Leadership & Strategy + Fighter Pilots + Design Education with Jason "TOGA" Trew — DT101 E145
Design Thinking 101
When I first connected with Jason Trew (callsign: TOGA), I knew this conversation would challenge some assumptions about where design thinking belongs. Jason is an Air Force fighter pilot and strategy leader turned professor. What emerged from our conversation wasn't just another story about design thinking adoption, but a deeper exploration of what he sees happening when we distinguish between capital-D Design Thinking and lowercase-d design thinking, and why that distinction matters for everyone trying to create meaningful change. Jason's journey from F-15 pilot to design educator reveals...
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Operational Excellence in Design + Leadership + Design Ops with Jon Fukuda — DT101 E144
Design Thinking 101
Jon said that when he first discovered the design operations community at the 2019 Design Ops Summit in Brooklyn, it felt like coming home. Here was this entire tribe of people who cared about the same things he’d been passionate about for years—creating systems that help designers do their best work. In this episode, I'm talking with Jon Fukuda, co-founder of Limina.co, about how design operations has evolved from an unnamed set of practices into a vital discipline that drives organizational excellence. As organizations continue to face economic pressures, the conversation around design...
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Building Sustainable Design Research Systems with Sam Zucker — DT101 E143
Design Thinking 101
The tension between doing good research and delivering on tight timelines is something I've experienced throughout my career in design and innovation. This conversation with Sam Zucker unpacks powerful approaches to making research more sustainable and equitable while building systems that support continuous learning and engagement. What particularly struck me was Sam's practical framework for embedding research into organizational workflows. Her approach transforms research from a periodic, resource-intensive effort into an ongoing capability that shapes decision-making and product...
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Architecture + Decision Design + Learning Spaces + Strategy with Adam Griff — DT101 E142
Design Thinking 101
In this episode, I explore how architectural thinking enhances strategic decision-making with Adam Griff. Our conversation reveals how his architectural background shapes his approach to helping higher education institutions navigate complex decisions and create flexible space solutions. We dig into the challenges of designing spaces that can adapt to unknown futures and discuss how universities can better integrate with their communities. I particularly love how Adam frames flexibility in building design as creating platforms for future adaptations rather than just multi-purpose spaces....
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Joy, Transformation, and Design as Creative Liberation with Sahibzada Mayed — DT101 E141
Design Thinking 101
Sahibzada Mayed is a creative alchemist who uses design and storytelling to cultivate joy and imagination as tools of liberation. Mayed serves as the Co-Lead for Strategy and Research at Pause and Effect, a liberation-focused imagination and design collective based on Coast Salish territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Beyond that, Mayed leads a small-scale startup, Naranji, that focuses on gender justice and decolonization in fashion. Today, we talk about decolonizing design and creative liberation. Listen to learn about: >> The impact of colonialism and power...
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Healthcare Design: Evidence-based, Business Fluent, and Change Prepared with Matt Van Der Tuyn — DT101 E140
Design Thinking 101
Matthew Van Der Tuyn is a designer and healthcare innovation strategist. Matt is the Senior Director of Design and Strategy at the Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation at Penn Medicine. The mission at the Center is to serve as a catalyst and accelerator for initiatives that dramatically improve health outcomes, patient and provider experiences, and decrease the cost of care. Matt has had the unique opportunity to help build the Center’s design, discipline, and elevate design thinking as a key tool in Penn Medicine's organizational toolbox. Matt's design process balances...
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Behavioral Science in Human-centered Design with Christina Hanschke — DT101 E139
Design Thinking 101
Christina Hanschke's career journey has spanned many diverse roles. She's been a music therapist, nanny, and UX researcher, and she’s currently a Design Lead at Final Mile, where she applies a multidisciplinary approach to address pressing societal changes, drawing from behavioral science, human-centered design, and systems thinking. As an adjunct faculty at DePaul University, Christina extends her passion for leveraging behavioral science in human-centered design to the next generation of innovators fostering a diverse culture of curiosity and continual learning. Christina and I talk about...
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Organizational Design + Strategy + Change with Stephanie Gioia — DT101 E138
Design Thinking 101
Stephanie Gioia is a founder at Future Work Design with a focus on strategic planning and organizational innovation. She also serves as the director of the Either/Org project and teaches human-centered design for organizational innovation at the University of Oregon's Executive MBA program. She’s taught at Stanford’s d.school, University of Michigan, and Pacific Northwest College of Art. She is the founder of deckaholic.com, the world's largest library of card decks for problem solving and creativity. We talk about organizational design and strategy, and helping organizations navigate...
