Conscious Tech with Sera Tajima

⁠⁠⁠Sera Tajima is your host, Founder of The Craft, Startup Advisor, and Climate Investor. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Get Sera's podcast highlights & resources.⁠⁠⁠⁠Join Sustainable Growth Design Chapters(00:00:00) An Introduction to growth thinking(00:02:00) Advance your design career with business thinking(00:03:53) The intersection of growth hacking and product design (00:05:28) Identifying the business lever (00:07:38) How to think about the customer lifecycle and growth frameworks(00:09:52) Risks associated with growth hacking(00:10:36) A strong growth strategy starts with retention (00:12:31) Good growth practitioners are humanity centered(00:14:48) Where your power lies as a technologistConnect with Sera:⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠ ⁠Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Dan Mall is Founder of Design Systems University. He's an expert in helping companies scale design systems. In this episode Dan and Sera talk design systems, why they matter, and how to implement them. Get Sera's weekly highlights ✍️Learn Growth DesignChapters(00:00:00) Dan intro (00:01:58) How Dan got into design (00:04:17) Starting his agency (00:07:10) Find equilibrium as a business owner(00:08:40) Design Systems(00:10:16) The spectrum of design systems(00:13:50) What organizations Dan works with(00:15:15) Get buy-in to scale something that's working(00:16:29) Dan's approach — "Piloting" (00:18:57) Designers need to learn the language of business(00:22:36) We are not a great representation of users(00:23:47) Design Politics(00:27:14) Have your own opinions(00:32:36) Templates, patterns, and packages(00:36:06) How to get started(00:43:37) No parity between design and code(00:47:15) Get people to spend less time in Figma(00:49:15) Build a tool that people use(00:51:50) Publicize your Design System(00:53:20) Design Systems democratize designWhere to find Dan Mall:Design Systems ⁠LinkedInTwitterWebsite⁠Where to find Sera:LinkedInYouTubeSera's WebsiteThe Craft To become a sponsor contact podcast@the-craft.io. 🎤

Sera Tajima is your host, startup advisor and climate tech investor. ⁠Get on the waitlist to learn Sustainable Growth Design ⁠(Sold Out )⁠⁠⁠⁠Chapters(00:00:00) Introduction(00:00:25) Misunderstanding design(00:01:12) Example: The evolution of cars(00:02:02) Continuous improvement for users(00:02:30) Great design is invisible(00:03:00) Design's impact on society (00:03:10) Design as problem solving(00:03:27) Form follows function(00:04:40) The role of aesthetics(00:05:06) My experience as a product designer(00:06:48) Expanding the impact of design (00:07:26) Product Designers(00:07:50) Creating an experience(00:08:55) Identifying the right problem to solve(00:09:54) Collaborating with teammates and aligning stakeholders(00:11:06) Creating a functional solution(00:12:30) The importance of design (00:12:53) Unintended consequences of design (00:14:00) The conscious design movement___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠Connect for more good energy⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Tommy Geoco is Founder and author of UX Tools. After serving in the U.S. military, he worked in Product Design for over 14 years now. He has a combined social media following of over 1 million. 🔥Chapters(00:00:00) Tommy Introduction (00:01:21) Making design education better with UX Tools (00:02:01) The design industry is competitive(00:02:50) The bootcamp business model (00:04:10) The best way to learn is on the job(00:07:14) Ditch the cynicism of the way things evolve(00:09:09) All companies have dysfunction (00:10:10) Tommy's journey into design (00:15:35) Learning online and the shapes of work(00:26:20) How to attract the right fit(00:30:00) Make time for play (00:46:39) Have a growth mindset(00:51:41) Build real relationships(00:55:13) Newsletter & Micro CoursesJoin Sera live to learn Sustainable Growth DesignWhere to find Tommy:UX Tools: ⁠⁠https://uxtools.co/⁠⁠Tiktok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@designertom⁠LinkedIn: ⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco/⁠⁠Website: ⁠https://www.designertom.io/⁠___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠Connect for more good energy⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Sera is your host, Principle Designer, & Founder of Conscious Tech. Learn growth designChapters(00:00:00) Welcome newbies 🎉(00:01:17) Please like & subscribe (this helps me bring in high quality guests)(00:01:29) Emotions Make Us Human(00:02:16) What Are Emotions?(00:03:13) Don Norman's Three Levels of Emotional Processing(00:05:18) Merging The Internal & External(00:06:51) How Do We Identify Emotions?(00:08:18) How Emotions Influence User Behavior and Decision-Making(00:09:38) Emotional Attachment(00:14:50) Aaron Walter’s Hierarchy of Needs(00:17:22) Join my live Maven cohort (00:18:31) How To Design For Emotional States(00:21:52) 5 Good Tenets of Emotional Design(00:22:39) 5 Core Methods to Create Emotionally Intelligent Design(00:26:52) Ethical Considerations(00:30:01) Future of Emotion Recognition Technology___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠Connect for more good energy⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Christopher Nguyen is Founder of UX Playbook. He went from zero experience to head of design in just 4 years. His mission is to Make UX education accessible. He’s also working on a new project called Backlog: a community for designers-turned-entrepreneurs.Chapters(00:00:00) Beyond UX Podcast(00:01:04) How Chris Got Into Design(00:03:10) Posting on Linkedin(00:05:00) UX Playbook organic growth (00:10:14) Expanding the funnel on Linkedin(00:16:11) Product Bundle Experiment(00:19:32) Free 5 Day Growth Challenge(00:23:49) What the Market Wants(00:27:33) Downsells are More Effective than Upsells(00:29:02) Pricing Experimentation (00:32:37) Sera’s Business Journey(00:39:36) Create Urgency Getting Your Product Out(00:45:55) What Gives Designers Business Superpowers(00:50:33) Biggest Mistakes Chris Made(00:54:20) A Workday With Chris Where to find Chris Nguyen:Linkedin___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠Connect for more good energy⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Frank Bach, aka “Zen Daddy,” is a Staff Product Designer at Instagram. Frank not only designs the creator experience at Meta, he also runs his own company, Sunshine Shop, and plays in his band, Monk. 🎶 Chapters(00:00:00) Frank’s universe(00:05:24) Frank’s band Monk(00:06:55) Continue your passions(00:08:44) Running a small studio (00:10:37) Product Design at Redbull(00:13:07) Headspace and meditation (00:19:33) Getting a job at Headspace(00:26:36) Product Design at Headspace(00:29:15) Always be building your portfolio (00:31:31) Getting laid off(00:36:40) Instagram creators team (00:39:33) Becoming a speaker(00:47:37) Frank’s business Sunshine Shop(00:56:38) Performing with the band and time management(00:59:50) What’s in Frank’s future?Resources ___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠Connect for more good energy⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Ridd, aka Michael Riddering, is the Founder of Figma Academy, Host of podcast Deep Dives, and the founding designer behind Maven. Chapters(00:00:00) Ridd’s background(00:02:02) Learning coding(00:04:06) Startup failure & finding design(00:13:04) Transition to agency life(00:15:33) Visual finesse and raw talent(00:16:45) Becoming a Founding Designer with Maven(00:21:20) Building the Maven team(00:25:31) Twitter as testing for Figma Academy(00:28:44) Design Media Business(00:31:09) It’s not work, it’s a game(00:41:02) What makes Figma Academy successful(00:52:16) Prototyping is a superpowerGet the Conscious Tech Newsletter 🗞️Where to find Ridd:Twitter: https://x.com/ridd_designDive Club Podcast: https://www.dive.club/Figma Academy: https://www.dive.club/advanced-figma___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠⁠Connect for more good energy⁠⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

