co-host james

#308 Systems thinking with Sheryl Cababa

This podcast is episode 5 of 5 recorded at Ambition Empower Autumn 2022

What is systems thinking and how can designers make use of it in their work? In her book Closing the loop, Sheryl Cababa lays out her answer and approach to this question. We talk to her and discuss some of the core definitions and concepts. 

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#307 Policy and design with Alexandra Schmidt

This podcast is episode 4 of 5 recorded at Ambition Empower Autumn 2022

In this conversation with Alex Schmidt, author of Deliberate Intervention, we discuss “policy” in relation to digital design and tech. We discuss how even though designers intend to do good and have a positive impact, harm can still happen as a result of our designs.

We talk about how it is natural for systems to produce unintended consequences and that understanding and accepting this is important to make things less harmful. 

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#306 Human centred design with Alastair Somerville (UXP Classic)

We are constantly simplifying the world around us and the people within it. This is a perfectly understandable reaction to the messy things we have to work with. But with every step back we are building a wall between the user and what it is to be human. We talk to Alastair about human centred design. How to use your senses and perception and take in the world around you.

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#305 Dyscalculia and ChatGPT

Episode 305 is a linkshow. James and Per discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about designing for people with dyscalculia and low numeracy, and How ChatGPT is blowing Google out of the water: a UX breakdown.

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#304 Building a content strategy practice with Natalie Marie Dunbar

This podcast is episode 3 of 5 recorded at Ambition Empower Autumn 2022

Getting anything up and running takes both time and planing. Content strategist Natalie Marie Dunbar joins us to talk about her content strategy practice blueprint and how it can help you when building a practice. What to do in order to avoid being an unheard and unappreciated silo as you grow from being a solo practitioner to being an embedded part of the organisation.

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#303 Metacognition with Steve Fleming

This podcast is episode 2 of 5 recorded at Ambition Empower Autumn 2022

We take a dive into neuroscience and metacognition. Thinking about thinking and thinking about other minds. We are joined by Professor Stephen Fleming, neuroscientist and author of the book Know Thyself to learn more about how our cognition works and the implications for our work as mind-creating creatives and in the development of AI.

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#302 Articulating design decisions with Tom Greever (UXP Classic)

We talk to Tom Greever about Articulating Design Decisions. How do we talk about our designs effectively with stakeholders? Every designer has to explain (and justify) their design decisions to non-designers but what are the skills tactics and methods that are needed to pull this off in a way that opens the door for your project to create or improve the user experience?

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#301 Informed consent with Kim Foulds and Joyce Rafla

This podcast is episode 1 of 5 recorded at Ambition Empower Autumn 2022

Informed consent is a critical part of the research process. We talk to Kim Foulds and Joyce Rafla about how they made use of videos featuring Sesame Workshop muppets to make taking a consent decision more inclusive, accessible and informed.

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#300 Jokes and humour with Delia Chiaro

We’ve been tacking jokes onto the end of our shows since Episode 138. So to celebrate Episode 300, we take a look at jokes and humour. We’re joined by Professor Delia Chiaro, who has spent decades researching humour to learn more about what makes things funny and if it’s safe for us to be humorous in our digital products.

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#299 Best practice with Rich Brophy

“Let’s find out what’s best practice and just run with that”. That’s something many of us will recognise and have experienced. But what actually is best practice? Is it something we should follow? And can we?

Rich Brophy joins us to talk about best practice and to offer some advice about what might be even better than best practice.

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#298 Colonised Thinking and Figma

Episode 298 is a linkshow. Per and James discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about how car culture colonised our thinking, and how Figma is making you a bad designer.

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#297 Complexity with Jonas Söder­ström (UXP Classic)

In this classic UX Podcast, Jonas Söderström joins us to talk about complexity. We like to think that we have made the world better through digitalisation, but perhaps all of the productivity gains were actually in the very early days of computing. 

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#296 Introvert designers with Tim Yeo

This podcast is episode 6 of 6 recorded at Ambition Empower Spring 2022

How do you make an impact as an introvert without pretending to be an extrovert? Often designers find themselves as quiet people in a noisy world, struggling in silence and being frustrated at not being heard. Tim Yeo joins us to talk about how introverted designers and design leaders can work with their introversion and use it as a super-power.

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#294 Sitemaps

Episode 294 is a linkshow. Per and James discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about designing the perfect button, and how sitemaps are an essential tool in web design.

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#293 Designing for stress with Katie Swindler

This podcast is episode 5 of 6 recorded at Ambition Empower Spring 2022

We often find ourselves in stressful situations. Sometimes that’s expected, but sometimes it’s not.  The same can be said about the things we design. Sometimes we knowingly design for stressful situations, but sometimes our designs are used (unexpectedly to us) by people while under stress. Katie Swindler, Author of Life and Death Design joins us to discuss designing for stressful situations.

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