Design Better

The Curiosity Department

Design Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with guests across many creative fields, helping you hone your craft, unlock your creativity, and learn the art of collaboration.

Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.”

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254 episodes
Updated July 22

Episodes254

Newest first

Jun 2, 2020 · 49 min
Marty Cagan: Understanding product management and Agile
Are you on a product team or a feature team? After you listen to our interview with Marty Cagan, legendary product management guru, author, and partner at Silicon Valley Product Group, you’ll know just where you stand, and how to become a product...
May 19, 2020 · 51 min
Naveen Gavini: Uniting design and engineering at Pinterest
We’ve spoken to a lot of design leaders over the course of the Design Better Podcast, but this episode is the first chance we’ve had to speak with someone who has made the move from being an engineering leader to a design leader. Naveen Gavini,...
May 12, 2020 · 39 min
Stephen Deasy: How designers and engineers can work together better
“Designers are about possibilities. Engineers are about probabilities.” This quote, from Stephen Deasy, Head of Cloud Engineering at Atlassian, is just one example of how concisely he can describe the relationship between designers and engineers....
May 5, 2020 · 40 min
Joshua Seiden: Agile, Lean UX, and measuring your work
Show notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/joshua-seiden Love it or hate it, the agile approach to software development seems to be here to stay. Often, it’s hard to get good design practice to fit within an Agile framework, so our next guest, Joshua Seiden—co-author of Lean UX and Outcomes Over Output—may be particularly helpful to those of you who are struggling. We chat with Joshua about how to fit user research into a sprint, and how he advocates for setting outcomes to guide the work of your team. We also talk about how design teams should think about measuring their work. You’ll hear: Why it’s important to set goals as outcomes, and not focus on output. How design leaders are uniquely well-equipped to lead the conversation about measuring impact, because of their close relationship with the customer. What mistakes designers make when working in an agile environment, and why going faster isn’t always better. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Apr 28, 2020 · 51 min
Steve Rader: NASA's approach to problem-solving and leading people
There’s a lot of talk in the tech world about moonshots, and what it takes to build a team capable of achieving them. We thought it might be helpful to speak with someone at an organization that has achieved actual moonshots, and so we were...
Apr 21, 2020 · 32 min
Ryan Rumsey: Designers need to understand the language of business
We’ve just published a new book on called by Ryan Rumsey, formerly of Apple, USAA, EA, and Nestlé. It’s a challenging time out there, and we know many of you are facing uncertainty in your work, whether you’re in an industry that’s been...
Apr 7, 2020 · 29 min
Remote Work for Design Teams: Lessons in leadership, collaboration, and culture
We’ve just published a new book on DesignBetter.com called , to help you make a graceful transition from the office to a remote work environment. In this bonus episode, we speak with the authors of the book (all from InVision): Abby Sinnott,...
Mar 31, 2020 · 52 min
Richard Banfield and Alison Rand: Remote design sprints and design reviews
In this bonus episode, we’re once more focused on remote teams, and more specifically on best practices for facilitating remote design sprints, building trust between teams in a remote environment, and running effective critiques and design reviews...
Mar 23, 2020 · 29 min
Making remote teams work
Talking remote collaboration with InVision's Stephen Gates and Jennifer Aldrich
Mar 17, 2020 · 52 min
Jehad Affoneh: VMWare’s head of design on being a business leader, not a design leader
In this episode, we speak with VMWare’s Head of Design Jehad Affoneh about how he measures the business impact of design, and aligns design goals with engineering goals. We learn why he thinks it’s important to lead with context, and how he goes...
Mar 9, 2020 · 1 hr 2 min
Joanna Peña-Bickley: Amazon Alexa's design leader on collaboration and diverse teams
Joanna Peña-Bickley has had an amazing arc to her design leadership career: from Chief Creative Officer at Matter Worldwide and IBM, to her current role as Head of Research and Design for Alexa Devices at Amazon, Joanna has always sought to design...
Mar 2, 2020 · 38 min
Natalya Shelburne: How designers and developers work together at The New York Times
Natalya Shelburne, Tech Lead for Design Engineering at The New York Times, sits at a fascinating crossroad of design and development. She leads a team of front-end developers and brings her own experience as a designer and art director to her current...
Feb 24, 2020 · 49 min
Kristin Wisnewski: More women in tech leadership roles
In the tech world, it's rare these days to spend more than a few years at one company. So we were curious to learn more about Kristin Wisnewski after hearing she’d been at IBM for 18 years. In her words, she “basically grew up at IBM,” and made...
Feb 17, 2020 · 1 hr 10 min
Nancy Douyon: Ethical and inclusive design
Nancy Douyon has a remarkable story that lead her into a career in technology. From her childhood in Haiti, to moving to Boston and taking part in an MIT program as a kid, to running away from home and then teaching as a teenager, and on to design...
Feb 12, 2020 · 3 min
Season 4 Preview Episode
Next week we'll be launching our fourth season of the Design Better Podcast by InVision. Listen now for a special preview of the new season and get ready for new episodes coming to you weekly starting February 18th. In this new season we’re taking a...
Feb 4, 2020 · 47 min
Rewind: David Kelley, Founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, on Creative Confidence and Aligning Teams
To celebrate 1 million listens to the Design Better Podcast, we're rewinding to our episode with David Kelley, Founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, in honor of David just receiving the Edison Award for Innovation. And we're sending a special...
Dec 19, 2019 · 53 min
Stephen Gates: Hiring and retaining the best design talent
InVision is starting a new series of quarterly reports on design trends. The first in the series, a , was created to help you learn proactive new ways to recruit, develop, and retain creative talent. In this bonus episode, we chat...
Nov 8, 2019 · 28 min
Lessons from Season 3
The third season of the Design Better Podcast recently wrapped up, where we explored the connected workflow: how designers can work more effectively and efficiently with their engineering and product counterparts to create incredible customer...
Sep 27, 2019 · 39 min
Jina Anne: Getting clarity on the components and maintenance of design systems
If you’re engaged in any sort of community surrounding Design Systems, whether it’s the Design Systems Slack, or the Clarity Conference, then you have likely benefited from Jina Anne’s work. A self-styled Design Systems Advocate, Jina has been...
Sep 9, 2019 · 42 min
Diego Rodriguez: How Intuit built design culture into the business
Diego Rodriguez has had a remarkable career at the intersection of design, business, and education. He has served as Global Managing Director of design firm IDEO, founding faculty member of Stanford’s d.school, and is currently Executive Vice...

Design Better

Marty Cagan: Understanding product management and Agile

Naveen Gavini: Uniting design and engineering at Pinterest

Stephen Deasy: How designers and engineers can work together better

Joshua Seiden: Agile, Lean UX, and measuring your work

Steve Rader: NASA's approach to problem-solving and leading people

Ryan Rumsey: Designers need to understand the language of business

Remote Work for Design Teams: Lessons in leadership, collaboration, and culture

Richard Banfield and Alison Rand: Remote design sprints and design reviews

Making remote teams work

Jehad Affoneh: VMWare’s head of design on being a business leader, not a design leader

Joanna Peña-Bickley: Amazon Alexa's design leader on collaboration and diverse teams

Natalya Shelburne: How designers and developers work together at The New York Times

Kristin Wisnewski: More women in tech leadership roles

Nancy Douyon: Ethical and inclusive design

Season 4 Preview Episode

Rewind: David Kelley, Founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school, on Creative Confidence and Aligning Teams

Stephen Gates: Hiring and retaining the best design talent

Lessons from Season 3

Jina Anne: Getting clarity on the components and maintenance of design systems

Diego Rodriguez: How Intuit built design culture into the business