Suzan Doodeman is a social entrepreneur, activist, author of Hoe Dan Wel, and Co-Founder of De IdealenSchool.Chapters(00:00:00) Suzan Doodeman background(00:03:49) Protest for undocumented people (00:09:33) Starting a business (Hoe Dan Wel) (00:11:23) The importance of your business partners(00:14:24) Traineeship for social entrepreneurs(00:15:22) Writing a book (00:16:28) Activist work, pushing the boundaries(00:23:45) Pragmatic idealism (00:27:11) Design thinking & experimentation (00:28:06) Practical tips on how to start your business(00:31:20) 1. Take a look at yourself (00:32:09) 2. Everything is possible, divergent thinking(00:34:18) 3. Research & experimentation(00:34:45) 4. Make it real (00:36:27) 5. Celebrate the results(00:39:29) Taking care of yourself(00:42:50) People over the economy(00:44:37) Time and income(00:48:40) Start as soon as possible(00:50:41) Stay away from perfectionSuzan’s Resources:The Nutmeg’s Curse by Amitav GhoshHow Migration Really Works by Hein de Haas(Buy books locally if possible 😊) Where to find Suzan Doodeman:https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzan-doodeman/___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠⁠Connect for more good energy⁠⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com

In this episode, Sera, host & Founder of Conscious Tech deep dives on JTBD for technologists. Chapters(00:00:00) Introduction and Annoucements(00:01:21) Why companies are dying quicker(00:02:34) Why I like JTBD(00:03:26) People are trying to progress in life(00:04:18) The process of creative disruption (00:05:20) Customers inadvertently lie(00:06:11) JTBD theory and practice(00:09:46) Examples of 3 dimensions(00:11:29) Tony Ulwick’s 9 tenets of JTBD(00:13:03) Incorporate JTBD into Your Process(00:14:40) Investigate beyond the superficial layer(00:16:47) 1. Define your market(00:17:56) 2. UX Research(00:23:40) 3. Synthesize your research(00:24:22) 4. Map the job(00:25:03) 5. Identify customer needs (example with ChatGPT and Claude)(00:26:10) 6. Create JTBD statements(00:27:09) 7. Ideate solutions(00:27:53) 8. Prioritization and planning(00:29:00) 9. Design and test(00:30:00) 10. Refine and measure impact(00:30:58) Bob Moesta’s Case study (00:33:33) FAQ⁠Join the Newsletter (sources here)⁠⁠Learn Sustainable Growth Design⁠___________________________________________________________I'm Sera Tajima, Climate Tech Advisor & Investor. 🤙I talk about: → Product Growth Strategy (Growth, Design, AI)→ Climate Tech→ Venture Capital⁠⁠Connect for more good energy⁠⁠ ⚡️Become a sponsor: partner@seratajima.com