Practical conversations about human-centred design, service design, and UX for designers who want to do meaningful work inside real organisations.
Gerry Scullion talks with leading practitioners, design leaders, and strategists about what actually works: building design maturity, getting buy-in from leadership, running better research, improving customer experience, and growing design teams that deliver lasting impact.
With over 1 million downloads worldwide, This is HCD is the go-to podcast for UX designers, service designers, UX researchers, product managers, and anyone working to embed design thinking into how their organisation operates.
Every episode gives you methods, mindsets, and real stories you can put to work straight away. Subscribe to the Design Compass newsletter at thisishcd.com for weekly insights that go deeper.
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Relaunching the Global Human Centered Design Directory
Season 9
Thursday, August 7, 2025 • Duration 03:47
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
In this short update episode, Gerry Scullion shares an exciting behind-the-scenes change: the Global Human-Centered Design Directory has now moved to the main This is HCD website. What started as a quiet initiative has turned into a valuable resource for connecting values-aligned practitioners across the globe.
Discover how this small but intentional update improves access, strengthens the community, and could help you find your next collaborator, mentor, or team member. It’s all part of our ongoing commitment to building a more connected human-centered design ecosystem—together.
Carrying Stories: Researcher Well-being and the Cost of Caring with Rachel Knight
Season 9
Wednesday, August 13, 2025 • Duration 49:32
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
Episode overview In this deeply human episode, Gerry Scullion speaks with Wellington-based design researcher Rachel Knight about the emotional realities of working in social impact. From navigating trauma-informed projects to setting boundaries as a freelancer, Rachel shares powerful insights on staying grounded while doing meaningful work.
This conversation is essential listening for anyone working in design research, especially those engaging with vulnerable communities or emotionally charged topics.
🔑 Three Key Takeaways
Researcher well-being is non-negotiable: plan for self-care like you plan for scope.
Freelancers carry unique risks—build your own emotional safety nets.
Lived experience is valuable but can carry hidden costs if not properly supported.
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→ Train my organisation → → →
Designing Through the Storm: Architecture, Activism & Audio Histories with Lee Moreau
Season 9
Thursday, May 8, 2025 • Duration 44:57
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
In this unfiltered and deeply reflective episode, Gerry Scullion speaks with Lee Moreau – architect, educator, and founder of Other Tomorrows – about the state of design amidst global turbulence. From their shared love of architecture to podcasting as a tool for oral history, Lee opens up about why designers must brace for impact, embrace discomfort, and use their skills to care for one another. Together, they discuss the intersection of politics, design education, and the urgency of building alternative futures.
3 Key Takeaways:
Design isn’t just about outputs; it’s our human response to change and uncertainty.
Podcasting is a form of oral history, especially vital in documenting human-centred design.
The next wave of designers must be politically awake, resilient, and community-driven.
Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Serdar Mele - Editor
Stef Murphy - Producer
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We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
In this episode I chat with John Foley, a service designer based in London working with Livework Studio. We chat about what the experience was like leaving University, working as a design researcher - and how John made his own luck. We chat about portfolios and also the interview process for Livework. It’s a good one - lets get into it.
________________________ BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this
→ with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)→ → Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...________________________
Emma Carpenter 'Exploring the craft of Service Design within South Africa'
Season 7
Thursday, February 9, 2023 • Duration 26:59
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
I caught up with Emma Carpenter, Head of Design Experience and previously Group Director Fjord Johannesburg, Associate Director atAccenture Song. Emma had been introduced to me several months ago, as I was keen to speak to someone in consulting space inAfrica, to get a better understanding of the social and technical implications for designing services.
I am aware the blind spot in this conversation of two white practitioners of Anglo origins talking about Design in Africa, but nevertheless, I found speaking to Emma to be absolutely brilliant.They cover off some of the cultural implications around phone data, and how this perceived restriction drives potentially a more inclusive service. We chat about how western mindsets and tech organisations design for western behaviours and how this may inadvertently result in global information exclusion to African natives who favour less data intense services, which are more likely to be localised. I know you’re going to enjoy this episode...
