

The Human Centered Design Podcast (Premium)
This is HCD
This is HCD: The Podcast for Human-Centered Design EnthusiastsWelcome to This is HCD, the premier podcast for human-centered design, with over 1 million downloads and hosted by Gerry Scullion.Our mission is to empower designers, changemakers, and innovators to craft a more inclusive and thoughtful future. Each episode brings you engaging conversations with leading voices across service design, UX, interaction design, product management, and more. Together, we explore the nuances of what it means to excel in human-centered design, offering insights, skills, and perspectives to elevate your practice.Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just beginning your journey, This is HCD is your destination for actionable ideas and inspiration to drive meaningful change through intentional design.Join our growing, ethically conscious design community—connect, learn, and get involved. Together, we’re building a private LinkedIn-style network for human-centered designers ready to make an impact.Tune in, get inspired, and shape the future with This is HCD!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 27, 2023 • 31min
Scott Jenson ‘Part 2 of 2: Open Source Design Movement: How Designers can help change the game’
In this conversation I caught up with the second part to my conversation with Scott Jenson to explore how Designer can actively get more involved with the free and open source software movement. We speak more about why this is of such an interest to Scott, and he gives his awesome advice to others on how they can get involved.Listen to Episode 1: Listen to Scott Jenson 'From Apple, Symbian to Google - Exploring the World of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)'Links from this episode;
Open Source Job Postings
Job Postings
Youtube FOSSBack links
#FOSSBack: Scott Jenson - Why is UX so hard to contribute to FOSS 2021 (The problem)
#FOSSBack: Scott Jenson – Calling all UX Designers! 2022 (How maintainers can attract UX designers)
#FOSSBack: Scott Jenson – Plan Like Einstein 2023 (How to move the culture to include UX)
Open source research about using CRDTs (a new experimental file format) to have an alternative to Google Docs
Upwelling: Combining real-time collaboration with version control for writers.
A 1-pager on how to discuss design in a more thoughtful and cooperative way
Guidelines for Discussing UX
NEW COURSE: Service Design : https://www.thisishcd.com/courses/video-on-demand-introduction-to-human-centered-service-design-using-journey-mapping
Become a Patron of This is HCD / Become a Patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / Stay up to date with This is HCD
Learn more with This is HCD / Courses on Service Design, Human Centered Design, UX Design, Research
Coaching for Change-Makers / Coaching & Mentoring for Innovators & Change-Makers
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: FREE 7-DAY GUIDE - Killer Journey Mapping Tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / thisishcd
Our partner links
We recommend Webflow for all web design and development needs.
Webflow: Create a custom website | No-code website builder
We used Descript to power our podcast
Descript | All-in-one video & podcast editing, easy as a doc
Our podcast is edited by the A-Team at CastUp / Enquire with them about editing.
Learn more and connect with Castup

Apr 25, 2023 • 42min
Darjan Hil ‘The Art of Visualising Complexity’
A number of months ago, I was researching for my keynote in Scotland in June this year, and I stumbled across the work of Superdot studio in Switzerland. I was blown away by all the amazing work that they had done and was thrilled to see that they were in the process of publishing their book, Visualising Complexity - A Modular Information Handbook. I purchased it and from the moment it arrived on my desk, it has not been too far away. I show it to people on Zoom calls and any of the trainings that I have been doing. I have recommended it to many of my peers. I feel so lucky to have this podcast, as it allows me to reach out to people I truly respect and connect with them over a conversation, and I did just that with this book.I connected with Darjan, and we had an amazing conversation. We explored the process that both he and his partner, Nicole follow when visualising complexity. One of the things that struck me the most from this conversation, was just how analogue the process of brilliance is. A lot of what I took away from this conversation was just how much space and air that Darjan and leave in their work, to let things sit, and include elements of structured exploration before arriving on a visual language and approach to their work. Too often, I find we (and I include myself in this) have tools in place and in mind when we are researching. As in, many of us know and fall into that category of “well, we will be creating a journey map, or a blueprint, as we know this worked for X project”. This isn’t what you hear in this conversation.We talk about the process deeply. How they move from chaos to simplicity.Episode links
Buy the book:
Visualizing Complexity: Modular Information Design Handbook
Superdot StudioConnect with Darjan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darjanhil/?originalSubdomain=ch
NEW COURSE: Service Design : https://www.thisishcd.com/courses/video-on-demand-introduction-to-human-centered-service-design-using-journey-mapping
Become a Patron of This is HCD / Become a Patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / Stay up to date with This is HCD
Learn more with This is HCD / Courses on Service Design, Human Centered Design, UX Design, Research
Coaching for Change-Makers / Coaching & Mentoring for Innovators & Change-Makers
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: FREE 7-DAY GUIDE - Killer Journey Mapping Tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / thisishcd
Our partner links
We recommend Webflow for all web design and development needs.
Webflow: Create a custom website | No-code website builder
We used Descript to power our podcast
Descript | All-in-one video & podcast editing, easy as a doc
Our podcast is edited by the A-Team at CastUp / Enquire with them about editing.
Learn more and connect with Castup

