The Informed Life

Margot Bloomstein is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy. Over a twenty year career, she has consulted in a wide range of industries. Margot is the author of Content Strategy at Work and of a new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, which is the subject of our conversation today.Show notesAppropriate, Inc.@mbloomstein on TwitterTimberlandPublicis SapientTrustworthy: How The Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge The Trust Gap by Margot BloomsteinMistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them by Ethan ZuckermanGartnerEdelmanCrutchfieldgov.ukMailchimpBlack Lives MatterBanana RepublicIndieboundBookShop.orgSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Hà Phan is the Director of Discovery for Pluralsight, an e-learning platform. Before becoming a product leader, she was a principal UX designer at GoPro. In this conversation, we discuss Hà’s journey from UX design to product leadership.Show notes@hpdailyrant on TwitterPluralsightGoPro The Double DiamondSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Kourosh Dini is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and productivity expert. He is the author of an excellent book on how to take smart notes using DEVONthink, a personal information management tool. In this conversation, we discuss smart note-taking and how DEVONthink can help us work more effectively.Show notesKourosh DiniBeing ProductiveTaking Smart Notes with DEVONthink by Kourosh DiniHow to Take Smart Notes by Sonke AhrensDEVONthinkZettelkastenNiklas LuhmannEvernoteNotionRoam Research macOS FinderCraftMarkdownBBEditiA WriterTyporaScrivenerKeynoteUlyssesOmniFocusSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Jason Ulaszek is an experience designer, activist, entrepreneur, and educator. He is the founder of Inzovu, a design collective, and UX for Good, a nonprofit that aims to provide elegant solutions to messy problems. In this conversation, we discuss Jason's work on just such a problem: helping Rwandans heal after their 1994 genocide.Show notesJason Ulaszek on LinkedIn@webbit on TwitterInzovuUX for GoodDePaul UniversityAegis TrustThe Kigali Genocide MemorialThe Inzovu CurveTania SingerUbumuntuSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Grace Lau is an information architect and user experience designer based in the Greater Los Angeles area. She’s the co-president of World IA Day and one of the program chairs of the 2021 IA Conference. In this conversation, we discuss those professional community events, and why you should participate.Listen to the showDownload episode 52Show notesGrace Lau@lauggh on TwitterGrace G. Lau on LinkedInMy Disney ExperienceUCLAASIS&TALASLAThe Los Angeles User Experience MeetupWorld IA DaySan Gabriel Valley UX MeetupThe Information Architecture ConferenceVitoDiscordSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Cheryl Platz is an accomplished interaction designer who has designed multimodal experiences for Amazon, Microsoft, the Walt Disney Company and more. The focus of our conversation is her new book on the subject, Design Beyond Devices.Show notesCheryl PlatzIdeaplatzCheryl on TwitterIdeaplatz on TwitterThe Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationKinectXboxDesign Beyond Devices: Creating Multimodal, Cross-Device Experiences by Cheryl PlatzNintendo DSWacom tabletsSiriCortanaAmazon EchoEcho ShowImprovisational theaterUnexpected ProductionsThe Gum WallInteraction 21 conferenceWizard of Oz researchHomePodApple MusicAmazon Fire TVStar TrekWalt Disney ImagineeringEpic SystemsDisclosure: I received Cheryl's book for free as a previous Rosenfeld Media/Two Waves author.Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

My guest today is Brian Breslin. Brian is a tech entrepreneur, educator, and community builder based in Miami. He’s the director of The Launch Pad, the entrepreneurship center at the University of Miami, and founder of Refresh Miami, a non-profit organization dedicated to growing South Florida’s tech and startup ecosystem. In this conversation, we focus on community-building, especially during this time when geographic boundaries are becoming blurred.Listen to the show Download episode 50 Show notesBrian Breslin@BrianBreslin on TwitterRefresh MiamiGoogle GroupsLISTSERVMeetupMailchimpConstant ContactMiami HeraldMagic LeapREEF TechnologyAirtableZapierTony HsiehWealthfront VenmoMetcalfe’s lawSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commissions for purchases made through these links.

Phillip Hunter, a strategy and innovation consultant specializing in conversational systems, shares his insights from his experience leading user experience for Amazon Alexa Skills. He discusses the structure of conversation and its emotional depth, highlighting how digital communication challenges interpersonal interactions. Phillip explains the technical complexities of designing effective conversational interfaces and the importance of quality audio in communication. He emphasizes the need for blending technology with human interaction to enhance user experience.

My guest today is Caroline Crampton. Caroline is a freelance writer and podcaster. Among other things, she edits The Listener, a daily newsletter that curates the best podcasts. In this conversation, we focus on Caroline’s curation workflow.Listen to the full conversation Download episode 48 Show notesCaroline CramptonThe Way to the Sea: The Forgotten Histories of the Thames Estuary by Caroline CramptonShedunnit (Caroline’s podcast)Hot Pod newsletterSerial podcastThe Listener newsletterThe BrowserLindelani MbathaListen NotesRSSNewsBlurApple PodcastsPocket CastsOvercastRadio AtlasGoogle KeepGoogle Pixel Google RecorderGoogle DriveThe Joe Rogan ExperienceSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commissions for purchases made through these links.

My guest today is Peter Morville. Peter is a pioneer in the discipline of information architecture. Among many other distinctions, he co-authored with Lou Rosenfeld Information Architecture for the World-Wide Web, the classic O’Reilly “polar bear” book on the subject. This is Peter’s second appearance on The Informed Life podcast. I asked him back because I wanted to learn more about his recent call for practitioners to emancipate information architecture.Listen to the full conversation Download episode 47 Show notesPeter Morville on TwitterSemantic StudiosIntertwingled.orgInformation Architecture: for the Web and Beyond, by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango The Informed Life episode 10: Peter Morville on Seductive InformationEmancipating Information Architecture by Peter MorvilleDon’t Think of an Elephant! by George LakoffSorting Things Out: Classification and its Consequences by Geoffrey C. Bowker and Susan Leigh StarPema ChödrönSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commissions for purchases made through these links.