Design Hires Podcast

As a veteran UX Designer, Author, Professor, Podcast Host, and much more, Darren Hood has experienced so many facets of the design world in his 26+ year career. In this episode, you’ll hear about his journey, what motivates him, advice to other UXers, and some excellent sports analogies along the way. You’ll also get a sneak preview of an exciting upcoming project that Darren is working on.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 1:00 : What motivates Darren, and how he discovered the importance of “healthy friction” & self awareness  10:46 : Hiring the right level of experience for your team 13:37 : Cronyism vs. leveraging connections 15:32 : Red flags during interviews and how to know if an organization is right for you  19:39 : Senior design leadership opportunities, and why senior designers choose consulting instead 26:28 : Toxic positivity & accepting feedback/criticism 40:45 : The rise of UX influencers on social media 46:16 : Standardized accreditation & licensure in the UX industry Links mentioned in this episode: Article: Toxic Positivity & the Decline of UX Darren’s Podcast: The World of UX with Darren Hood Darren’s LinkedIn Profile

Khrystyna Oros Ryan and Samaya Sinha met at a toxic job and bonded over shared values. After nearly a decade of supporting each other through various job changes and challenges, they realized that they wanted to build a community to provide that same level of support to other women. Thus, Ideate Labs was born. Ideate Labs aims to make UX & UI design accessible to women, immigrants, and people of color.  Check out this amazing conversation where Khrystyna, Samaya, and Nadia discuss salary transparency, job search pain points amongst new designers, and how to get involved with Ideate Labs.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 0:01 : Khrystyna’s “Aha!” moment around salary transparency 8:33 : How Ideate Labs coaches students around asking for more money during an offer process 12:20 : Lessons learned in past interviews & favorite stories 19:00 : Who Ideate Labs serves and what problems they’re solving 21:14 : Balancing running Ideate Labs while also doing other jobs & the evolution of Ideate Labs 28:20 : What is the profile of a successful Ideate Labs student? 34:21 : How to learn more about Ideate Labs and get involved 36:51: Patterns in job search pain points for early career designers and the future of the UX industry Links mentioned in this episode: Ideate Labs’ Website Ideate Labs’ YouTube Channel Khrystyna Oros Ryan’s LinkedIn Profile Samaya Sinha’s LinkedIn Profile  

Morgan Denner founded Tech Fleet, an apprenticeship agency and open-source design community, as a way to give design newbies a chance to test their skills and reduce inequities in the design world at large. Tech Fleet provides real-world, practical experiences to help people better understand what it’s like to work on a design team in an Agile environment.  In this episode, learn what Morgan and Tech Fleet are currently working on, how the Tech Fleet community is structured, and how you can get involved in opportunities with Tech Fleet.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 00:01 : What Morgan’s working on at Tech Fleet and what Tech Fleet offers 7:03 : How was Tech Fleet founded? 13:09 : The progress vs. perfection mindset shift during the design process 17:50 : Why Tech Fleet shifted away from nonprofit status 20:07 : How Morgan views the “ownership” of Tech Fleet 23:06 : The structure of decision making at Tech Fleet 27:41 : Transitioning from Tech Fleet apprenticeship projects to “real world” careers 29:55 : Alumni who return to Tech Fleet multiple times  32:23 : How can people participate in Tech Fleet & shadowing opportunities 35:08 : How Tech Fleet keeps such a tight knit & effective community while encouraging autonomy 36:12 : How to get in touch with Morgan & Tech Fleet Links mentioned in this episode: Tech Fleet’s Website Morgan Denner’s LinkedIn Profile Tech Fleet's Slack Community

