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Fuego’s podcast series interviews design and product leaders and covers the latest in user experience.
Subscribe to YouTube ChannelOn this episode of Design Leader Insights, Alex chats with Tommy Geoco, Owner and Educator at UX Tools. In April 2022, he embraced education for design, founding uxtools.co in 2024. Alex and Tommy discuss the changes to the freelance industry, and hustle culture. He advises new designers to gain experience, and encourages content creation as a powerful tool for personal and professional growth. Tommy also shares insights on starting a business, differentiating between performance and value activities, and avoiding burnout.
On this episode of Design Leader Insights, Alex chats with Glen Lipka, VP, Product Design at CrowdStrike. Glen Lipka advocates for improving design education to equip young designers with practical skills and a deeper understanding of the industry. Additionally, Lipka delves into the concept of design fundamentals, using examples from Salesforce and Excel to illustrate the importance of designing for functionality rather than just aesthetics. He encourages designers to envision a better future and leverage their superpower of imagining and illustrating a compelling vision.
On this episode of Where Product Meets Design, Amy Mitchell, Product Director at Dell, shares insights into her journey in the product management field. She discusses the common myth that product managers are merely a barrier between engineering and sales, emphasizing the value they bring in consolidating requirements and facilitating communication. Amy also highlights the importance of providing hope and optimism as a product manager. She advocates for embracing conflict and forming a personal point of view.
In this episode of Design Leader Insights, Abbey Smalley, UX Design Leader, shares key tips for effective cross-functional collaboration in design teams. Abbey highlights the importance of understanding and respecting team members' roles, fostering open communication, and creating a collaborative gray space. She emphasizes the significance of aligned and outcome-based goals, as well as the need for just enough process to ensure quality and efficiency. The conversation provides practical insights for designers and underscores the crucial role of communication and shared goals in achieving success.
On this episode of Where Product Meets Design, Alex speaks with Rafa Flores, who works at 6sense. Rafa provides advice for those entering product management, suggesting mentorship during market booms and strategic analysis of product lifecycles in uncertain economic times. When discussing successful product launches, he introduces a pragmatic 30-60-90-day roadmap, stressing the post-launch phase's critical role. Additionally, Rafa highlights the necessity of early collaboration with UX teams to avoid late-stage conflicts, emphasizing consistent teamwork throughout the product development cycle.
On this episode of Design Leader Insights, Alex Smith chats with Michael Riddering, creator of Dive Club and Founding Designer for Maven. Michael shares his journey from founder to designer and back, highlighting the pivotal role of design in startup culture. Michael offers advice for founders and aspiring designers, emphasizing the importance of tackling the right problems and showcasing hands-on experience with launch days. Explore Michael's perspective on the evolving role of designers in startups, the value of competitive research, and the necessity for designers to contribute to higher-level product strategy decisions.
On this episode of Where Product Meets Design, Alex chats with Tim Flood, Sr. Product Manager, about articulating your value and measuring it, common myths of product management, and his advice for new Product Managers entering the field.
In this Design Leader Insights episode, Alex Smith interviews Casey Hudetz, Senior Product Design Manager at DocuSign, exploring Casey's decade-long journey in design. Casey delves into the transformative impact of AI on the design process, highlighting the integration of generative AI models like GPT into tasks such as information architecture audits, survey creation, and design thinking workshops. He discusses the evolving UX of AI, emphasizing its integration into everyday tools and predicts the emergence of hyper-specialized AI models for specific domains. Casey offers advice for new designers, emphasizing the importance of human-centric skills and a deep understanding of design tools to stand out in the industry.
On this episode of Design Leader Insights, Alex chats with Femke van Schoonhoven, Head of Design, Members at Gusto and founder of www.femke.design, about her journey in the design world and her insights on product strategy for designers. Femke's career started at a small startup, and she later went on to work at Uber and a Canadian FinTech company. She also ventured into sharing her design journey through blogging, newsletters, and YouTube videos. Recently, Femke launched a course on product strategy for designers. Join us as she shares her experiences and advice for designers looking to excel in the field.
In this Design Leader Insights episode, Alex Smith interviews Basel Fakhoury, Co-founder of User Interviews. Basel shares the founding journey of User Interviews, and the pivotal moment when they discovered the importance of user research. He explains the platform's two main products, Recruit and Research Hub, emphasizing their role in participant recruitment and user research management. Basel discusses the growth trajectory, user demographics, and the concept of democratizing research, allowing non-research professionals to engage in user studies. The conversation touches on the future of research, addressing concerns about AI replacing human participants. Basel concludes with valuable advice for entrepreneurs, emphasizing the significance of iterative validation and the journey of building a venture.