Design Downtime

Dye your hair blue and rip your jeans, because Bill Kurland is joining us to talk about his love for punk rock. He talks about getting exposed to punk at a young age and embracing the do-it-yourself ethos. Bill criticizes the policing of authenticity within punk communities, and describes having a "meta-punk" approach where he sometimes deliberately went against punk norms. He rejects the nihilistic "destroy everything" attitude associated with some in punk, and instead talks about his appreciation for the sense of community punk represents for him, before recommending albums for newcomers to the genre.Guest BioBill Kurland (he/they) is a misfit. A former musician, he's spent the last 15 years working at the intersection of brand strategy and experience design. He's built, grown and led high-performing teams through transformation at organizations of all sizes—from unicorn startups to Fortune 15 corporations. Currently, he's a Global Experience Design Director at McDonald's, leading the cross-disciplinary Design Foundations group, consisting of Accessibility, Design Systems, Design Technology, and UX Writing teams.LinksBill’s website: billkurland.comDesign Downtime Punk playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1sBLGREySZYXfrCHdccCWs?si=JeCfE0V_S1OnrH2Im7xquw&pi=jHy53RCdRlS0hBill on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-kurlandCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

They’re good dogs, especially when Kasey Labelle joins us to share her lifelong connection with puppies. She recounts her childhood with two family dogs before introducing Rhino, her beloved blue nose pitbull who chose her when he was just three weeks old and remained her companion for nearly 15 years. Kasey discusses how she's coped with Rhino's passing by becoming a dog walker, speaks passionately about the misconceptions surrounding pitbulls, and shares how Rhino's loving personality challenged those stereotypes. She also offers thoughtful advice for potential dog owners, emphasizing the importance of viewing dogs as family members and the different factors to consider when choosing the right dog.Guest BioKasey Labelle, CPWA (she/her) is a UX and design engineering leader with a passion for design systems and accessibility. In her current role as a Design Architect at iSeatz, she’s leading the evolution of a design system that powers a white-label travel loyalty platform. Previously, she built and led the multi-disciplinary design system team and accessibility program at Boston Scientific, establishing 0-1 and 1-n strategies and serving as a player-coach. In her downtime, you can find her at the beach, an art museum, concert, or game night; walking dogs; obsessing over spreadsheets; traveling; or attending fine arts and crafts workshops with friends.LinksKasey’s website: kaseyllabelle.comKasey on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kaseyllabelleCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

