutionize your career with The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass! | |||
| 056 - Wrangling Design System Chaos with Dan Mall | 14 Mar 2024 | 01:04:27 | |
Dan Mall is a creative director, designer, founder, and entrepreneur. He currently runs Design System University: curriculum & community to support how you design at scale. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Dan ask the question, are design systems folks and OOUX folks the same folks? LINKS: Catch up with Dan on his website, danmall.com. Learn more about design systems at Design System University. Take your design career to the next level with The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass. | |||
| 055 - (ORCA Series #8) - Attribute Requirement Fractals | 29 Feb 2024 | 00:23:52 | |
In this eighth installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia wraps up the Requirements round with Attribute Requirements. Tune in to hear Sophia give a primer on deeper level requirements gathering, plus what sorts of questions generally get asked during the Requirements round. LINKS: If you've taken the OOUX Masterclass, get your seat in the 15 Advanced Moves OOUX Training this weekend March 1-2! Give your design career steroids with the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass. Keep up to date with the latest on OOUX with The OOUX Newsletter. Listen to ORCA Series #4 - Top Attributes to Consider for Every Object. Catch up on all episodes from the ORCA Series | |||
| 054 - The Full ORCA Process Overview plus 15 Pro Tips | 15 Feb 2024 | 00:51:07 | |
In this solo episode of the podcast, Sophia gives a great bird's eye view of the ORCA process, outlining each step, how it can stand alone on its own, and what the main "tripping point" is for each part of the process. Plus, a teaser for the advanced training, March 1, 2024. Buckle up and grab something to take notes! LINKS: 15 Advanced Moves to Level-up your OOUX Game Level up your UX career by enrolling in The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass! | |||
| 053 - OOUXing Government with Kristin Ouellette Muskat | 26 Jan 2024 | 01:09:34 | |
Kristin Ouellette Muskat is a Certified OOUX Strategist who is the Principal User Experience Designer at Coforma, and has worked in the government space for years. In this episode of podcast, Sophia and Kristin discuss why it's important to work at a sustainable pace, yak shaving in government work, how working in government differs from private companies, plus OOUXing the law. LINKS: The OOUX Happy Hour: OOUX in Government - A Panel Discussion Cast your vote: What (live) online training should Sophia provide to you next? (This poll is only open to OOUX Masterclass and Certification students) Enroll in The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass and use the discount code OOUXPOD2024 to receive a $100 discount until February 9, 2024. Read about Sophia's Mini-Sabbatical: creating an anti-plan for Whimsy January on The OOUX Forum Listen to Ezra Klein's podcast interview with Jennifer Pahlka: The Book I Wish Every Policy Maker Would Read | |||
| 052 - OOUXing Thoughts, Feelings, and Your Life with Karen Hewell | 04 Jan 2024 | 01:20:59 | |
Greetings OOUXers! In this New Years episode of the podcast, we welcome Content Designer, Information Architect, and Certified OOUX Consultant, Karen Hewell. Sophia and Karen discuss the power of naming your feelings and thoughts, the difference between feelings and thoughts, mapping your polarizing traits can make you more confident, & how to get started OOUXing your life. This is a fantastic discussion. We hope you enjoy. LINKS: New year, new you. Level up your career with The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass. OOUX Happy Hour: Extending the Nested Object Matrix YouTube Video: NOMing My Joys Read the article that started it all: OOUX: A Foundation for Interaction Design | |||
| 051 - (ORCA Series #7) - Object-Oriented User Stories from Santa's Workshop | 21 Dec 2023 | 00:26:55 | |
In this seventh installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia brings some holiday cheer while covering CTA Requirements. Revisiting the Santa Delivery App from ORCA Series #6, Relationship Requirements, she explores the four ways you can upgrade your basic user stories, plus how to use AI to help you fill in the gaps you might have missed. LINKS: Listen to the rest of the ORCA Series episodes. Give yourself the gift of OOUX with the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass. | |||
| 050 - (ORCA Series #6) - My Cat Saving Fire Department with Holiday Vibes | 30 Nov 2023 | 00:38:40 | |
In this festive episode of the podcast, Sophia delivers episode #6 in the ORCA Series: Relationship Requirements. Sophia summarizes & expands on "My Cat Saving Fire Department," the power tool for analyzing object relationships. Using the example of Santa delivering presents, she illustrates how to apply this tool to understand relationships between objects like buildings, kids, and gifts. Sophia also discusses the importance of recognizing tree systems and provides a rule of thumb for identifying them effectively. LINKS: Need to catch up on the rest of The ORCA Series? Check out those episodes here. Read: Wrangling Complexity with Tree Systems Level up your career with OOUX by enrolling in The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass | |||
| 049 - (ORCA Series #5) - Object Guide Strategies for Ridiculous Clarity | 16 Nov 2023 | 00:28:56 | |
In this fifth installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia discusses Object Requirements, how to skip ORCA steps & loop back to them as needed, as well as ways to customize the ORCA sprint, plus the potential use of artificial intelligence in generating object guides. LINKS: The ORCA Series Collection on OOUX.com. The ORCA Sprints Collection on OOUX.com. Prioritizing Prioritization for Product Designers article. Take The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass and supercharge your UX Design (or Development) career! | |||
| 048 - (ORCA Series #4) - Top Attributes to Consider for Every Object | 29 Oct 2023 | 00:37:01 | |
In this fourth installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia discusses the 15 attributes that you'll want to consider for every single object in your system. Think about this like a gut check or a question guide for each object. Plus, a totally free PDF guide version of this podcast outlining these 15 attributes LINKS: Get the Attribute Discovery Guide Purchase the Mini Workshop: Fixing Four UX Mistakes with OOUX for only $7.00. | |||
| 047 - Nine Traits of a High-Value UX Designer | 05 Oct 2023 | 00:31:08 | |
We UXers need to fill in the skills in the messy middle of the double diamond design process — synthesis, system design, and information architecture. The ability to solve problems here is what makes a high-value UX designer…a UX designer that gets the job, keeps the job, and gets promoted. So what makes that UXer high-value? In this solo episode of the podcast, Sophia outlines the nine traits that a "high-value" UX Designer should have. LINKS: | |||
| 046 - (ORCA Series #3) - CTA Disco | 14 Sep 2023 | 00:45:06 | |
In this third installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia discusses why objects aren’t more important than all the other parts of a system but are essential to understanding the system, plus she gives 8 tips for CTA discovery! LINKS: | |||
| 045 - Defining Inheritance with Richard Gower | 24 Aug 2023 | 01:30:03 | |
Richard Gower is Vice President (Computing, Data Science & Technology) at DeLoach Engineering Science, PLLC & was the first member of Cohort 8 of The Object-Oriented UX Masterclass Certification to become a Certified OOUX Strategist. In this episode of the podcast, Sophia & Richard discuss what it was like when object-oriented programming was invented, why "legacy" has one meaning in life & another in software, & why we've kind of been using the word "inheritance" wrong this whole time. LINKS: Connect with Richard on LinkedIn Take The Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass Continue this conversation over on The OOUX Forum | |||