UX Cake

Do you want your career to be sustainable and aligned with what truly matters to you? Designing a holistic career that embraces every part of who we are can be a complex and meaningful challenge. This week Leigh and guest Jason Mesut have a captivating discussion about the significance of aligning personal values with work and finding meaning in one's career. Jason is an experienced design strategist and leader, who conducts workshops on and has written extensively about shaping one’s future in design. Jason sheds light on the limitations of traditional career labels and role descriptions, advocating for a more holistic approach. He shares his own path of creating visual frameworks and facilitating workshops that empower individuals and teams to delve into their unique qualities, values, and skills. Join Leigh and Jason in this episode as they discuss the common challenges that people bring to coaching sessions, from navigating the job market to making critical decisions about leadership roles, reigniting passions, or even contemplating a career change. Tune in to discover practical tools and strategies that can propel you toward shaping a more aligned career. 🎤About Our Guest: Jason Mesut helps people and organizations navigate their uncertain futures. He does this through executive coaching, community leadership, strategic consulting, futures design and shaping workshops. 📚Additional Resources Jason’s DesignOps 2019 talk “Shaping Design, Designers and Teams” Jason’s Medium article series on Shaping Designers and Design Teams --- Connect with Jason Website | LinkedIn | Linktr.ee Connect with UX Cake! uxcake.co | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube Connect with Leigh Strategic UX Leader Coaching and Workshops Follow on LinkedIn Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, we chat with Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial and author of "Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers." She introduces the concept of systems thinking, which is a way to consider the broader implications of design decisions. By examining the entire problem and understanding the interconnections between various components, designers can anticipate and address potential issues and create more holistic and impactful solutions. 🎤About Our Guest: Sheryl Cababa is the Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial, and the Author of “Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers”, which was just published by Rosenfeld Media. Sheryl is a seasoned design & strategy leader who’s worked with consultancies including Frog and Adaptive Path. 📚Interested in purchasing Sheryl’s new book? Rosenfeld Media is offering a 15% discount to UX Cake listeners. Just use the promo code: cababa-cake at when purchasing directly from Rosenfeld Media’s website (expires July 1st, 2023). --- Connect with Sheryl Twitter | LinkedIn Connect with UX Cake! uxcake.co | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube Connect with Leigh Strategic UX Leader Coaching and Workshops Follow on LinkedIn Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is about quiet leadership - how you can be an authentic leader even if you don’t have the loudest voice in the room. We’re joined by Tim Yeo, a design leader and speaker who helps introverts have an impact and influence without having to pretend to be extroverts. Tim is the brain behind The Quiet Achiever, where he coaches introverts to use their strengths to their advantage. Tim shares his experience working in environments where strong opinions and loud voices are the norm, and how he was pressured to speak up more. Tim identifies as an introvert and shares his journey in discovering more about being one. We also discuss the challenges that introverts face in the design industry, where we have to make our work visible, as well as in leadership, where there can be a perception that the ideal leader is an extrovert, and how to overcome those challenges. Connect with Tim Twitter | LinkedIn Learn more about Tim’s coaching and courses at www.thequietachievr.com Connect with UX Cake! uxcake.co | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube Connect with Leigh Strategic UX Leader Coaching and Workshops Follow on LinkedIn Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you a UX practitioner who's frustrated with feeling like you lack agency in your work? Or maybe you're someone who wants to take their UX game to the next level by incorporating strategic outcomes into your tactical deliverables? You’re not alone! Listen (or watch) on… This week I’m joined by my long-time friend, colleague, and UX Strategy expert Laura Barboza for the beginning of our 4th season of UX Cake! Laura and I explore the differences between strategic and tactical work in UX research and design. We start by discussing why it's so important to incorporate strategic objectives into your tactical deliverables. After all, without a bigger picture in mind, your work may lack direction and purpose. We give you practical tips for adding strategic outcomes to your tactical UX deliverables in both research and design. We discuss the challenges that designers and researchers may face and possible pushback from stakeholders who are more focused on short-term goals, and how to speak to the value of your efforts and tie it back to user and business objectives. By being clear on these objectives from the start, you can ensure that everything ties back to the larger strategic goals. At the heart of this episode is the message that everyone, regardless of level, can and should think more strategically in their work. By understanding the bigger picture and incorporating strategic outcomes into your tactical deliverables, you can become a more effective UX practitioner and build products that truly meet the needs of your users. Connect with UX Cake uxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube Connect with Leigh Strategic UX Leader Coaching and Workshops Follow on LinkedIn Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

