Podcasts by UX Cake

Shaping Design Careers, featuring Jason Mesut from 2023-06-01T10:00:20

Do you want your career to be sustainable and aligned with what truly matters to you?

Designing a holistic career that embraces every part of who we are can be a complex and meaningfu...

Systems Thinking for Designers, featuring Sheryl Cababa & Leigh Allen-Arredondo from 2023-05-17T10:00:03

In this episode, we chat with Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial and author of "Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers." She introduces the concept of systems thinkin...

The Quiet Leader: Strategies for Introverts with Tim Yeo from 2023-05-01T11:00:49

This episode is about quiet leadership - how you can be an authentic leader even if you don’t have the loudest voice in the room. We’re joined by Tim Yeo, a design leader and speaker who helps i...

Adding Strategic Value to Tactical Work with Laura Barboza from 2023-04-06T14:07:46

Are you a UX practitioner who's frustrated with feeling like you lack agency in your work? Or maybe you're someone who wants to take their UX game to the next level by incorporating strategic ou...

(Best of) On Recovering and Reinvention: Navigating Career Changes with John Maeda from 2023-02-22T12:00:25

With so many people facing changes in their work and careers right now, navigating the complex and turbulent waters of layoffs, org changes, and economic adjustments can be incredibly challengin...

Unleashing Your Best Work Through Healthy Conflict and Feedback with Billie Mandel from 2023-02-09T14:00:07

Do you want to unlock your creative potential and foster innovation? We know that collaboration and communication are vital to producing outstanding work, but what you might not know is that the...

Do More With Less: The Power of a Strategic Mindset from 2023-02-01T14:00:55

If you're in UX, you've likely heard the question, "How can we do more with less?" especially during any economic squeeze. Many companies are cutting back on resources and downsizing teams, whil...

Making Space For Meaning and Success with Tutti Taygerly from 2023-01-19T14:00:39

As human beings, it is embedded in us to seek purpose in everything we do. We want to do meaningful work that affects other people or pursue the passion within us.

But many people wond...

Beyond Titles: The Real Meaning of Leadership from 2023-01-12T17:33:31

Join host Leigh Allen-Arredondo for this UX Cake Pop - short and sweet when you just want a bite of UX Cake!

In this UX Cake Pop, I’m sharing my experience with the true meaning of le...

Outsiders In Design - with Ryan Rumsey from 2023-01-04T13:00:15

In this episode I’m talking with Ryan Rumsey about feeling like an outsider in design,

the very human need to belong, and some of the affects that feeling like an outsider can create in ou...

Building Design Teams That Scale with Anjali Deswandikar from 2022-10-03T19:00:11

A business can only grow as much as its people. That is why it is important to build teams with the knowledge that each of them is a key member who will eventually become a senior as you grow. I...

Designing For Accessibility With Chimmy Kalu from 2022-08-19T19:00:39

Accessibility needs to be the gold standard for everything. If you have the power to make things more accessible and inclusive, strive for that. You are actually leaving money on the table if yo...

Designing With Developers - Abhishek Nayak from 2022-08-10T10:00:53

Great digital products don't just happen. They're the result of a strong designer-developer relationship. That is because the two groups bring different but complementary skill sets. By understa...

Scaling UX Research : Democratization 2.0 from 2022-07-05T07:00:19

Scaling user research, means doing more, doing more research, and doing more with user research, through democratization, or enablement.

Democratization in UX, is a topic of controvers...

Scaling UX Research : Democratization 2.0 from 2022-07-05T07:00:19

Scaling user research, means doing more, doing more research, and doing more with user research, through democratization, or enablement.

Democratization in UX, is a topic of controvers...

UX Writing - with Laura Costantino from 2022-06-22T07:00:13

In this episode of the UX Cake podcast, we’re bringing you lots of great information about UX writing as a specialty within UX. In this special Ask Me Anything format we cover some of the most u...

Show Me What It Means - with Thomas Watkins from 2022-06-07T07:00:24

This episode is all about creating meaning from data, and making it easy for your audience to understand by making it visual. We can apply the same principles we use to design dashboards to pre...

