Surviving UX

None of the answers you need to surviving your UX design career. Jessamyn Edwards and Meg Cramer field questions from real UX designers struggling through the career choice you wonder why you made. No inspiration, snobby career advice, or success stories here!

Investing in bonds 03/25/2025

Investing in bonds What does it feel like to lose everything? What's left over when you walk away from your corporate job and your dream home burns to the ground? Margot Dear faced this unthinkable scenario and has risen from the ashes to rebuild her career, reasses her life, and rediscover the bonds she formed over years of working with UX teammates. Support Margot's GoFundMe to support Altadena, CA: https://gofund.me/175fa8bf /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/35852695

Lead into Gold 02/04/2025

Lead into Gold What's the biggest irony of our jobs? Can maximize your productivity if you also have care tasks? How many times do you read your layoff notice? And does your manager really care when you get laid off? Uday Gajendar returns to the podcast. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/35139570

Reject all 12/30/2024

Reject all Can you take on a chatbot and win? Are you making your users do chores? Are you pumped about automatic renewal laws? Get hyped with us about UX in 2025. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/34660525

Case studies 12/20/2024

Case studies Are you in UX for the right reasons? If you lost your job would you walk away from the UX field or fight for your passion? Do you have the stamina to apply to over 1,000 jobs? We talk to seasoned UX professional Shawn Kenney who is navigating the UX job market in these insane times. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/34556825

Sophisticated naivete 12/17/2024

Sophisticated naivete Do designers have enough supervision? Can you be proactive about your destiny in this job market? And who’s a worse train passenger: babies or bachelorettes? User Experience Research Leader Ben Basilan joins the podcast to talk about mastering the research interview and evolving in your career. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/34494605

Prettiest screen in the room 11/23/2024

Prettiest screen in the room What proved to be most sticky from UX Y'all the TriUXPA conference? What does it take to get the tech obessesed to look up from their phones? Is there anything that can make bad team dynamics better? More tales of UX survival with guest Matt Rogers, Product Design Lead and fellow UX Y'all presenter. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/34121731

Mini episode: UX Y'all (5 of 5) 09/21/2024

Mini episode: UX Y'all (5 of 5) It's the final countdown! Join us for all the conference fun 1 day before, 2 hours before, and 1 hour after our talk at UX Y'all in Raleigh. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/33149172

Mini episode: UX Y'all (4 of 5) 09/18/2024

Mini episode: UX Y'all (4 of 5) Nearing the finish line! Is our stress a manufactored crisis? Perhaps a Meg-ufactured one? We forge on and share reflections on the final, tired days of prep. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/33102637

Mini episode: UX Y'all (3 of 5) 09/09/2024

Mini episode: UX Y'all (3 of 5) We continue to collaborate on our conference talk and ponder: After all this time, how could we be learning new things about each other? What makes all this effort worth it? And, this is going to be fun, right? Right? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/32967507

Mini episode: UX Y'all (2 of 5) 09/04/2024

Mini episode: UX Y'all (2 of 5) We continue to prep for UX Y'all and the rewriting and second guessing is in full swing! This week we talk about nervously crafting slides and talk tracks: What's gonna hit? What's gonna land? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/32890092

Mini episode: UX Y'all (1 of 5) 08/26/2024

Mini episode: UX Y'all (1 of 5) In a few short weeks Jessamyn and Meg will present at UX Y'all. Will we get the presentation done in time? Will our friendship hold out? And what is it like to get ready for such a UX professional extracurricular? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/32752672

The notebook 07/14/2024

The notebook What would you do to save your most precious notebook? Is the remote-worker promotion penalty real? How many chicken nuggets can your AI order? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/32126197

Get out of Figma 06/28/2024

Get out of Figma How do you move from mocks to strategy? Does anyone appreciate UX consultants? Courtney Campbell joins Surviving UX to talk about her big switch to UX strategy and why she tells designers to get out of Figma. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/31934437