With so many people facing changes in their work and careers right now, navigating the complex and turbulent waters of layoffs, org changes, and economic adjustments can be incredibly challenging. My guest today is renowned design leader and author John Maeda - who is no stranger to career shifts and changes. In this inspiring episode, John shares his message of focusing on recovery instead of failure, the importance of intentional reinvention, and the benefits of renewal and rebuilding. This episode is a replay from 2019, and it's just as relevant today as it was then. Since our conversation in 2019, John has gone on to take on different roles and is now the VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. We mentioned his keynote at Interaction 19, which has since been recorded and is available online - we've included the link to that and other inspiring references we mention in the show description and on our website at uxcake.co. This episode covers a lot of ground - John talked about why we should focus on recover fast vs. fail fast, why inclusive design is so important, and why we should be using Anpanman to train our AI platforms. Links from this episode John’s Keynote on Recovering & Reinvention at Interaction19 John Gardner’s Essay “Self Renewal” Get the Collected Works of classic poet Kahlil Gibran Joy and Sorrow - poem excerpt from “The Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran Books by John Maeda The Laws of Simplicity How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us Redesigning Leadership Links for John Maeda YouTube LinkedIn Twitter More resources from John available on his site https://maedastudio.com Connect with UX Cake uxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Do you want to unlock your creative potential and foster innovation? We know that collaboration and communication are vital to producing outstanding work, but what you might not know is that the foundation of that is healthy conflict. Without it, we can't achieve our creative best. On this episode, we welcome Billie Mandel, a seasoned expert in design, coaching, and education with a focus on critique, conflict, and creativity. We'll delve into the importance of expressing divergent ideas, how to ask difficult questions, and creating a safe space for diverse thoughts, mistakes, and asking "what am I missing." Additionally, we'll highlight the critical role of feedback in this journey and offer tips on how to solicit, offer, and receive feedback with care and effectiveness. So tune in as we uncover the impact of productive conflict in the quest for creativity and innovation. Books mentioned in this episode Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live by Brené Brown Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott Connect with Billie Mandel CEO and Chief Instigator, Mandel Creative Speaking engagements LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Connect with UX Cake uxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube Connect with Leigh Strategic UX Leader Coaching and Workshops Follow on LinkedIn Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you're in UX, you've likely heard the question, "How can we do more with less?" especially during any economic squeeze. Many companies are cutting back on resources and downsizing teams, while still expecting the same results. Some common approaches are to argue the value of UX, or simply say "no" to requests due to lack of resources. But there’s another way, one that can increase the value of your work and foster cross-team relationships. You can look for ways to be more strategic in the work that you do. In UX, being more strategic means producing bigger outcomes instead of bigger output. It requires understanding the big picture, aligning with stakeholders, and prioritizing work based on impact. Join me as I describe a framework to help you approach your work more strategically, in a way that achieves more for the business and users’ goals without working longer hours. Links from this episode User data research portal Baymard Institute Develop strategic UX leadership skills StrategicUXLeader.com Connect with UX Cake! uxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As human beings, it is embedded in us to seek purpose in everything we do. We want to do meaningful work that affects other people or pursue the passion within us. But many people wonder, is it too much to ask for an opportunity to work on something valuable? In today's episode, we are joined by Tutti Taygerly, a Leadership Coach, speaker, and author of the book “Make Space To Lead: Break patterns to find flow and focus on what matters” Tutti's primary focus is to help high-achievers make space for sustainable success, so we dive deep into conversations about making space for the things you want to do and achieve. We delve into how we can create more fulfilling work and build a career that is sustainable, by making space for what matters most to us, and how you can navigate through your current environment to maximize your creativity. Join us in this jam-packed episode filled with actionable tips on how to deal with the "Achievement Monster" and what steps you can take to create your space and utilize it the best way possible. Tutti coaches cofounders and tech leaders to embrace their unique leadership style to achieve professional impact and a sustainable company culture. She focuses on working with women, people of color, and immigrants. Previously she was a design leader at design firms, startups, and large companies including Disney and Facebook. Tutti writes for Harvard Business Review, Business Insider, and Fast Company and her book Make Space to Lead shows high achievers how to reframe our relationship to work. Connect with Tutti https://www.tuttitaygerly.