Nathan Shedroff is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and a colleague at the California College of the Arts, where we both teach in the graduate interaction design program. Nathan has worked for a long time on driving innovation and sustainability through design. This conversation focuses on his latest project: Foodicons, which is creating a shared, open-source, and royalty-free iconographic language of food.Show notesNathan Shedroff@nathanshedroff on TwitterCalifornia College of the Arts MDESDesign is the Problem: The Future of Design Must be Sustainable by Nathan ShedroffFoodiconsGreen Brown BlueThe LexiconThe Noun Project Foodicons collectionEvapotranspirationInformation Architects by Richard Saul WurmanMultimedia DemystifiedSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Sunni Brown is a social entrepreneur who uses visual literacy, design thinking, and visual facilitation to solve complex problems. She's the author of The Doodle Revolution and co-author of Gamestorming.In this conversation, we discuss Sunni's current area of focus, which uses Zen Buddhism and design thinking to help individuals craft a more fulfilling and engaged life.Show notesSunni BrownDeep Self DesignSunni on TwitterSunni on LinkedInSunni on InstagramSunni on FacebookThe Doodle Revolution: Unlock the Power to Think Differently by Sunni BrownGamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James MacanufoDave Mastronardi (LinkedIn)What is a multipotentialite? The Nexialist approach: Van Vogt and the idea that ‘specialisation is for insects’Sōtō ZenZendōReality distortion field_Liminal Thinking: Create the Change You Want by Changing the Way You Think_ by Dave Gray In defense of the visual alphabet by Dave GrayDesign personasKate Rutter (LinkedIn)Brené BrownSesshin Double diamond diagramSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Karl Fast, an independent scholar and futurist, discusses interaction, embodiment, and epigenetics in design and technology. The conversation includes rat experiments, epistemic actions, and the nuances of interaction in various fields. They also touch on the significance of philosophy in robotics and design evolution with the rise of UX as an industry.

Karl Fast is an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist. He's the co-author of Figure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding alongside Stephen Anderson, who was featured in  episode 39 of the show. In this conversation, Karl tells us about what interaction designers can learn from cognitive science. We had a lot to discuss, so this episode is the first of two on the subject.Show notes@karlfast on Twitter Karl Fast on LinkedInFigure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding by Stephen P. Anderson and Karl FastThinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel KahnemanStroop effect The Extended Mind by Andy Clark and David ChalmersSupersizing the Mind: Embodiment, Action, and Cognitive Extension by Andy ClarkHCI Remixed: Essays on Works That Have Influenced the HCI Community, edited by Thomas Erickson and David W. McDonaldOn Distinguishing Epistemic From Pragmatic Action by David Kirsch and Paul Maglio (pdf)The Intelligent Use of Space by David KirschHearing Gesture: How Our Hands Help Us Think by Susan Goldin-MeadowThings That Make Us Smart: Defending Human Attributes In The Age Of The Machine by Don NormanThe Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition by Don NormanHans MoravecDisclosure: I received Karl’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.

In this conversation, we discuss Career Architecture, the focus of her current coaching work and subject of her upcoming book.Listen to the show Download episode 68Show notesMagsHanley.comMags Hanley on LinkedInSeth GodinBBCCareer Architecture by Mags Hanley (preorder)Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

No guest in this episode. Instead, I answer listener questions. If you have a question you'd like me to address on the show, please email me at live@theinformed.life or tweet to @informed_life.Listen to the show Download episode 67Show notesThe Informed Life episode 17: Rachel Price on Improvisation The Informed Life episode 65: Sarah Barrett on Architectural ScaleA brief history of information architecture (pdf) by Peter MorvilleInformation Architects by Richard Saul WurmanDavid MacaulayAlexander TsiarasWhy Software is Eating the World by Marc Andreessen (WSJ paywall)Dave GrayThe Information Architecture InstituteHow to Make Sense of Any Mess by Abby CovertInformation Architecture: For the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge ArangoThe Information Architecture ConferenceWorld IA DayInformation Architects Facebook groupUX Design Information Architecture LinkedIn groupMags Hanley's Information Architecture Masterclasses Jorge Arango's Information Architecture Essentials workshopSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Jim Kalbach is the chief evangelist at MURAL, a leading provider of online visual collaboration software. He's the author of Designing Web Navigation (O'Reilly, 2007), Mapping Experiences (O'Reilly, 2016), and his latest, The Jobs to Be Done Playbook (Rosenfeld, 2020). In this conversation, we dive into Jobs to Be Done, how it relates to design, and how jobs can create an “out of body experience” for organizations.Show notes@JimKalbach on TwitterJim Kalbach on LinkedInMURALThe Jobs to Be Done Playbook by Jim KalbachMapping Experiences: A Complete Guide to Creating Value through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams by Jim KalbachDesigning Web Navigation: Optimizing the User Experience by Jim KalbachJTBD ToolkitBook Notes: “The Jobs To Be Done Playbook” by Jorge ArangoKnow Your Customers’ “Jobs to Be Done” by Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David S. DuncanHow We Align Product Development with Jobs To Be Done at MURAL by Agustin SolerThe JTBD toolkitCompeting Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice by Clayton M. Christensen, Taddy Hall, Karen Dillon, and David S. DuncanDisclosure: I received Jim'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.

Udhaya Kumar Padmanabhan is a Global Strategic Design Director at Designit, an international strategic design consultancy. He is based in Bangalore, and in this conversation we talk about challenges and opportunities inherent in designing information systems for the Indian market.Listen to the show Download episode 65Show notesUdhaya Kumar Padmanabhan (LinkedIn)DesignitLanguages of India (Wikipedia)IndEA (India Enterprise Architecture)Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information TechnologySwiggyZomatoSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.

Sarah Barrett, Principal IA Manager at Microsoft, discusses how architectural scale influences our perception of information environments. Topics include challenges in structuring content effectively, translating real-world rules into digital systems, the impact of spatial metaphors on user interaction design, and enhancing user experiences through intentional design elements.

Sophia Prater is a UX design consultant and chief evangelist of object oriented UX, a methodology that helps teams tackle complex design challenges. In this conversation, we discuss OOUX and how it differs from other methodologies. Download episode 63Show notes@sophiaux on TwitterRewired (Sophia's consultancy)Ooux.comThe Object Oriented UX PodcastObject-Oriented UX, by Sophia Prater (A List Apart article) Double Diamond Object Oriented UX Podcast, episode 10: Information Archaeology with Ren PopeEntity Relationship Diagram (ERD)The Elements of User Experience, by Jesse James Garrett (pdf)Conceptual Models: Core to Good Design, by Austin Henderson and Jeff JohnsonSome show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links.