Challenging Assumptions to Transform Results from 2022-04-12T07:00:22

No doubt you're practicing challenging assumptions in your user-centered work already -- identifying what you think you know (or assume) about users' beliefs and actions, and finding out if thos...

Transitioning Into User Research with Eniola Abioye from 2022-03-29T10:00:18

Have you found interest in User Research, but are unsure if a career change is possible?

Today I'm talking to Eniola Abioye, a Sr. User Researcher at Meta, specifically ab...

UX Strategy Sprints with Craig Nishizaki from 2022-03-15T07:00:24

This week we're talking about UX Strategy, and UX Strategy Sprints. The term UX Strategy gets defined in different ways by experts across our discipline. I like to define UX Strategy at it’s sim...

Deep Listening with Indi Young from 2022-03-09T11:00:09

If we want to make products and services that people want and use, we have to talk to those people. Whether you’re involved in product strategy, UX, development, marketing, any part of building ...

UX Cake is back with Season 3! from 2022-03-07T11:00:54

UX cake podcast is coming back for Season 3 !!

I have missed you all so much these last couple of years while the podcast has been on a break ,and I'm really excited t...

Welcome to Season 3 from 2022-02-19T13:00:54

UX cake podcast is coming back for Season 3 !!

I have missed you all so much these last couple of years while the podcast has been on a break ,and I'm really excited ...

Learn UX: Career Growth Through Community Involvement from 2020-02-17T13:00:42

Ep. 43: In the third of 3 episodes in our special mini-series called Learning UX, guest host Leo Zhang talks with Sara Hubbard and Caryn Wylie, the organizers of the meetup group Seattle Wo...

Permission to Speak from 2020-01-22T23:26:22

Ep. 42: This week we're talking about Permission to Speak - Maybe there are times you’ve found yourself hesitating to speak up, to put your voice out there… this happens a lot, it’s not jus...

Learn UX: Aligning UX Value from 2020-01-17T13:00:34

Ep. 41: This episode is the second in our special mini-series called Learning UX, hosted by Leo Zhang. In this mini-series, Leo talks in-person with local UX leaders about their career...

Bias Is The Context We're In from 2019-12-05T05:33:34

Ep 40: Since I started asking users questions as part of my design process over 20 years ago, I’ve often asked myself, how could I ask better questions. Am I asking the right questions? What bia...

Learn UX: Mentoring and Hiring from 2019-11-20T13:00:42

We're introducing a new series, called Learn UX, hosted by Leo Zhang. Leo started a meetup here in Seattle called Learn UX, aimed at UXers in earlier to mid-career, that hosts great speakers lik...

Uplevel Your Career With UX Strategy from 2019-10-23T11:00:32

Ep. 38: This week I got to talk with Jaime Levy, a UX pioneer, and Author of the book ‘ Listen

Collaborative Research from 2019-10-09T12:00:01

This episode was a live recording for the podcast at the 5th annual Radical Research Summit in Vancouver BC. Our panel topic was collaborative research - Working with people in other discip...

Research Beyond Words from 2019-09-25T11:45:15

Ep 36: Sometimes words just can't get you the research insights you need. This week we’re talking about alternative ways of gathering insights in user research, beyond just verbal and written co...

Design For The Future from 2019-09-11T12:00:04

For any experience you’re designing, you want to know what the current trends are, but if you’re looking for innovative solutions, you want to predict what future trends will affect your audienc...

The Cognitive Diversity Issue in UX from 2019-08-27T15:05:25

Ep #34: Today’s episode is a conversation with Melanie Polkosky who is a UX Psychologist with a PhD in cognitive psychology and a long history in tech. After Melanie left a 13-year career at IBM...

Getting The Work You Want from 2019-08-20T12:00:27

Ep. #14 (re-run) Much of the work in UX and in our careers requires convincing others, about our ideas, our work, or our ability to do the work we want to do. My guest is Fiz Yazdi, a ...