Community feels 06/22/2024

Community feels What happens when you stay at the same company for over a decade? Do you feel represented by UXPA or Figma's communities? joins me and to talk about staying put. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/31847322

Summer cold 06/14/2024

Summer cold What sets you off? Have you ever had an emotional freak out at work? Does it matter if we stay professional or is okay to cry? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/31751827

Thank you, brain! 06/01/2024

Thank you, brain! UX research practitioner Troy Effner joins the podcast! What is work like after a dyslexia diagnosis? How might you sell your super powers to the business? And where can you look to find what nourishes your brain? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/31563412

Surviving UX Draft 05/14/2024

Surviving UX Draft Join Meg, Jessamyn, and two special guests for the first Surviving UX Draft to determine the best ever conditions for UX design work. Laura Martin returns and Patrick Kovacich joins for draft day 2024. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/31284722

After dark 04/30/2024

After dark Are you a UX saint or sinner? Do dark patterns have a place in design? Should you push back if you're asked to design "dark"? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/31042678

Icebreakers 04/17/2024

Icebreakers When's the last time you had the courage to look your stakeholder in the eye and put a design workshop on their calendar? Sami Lee joins us to talk about extra long coffee runs and agenda-less meetings. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/30857238

It's not you 04/04/2024

It's not you Tension? Boredom? Burnout? Are you stuck professionally? It's the perfect time to explore career moves with UX coach Amy Santee. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/30686523

I was right 03/15/2024

I was right Have you ever been right at work but had to let someone else believe they were? Did your latest performance review's negative feedback ring true? Is it possible not to get tricked by online shopping UX compliance patterns? /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/30394673

Confetti from the ceiling 03/12/2024

Confetti from the ceiling When do employees not want cupcakes? How can one keep calm and M&A on? Is any tech actually improving our lives? Meg and Jessamyn tackle these and other UX quandries spurred by recent tech headlines. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/30334728

That old chesnut 02/22/2024

That old chesnut Dinner with the family or drinks after work? Users' time or engineering time? Candy or pain relievers? Jessamyn and Meg tackle the tough judgement calls that come with UX. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/30072738

Beginner's mind 02/13/2024

Beginner's mind Can coaching and meditation get you through a tough job market? Can you to push past pixel pushing to UX strategy? And are true offsites just a fleeting memory now? Meg and Jessamyn welcome Dvir Adler and Dor Reich to talk about their warmest onboarding memories. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/29927398

Holiday party 12/19/2023

Holiday party Glad to see the end of 2023? Meg survives a return to work, including cat attacks. Jessamyn survives on vending machine snacks in a race to the bottom of the cheapest eats in the office. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/29139148

Question snob 12/06/2023

Question snob What's it like to work at a big company with your spouse? What's it like to work in a small space, also with your spouse? And what's it like to be hitched to a UX professional? Surviving UX tackles love and marriage with two special guests. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/28948493

Whole self 11/20/2023

Whole self Do fur babies get more perks at work than children? What’s it like to dip back and forth between military service and big tech? Why is Product put in charge of UX teams and not the other way around? Join us and special guest, UX leader Laurie Lynch, as we sort out which self is the right self to bring to work. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/28714353

Your day in court 10/31/2023

Your day in court Where can you have the most public of romance/work breakups? What is especially disgusting about cryptocurrency? And how can you archive the toxic work experiences you just want to forget? Join Jessamyn and Meg for their hot investment tips and the trials of tech. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/28470275

On the ice 10/09/2023

On the ice Can you design away a one-thousand-page manual? Does saying yes to UX mean letting go of other passions? Meg and Jessamyn talk to Bahar Espiritu, creative director of Essence of Hockey. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/28263077

The friends we made along the way 10/02/2023

The friends we made along the way Are you scared to go to reunions? How great would it be to bring your work bestie along to your next gig? What fun things could you learn if you take a virtual tour of your colleague’s home? Senior Product Designer Brianna Koch joins Jessamyn and Meg for a chat. /episode/index/show/survivingux/id/28195016

Surviving UX

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