Debbie Levitt was once told by a former boss that she was a “Change Agent.” This moment went on to inspire a long career helping many companies tackle major challenges. A consultant and problem solver by nature, Debbie has built her business, Delta CX, to focus around helping organizations create meaningful experiences for their customers. In addition to providing consulting services to organizations, Debbie also offers coaching, training, and many other community resources through Delta CX.  Check out today’s episode to learn more about what it means to be an agent for change, how to advocate for yourself as a UX Designer, and much more.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 0:01 : Debbie’s reverse recruiting tactic to find a Change Agent role 3:50 : Asking the right questions during an interview to best understand the role 11:20 : What it means to be a Change Agent 19:23 : Being an advocate for yourself as a UX Designer 25:04 : How education is failing early career UXers and why we need more apprenticeships 32:00 : What Debbie looks for in her apprentices  35:40 : Critical soft skills for UX design 39:00 : A little bit more about Debbie’s book and workshop, and how to get in touch with Debbie Links mentioned in this episode: Delta CX YouTube: Questions to Ask During Interviews Delta CX Website Transforming Toward Customer Centricity Workshop Delta CX YouTube Page Delta CX Community Resources Debbie Levitt’s Email Address Delta CX Coaching

One of the original course creators for General Assembly’s UX Bootcamp in 2011, Sarah Doody has long held a passion for helping UX Designers learn the skills to grow their careers and increase their potential. Sarah is now the Founder and CEO of Career Strategy Lab, a job search accelerator and recruiting agency that helps you design your career and get hired without applying to hundreds of jobs. In this conversation, Sarah and Nadia discuss the evolution of Career Strategy Lab, Sarah’s career pathway and founder journey, and share job search strategies and tips for designers.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 0:00 : What is Career Strategy Lab?  5:10 : Sarah’s background and career journey 7:18 : The evolution of Career Strategy Lab’s curriculum 10:48 : Sarah’s pricing strategy 16:06 : Designers as business builders & entrepreneurs 18:36 : Similarities and differences in job search strategies for junior and senior designers, and how to decide what job to take next 24:23 : Career Strategy Lab’s recruiting services 28:18 : How Sarah calculates and balances her time as a founder & CEO 30:16 : Influencers for the Career Strategy Lab business model and how they’re scaling the business 37:00 : How to get in touch with Sarah & Career Strategy Lab 44:00 : Next steps for Sarah & Career Strategy Lab Links mentioned in this episode: Career Strategy Lab Website Sarah Doody’s Website Sarah’s YouTube Channel Sarah’s LinkedIn Profile

Colton Schweitzer and Ludovic Delmas met as UX Designers and together surfaced a need for stronger mentorship, community, and training amongst people who wanted to transition from visual design into UX. After a lot of research, they co-founded Kickass UX, a suite of educational courses that empower Graphic, UI, and Web designers to learn UX and make a big impact.  In this conversation, learn about Colton & Ludovic’s business, their founder journeys, their backgrounds, how they’re scaling their business, and much more. Here’s a look at our discussion: 0:20 : How Colton & Ludovic’s careers have changed since starting their business 5:59 : How Kickass UX went from idea to reality  7:30 : Colton & Ludovic’s partnership as co-founders 12:03 : The importance of family and friend support while founding a business 16:20 : Determining success within a certain timeframe 18:45 : What is Kickass UX? 20:30 : Delivering and prioritizing quality while scaling a business 28:00 : Why Kickass UX has a strong application process 31:41 : How Colton & Ludovic took Kickass UX to market  38:49 : How Colton & Ludovic decided upon product pricing 45:03 : Is there value to getting design credentials?  47:04 : Specializing in UX/UI vs. being a generalist 53:35 : Training designers to be communicators  56:00 : Solving the right problems in UX 59:30 : Where to go to learn more about Kickass UX, Colton, & Ludovic Links mentioned in this episode: Kickass UX Website Design Buddies Colton Schweitzer’s LinkedIn Profile Ludovic Delmas’ LinkedIn Profile Kickass UX’s Email Address