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Designing Your Career + UX for Small Business with Sarah Doody — DT101 E137
Design Thinking 101
Sarah Doody is a user research experience designer and researcher. She's also the founder of Career Strategy Lab, a UX career coaching program. In 2011, she co-created the curriculum and taught for General Assembly's first 11-week UX intensive program in New York City. She has extensive experience doing experience design, product strategy, and user research for companies including Fatherly, Sling, Citi Bike, We Work, Domino Magazine, Tictail, the Muse, Dow Jones and more. She speaks at conferences and teaches workshops worldwide. Today, we talk about designing your career and user experience...
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Design Ethics with George Aye — DT101 E136
Design Thinking 101
This is the inaugural DT101 Live!, with guest George Aye. George co-founded Greater Good Studio with the belief that design can help advance equity. Previously, he spent seven years at global innovation firm IDEO before being hired as the first human-centered designer at the Chicago Transit Authority. He speaks frequently across the US and internationally. George holds the position of Adjunct Full Professor at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Today, we are talking live about ethics in design in the design industry. Listen to learn about: >> What is ethical design?...
info_outlineNick Fink is a design and research leader with over two decades of experience in the industry. Nick currently consults and advises businesses on design and research in Seattle through his company, Craft & Rigor.
Listen to learn about:
>> Core disciplines of UX design
>> What is interaction design?
>> What does it mean to be a UX designer today?
>> The challenges UX and design face in today’s business environment
Our Guest
Nick Finck is a design and research leader with over two decades of experience in the industry. He strives to improve people’s lives through crafting well-designed experiences that matter. Nick currently consults and advises businesses on design and research through Craft & Rigor in Seattle. Before this, he was in design and research leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, Facebook, Ubermind, Deloitte Digital, projekt202, and his own agency Blue Flavor.
Nick's contributions to the UX community go far and wide. He is an experienced public speaker and has given over 102 talks in 10 countries. He has helped countless industry professionals and career transitioners as a design coach and mentor. Earlier in his career, he was the publisher of Digital Web Magazine, an online magazine for web professionals
Show Highlights
[02:44] Nick takes us in the wayback machine, back to dialup days and his start in web development.
[03:53] Moving from web development into web design, and following that thread into interaction design and UX.
[05:53] Nick talks about creating his model highlighting the core disciplines of UX.
[07:27] Starting off with user research and understanding your users.
[07:53] Communicating through content.
[08:12] Adding structure and organization.
[08:41] Designing user interactions based on user behavior.
[09:38] Evaluating the work.
[11:29] Changes Nick would make to his model today.
[13:41] What’s happening in UX design today.
[15:39] What does it mean to be a UX designer today?
[16:02] People are often confused as to what UX design actually is.
[16:50] How the confusion has fractured the UX community.
[20:45] UX and design teams.
[21:12] The concept of design maturity.
[23:04] There is a lack of resources and transitional roles for a designer’s career path into management.
[24:56] Nick’s “Big Wheel” analogy for design in organizations.
[26:00] You probably don’t have enough designers.
[27:02] There is more to UX than UI design.
[27:46] The disappointment of companies not giving UX design the time and space it needs to really shine.
[28:34] You cannot do effective UX design without user research.
[30:41] Form ever follows function.
[31:55] UX is about helping users solve problems.
[32:40] Dawan talks about how Indi Young approaches user research.
[33:07] Understanding someone’s purpose as the starting point for design.
[34:10] Nick shares an example from his work on the importance of understanding someone’s story and journey.
[38:23] A Miro Moment.
[40:51] Things Nick wishes companies knew about UX.
[41:08] UX is not just about the product.
[42:54] Rethinking how your company operates and taking the time to examine legacy tech and processes.
[44:45] Bill Buxton’s talk about technology and innovation in technology.
[47:06] Nick’s advice for company executives when it comes to design.
[48:49] Where to learn more about Nick and his work.
[49:31] What Nick does in his business advisory consulting work.
[52:34] Sharing what a “yes” would look like to plant the seed for future change.
Links
Nick on Twitter
Nick on LinkedIn
Nick’s website
Craft and Rigor on Twitter
Design Career Network, How to build a well-rounded, effective design team
User Defenders Podcast: 036: No Designer Left Behind with Nick Finck
Bill Buxton at TechFest 2013: Designing for Ubiquitous Computing
Other Design Thinking 101 Episodes You Might Like
UX + Into, Through, and (Almost) Out of Design with Kara DeFrias — DT101 E103
UX + Navigating Rough Design Waters + Design Leadership with Dennis Lenard — DT101 E82
UX Research + Research Teams + UX Camp DC with Glennette Clark — DT101 E80