The Experience Designers

What if life, work, and transformation were just better versions of play? In this episode, you’ll meet Claus Raasted, Experience Designer, Viking impersonator, and founder of The College of Extraordinary Experiences. From a childhood spent LARPing to advising McKinsey, Klaus shares how designing intentional, immersive worlds can lead to real-world change. Whether you're building onboarding for a s...

Dive into a captivating discussion on experience design with Mat Duerden, Department Chair of Experience Design and Management in the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University and Co-Author of the book Experience Design. Reveals how intentional design can transform everyday moments into powerful experiences. Mat shares his journey from adventurous childhood whitewater rafting to pion...

In this episode of The Experience Designers , I sit down with Dr. Paul Zak , the neuroscientist who wrote the book on trust and human connection. A TED speaker, best-selling author, and founder of Immersion Neuroscience , Paul has spent decades uncovering the brain’s hidden responses to experiences, brands, and relationships. Link to Six App - https://your6.com/ Connect with Paul - https://www.lin...

What if the magic behind your favourite experiences wasn't just a coincidence? In this second part two of this two-part series with Goc O'Callaghan, Co-owner of ArcTanGent Festival and Global Experience Lead at Buro Happold.  In this episode, we peel back the curtain on the often-overlooked and unknown 'dark side' of Disney's magic. From the hidden infrastructure at Disney parks to designing festi...

We're taking you behind the scenes of an incredible journey, exploring the power of memorable experiences and the lessons we can learn from one of the major memory makers out there: music festivals. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Goc O'Callaghan, co-founder, owner, and festival director of the legendary ArcTanGent Festival in the UK. This is a festival that started as a childhood dream in...

In this episode of The Experience Designers , we dive deep into the world of neurodiversity with Tina Squire, an expert in fostering neuro-inclusive environments. Tina shares her personal journey with ADHD and how it has fueled her passion for creating workspaces where neurodiverse individuals are not just accommodated, but truly celebrated. This episode explores the importance of designing work e...

In this episode, we’re joined by John Sills, managing partner at The Foundation and author of The Human Experience . John shares an incredible story of how a broken train in Switzerland became one of the most memorable customer experiences he’s ever had—and not because it went wrong, but because of how it was handled. Together, we dive into the heart of what makes customer experiences truly remark...

In this episode, Elena Aylott shares her unique journey from executive assistant to Vice President of Global Communications and Employee Experience at Oriflame Cosmetics to founding her own company, The Aylott Group.  She emphasizes the importance of trust, adaptability, and community-building within organizations. Key takeaways include the impact of personal and corporate trust, the role of HR as...

We are used to leadership being hierarchical. Always talking about the tone from the top. But what happens when we share leadership and power throughout the organization? And challenge our current ways of working in the most profound ways? With Mette Aagaard we explore the benefits, guiding principles and biggest challenges of shifting our corporate paradigm from delegated to truly distributed. ★...

We often talk about growth as some race to the top. A climb of the ladder, an improvement of our skills, but that narrative actually misses a core aspect of our evolution. Developing our ability to hold and make use of our new capacities.  Nele is an organisational psychologist and coach who specialises in vertical development. We dive into what vertical development even is. Why do we need it? And...

Performance and productivity are two important words in today’s work environment. And also, two charged words, because - what do they actually mean? Many of us will have experienced some kind of arbitrary, unfair, strange administrative process that attempts to evaluate the work that we do.  With Linda, we take a scientific and neurological perspective to human thriving and guides organizations on...

What does a humanitarian business such as the British Red Cross do to ensure they’re also human-centric on the inside when creating an experience for their people? Well, they commit to a dedicated people experience team and start their journey of introducing a way of working that puts the employee at the heart of everything. Applying a human-centric approach, whilst delivering benefit for the peop...

The cognitive and rational mind dominates our conversation about performance in the workplace, but unlocking our full potential and abilities - and doing so sustainably over time - demands us to engage more than our brains.  Only when we listen, learn to understand, and respond to the signals that our body sends us, are we able to actually enhance our contribution, health and well-being.  ★ Suppor...

The humble job interview. Did you know that the first offical job assessment was creating in 1921 by Thomas Edison who designed a written test to evaluate candidates' knowledge. Since then it’s safe to say, the interview has gone various developments. But at the core, it’s two humans coming together. Where so much is going on from a psychological, bias and human perspective.  But it’s not until yo...

What distinguishes a well-functioning team from a friction-ridden one? How do we know what to spend time on as we start building a team? And what do we need to take ownership of as leaders and co-workers? With Eleni Jacobs we break down the concept of psychological safety and look at the conscious and unconscious dynamics that rule and create our teams - as a group and as individuals. ★ Support th...

When was the last time you felt discomfort? Did you notice how you reacted? Was it subtle shifts in your body? Or major knee-jerk! How did it feel? What level of discomfort was it? 1 out of 10? 10 out of 10? Regardless of the situation. What's clear is we have a reaction. Sometimes subtle, other times more profound and impactful. This is where the learning and growth opportunities exist in these m...

Design is a buzzword for everything from products to customer- and employee experiences. But beyond that, it is a mindset and skill-set that requires dedicated practice both by individuals and organizations.  With Andre Fangueiro we explore different facets of design, from individual behaviors to leadership, career development and organizational structures. What does it actually take to do design...

As employee experience continues to evolve from buzzword to creating impact inside of organizations. I was curious to explore the world of customer experience. How did they go from buzzword to a discipline, business function and career choice? What learnings can we leverage for the EX evolution? How can we make better use of connecting these two sides of the same coin to bring value to people and...

In this special episode Shani and Steve look back on their first year of running Wonder together and what it means to do life and business in a more human way. They share 10 big lessons they’ve learnt over the course of the year and the different facets of more human. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In a quick-paced and demanding work environment, community is something many companies and individuals seek to build - to be less alone, to become more creative, to solve problems more effectively. With Anamaria Dorgo's unique voice and experience in community building, we explore what makes a good community. And how do we go about creating communities that add value to both the people in them and...

Theo Smith brings a unique lens to the workplace in the form of Neurodiversity. If you’re struggling to understand what this is or how it applies to your business - I promise you, it is relevant and already exists in your business. It’s just a matter of whether you understand it, are asking the right questions or prepared to adapt and evolve to it.  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

When we discuss communication we often end up speaking about strategies for talking to people, how we can convey information and create engagement, but we spend less time understanding how that interaction works and how different people both send and receive messages. Together with Josh Hammonds we try to decode different styles of communication and what that means both to how we talk and to how w...