After being laid off from a copywriting job at a startup, Slater Katz discovered a passion for UX Writing, and taught herself the skills that would land her UX writing gigs at companies like Netflix, Fitbit, Chime, Afterpay, & more. Now, Slater is sharing her UX writing & career lessons learned through her business, The Gig Gal.  Hear about Slater’s full career journey, get insights into the UX writing world, and find out more about UX writing jobs in this interview.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 1:03 : How Slater’s business model has changed recently and how she’s built her business 8:43 : The shift from marketing & copywriting to UX writing 13:45 : The difference in approach between traditional writing and UX writing 16:53 : How to know if you might find success as a UX writer 20:00 : Working through content in UX writing workshopping sessions 22:30 : Skill sets & traits that enable you to work well in UX writing 25:26 : Where Slater found her first UX writing jobs 26:24 : How to get in touch with Slater Links mentioned in this episode: Service Design Show: How to Put a Price on Service Design  The Gig Gal Website Slater Katz’s LinkedIn Profile Slater Katz’s Email

Author, Design Executive, and Consultant Peter Merholz has over 20 years of experience working in digital media and experience design. Peter and Nadia discuss how the industry has and has not changed in recent years, why organizations and design leaders should place more emphasis on growing talent from within their own organizations, and how designers can find the right opportunity at both junior and senior levels.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 1:00 : Peter’s background and how he got into the design industry 5:59 : The love/hate relationship with the word, “Design” 12:10 : How the design industry has and has not changed since 2016 16:14 : The shift of design from consultancies to in-house teams 19:53 : Overcoming career growth gaps for senior designers seeking leadership positions 26:08 : Why organizations should place more emphasis on growing design talent 29:13 : How Peter finds and assesses senior design talent 35:40 : Advice for new to role designers searching for the right opportunity 42:34 : How does Peter Merholz serve design organizations?  53:34 : How to get in touch with Peter & wrap up Links mentioned in this episode: Book - Org Design for Design Orgs: Building and Managing In-House Teams  UX STRAT Conference Book - UX Strategy: Product Strategy Techniques for Devising Innovative Digital Solutions Book - Orchestrating Experiences: Collaborative Design for Complexity Peter Merholz’s Website Peter Merholz’s LinkedIn Profile Peter Merholz’s Twitter Profile Transparent Recruiting: A Better Way to Hire People

In this episode, we chat with Jared Tredly, a partner and design recruiter at Bamboo Crowd, a global recruitment and talent strategy consultancy that delivers world-class innovation talent to startups, consultancies, corporates, VC’s and scale-ups. Jared shares more about what Bamboo Crowd does, the type of talent he is looking for, and his thoughts on how to go with the ebbs and flows of the job hunt process in today’s design market.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 1:00 : How Jared has leveraged video on social media for thought leadership 3:22 : What is Bamboo Crowd and how do they help companies?  7:54 : How Jared continues to coach designers and companies after candidate placement  15:45 : How to decide if now is the right time to make a job change & “stability” in the industry 19:32 : Deciphering different design profiles as a recruiter 21:45 : LinkedIn tips for your profile that will help recruiters  24:45 : The ebbs and flows of the recruiting process 29:56 : Who should connect with Jared & Bamboo Crowd? 33:08 : How to get in touch with Jared Links mentioned in this episode: Bamboo Crowd Website Jared Tredly’s LinkedIn Profile Jared’s Email

In this conversation, Nadia chats with Stephen Gates, a design leader in the midst of seeking out his next opportunity. Stephen shares wisdom around how to approach the job market after a layoff, knowing your value, and having confidence in negotiating the terms of your next position. Discover how to hack a broken applicant process through channeling your network, and learn which questions to ask companies to pressure test how well you can work together during your interview process.  Here’s a look at our discussion: 1:46 : Stephen’s approach to being laid off in the current job market 9:23 : The statistics of applying for a job vs. leveraging your network and connections 12:03 : How do we go about fixing a broken job application system? 15:34 : Stephen’s guidance on how to assess companies, teams, and managers as a job applicant during the hiring process 23:57 : Negotiating the terms that work best for you during layoffs and hiring 29:32 : Balancing side gigs with full time jobs 32:49 : What’s next for Stephen?  35:27 : How to get in touch with Stephen 37:35 : The level of control hiring managers actually have over the process / Closing Links mentioned in this episode: Stephen Gates’ Website The Crazy One Podcast ADP List