Apr 20, 2023 • 39min
Steven Russell 'The Rise of the Autonomous Bus: A Look into the Future of Transit'
In this episode I speak with Steven Russell, a service designer and now Innovation Manager at Stagecoach bus in the UK. We chat about autonomous buses - a project that Steven has been working on for quite some time. Now, no longer in the realms of movies like Back to the Future 2, it’s not too far away. How far I hear you ask? Well at some point this year, Edinburgh will hopefully become one of the first cities in the world to start rolling the service out in a R and D capacity.We chat about all the ins and outs about the process, and discuss what the service might look like, potential service failures and other industry dependencies like insurance (who is responsible in the case of accidents) and also how to prepare society for visual of seeing a bus with people driving down the road, with no human driver at the wheel.Note: Since recording the launch date for the autonomous bus service has been announced. It will open to the public on Monday, the 15th of May.Connect with Steven: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenjrussell/Support This is HCDNEW COURSE: Service Design : https://www.thisishcd.com/courses/video-on-demand-introduction-to-human-centered-service-design-using-journey-mapping
Become a Patron of This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/become-a-patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / https://www.thisishcd.com/community/stay-up-to-date-with-this-is-hcd
Learn more with This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
Coaching for Change-Makers / https://www.thisishcd.com/coaching-mentoring-for-innovators-change-makers
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: https://www.thisishcd.com/landing/7-day-killer-journey-mapping-tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / https://twitter.com/gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / https://twitter.com/thisishcd
Our partner links
We recommend Webflow for all web design and development needs.
Webflow: Create a custom website | No-code website builder
We used Descript to power our podcast
Descript | All-in-one video & podcast editing, easy as a doc
Our podcast is edited by the A-Team at CastUp / Enquire with them about editing.
Learn more and connect with Castup

Apr 18, 2023 • 47min
Dee Seaver 'The Broken Promise of Design Academia: A Call to Action'
Hello and welcome to Bringing Design Closer. Our goal is to have conversations that inspire and to help move the dial forward for organisations to become more human-centred in their approach to solving complex business and societal problems.In this episode I chat with Dee Seaver from Philips about the role of the Service Design function within organisations and the interconnectedness towards how academia prepares designers towards either agency or in-house practice. It may seem like a small nuance, but it’s a really interesting conversation to have and reflect.It’s a good episode and hope you enjoy it.Also, thank you so much to everyone who has been leaving so many wonderful reviews for the podcast. I recently checked and saw lots of reviews trickling in from across the internet. If you like what we do, leave a review wherever you are listening…it helps me out and helps others find the podcast too!Let’s get into it...
NEW COURSE: Service Design : https://www.thisishcd.com/courses/video-on-demand-introduction-to-human-centered-service-design-using-journey-mapping
Become a Patron of This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/become-a-patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / https://www.thisishcd.com/community/stay-up-to-date-with-this-is-hcd
Learn more with This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
Coaching for Change-Makers / https://www.thisishcd.com/coaching-mentoring-for-innovators-change-makers
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: https://www.thisishcd.com/landing/7-day-killer-journey-mapping-tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / https://twitter.com/gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / https://twitter.com/thisishcd
Our partner links
We recommend Webflow for all web design and development needs.
Webflow: Create a custom website | No-code website builder
We used Descript to power our podcast
Descript | All-in-one video & podcast editing, easy as a doc
Our podcast is edited by the A-Team at CastUp / Enquire with them about editing.
Learn more and connect with Castup

