Surya Vanka brings his hallmark energy to this conversation about the power of design, the challenges the field faces, and how he’s using Design Swarms to ignite creativity. Highlights include: ⭐ Why is your mission, “to unleash the design thinker in every person”? ⭐ How is the democratisation of design helping and hurting the field? ⭐ What can seasoned designers learn from design’s growth? ⭐ What is keeping people’s creativity leashed? ⭐ Why is inclusive design important? ====== Who is Surya Vanka? Surya is a design innovator with over 25 years of hands-on experience bringing the design of physical and digital products to life. And through Authentic Design, the studio he founded in 2014, he is on a mission to unlock the creative potential of everyone on the planet. One of the ways Surya is doing that is through Design Swarms - a democratic design approach - used by organisations like the Clinton Global Initiative, the United Nations, and Global Humanitarian Lab, to help tackle a variety of wicked problems, including the Opioid Epidemic, Domestic Violence, Water Borne Diseases, Digital Equity, and Ocean Pollution.  Before founding Authentic Design, Surya was a Director of User Experience at Microsoft, based at the Redmond campus. There, he led multiple design teams, including the enterprise-wide design excellence team, and was a key contributor to Microsoft’s experience-led renewal. ====== Find Surya here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suryavanka/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/suryavanka ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Trip O’Dell discusses the secret advantages of neurodiversity in design teams, and why it’s an essential ingredient for healthy, effective, and progressive design cultures. Highlights include: ⭐ Why do you feel connected to Captain Kirk? ⭐ What do we lose when we pressure our children to conform? ⭐ How important is language in normalising neurodiversity? ⭐ What role did accessibility play in Amazon Flex’s Driver Experience? ⭐ How does design storyboarding help to achieve alignment? ====== Who is Trip O’Dell? Trip is a Senior Director of Product Design at Pearson, a 176 year old world-leading education company that helps people to achieve their potential through learning and assessment experiences. Before joining Pearson, Trip was the Chief Experience Officer at Habitat Logistics, a Y-Combinator backed startup, where he led people, process, and product. Trip has also worked as a UX designer and design leader for some of the biggest names in tech, including Adobe, Microsoft and Amazon.  During his time at Amazon, Trip was a UX Lead for Audible, a Design Manager for Alexa, and the Head of Design for Amazon’s Flex & Driver Experience.  He is a named inventor on five design and technology related patents, including automated messaging, synchronous presentation of content with braille translation, and dynamically guided user reviews. ====== Find Trip here: Website: https://www.tripodell.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tripodell/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/tripodell/ ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

William Ntim shares the story of his journey from Ghana to America, why he’s so focused on mastering time, and what he believes is holding designers back. Highlights include: ⭐ What can we learn from Ernest Hemingway’s approach to life? ⭐ Why do people find soft skills so hard to master? ⭐ How did losing your job change your professional mindset? ⭐ Is it important for designers to love what they do? ⭐ How do you manage constraints to create work you’re proud of? ====== Who is William Ntim? William is a Senior UX Designer at Paypal where he’s helping to shape the future of the company’s financial products, making it easier for people to send and receive money across the globe. Before joining Paypal, William was a Senior UX Designer at The Home Depot. There, William owned the end-to-end experiences for B2B Order Management, Purchase History, Cart and Checkout, as well as several other product experiences. In 2020 William was named LinkedIn’s #1 Top Voice in Design. In his words, it all started with a single “passionate rant”. What resulted was the incredibly popular 101 Random UX Tips series and book, putting him on the radar for many UXers across the world. ====== Find William here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamntim/ ADPList: https://www.adplist.org/mentors/william-ntim Buy the book: 101 Random UX Tips:  https://101randomuxtips.com/ ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Darren Hood challenges us to learn the history of UX, to beware of snake-oil when assessing training options, and to revisit our thinking on imposter syndrome. Highlights include: ⭐ How are UX bootcamps and courses impacting the field? ⭐ Why is it important to know the history of UX? ⭐ What’s driving people to declare imposter syndrome? ⭐ Is the popularisation of UX enabling better design practice? ⭐ What does the field of UX need to become more effective? ====== Who is Darren Hood Darren is a Principal Product Designer at Omnicell, the world-leader in pharmacy robotics. There, he champions product design and coaches other designers, cultivating a culture of curiosity, clear communication and collaboration.  Alongside his work as a designer, Darren is helping to prepare the next generation of UXers, serving as an Adjunct Professor at Kent State University and Lawrence Technological University. He is also on the faculty of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. A passionate contributor the global UX community, Darren is the host of the podcast The World of UX. He is also a regular conference speaker, blogger and podcast guest - sharing his refreshingly unfiltered views on the field. ====== Find Darren here: Website: https://www.dhoodux.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwhood/ YouTube: https://bit.ly/3p244mf Medium: https://uxuncensored.medium.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/darrenhood/ Podcast: https://worldoux.com/ ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Jaime Levy shares the importance (and danger ⚡) of putting yourself into your work, how UX going mainstream has changed the field, and wonders, “where are all of our design heroes?”. Highlights include: ⭐ How is the mainstreaming of UX changing the field? ⭐ Why is it important to put yourself into your work? ⭐ How far do we have to go to create a meaningful career? ⭐ Why did you stop teaching UX design at university? ⭐ How do you reconcile being burned out with being an overachiever? ====== Who is Jaime Levy? Jaime is a world-leading UX and Product Strategist, based in Los Angeles, California. For more than 30 years she has been a pioneer of digital products and services, working for Fortune 500 companies and award-winning agencies, across many sectors. The author of the best selling book, “UX Strategy: Product Strategy Techniques for Devising Innovative Solutions”, which has been translated into 9 languages and is now in its second edition - Jaime knows a thing or two about UX strategy. A passionate and longstanding contributor to the UX community, Jaime regularly delivers workshops, online masterclasses, and speeches at conferences, such as Interaction Latin America, From Business to Buttons, and UX Week, on top of her consulting engagements.  ====== Find Jaime here:   Website: https://jaimelevy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaimerlevy/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaimeRLevy/    Buy the book:   UX Strategy - Product Strategy Techniques for Devising Innovative Digital Solutions:  https://www.userexperiencestrategy.com/   ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Kate Leto calls on us to improve the EQ of our product orgs, so that we can improve their performance, our team's happiness, and our own self-awareness. Highlights include: ⭐ Why do we focus overly on technical product management skills? ⭐ How do you make the business case for investing in Product EQ? ⭐ What mistakes do we often make when interviewing product people? ⭐ How can people come to terms with imposter syndrome? ⭐ How can product leaders avoid their own EQ blindspots? ====== Who is Kate Leto? Kate is the Principal and Founder of Kate Leto Consulting, the vehicle through which she shares her 25 years of expertise in product management, organisational design, culture transformation and personal development with the world. Before founding her consulting practice, Kate was the Head of Product at Moo.com in London, where she built and led the product management and UX teams responsible for the business’ e-Commerce platform, and premium physical product range. A regular speaker, blogger, and the author of a book worth its weight in gold, “Hiring for Product EQ: Using Product EQ to go beyond culture and skills”, Kate has a huge heart (and mind) for increasing the effectiveness of product organisations. ====== Find Kate here: Website: https://www.kateleto.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateleto/ Meidum: https://kleto.medium.com/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/kleto/ What the heck is self-awareness and why should you care? https://bit.ly/3rHjf69 ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

In this final episode of 2021, instead of an in-depth interview, you’re going to hear a series of short and important messages from a range of previous Brave UX guests. There's plenty of healthy mind food in this episode, especially as you reflect on the year that's been and contemplate the year ahead. Stay safe and be well. And... Keep being brave! ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Gregg Bernstein shares what it takes to build an impactful UX research practice, how to avoid compromising your findings, and why *NSYNC is better than the Backstreet Boys. Highlights include: ⭐ What role does humility play in being an effective UX researcher? ⭐ Is it dangerous for UX Researchers to be seen as service providers? ⭐ What common business blindspots do UX Researchers have? ⭐ How do you help your team to manage the stress of their roles? ⭐ What difference did the UX of your wife’s cancer care make? ====== Who is Gregg Bernstein? Gregg is a leading voice in the UX Research community 💡 and is currently a User Research Lead at Conde Nast, the media company behind such storied titles as The New Yorker, Wired, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and GQ.  Before joining Conde Nast, Gregg held a number of senior UX research roles, including at Mailchimp and Vox Media. At Vox, Gregg started as the first an only UX researcher and went on to grow a great team, and to become the Senior Director of User Research. Gregg is also the author of, “Research Practice: Perspectives from UX Researchers in a Changing Field”, a book that helps aspiring researchers to see inside the field through the stories and experiences of current practitioners. ====== Find Gregg here: Website: http://gregg.io/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/greggbernstein/ Buy the book: Research Practice: Perspectives from UX researchers in a changing field https://researchpractice.co/ And if you want to refresh your memory on 90s boy bands… *NSYNC - Bye Bye Bye video: https://youtu.be/Eo-KmOd3i7s ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Tracy McGoldrick talks about the challenges of building a Research Ops practice that supports over 100 UX researchers, and how IBM’s increasing the impact of design. Highlights include: ⭐ How do you know if Research Ops is doing a good job? ⭐ What is the biggest misconception people have about Research Ops? ⭐ How has GDPR and CCPA impacted the Research Ops practice? ⭐ Why is IBM investing hundreds of millions of dollars into design? ⭐ How did you make your massive research repository easy to use? ===== Who is Tracy McGoldrick? Tracy is the Head of UX Research Ops and Design Eminence at IBM in Austin Texas, where she is currently creating the infrastructure to help accelerate IBM’s Cloud and Cognitive Software research practice.  A passionate evangelist for User Experience and Design Thinking, Tracy actively works with all aspects of IBM’s business to grow the relationships and culture that develop awareness, appreciation, and ability in human-centred design practices. Before joining IBM in 2017, Tracy was the Head of Global Photography and CG Imaging at Dell Technologies. There, she led the talented teams who created visual assets for the company, while also running the operational aspects that supported them.  ====== Find Tracy here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracymcgoldrick/ ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Mikkel Michelsen takes us into the world of UX design for mission critical systems (including the F-35), where users’ lives are quite literally in the hands of the designer. Highlights include: ⭐ Did you get to fly in an F-35? ⭐ How did it feel to design systems that had direct impact on human life? ⭐ How did you involve users in the design of mission critical systems? ⭐ How do design for the unpredictability of people in high-stress situations? ⭐ How do you manage being both a PM and a Lead UX designer? ====== Who is Mikkel Michelsen? Mikkel is a Product Manager and Lead UX Designer at Systime Solutions, a division of Gyldendal, Scandinavia’s largest publisher.  Before Systime, Mikkel was the Chief UX Designer at Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark. He has also held other senior design roles, such as the Head of UX at WhiteAway Group, and Lead UX Designer at eBay Scandinavia.  But, it was Mikkel’s work at Systematic, a provider of mission critical technology solutions, that really caught my attention. During nearly 8 years there, Mikkel designed some of the critical systems within the F-35 fighter jet, as well as other defence and healthcare experiences. ====== Find Mikkel here: Website: https://nielsmikkel.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikkelm/ ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/