Words Make Experiences Work from 2019-08-05T12:00:30

Ep #33: This week I’m talking with Torrey Podmajersky about her new book, Strategic Writing for UX - how to drive engagement, conversion, and retention with every word. Torrey is not only an exp...

Negotiate the Salary & Title You Deserve from 2019-07-22T12:00:06

Ep #32: Welcome back to UX Cake! We took a short break and now we're back on our regular publishing schedule. In this episode I talked with Tamara Adlin, a UX strategy expert, speaker, and ...

Influencing Without Authority from 2019-04-01T05:31:17

This week's episode was a live recording at the ConveyUX conference in early March with a panel of UX pros talking about Influencing without authority, which is such an important topic and clear...

When UX and Agile Meet... from 2019-03-12T03:58:11

This week we’re talking about incorporating UX into an Agile product development process. It’s been a common complaint for the past couple of decades most agile processes don’t allow time for ux...

Recipe for Effective User Research from 2019-02-25T13:00:03

Are you committed to doing user research in order to design and build products and services that work well, solve real needs, and create engaging experiences? Chances are pretty good that if you...

UX Cake Pop: Getting Buy-in from 2019-02-18T04:00:34

A UX Cake Pop is like a bite-sized piece of UX Cake. In this Cake Pop, we're talking about being more effective through getting buy-in early. We interviewed a few UX pros who were attending...

Fast and effective - Agile Strategy with Marty Neumeier from 2019-02-04T13:00:05

In this episode we talk with the renown brand strategist Marty Neuemeier about a strategy framework he calls Agile Strategy. Marty’s written many strategy books - design strategy, brand strategy...

Recovering and Reinvention with John Maeda from 2019-01-28T13:00

Ep #27: I’m really excited to share with you my conversation with John Maeda — about Reinvention. This episode covers a lot of ground John talked about why we should focus on recover fast v...

Designing The Impossible with Nelly Ben Hayoun from 2019-01-21T13:00

Ep #26: This week we are talking about designing the impossible, with Dr. Nelly Ben Hyoun, founder and experience designer of Nelly Ben Hayoun Studios in London. They create large scal...

Changing the Disability Design Narrative from 2019-01-14T15:00

Ep. #25: This week we’re talking about designing withdisability, rather than fordisability, with my guest Liz Jackson. Liz is a disability advocate who is trying to&n...

Design a Better World, with Don Norman from 2019-01-08T05:48:42

Ep. #24: Welcome to season 2! We are kicking the season off with a fascinating conversation about changing the world with design, with Don Norman. Don Norman has been a well-known name in t...

Designing a Life You Love from 2018-11-27T04:59:04

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Ayse Birsel, a renown designer and the co-founder of Birsel + Seck, an award-winning design and innovation studio in NY, working with Herman Miller...

Being in UX at a Startup from 2018-11-07T04:59:50

I recently joined a start-up called Spruce Up so topics related to startups have been top-of-mind for me. In this episode of UX Cake, I am ...

Redesigning The Way We Work from 2018-10-23T03:59:48

This week on UX Cake I had a chance to catch up with David and Mary Sherwin about their new book, Turning People Into Teams. I love this topic — how do we go from b...

Creating and Nurturing a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion from 2018-10-08T03:59:29

Even if we consider ourselves advocates for diversity and inclusion when it comes to considering gender, race, age, LGBTQ or ableness, how do we stretch ourselves even further? How can we create...

Work Together Better to Design Great Products from 2018-08-29T06:45:42

Ep. #19: Much of the time we like to work independently, maybe because of work environment, preference, or pride. And yet we know there are great benefits and advantages to working as a tea...

Designer-founded startups from 2018-08-14T20:31

Ep. #18: Over the past few years we’ve seen a growing trend of designer founded startups. There are a few really notable designer-founded startups like — Airbnb, Kickstarter and Lynda.com h...

Outcome-focused Design - Tarot Cards for Tech from 2018-07-31T01:00:26

Ep. #17: Using tarot cards to create outcomes-focused designis a very out-of-the-box approach, and yet it's actually really simple and approachable. In this episode I talked with S...