Mar 28, 2023 • 45min
Oliver Weidlich 'Creating Immersive Experiences with Spatial Computing'
In this episode I caught up with Oliver Weidlich, of Contxtu.al Sydney, formerly known as Mobile Experience.I’ve met Oliver several times over the years whilst living in Sydney, always in passing, and never in detail, but was always hugely impressed when I saw him speak about Design, and here is no different.We focus our conversation on spatial computing, and get straight into the nitty gritty of what this is, and how it will radically change how we design services and experiences. We chat about the complexity of data ownership, and build on the conversation threads that myself and Scott Jenson spoke several months ago.Oliver is awesome and I know you will love this conversation.https://www.contxtu.al/spatialcomputingOther useful links
Become a Patron of This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/become-a-patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / https://www.thisishcd.com/community/stay-up-to-date-with-this-is-hcd
COURSES with This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
COACHING for Change-Makers / https://www.thisishcd.com/coaching-mentoring-for-innovators-change-makers
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: https://www.thisishcd.com/landing/7-day-killer-journey-mapping-tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / https://twitter.com/gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / https://twitter.com/thisishcd
Our partner links
We recommend Webflow for all web design and development needs.
Webflow: Create a custom website | No-code website builder
We used Descript to power our podcast
Descript | All-in-one video & podcast editing, easy as a doc
Our podcast is edited by the A-Team at CastUp / Enquire with them about editing.
Learn more and connect with Castup

Mar 21, 2023 • 40min
Perk Pomeyie 'How bauxite mining destroys Nature and communities'
Perk Pomeyie is a Ghanaian environmental activist from Accra, who is currently the National Coordinator of the Ghana Youth Environmental Movement-a leading youth-led environment and climate advocacy and campaign group in Ghana. I started by asking Perk to tell me more about how the youth movement works.Other useful links
Become a Patron of This is HCD / Become a Patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / Stay up to date with This is HCD
Learn more with This is HCD / Courses on Service Design, Human Centered Design, UX Design, Research
Coaching for Change-Makers / Coaching & Mentoring for Innovators & Change-Makers
FREE GUIDE - 10 UX Laws of UX: FREE GUIDE - 10 Laws of User Experience (UX)
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: FREE 7-DAY GUIDE - Killer Journey Mapping Tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / thisishcd
Our partner links
We recommend Webflow for all web design and development needs.
Webflow: Create a custom website | No-code website builder
We used Descript to power our podcast
Descript | All-in-one video & podcast editing, easy as a doc
Our podcast is edited by the A-Team at CastUp / Enquire with them about editing.
Learn more and connect with Castup

Mar 14, 2023 • 50min
Charlotte Fountaine ‘Service Designing a stigma-free and relevant mental health support to empower the LGBTQIA+ community to lead happier, healthier lives’
In this episode I caught up with Charlotte Fontaine, an incredible service designer in the UK.We speak about Kalda, a service that has really opened my eyes through my own naivety and in exposure to the needs of people within the LGBTQIA+ community.We chat about the nuances that persist for people from within the community to access therapy, and how Kalda offers a community led service that includes connecting people to therapists who can better relate to the needs from within the LGBTQIA+ community.I was quite nervous speaking about this topic, and I bring this up in the conversation, why I was feeling this.How I personally can continue on my learning journey to become more aware and become a much better ally to the community - hopefully my vulnerability can help others who may feel the same, build on this and have conversations to help grow and support the community better.LinksLink for Kalda app: https://onelink.to/kwqzr2Link for Stonewall: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/Connect with Charlotte: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlotte-fountaine/?originalSubdomain=ukOther useful links
Become a Patron of This is HCD / Become a Patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / Stay up to date with This is HCD
Learn more with This is HCD / Courses on Service Design, Human Centered Design, UX Design, Research
Coaching for Change-Makers / Coaching & Mentoring for Innovators & Change-Makers
FREE GUIDE - 10 UX Laws of UX: FREE GUIDE - 10 Laws of User Experience (UX)
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: FREE 7-DAY GUIDE - Killer Journey Mapping Tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / thisishcd

