
Honest UX Talks
Honest weekly conversations about UX design career, challenges, portfolios, mental health, and all things UX. Ioana and Anfisa together have 20 years of experience in the UX field and trying to share their main lessons to help anyone transitioning to design overcome the fears.
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Latest episodes

May 14, 2024 • 33min
#102 How to win against pushbacks in UX industry?
In this episode:
• What are the common reasons for which stakeholders pushback on the design vision?
• What are the tips and tricks for navigating pushbacks?
• What were the toughest moments in your career when you got push back from stakeholders despite giving your best set of arguments?
Mentioned in this episode:
"Articulating Design Decisions" book
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll in Ioana's AI course "**AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career"** on Interaction Design Foundation with a 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

May 1, 2024 • 45min
#101 Am I good enough?
In this episode:
• What to do if you feel you are not good enough as a designer in the beginning of your career?
• What are the factors influencing the feeling of being an impostor?
• Tips and advice form Anfi and Ioana on how they dealt with impostor syndrome.
• How does company culture Iinfluence your response to impostor syndrome?
Mentioned in this episode:
"Culture map" book
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll in Ioana's AI course "**AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career"** on Interaction Design Foundation with a 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Apr 23, 2024 • 46min
#100 Sustainable UX Design w/Jonas Thorsten
April 22 is Earth day, which is great timing for this episode 🌎 🌿
In this episode:
What does sustainability mean in digital design?
• How can sustainability principles be applied to digital design? What is carbon-friendly design?
• Is there a difference between life-centered design and sustainable design?
• How can we introduce sustainability to our stakeholders and position it as a value?
• What are the current sustainability regulations? Who would be the quick early adopters in the industry? How can we expect this to become a narrative in smaller companies?
• How can sustainability evolve into a global movement, where everybody prioritises sustainability in their design process?
Resources:
Jonas Thorsten's Linkedn
Jonas Thorsten's website
Sustainable UX Network
Upcoming Course "Become a Sustainable UX Designer"
SUX Podcast
Jonas Thorsten's talks
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll in Ioana's AI course "**AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career"** on Interaction Design Foundation with a 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Apr 16, 2024 • 35min
#99 Being too easy vs too hard to work with as a designer
Apologies for the strange noises when Anfisa talks. That’s baby Greg participating in the talk.
In this episode:
How to articulate strong opinion and stand your ground in collaboration?
When as a designer you try to get your point across, should you go for a soft strategy or should you be more pushy?
How to become an effective communicator?
Why building relationships with your teammates is important?
Why designers should be facilitators for good decisions?
Resources:
"Articulating Design Decisions" book
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll on Ioana's AI course "AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career" on Interaction Design Foundation with 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Apr 2, 2024 • 33min
#98 Is it the time to quit UX and move on?
Feeling burned out in the design world? The discussion dives into common experiences of fatigue and the pressures of job satisfaction. It highlights alternative paths like entrepreneurship, emphasizing the need for user-centered skills. The speakers also advocate for self-reflection and experimentation to navigate career uncertainty. Additionally, they explore the significance of personal satisfaction in career choices, encouraging designers to apply their skills across diverse fields.

Mar 19, 2024 • 42min
#97 Being an intern and pursuing a full-time role
This Episode's sponsor:
Mobbin is the world's largest mobile & web design reference library where you can find practical design inspiration from real apps that solve real design problems. Don't forget to mention Honest UX Talks, if you register at Mobbin.
In this episode:
• How to showcase your value as UX designer when you are just starting out?
• How to approach interviews with potential companies as an intern? What questions to ask during the the interviewing process with potential companies?
• What are the strategies or ways how to identify opportunities for yourself as an intern in the company? What are the steps you should take as an intern to make the best our of your internship?
• How to overcome impostor syndrome and build your confidence as a designer?
Resources:
"The first 90 days" book
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll on Ioana's AI course "AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career" on Interaction Design Foundation with 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Mar 13, 2024 • 40min
#96 Designing for accessibility w/ Anna Cook
This Episode's sponsor:
Mobbin is the world's largest mobile & web design reference library where you can find practical design inspiration from real apps that solve real design problems. Don't forget to mention Honest UX Talks, if you register at Mobbin.
In this episode:
• Why accessibility is sometimes overlooked when designing?
• What companies are mature in terms of accessibility?
• How to build the business case for accessibility?
• What is the future of AI and its effect on accessibility?
This episode's guest:
Anna Cook
Anna's Auditing Design Systems for Accessibility course
People in the accessibility field to follow:
Stef Walter, Christina Mallon (She/her), Alexis Lucio (They/Them), Soren Hamby (They/Them), Shell Little (She/Her) Jennifer Zhang (She/Her), Crystal Preston Watson (She/Her), Yue Ou, Deepika Raj, Eric Bailey, Doug Kim, Matt May
Resources:
Microsoft joins Be My Eyes app
Be my Eyes
Building an accessibility program course
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll on Ioana's AI course "AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career" on Interaction Design Foundation with 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Mar 5, 2024 • 53min
#95 How to negotiate salaries in UX design
This Episode's sponsor:
Mobbin is the world's largest mobile & web design reference library where you can find practical design inspiration from real apps that solve real design problems.
In this episode:
• Why is it always valuable to negotiate? How being a better negotiator makes you a better designer?
• In what ways salary negotiation determines your career trajectory?
• How to understand company’s negotiation philosophy and leverage it? At which point during the hiring process does negotiation happen?
• Can junior designers negotiate their salary?
• How to know what’s the right salary for your position? What is the best medium for the negotiation? How to compare job offers?
• Are people afraid to negotiate because they are afraid of their offer being rescinded? Does it really happen?
This episode's guest:
Hang Xu's Linkedin
Check out these courses:
Join Anfi’s Job Search community:
Enroll on Ioana's AI course "AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career" on Interaction Design Foundation with 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Feb 14, 2024 • 44min
#94 Designing in Uncertainty
In this episode:
• How to handle relationships and team work in ambiguous environment?
• How documentation and workshops can help to deal with ambiguity?
• What learning a foreign language and working in ambiguous environments have in common?
• Why is it so important to identify key stakeholders in your project?
• How to stay sane in ambiguous environments?
Check out these courses:
Anfi's Job Hunting Community
Enroll on Anfisa's "Job hunting strategy course | early sign up"
Enroll on Ioana's AI course "AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career" on Interaction Design Foundation with 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram

Jan 30, 2024 • 43min
#93 Juggling a Design Role and Parenthood
In this episode:
• What was parental leave like?
• What are the biggest fears before going to parental leave? Which of them turned out to be real?
• What does an effective support system look like?
• What to do during the parental leave to continue to stay relevant so when you get back you can still perform. How can you ease that anxiety of coming back?
Check out these courses:
Anfi's Job Hunting Community
Enroll on Anfisa's "Job hunting strategy course | early sign up"
Enroll on Ioana's AI course "AI-Powered UX Design: How to Elevate Your UX Career" on Interaction Design Foundation with 25% discount.
❓Next topic ideas:
Submit your questions or feedback anonymously here
Links:
🎓 Into UX design online course by Anfisa
🎓 Domestika course Create a Learning Strategy by Ioana
🧡 Want to support us?
Sign up here to get access to exclusive locked episodes for $0.99/mo
Follow us on Instagram to stay tuned for the next episodes.
🗂 Our instagram
👩💻 Anfisa’s instagram
👩🏻💻 Ioana’s instagram
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