Shark-proofing Your UX Presentations from 2018-07-16T03:00:45

Ep. #16: This special episode of uxcake was a panel discussion recorded live in front of an audience in Seattle on June 28. If you’ve been in ux design or research for awhile, it's almost c...

Understanding Client Dynamics from 2018-07-02T03:00:52

Ep. #15: Have you ever had a meeting with a stakeholder or client who you thought you were in alignment with, and afterward thought “What the heck just happened in there?” Well it happened often...

Getting More of The Work You Want to Do from 2018-06-18T03:00:08

Ep. #14: Besides needing strong technical skills, much of the work in UX and in our careers requires convincing others, about our ideas, our work, or our ability to do the work we want to do. My...

Design & Dev: How to create solutions together from 2018-06-04T03:00

Ep. #13: No one would argue about the relationship between UX and development being a critical one, but it’s not easy. Join us for a conversation with Jaime Lopez, an experienced developer and c...

Going Independent, part 2 – Making it work for you from 2018-05-21T04:35:24

Ep. #12: Part 2 of Leigh & Laura's conversation about freelancing. In this episode we focus on ways to be more effective in your freelance career, from finding and managing clients to managi...

Going independent – is it for you? from 2018-05-07T03:00

Ep. #11: In this episode, Leigh and Laura discuss being an independent UX pro — contract, freelance, or consulting. The flexibility is what draws a lot of people to independent work, whether it'...

Creating Personas That Align Stakeholders from 2018-04-23T03:00

Ep. #10: We’re talking with Tamara Adlin, a persona pioneer, about a process for creating personas that not only aligns executives and stakeholders, but that also actually gets those personas us...

Transitions in UX - AR/VR from 2018-04-16T00:46

Ep. #9: Many UX practitioners are interested in transitioning into emerging technology but aren’t sure where to start, or what that path looks like. In this episode we’re talking about the ...

Overcoming Mentoring Challenges from 2018-04-02T03:13

Ep. #8: Mentoring is one of the most powerful tools for developing talent and leadership… it’s also often taken for granted as something anyone who’s been working for awhile can do. So we end up...

Transitioning in UX: Voice Design from 2018-03-20T04:58:24

Ep #7: How people interface with technology is constantly evolving, but we’re seeing big changes in the technolgy platforms themselves, and that means big changes in the UX field. This week...

Augmented Humanity & Our Changing Reality from 2018-03-12T04:59:37

Ep #6: Technology is changing the way we perceive reality — whether you have some kind of headset on or not… and it’s much more than pokeman go. In this episode we hear from Galit Ariel, self-pr...

Adding To Your Creative Toolbox from 2018-03-05T04:00

Ep #5: Generating, sustaining, and selling creative ideas requires a lot more than inspiration.There is process and structure - which doesn't sound or even always 'feel' creative. It isn’t alway...

004: Improv for Empathy & Make Better Products from 2018-02-26T04:00

When you're designing products for people, having empathy for those specific people (aka users) is critical. Yep, you know that, but how can you increase empathy for the users from the ...

Better Cross-team Collaboration - Made Fun! from 2018-02-20T20:04:22

Episode #3: Collaborating across teams is hard, and it doesn't happen without intention, and some structure. But the benefits for your product, wow - it's like the difference between a beautiful...

002: Executive Buy-in for UX from 2018-02-19T23:35:52

We know showing the business value of UX is the way to any MBA's heart/wallet, but it's often still a struggle. In this episode we get practical advice and techniques from former Amazon executiv...

001: UX Mentor Masters from 2018-02-18T19:05:12

Exploring the benefits of being a UX mentor with Rachelle Kauffman, UX Designer at Zillow. The benefits can be surprising, including improving your own design and research skills, increasing con...

000 Introducing UX Cake from 2018-02-16T17:00

Learn a little about Leigh and Laura who make Amplify Alliance, the producer of UX Cake, and hear about what this podcast is about, why we're making it, and what's in store.

UX Cake is a ...