Rohan Walsh 'Making and breaking into UX & Service Design'
Season 7
Tuesday, February 7, 2023 • Duration 29:58
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
The Getting Started in Design podcasts are created for people looking to break into Design. We shine a light on that transitionary period between education and employment and try and understand what that experience is like for people trying to break into the industry. In my opinion it is every Designers responsibility to be that person we wished we could have met when we were looking for our first break.
I caught up Rohan Walsh, a UX designer from Port Macquarie in Australia but now based in the Lebanon. We speak about Rohan’s journey to get where he is currently - including internships atAustralia Post amongst others. Rohan is an awesome designer, filled with so much potential and quality in all areas of his life
https://www.rohanwalsh.design/bio
Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________ BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
I caught up with Amy Hupe, a content designer and design system consultant based in the UK.
In this conversation we drill into what a Design System is and is not, and talk about the governance processes around managing Design Systems - leaning on Amy’s 7year experience whilst working at GDS in the UK and more. Amy is a total rockstar and I know you are going to love listening to her
Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________ BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION
________________________ BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this
→ FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email) → → Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...________________________
Dr. Melvin Vopson 'The environmental weight of data'
Season 7
Tuesday, January 17, 2023 • Duration 01:05:31
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
Dr Melvin Vopson is a truly fascinating character and deep thinker. A physicist, he is the proposer of the mass-energy-information equivalence principle, has identified a technological singularity called the Information Catastrophe and has discovered the second law of information dynamics. Melvin is the co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of the world's first Information Physics Institute. His current scientific interests revolve around theoretical and experimental studies involving all aspects of information physics. I started by asking Melvin about his theory that information has its own weight, a weight independent of the device it is stored on.
Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________ BRING THIS IS HCD INTO YOUR ORGANISATION
________________________ BECOME A DIRECTORY MEMBER (IT'S FREE!) and get all of this
→ with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion (Sign up for free with an email)→ → Gerry wears clothes from Sutsu, and has a coupon code for them, as well as Smaply, Scenario Cards, Unit 1 and more...________________________
Karel Vredenburg 'The evolution of Design at IBM plus the Future of Design education'
Season 7
Monday, January 16, 2023 • Duration 45:09
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
I caught up with Karel Vredenburg, Karel is currently IBM Global Vice President, Client Insights and Research and responsible for leading the company’s global team of researchers and the insights they provide to product, services, and executive teams.
Karel joined IBM in 1988 after having done graduate studies, research, and teaching at the University of Toronto. He introduced User-Centered Design at IBM in 1993 and assumed a company-wide role in 1995 leading IBM's community of designers, leading the development of design methods, languages, and technologies, and leading the design of the commercialization of the IBM Watson. In 2013, Karel help found a new IBM Design program together with General Manager of Design, Phil Gilbert, and IBM Fellow, Charlie Hill. Karel personally introduced the new design program which included Enterprise Design Thinking to IBM product development laboratories worldwide and introduced a tailored version of it to IBM consulting services and technology services organizations worldwide from 2014 through 2016. He next focused on the development and activation of Enterprise Design Thinking for client facing professionals worldwide and rolled that to IBM’s top client accounts in 2017 and 2018.
We chat about lots of amazing areas, such as where Design needs to go in the future to be more affective, Design Coaching, Design Education and cover off some of the key insights from the work that Karel and Don Norman have been working towards with the Future of Design Education project. Karel is awesome and I know you will love this conversation -
Sarah Kearns 'Life as a nurse in Ireland - A peek behind the curtain'
Season 7
Friday, January 6, 2023 • Duration 42:02
We are building an independent global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, join our newsletter, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup ________________________
I caught up with Sarah Kearns, a nurse from Dublin, Ireland. Myself and Sarah connected through a mutual desire to create a service to reward the incredible nurses, alongside the incredibly talented Amy Huberman in Ireland - and the 3 of us are working on a project at the moment called Thank You Nurses. More on that later in this episode.
In this episode you will hear the real life stories from Sarah of what life is and was life during the global pandemic, how hard these incredible people work. I wanted to shine a light on this area of society, where the work we do as system and service designers has an direct relationship often with life and death -
I don’t say this lightly, but Sarah is one of my heroes. They all are. I know you’re going to love this episode.
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