It’s time for puppets and Shakespeare (?!) as Cheryl Platz joins us to talk about her journey into live streaming. She shares how her background as a professional actor and improviser led her to stream with her puppet Sprinkles, initially performing Shakespeare as part of a Twitch creative competition. While she didn't win the contest, she developed a loyal community that encouraged her to continue, adding video gaming to the mix. Cheryl reveals her background working at a Sesame Street theme park as a teenage puppeteer, explains how Sprinkles developed a distinctive personality of "hyper confidence”, and shares how maintaining this community has renewed her faith in the internet.Guest BioCheryl Platz (she/her) is an internationally renowned interaction designer, game designer, teacher, writer, and actress best known for her innovative work in a variety of industries ranging from video games to B2B cloud platforms and from consumer products to global philanthropy. Her design work has empowered billions of customers with fun, creativity, immersion, and sometimes just a little less friction at the office thanks to her work on some of the world’s biggest products, including Amazon’s Alexa and Echo Look, Microsoft Windows and Cortana, the Disney Parks PhotoPass system, the Sims family of games, and Microsoft’s Azure platform. Her recent roles include Director of Experience Design for Marvel Strike Force at Scopely and Director of User Experience for the Player Platform at Riot Games. Through her design education company Ideaplatz, Cheryl has delivered talks and workshops on 5 continents and over a dozen countries. Her first book, Design Beyond Devices: Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences, is the “manual for those who aspire to design the starship bridge of their dreams," and her newest book, tentatively titled Enduring Play: Creating Video Games that Thrive, is the design manual for anyone looking to build engaging video games with a holistic understanding of player needs, basic game design, the production process, and modern business considerations in the video game industry. Cheryl can be seen streaming most weeks on Sunday mornings answering game development and UX design questions at her Twitch channel.LinksCheryl on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/funnygodmotherCheryl on Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/funnygodmotherCheryl’s first book: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/design-beyond-devices/Cheryl’s second book: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/enduring-play/Cheryl’s website: https://cherylplatz.com/Cheryl on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/funnygodmother.bsky.socialCheryl on Instagram: https://instagram.com/@funnygodmotherCheryl on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylplatz/Cheryl’s Medium articles: https://cherylplatz.medium.com/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Enjoy a foamy cup of coffee decorated with a heart, as Amy Ogg joins us to talk about her adventures in the world of competitive latte art. She provides an insider’s view of coffee competitions, describing the various events from latte art contests to espresso tastings and "best coffeehouse", and shares how she navigated the male-dominated competitive coffee scene. Amy tells us about her training approach that was focused on consistency and repetition, pouring hundreds of drinks to perfect specific patterns, and reveals her own personal signature design.Guest BioAmy Ogg (she/her) is a Seattle-based design systems nerd & coffee-lover. She is currently working on the Mindful Design System at Ensora Health, and enjoys giving back to the community in her free time. Amy serves as the Seattle Chapter Lead for Into Design Systems USA meetups, serves as the Mentor Team Lead at IterateUX, and also provides design mentorship through the iMentorship program at University of Washington’s iSchool. When not immersed in something design-related, Amy enjoys making craft coffee at home, roller skating along the Seattle waterfront and making music with her flute.LinksAmy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyoggCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Here comes the literary trope of the “interview podcast”, when Steve Portigal joins us to talk about his journey into creative writing. Known for his non-fiction books on user research, he shares how he discovered a passion for writing fiction during the pandemic when he hit a personal wall, and enrolled in a creative writing course. Steve talks about balancing clarity with ambiguity, learning that not every reader needs to understand every reference, and his exploration of different writing styles and formats, from short stories about eccentric small-town characters to linked short stories about alien invasions.Guest BioSteve Portigal (he/him) is an experienced user researcher who helps organizations to build mature user research practices. He is the author of Interviewing Users: How To Uncover Compelling Insights (now in a second edition, including an audiobook version) and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. He’s also the host of the Dollars to Donuts podcast.Steve is also generously offering a discount on his book. Use discount code DOWNTIME for 10% off of Interviewing Users when purchased from Rosenfeld Media. The discount code is good for the next 30 days, and you can also find this information in the show notes. LinksSteve’s book, Interviewing Users (2nd Edition): https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users-second-edition/.Use promo code DOWNTIME for 10% off when purchased from Rosenfeld Media. The discount code is good for the next 30 days.Steve’s website: https://portigal.com/Steve’s books: https://portigal.com/books/Steve’s podcast, Dollars to Donuts: https://portigal.com/podcast/Steve on LinkededIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveportigal/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

You have 30 minutes to find the code to the exit, as Shelby Corbella joins us to talk about her love of escape rooms. Shelby, who has completed over 220 escape rooms worldwide, tells us how her first immersive experience of a well-designed escape room helped her "escape" everyday life. She explains that escape rooms fulfill a unique need for her, as they engage multiple aspects of her brain simultaneously, and outlines the key elements that make an escape room memorable. As an experienced escape room player, Shelby describes her role as an "escape room sherpa," helping to identify team members' strengths and ensuring everyone has a positive experience. She also shares stories about her most memorable escape rooms, as well as those that are on her "bucket list".Guest BioShelby Corbella (she/her) is a Senior Product Designer specializing in design systems and diving into the emerging field of designing for AI. Her work balances functionality with innovation, aiming to elevate digital experiences while setting high standards for design consistency. Currently based in Colorado, Shelby spends her free time exploring scenic hiking trails before the chill of winter arrives. When not immersed in the great outdoors, she’s dedicated to achieving a perfect score on Astro Bot and is in the early stages of launching an escape room-themed blog and podcast, merging her love for puzzles with storytelling.LinksShelby’s escape rooms website: https://www.gtfoescapes.com/Shelby’s podcast, GTFO Escapes: https://rss.com/podcasts/gtfo-escapes/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