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tuttitaygerly https://www.instagram.com/tutti/ Connect with UX Cake Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join host Leigh Allen-Arredondo for this UX Cake Pop - short and sweet when you just want a bite of UX Cake! In this UX Cake Pop, I’m sharing my experience with the true meaning of leadership, which is not about having a specific job title or position of authority, but about inspiring and guiding others towards a shared goal. Anyone can be a leader at any point in their life, regardless of their title or level of experience. There are different ways of being a leader without a traditional leadership title or authority, starting with being a leader in your own life. UX pros in particular have an opportunity to create positive change through collaboration and effective communication. Listen in and consider what kind of leader you are, and what kind of leader you want to be! For more leadership resources, workshops, programs, and coaching, visit StrategicUXLeader.com Connect with UX Cake! uxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I’m talking with Ryan Rumsey about feeling like an outsider in design, the very human need to belong, and some of the affects that feeling like an outsider can create in our lives and in our careers. Find out how we’ve overcome feeling like outsiders, and what we’ve done to find community. My guest Ryan Rumsey is author of Business Thinking for Designers and CEO of Second Wave Dive and the Chief Design Officers school. Before founding Second Wave Dive, Ryan worked for over 20 years as a designer and executive at Apple, Electronic Arts, USAA, Nestlé, and Comcast. Ryan has a plethora of experience and titles in design, and yet, as we discuss, those things aren’t what we need to combat the feeling of being an outsider, or to create a feeling of belonging. —- Grab your FREE PDF download of Ryan’s book: Business Thinking for Designers by Ryan Rumsey https://www.secondwavedive.com/book Learn more about Ryan Rumsey's Chief Design Officer School: https://thecdo.school/ Other resources: Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World https://amzn.to/3iwyU5q Originals: How Nonconformists Rule The World https://amzn.to/3VwwyT2 Follow along Leigh’s upcoming workshops & programs: www.strategicuxleader.com www.uxcake.co Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A business can only grow as much as its people. That is why it is important to build teams with the knowledge that each of them is a key member who will eventually become a senior as you grow. In this episode, Leigh Allen-Arredondo interviews Anjali Deswandikar, the Design Director at Terralogic, Inc. and Design Team Lead at Lollypop Design, about building design teams that scale. Anjali talks about the process it took to build her teams across the globe, seeing as they grew from a handful to over 250. She takes us through the structures in place as well as how she ensures that teams are both values-driven and function with high performance. As design leaders, you don't have to bear all the weight alone. You have your team with you who can help, so build them well through this conversation. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Accessibility needs to be the gold standard for everything. If you have the power to make things more accessible and inclusive, strive for that. You are actually leaving money on the table if you don't design with accessibility in mind. There are billions of persons with disabilities, and companies need to consult them. If you're a small company, then it's okay to start small. Start with what you can control and change first. Join Leigh Allen-Arredondo as she talks to product designer Chimmy Kalu about the importance of designing with accessibility. Chimmy is the Chief Design Officer of Lovable Studio. She also does workshops and talks about product design. Learn Chimmy's process when designing something that's accessible. Discover how you can spread accessibility. If everyone does a little bit, then everyone collectively becomes more accessible. Related: Listen to UX Cake Episode #25 with Liz Jackson, "Changing the Design Narrative" LINKS Chimmy's Website Follow Chimmy on Twitter Follow Chimmy on LinkedIn Chimmy's Design Courses & Workshops: Sketch Essentials How to design anything Advanced Figma ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Connect with UX Cake! UX Cake Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Great digital products don't just happen. They're the result of a strong designer-developer relationship. That is because the two groups bring different but complementary skill sets. By understanding and respecting each other's strengths, the designer and developer can work together to create user-friendly and technically sound products. In this episode, Abhishek Nayak talks about how their company, Appsmith, addresses some of the common issues in the designer-developer relationship and how they have set up both sides for success. Abhishek is the CEO and Co-founder of Appsmith, an open-source low-code tool that helps developers build dashboards and admin panels very quickly. Abhishek also shared with us Appsmith's design system in a bonus video, and showed us how the designers and developers collaborate on files, and get feedback on work-in-progress from customer in real time: View video on our Youtube channel Links AppsmithUX CakeAbhishek Nayakhttps://www.Linkedin.com/in/AbhishekNayak/https://GitHub.com/AppsmithOrg/Appsmith If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Connect with UX Cake! UX Cake Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In | Email - we love feedback! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Level up with UX Strategy In this episode of UX Cake Podcast, we discuss how you can create a UX strategy for better outcomes for your users, and the products or services you help create. There are many different perceptions about what UX Strategy actually is. My guest Jaime Levy - who wrote the book "UX Strategy" - defines as the intersection between business strategy and UX design, with a key component being early and continuous validation of the value proposition with customers. It’s a high-level plan of how your product or feature is going to achieve the business goals. Jaime Levy is a UX/product strategist, author, and public speaker based in Los Angeles and Berlin. Her passion is to help business leaders and internal teams transform their product visions into innovative digital solutions that customers want. Jaime also offers public/private workshops, and online masterclasses, and speaks at design and innovation conferences worldwide. Her best-selling O’Reilly Media book is called UX Strategy: Product Strategy Techniques for Devising Innovative Digital Solutions. The book presents a solid framework for the practice, which lies at the intersection of UX design and business strategy. Resources Jamie Levy Website Linked In Medium Twitter UX Strategy: How to Devise Innovative Digital Products that People Want ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Connect with UX Cake! leigharredondo.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scaling user research, means doing more, doing more research, and doing more with user research, through democratization, or enablement. Democratization in UX, is a topic of controversy, yet this episode is a conversation and not My an argument debate. I think partially because the term democratization and the concept of democratization really has some baggage. Instead of having to spend your time evangelizing the importance of research, which takes up a lot of a lot of time, you are able to spend your time enabling research through systems, infrastructure and tooling. After a long and winding career journey (from eLearning designer, to product manager, to UXer), Roberta now leads the User Research team at User Interviews, where she conducts strategic research projects and creates scalable systems and resources for democratization. She’s researched and designed experiences for communities of learners, educators, and enterprise clients at companies like Year Up, edX, Pluralsight, The Predictive Index, and more. At her core, she’s an infectiously curious and adaptive leader who loves bringing teammates closer to customer insights. She values learning and community and derives the most joy from mentoring, coaching, and enabling others. In her free time, she’s a Career & Wellness Coach at Learn Mindfully and enjoys gardening, storytelling, and cooking. She’s based in Boston, MA with her partner and two cats. Links Article - Scaling Research / Democratization 2.0 User Interviews intro promo - get 3 free participants Roberta Dombrowski Website Linked In ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Connect with UX Cake! UX Cake Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of the UX Cake podcast, we’re bringing you lots of great information about UX writing as a specialty within UX. In this special Ask Me Anything format we cover some of the most useful soft skills for a career in UX writing, hard skills that are transferable from other industries, ideas on how to upskill your UX writing, finding a mentor, and career trajectories for UX writers. My guest is Laura Costantino (they/them), a senior UX writer at Google. For the past 10 years, Laura has worked at the intersection of editorial marketing and strategy. They fully transitioned into UX content about three years ago and now, as someone who went through a career change, Laura is dedicated to helping other people of all backgrounds transition into UX while also being committed to developing content design and strategy as pivotal parts of the UX discipline. Resources Strategic Writing for UX, Torrey Podmajersky Content Strategy for the Web, Kristina Halvorson Content Strategy Toolkit, Meghan Casey Working in Content Content + UX slack Mentoring platforms ADP List UX Coffee Hours Design Buddies Hexagon Mentorship program Connect with Laura Costantino Linkedin Website Twitter ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Connect with UX Cake! leigharredondo.comFacebookTwitterInstagramLinked InSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode is all about creating meaning from data, and making it easy for your audience to understand by making it visual. We can apply the same principles we use to design dashboards to presentations - whether you’re communicating