Inside Gemini: How a Google content designer helps build AI
Release Date: 07/02/2024
AI: be informed, not afraid (Andrew Stein)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Do you enjoy the podcast? Please leave a review! 👉 Our new course, , is available for preorder. Order and get 25% off, plus 30% off another course or workshop. 👉 Get 25% off all courses and workshops at Navigate AI with clarity, not panic There’s a lot of noise about AI right now. It’s going to replace us. It’s going to revolutionize everything. It’s the best thing since sliced bread or the beginning of the end. In this episode, Andrew Stein, a content design leader and thoughtful skeptic, helps us cut through the noise. We talk about what AI actually means for content...
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Tips for job hunting in a tough market (Casey Webb, Indeed)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Do you enjoy the podcast? Please leave a review! 👉 ATTEND OUR MAJOR COURSE ANNOUNCEMENT ON MAY 6. . 👉 Get 20% off courses and workshops at with PODCAST20. Staying hopeful, getting hired, and embracing the hustle The job market for content designers hasn’t been easy—and it’s even harder when you're trying to break into the field for the first time. But if there’s anyone who knows how to stay resilient through the process, it’s Casey Webb. In this episode, Casey shares her journey from marketing to UX content design—navigating layoffs, contracts, full-time roles, and...
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Are content design’s problems self-created? (Victor Beigelman, Meta)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Please leave a review! 👉 Get 25% off courses and workshops through April 6, 2025 at . 👉 Check out 👉 Victor's that sparked this conversation Rethinking influence, resentment, and the future of content design It’s easy (and often correct) to blame external factors for why content design doesn’t get the respect it deserves. But what if some of our biggest challenges are ones we’ve created ourselves? In this episode, Victor Beigelman, a longtime content designer at Meta, joins us for a candid conversation about how...
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How to defend your design decisions (Tom Greever)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Please leave a review! 👉 Get 20% off courses and workshops at . Just use the code PODCAST20 at checkout. 👉 Check out "" Mastering the art of defending your designs As a content designer, you’ve probably been asked, "Why did you use that word?" or "Why does this need to change?" Defending design decisions can be tough. Especially when feedback comes from stakeholders who might not fully understand content strategy. In this episode, Tom Greever, author of "Articulating Design Decisions", shares his framework for explaining and...
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The rise of UX writing in India (Sidika Sehgal)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Please leave a review! Get 20% off courses and workshops at . Just use the code PODCAST20 at checkout. The rise of UX writing in India UX writing is still a young discipline in India, but it’s growing—fast. In this episode, Sidika Sehgal shares what’s happening on the ground: the demand for UX writers, why hiring is so challenging, and how localization is reshaping product experiences in one of the world’s most diverse markets. Sidika, a content designer at Rubrik, has seen the industry evolve over the past few years. She explains why tech...
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From tech layoff to leadership (Cara Lam)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Please leave a review! Get 20% off courses and workshops at . Just use the code PODCAST20 at checkout. From layoff to leadership: How Cara Lam rebuilt her career Getting laid off is tough—but for content designers on work visas, it can feel like everything is on the line. When Cara Lam lost her job at Instagram during the wave of tech layoffs, she had just 60 days to figure out her next move or leave the country. What followed was a relentless job search, rejections, and a journey of self-discovery. In this episode, Cara shares how she bounced back,...
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How to survive burnout in tech and UX (Yvonne Xiao)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective. Just use the code PODCAST20. Burnout isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a reality for many of us working in UX and tech. The long hours, the shifting priorities, the constant pressure to prove our value… it all adds up. And if you’re not careful, it can take a serious toll. Yvonne Xiao has been there. She’s worked at companies like Microsoft and Uber, navigating the highs and lows of content design in fast-paced environments. But instead of letting burnout define her career,...
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Forget tone - embrace systems thinking (Dave Connis)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Get 20% off courses and workshops at UX Content Collective. Just use the code PODCAST20. Content design has some growing up to do. Whether it's the things we talk about at conferences, or even the aspects of our job that we *think* are important (but really aren't), we need to see some change. Dave Connis, Lead Content Designer at OutSystems, has embraced systems thinking and he wants you to as well. Go beyond the deliverables we're used to (tone, style guides, etc) and start thinking about how to connect the elements of your product in...
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Why your support content sucks (Maring Eberlein)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? We're proud to announce Maring's new course at UX Content Collective: . Get it now for 25% off! If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated by terrible help center content, you’re not alone. Most of it sucks. But why? That’s why I’m excited to share this conversation with Maring Eberlein. Maring is a support content expert with a deep understanding of what makes help centers effective — and what makes them fail. She’s worked with companies large and small, transforming their support content from "just get it done" projects...
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Leading content design at Canva (Sally Bagshaw)
Writers of Silicon Valley
Listen on: | Do you enjoy the podcast? Canva is a true (Aussie) tech success story, and the content design practice there is no small reason why. One of the people leading that practice is Sally, Head of Content Design at Canva. Sally and I dive into how Canva has built one of the strongest content design practices in the world, why leadership is about more than managing people, and what content designers need to do to grow their careers. We also discuss why content design in Australia often feels a few steps behind the global stage and what Canva is doing to set an example. This was...
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There's an interesting path opening up in content design: working on the actual language models underpinning this explosion of new features we're seeing.
This is a new and fairly anxiety-inducing area. But as content designers, it's important that we engage and help build any type of new technology that involves content - or it's going to outpace us.
This is why I spoke with Ben Barone-Nugent from Google for today's podcast. He's on the Gemini team, and we spoke about his work in moving from traditional "content design" into the content (and conversation) design for an chat-based LLM experience.
This is an important chat for many reasons, but here's a big one: it's important that we see a future for how content designers can be involved in this type of work. We talk about that, and:
- How content designers can work on language models
- The path from content design to conversation design to AI
- What LLMs are good at, bad at, and what we don't know yet
- The future of content design as creating content at scale
- Much, much more!
A quick note: apologies for my audio quality this month. I accidentally used my laptop microphone instead of my big fancy one. Don't hate me!
Ben on LinkedIn:
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