Mar 9, 2023 • 54min
Roya Azadi ‘Improving Access to Justice at the Supreme Court’
In this episode I caught up with Roya Azadi, strategic director at Paper Giant, a design consultancy based in Melbourne, Australia.I follow a few places on my personal social accounts and really respect the work that the folks at Paper Giant do, and was really excited when I saw a project that they did with the Supreme Court in Victoria around accessing Justice. We chat about the project is detail, how Roya and the fellow team members built trust, worked alongside other consultancies, remained focussed on the analogue, and also what Roya brought to the project themselves, through their own story. It’s a great conversation.https://www.papergiant.net/work/a-user-experience-strategy-to-improve-access-to-justice-at-the-supreme-courthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/royaaazadi/?originalSubdomain=auOther useful links
Become a Patron of This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/become-a-patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / https://www.thisishcd.com/community/stay-up-to-date-with-this-is-hcd
Learn more with This is HCD / https://www.thisishcd.com/courses
Coaching for Change-Makers / https://www.thisishcd.com/coaching-mentoring-for-innovators-change-makers
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: https://www.thisishcd.com/landing/7-day-killer-journey-mapping-tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / https://twitter.com/gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / https://twitter.com/thisishcd

Mar 7, 2023 • 37min
Bronwyn Van Der Merwe ‘Exploring and Scaling Design Culture internationally at Fjord and now Culture Amp’
In this episode I caught up with Bronwyn Van Der Merwe, VP of Design at Culture Amp.We speak about Design Culture and tap into Bronwyn’s absolutely incredible background and personal experience that saw Bronwyn spearhead the evolution of Fjord in APAC regions.What were the key things that Bronwyn did to ensure the scalability of a design culture at Fjord in Australia, and also when it scaled into Asian regions like Singapore and Japan. How did they balance the local culture in each region and touch on how this was handled as the merger between Fjord and Accenture unfolded, that ultimately saw two cultures merge.We speak about Bronwyn’s past, tapping into their Commerce background, and how this ultimately provides them with a brilliant lens to peer through when looking at the commercial impact of Design. We chat about the work that they are doing at Culture Amp, and the special culture that is unfolding within the business.I say this lightly, but this is a must listen to anyone in Design leadership.LinksAccenture Song: https://www.accenture.com/au-en/about/accenture-song-indexCulture Amp: https://www.cultureamp.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynvdm/Other useful links
Become a Patron of This is HCD / Become a Patron
Sign up to This is HCD Newsletter / Stay up to date with This is HCD
Learn more with This is HCD / Courses on Service Design, Human Centered Design, UX Design, Research
Coaching for Change-Makers / Coaching & Mentoring for Innovators & Change-Makers
FREE GUIDE - 10 UX Laws of UX: FREE GUIDE - 10 Laws of User Experience (UX)
FREE GUIDE - 7 Days of Awesome Journey Map Tips: FREE 7-DAY GUIDE - Killer Journey Mapping Tips
Follow Gerry Scullion on Twitter / gerrycircus
Follow This is HCD on Twitter / thisishcd

Mar 3, 2023 • 5min
Designing Connections: I'm Building an Online Community for Designers & Change-Makers
As many of you probably know, I work 100% independently, Even though I might find myself having 4-5 hours of zoom calls, or training organisations in Design online, none of this comes close to the connection I would have working with teams directly and in person. It’s alienating and to be truthful, quite lonely at times.So a few weeks ago I started to design a service that I see living within my podcast network, This is HCD. I am calling it ChangeSpace, a place for people to come together once a month and have discussions about things that matter, discussions about organisational ways of working, and to share war stories - and who knows, a place to make new friends.
Expressions of Interest form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfitQkIxO5p4pIbWXt966C0yLNov-olINHnA8xLl76ZJrlbxg/viewform?usp=sf_link
Watch video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/kl77PJqHU6c
Subscribe to This Designed Life Podcast here: https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/thisdesignedlife