design concepts (and the data-driven decisions behind your design) or user research findings. I had such a great time talking with my guest Thomas Watkins about how to show meaning using data, I know the term ‘data visualization’ sounds a little overwhelming to some people in UX, if you aren’t designing dashboards. But it doesn’t need to be. I think we did a pretty good job of making data visualization accessible for any level of data interest in the episode. Everyone in UX should be using data - whether you’re in design or research or PM or developer or marketing - and using data in a visual way to communicate important information to the person reading it. If you create presentations, for your design or for your research, if you have any opportunity to use data to explain your design or research recommendations… this episode has great information for you. Whether you are data-curious or data-shy or you lean in the data geek direction like me. I learned some great guidelines about making data visual in more effective ways, and I’ll bet you will too, even if your eyes glaze over at terms like “magnitude comparison” or “scatter plot.” I love how Thomas talks about explaining the context of the numbers, and not just ‘decorating’ numbers with meaningless donut graphs, one of my pet peeves! Thomas Watkins is the founder of 3 Leaf consulting, a design collective that combines psychology and design principles to create usable products and services. Thomas is a thought leader, speaker and industry practitioner in Houston TX. The scope of his work has included interface design for mobile, SaaS system architecture, usability research, and data visualization. LINKS https://www.3leaf.consulting/ https://www.instagram.com/3leafmethod https://www.linkedin.com/in/watkinsthomas/ Show Link - Graph Selection Matrix https://www.perceptualedge.com/articles/misc/Graph_Selection_Matrix.pdf If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twitteron Linked Insubscribe to the newsletter Listen Apple | Spotify | Google | Website Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Increasing our influence also increases the impact our work can have. This is especially important in user experience design and research… when not everyone we work with may have the same user obsession as we do, so it sometimes takes extra effort to see the impact we want. Often the UX folks are not the ultimate authority in the room, or on a project. And then add to that the fact that others’ bias can also undermine your authority - biasis about gender, race, age, disability… I had a chance to talk about all of this with 3 other UX experts, Hana Nagel, Real Canty, and Ashby Hayes. We covered a lot of ground. And, because we recorded in front of a live audience, you’ll also get a chance to hear the very powerful Q & A session which is the last half of this longer-than usual episode. This episode was originally published in 2019, and it remains one of UX Cake’s top-downloaded episodes, episode 31. There is also an unedited video of the panel on our UX Cake YouTube channel. Hana Nagel is UX Manager @ Deloitte Digital, Real Canty is Sr User researcher @ Google, Ashby Hayes is SVP of product & design at Potato, a digital product agency. ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Listen Apple | Spotify | Google | Website Connect with UX Cake! leigharredondo.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

No doubt you're practicing challenging assumptions in your user-centered work already -- identifying what you think you know (or assume) about users' beliefs and actions, and finding out if those assumptions are true, or what else is true. What if you take that same approach towards the people you work with, and in your own career? The result can be surprising, and even transformational. ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Listen Apple | Spotify | Google | Website Connect with UX Cake! leigharredondo.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Have you found interest in User Research, but are unsure if a career change is possible? Today I'm talking to Eniola Abioye, a Sr. User Researcher at Meta, specifically about transitioning into user-focused or design research from research-related backgrounds in other disciplines. Eniola herself came from biotechnology before moving into the design research space. Eniola has a passion for helping others figure out how to utilize their existing experience, and to learn through doing, getting relevant experience in the real world to create a fulfilling career in UX without necessarily going back to school. Eniola Abioye currently conducts impactful user research with cross-functional teams at Meta. She began her people research career at Branding Science, an agency in the biotechnology space, and later moved on to advance Design Thinking at Kaiser Permanente. She then designed a research strategy and led research across a digital platform at Silicon Valley Bank. Outside of her full-time position, Eniola provides career coaching to other UX Researchers and leads UX projects with social justice organizations in her community. She’s excited to share how UX Researchers are uniquely positioned to drive inclusive and accessible innovation in tech. Connect with Eniola Abioye Linkedin Website Instagram ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twittersubscribe to the newsletter Listen Apple | Spotify | Google | Website Connect with UX Cake! leigharredondo.com | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/uxcake. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.