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

TS Balaji: Thinking and acting like a business leader
Design leaders spend a lot of energy trying to get a seat at the table. It’s an ongoing process—and it’s tough to keep design involved over time. What questions should be asked along the way, and what business language can design leaders use? In...
Apr 30, 2018 · 48 min
Diana Mounter: Building efficient design systems at Github
Design systems give product designers and developers reusable, interchangeable components to make the design process efficient and repeatable. They’re a critical part of scaling—so why build everything from scratch when you can plug in pre-built...
Apr 16, 2018 · 39 min
Meredith Black: building DesignOps dream teams
A lot of companies are investing more in design. As they do, the organization scales. As it scales, it has to operationalize, become more efficient, and plug into the rest of the company—but what makes all that possible? In this episode,...
Apr 1, 2018 · 39 min
Lynsey Thornton: Inside Shopify’s growth, re-organization, and design system
Over the last 10 years, Shopify has grown from a scrappy 5-person startup to a team of more than 3,000 across five locations. Scaling a company that fast takes a lot of talented people—and Lynsey Thornton is one of them. As Shopify’s VP of UX and...
Mar 18, 2018 · 37 min
Mia Blume: Are you ready to shift from team member to team leader?
“Will I lose my creativity? Will I be stuck in meetings all day?” Those are common concerns for any individual contributor transitioning to a managerial role—even experienced product leaders like Mia Blume. Luckily, Mia’s impressive career...
Oct 29, 2017 · 42 min
Christian Madsbjerg: How ethnography leads to a deeper understanding of users
In today’s tech-driven economy, it seems like it can be hard to justify the value of a traditional liberal arts education. But given the speed at which AI-driven advancements are taking over traditional jobs—even technical ones—perhaps a better...
Oct 15, 2017 · 52 min
Jake Knapp: Lessons from running 150+ design sprints at Google Ventures
If we asked you to name a recent book that’s really changed how product teams address sticky challenges, there’s a good chance Jake Knapp’s Sprint would be at the top of your list. Since publishing and popularizing the process, design sprints...
Oct 1, 2017 · 57 min
Laura Martini: So your boss doesn't believe in design research
If there’s anyone we’ve interviewed on the DesignBetter.Co Podcast so far that really embodies the product-driven concept, it’s Laura Martini. Not only does she have a background in both design and engineering, but she also has a keen product...
Sep 17, 2017 · 40 min
Michael Leon: How skateboarding prepared him for Nike, Patagonia, and Sonos
How do you go from being a self-professed skate punk, to a design director at Nike, creative director at Patagonia, and land as the global creative director for Sonos? As a creative force, Michael Leon has worked with some of the most product driven...
Sep 3, 2017 · 40 min
Alex Schleifer: Airbnb's hasty Super Bowl decision guided by a clear mission
Airbnb’s mission is both simple and powerful: to help create a world where you can belong anywhere. Alex Schleifer, Airbnb’s head of design, fully embraces this mission. To create the products that make the Airbnb experience so welcoming and...
Aug 20, 2017 · 49 min
Albert Lee: Learning UX from Frank Gehry, IDEO, and Chez Panisse
Albert Lee has had an amazing arc to his career. From his beginnings as a wine-steward at Chez Panisse, to working at Frank Gehry’s architecture studio, and on to the role of Associate Partner at IDEO and now Design Partner at NEA, the nation’s...
Jul 21, 2017 · 44 min
Dan Winger: The evolution of LEGO from simple bricks to interactive storytelling
If you’re anything like us, playing with LEGOs was a foundational part of your childhood, and a big part of the reason you got interested in design. And given the arc of their history, it is clear that LEGO is a product-driven company: their...
Jul 21, 2017 · 34 min
David Kelley: The birth of design thinking and what he's most proud of
David Kelley doesn’t like to claim to have come up with the term design thinking, even though a most people would say he did. But regardless of who coined it, as founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school he has been one of the most influential...
Jul 20, 2017 · 49 min
Irene Au: How Larry Page's view on aesthetics changed Google
Google could now be considered a product driven company, but it wasn’t always that way. For many years Google’s engineering-led culture cherished efficiency over user experience. Irene Au arrived at a pivotal moment in the company’s history, and...
Jul 20, 2017 · 33 min

Design Better

TS Balaji: Thinking and acting like a business leader

Diana Mounter: Building efficient design systems at Github

Meredith Black: building DesignOps dream teams

Lynsey Thornton: Inside Shopify’s growth, re-organization, and design system

Mia Blume: Are you ready to shift from team member to team leader?

Christian Madsbjerg: How ethnography leads to a deeper understanding of users

Jake Knapp: Lessons from running 150+ design sprints at Google Ventures

Laura Martini: So your boss doesn't believe in design research

Michael Leon: How skateboarding prepared him for Nike, Patagonia, and Sonos

Alex Schleifer: Airbnb's hasty Super Bowl decision guided by a clear mission

Albert Lee: Learning UX from Frank Gehry, IDEO, and Chez Panisse

Dan Winger: The evolution of LEGO from simple bricks to interactive storytelling

David Kelley: The birth of design thinking and what he's most proud of

Irene Au: How Larry Page's view on aesthetics changed Google