On the ‘plane back from UXLx, Lisbon in May 2011 it struck us. If we ever wanted to start a podcast this was the perfect time. So we did. It wasn’t like we really had any time on our hands. But hey, with the right amount of passion, who needs time!?
During the conference Per Axbom and James Royal-Lawson were both struck by the amount of talk, debate and frustration within the UX community present about organisational silos. In many ways the conference was one giant therapy session for 500 UXers. OK, perhaps a bit of an exaggeration… but there was clearly a need for some silo busting.
Whilst on the ‘plane back to Stockholm, Sweden, mindmaps were produced, ideas were sketched, a domain name pulled out of Per’s substantial collection and within a few days of arriving home the first pilot show – about UXLx 2011 – was published.
Vision
UX Podcast is for people passionate about balancing business, technology, people and society within the realm of digital media. We hope to move the conversation beyond the traditional realm of User Experience.
It’s not just for UXers, it’s for everyone with a foot in the digital door. Sometimes we’ll shoot high, sometimes we’ll shoot low. Nevertheless, we aim to spread knowledge and break down silos.
What, when and how?
The show is from 2023 released as one season per year, split up into three batches of shows. We publish a new episode during a season every other Friday.
The podcasts are produced in one of the following formats: a link show, a guest show, a topic show or an event show. We even occasionally repeat classic interviews.
If you’re a podcast nerd, then you might be interested in knowing what kit we use and how we produce the show. Usually the show is recorded with James at Beantin HQ in Stockholm and Per in Studio Axbom in Solna.
James
Designer, digital analyst and economist. James has been experimenting with, creating and managing digital activities since going online as a teenager in 1986 and professionally since the late 90s.
Over 100 consultancy projects spanning small companies to large multi-nationals. Using data to feed the design process makes James’s eyes light up. His degree is in economics.
My reason for doing what I do
I have an endless curiosity. My work gives me the opportunity to constantly feed that curiosity and never stop learning. I get a huge amount of satisfaction from planting the seeds that eventually grow to allow people to make the progress they were hoping for.
You can find James as @beantin on Twitter and @beantin on Mastodon.
Per
Designer, coach and visual explainer. Computer geek since 1982. Over 60 consultancy projects have included booking systems, search tools and citizen services, with a focus in later years on e-health and online therapy. Per’s degree is in communication science.
My reason for doing what I do
I feel most rewarded when I am able to help others overcome challenges and reach “aha” moments. I’ve found that the best way for me to do this is by listening and bridging knowledge gaps through a multimedia language. To stay relevant, and have fun, I make sure to also push myself to learn, explore and experiment with new formats.
You can find Per as @axbom on Twitter and @axbom on Mastodon.
Co-hosts over the years
As well as James and Per, UX Podcast has also been historically been from time to time hosted by one of a team of fantastic co-hosts:
Lisa Welchman
Digital governance supremo and author of Managing Chaos – digital governance by design. You can find Lisa as @lwelchman on Twitter.
Anna Dahlström
Founder of UX fika and author of Storytelling in design. You can find Anna as @annadahlstrom on Twitter.
Christopher McCann
Design strategist and facilitator. You can find Chris as @letterpress_se on Twitter.
Jonas Söderström
The grandfather of usability in Sweden and author of Stupid Bloody System. You can find Jonas on LinkedIn.
Danwei Tran Luciani
Ph.D design student researching concept generation for dome projections. You can find Danwei as @danweitran on Twitter.