We’re reaching new heights, as Katie Langerman joins us to talk about her adventures in indoor rock climbing. She introduces the different types of climbing (bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing), and talks about how climbing has become a way for her to confront her fear of heights. Katie discusses a serious ankle injury she sustained in 2023 while bouldering, and explains how returning to climbing after the injury was challenging yet therapeutic. She explores the problem-solving nature of climbing, and how that helps her achieve a near-meditative state. Katie also shares advice for people afraid of heights (like the host of this podcast), who are interested in giving rock climbing a try.Guest BioKatie Langerman (she/her) is an interface designer specializing in design systems, currently contributing to GitHub’s Primer. She focuses on creating flexible, scalable systems that help bridge the gap between design and code. Katie is also passionate about fostering collaboration across teams, sharing insights on leadership as an individual contributor, and tackling challenges like design tokens and asynchronous teamwork.LinksKatie’s podcast, Complementary: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/complementaryKatie’s website: https://www.langermank.com/Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/langermankKatie on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katielangerman.bsky.socialKatie on Twitter/X: https://x.com/KatieLangermanCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Get your brush and easel ready as Amy Hupe joins us to share her newfound passion for watercolour painting. She talks about reconnecting with the hobby as an adult when a friend suggested painting together as a distraction, and how she discovered watercolour painting uniquely silenced her normally busy mind. Despite not considering herself naturally artistic or visually creative, Amy appreciates watercolour's forgiving nature - it allows for mistakes and corrections in a way that complements her otherwise perfectionist tendencies, and has become a rare exception where she embraces imperfection and enjoys the process over the result.Guest BioAmy Hupe (she/her) is a UK based design systems and content design consultant. Over the past 8 years, she's worked on design systems for some of the biggest names around, including GOV.UK, BT, Springer Nature, the BBC and the Wellcome Trust. Whether she’s leading systems work or designing content, Amy works to champion simplicity and inclusion in the face of increasing complexity.LinksAmy’s website: https://amyhupe.co.uk/Amy on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/amyhupe.bsky.socialAmy on Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@Amy_Hupe@social.design.systemsCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab your controller and get ready to double jump, as Asia Hoe joins us to talk about her love of video games, starting with memories of playing Mario and Donkey Kong between her parents as a child. She discusses how her relationship with gaming evolved from pure childhood immersion to a more analytical adult perspective, and explains how her love for collection-based games matches her perfectionism. Asia highlights her appreciation for indie games, explores her experience developing games at game jams, and touches on the artistic value of video games, arguing that indie games tend to be more artful due to their personal, specific nature.Guest BioAsia Hoe (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary, award-winning product design leader with over 15 years of expertise in user experience design and strategy, front-end development, and design systems. She has worked with startups, agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and small business owners to develop user-centric experiences in education, healthcare, and finance. She recently joined the team at Jasper to explore the intersection of marketing and AI.LinksAsia on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/asia.bsky.socialAsia’s gaming account on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gynesys.bsky.socialCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

In the first episode of season 3, Karen VanHouten joins us to share her love of ’80s new wave music, a love that began in high school in the mid-1980s. She talks about discovering the music through friends, noting how it was "accessible enough, but different enough to make you feel a little special”. That juxtaposition of the dark and the beautiful in new wave music resonated with her, and made her a fan for life. Karen talks about music sharing in a pre-internet era, her time as a college radio DJ, and how the music scene fostered a sense of community. She ends with a list of essential new wave albums, recommended for new and curious listeners.Guest BioKaren VanHouten (she/her) is an expert generalist and a curious skeptic who is committed to designing better ways for teams to work together. She loves messes of both the digital and human kind. She’s been working as a UX leader, a researcher, and a strategist in both the private and public sector, both in-house and as a consultant, for over 25 years. She uses the foundations of human-centered design (with a dash of scrappiness) to create healthy digital strategies and help teams safely operate in the space between opportunity and risk. LinksKaren’s website: https://www.designinginward.com/Karen on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/designinginward.bsky.socialCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.