The Informed Life

In this final episode, I reflect on things I learned by producing the show. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/12/29/episode-156-epilogue/ Photo by Diego Jimenez on Unsplash .

Peter Morville is a pioneer of information architecture. He co-authored Information Architecture for the World-Wide Web , the classic O’Reilly “polar bear” book on the subject. In our previous conversation, I interviewed Peter about a big change in his life. In this interview, we turn the tables: he interviews me about a big change to this show. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/202...

Peter Morville is a pioneer of information architecture. He co-authored Information Architecture for the World-Wide Web , the classic O’Reilly “polar bear” book on the subject. This is Peter’s third appearance on the show. I asked him back because I wanted to learn about his decision to retire from IA consulting. This is the first of two conversations with Peter about navigating big changes. See f...

Joe Natoli is a renowned UX design consultant, advisor, and educator. Now, he’s collaborated with Leah Buley on a new edition of her classic book, The User Experience Team of One . That is the subject of our conversation. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/11/17/episode-153-joe-natoli/

Andy Budd co-founded pioneering UX design agency Clearleft. After leading and growing that company, he became an advisor, VC, and coach. He’s now written a book on how early stage startups can benefit from good design. That is the focus of our conversation. See full show notes: https://theinformed.life/2024/11/03/episode-152-andy-budd/

Karen McGrane describes herself as a “UX multi-hyphenate”: information architect, content strategist, technical communicator, accessibility advocate, and more. She’s co-founder of Autogram, a content management and design system consultancy, and author of two classic books on content strategy. In this conversation, we focus on how AI might affect content management on the web. See full show notes:...

Scott Berkun is the bestselling author of nine books on design, innovation, remote work, and more. His most recent book, Why Design Is Hard , is the second of a pair on why design makes a difference and how designers can best go about it. That is the focus of today’s conversation. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/10/06/episode-150-scott-berkun/

Tamsen Webster describes herself as “part message designer, part English-to-English translator, and part magpie.” She is also a consultant and author who helps leaders enact large-scale change. Her latest book, Say What They Can’t Unhear, explains how to drive lasting change through effective communication. That is the focus of our conversation. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/202...

Dr. Luc Beaudoin is the co-founder and CEO of CogSci Apps, the developers of a brilliant Mac productivity tool called Hookmark. He is also an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University and author of two books on using cognitive science to improve productivity. In this conversation, we discuss the origins and philosophy of Hookmark, the concept of ubiquitous linking and how it improves productivi...

Chris Risdon is a Senior Staff Designer at eBay. Chris describes himself as an interaction designer that tends to look through a service design lens. Alongside his co-author Patrick Quattlebaum, Chris wrote Orchestrating Experiences , which is an excellent guide to the practice of service design. In this conversation, we unpack service design: what it is, how it benefits organizations, and how it...

Jodi Forlizzi is the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Forlizzi has a distinguished career as a service designer, researcher, design leader, and academic. In this conversation, we discuss the changing role of design in the face of disruptive new technologies such as AI. See full show notes at: https://thein...

Greg Petroff is a renowned executive design leader. He’s built and led design teams for companies like GE, Google, Compass, and Cisco. In this conversation, we discuss the state of design and how designers can have more relevance in today’s changing environment. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/07/28/episode-145-greg-petroff/

My guests today are Colin Eagan and Jeffrey MacIntyre . Although they work for different companies, Colin and Jeffrey share a common focus: how information technologies might offer more personalized experiences. They co-authored an article on the subject for A List Apart and Jeffrey gave an excellent presentation based on that material at this year’s IA Conference, which led to this interview. See...

Harry Max is an executive player coach with a long trajectory in Silicon Valley. Through his consultancy, he helps senior leaders and their teams realize their visions by zeroing in on pragmatic solutions to complex challenges. And on that note, Harry’s written a new book, called Managing Priorities , that teaches leaders how to do just that. You can buy Harry’s book from Rosenfeld Media . Use dis...

Stéphanie Walter is a UX researcher and designer based in Luxembourg. She’s prolific in sharing useful information via social media and her newsletter. Recently, she co-founded a new project, called Neurospicy, to bring more awareness to issues of neurodiversity in design. Neurospicy has evolved since we recorded this conversation, but as you’ll hear, organic evolution is part of Stéphanie’s appro...

Rachel Price is a Principal Information Architect at Microsoft and teaches Information Architecture at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. She was a guest on The Informed Life in 2019, discussing the role of structure in improvisation. Today’s conversation focuses on a subject that’s on a lot of information architects’ minds: how to responsibly design AI-powered systems. See full show notes...

Emily Campbell is a design leader and advisor. She brings thoughtfulness and depth to producing business results through design and helping designers develop their careers as they fulfill that mission. Like me, Emily is deeply interested in AI. She’s developing an emergent pattern language for working with AI, and that is the subject of our conversation. See full show notes at: https://theinformed...

Chris Aldrich has the most multi-disciplinary resume I’ve ever seen, with a background that includes biomedics, electrical engineering, entertainment, genetics, theoretical mathematics, and more. Chris describes himself as a modern-day cybernetician, and in this conversation we discuss cybernetics and communications, differences between oral and literary cultures, and indigenous traditions and mne...

Dave Gray describes himself as a possibilitarian. He focuses on helping people and teams realize their creative potential. Dave the author of several influential books, including Liminal Thinking and Gamestorming , which he co-authored with Sunni Brown and James Macanudo. He also founded the pioneering visual thinking company XPLANE. In this conversation, we discuss how to move beyond mental model...

Nikki Anderson is an independent user research consultant, instructor, author, and speaker. Nikki uses her background in education and psychology to mentor people and organizations on the value of user research. And now, she’s written a book to help them build up their research operations. That’s the focus of our conversation today. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/04/07/episo...

Michael Anton Dila describes himself as a “designer of conversation” and someone with a passion for starting things. Among the things he’s started are ventures in online learning, co-working, and mobile technology. He’s also held several leadership roles in an elite innovation unit in the U.S. Department of Defense. In this conversation, we discuss his latest initiative, Oslo for AI, which seeks t...

Dave Elfving is an experience designer and educator. He spent eleven years at apple, where his last role was as Head of Interactive Strategy. These days, he’s my colleague teaching interaction design at the California College of the Arts. He’s also co-chairperson at Gray Area, a San Francisco-based nonprofit interdisciplinary cultural incubator. Gray Area is fostering fascinating work, and I wante...

Joey deVilla describes himself as an experienced, engaging, accordion-playing, golden-voiced developer advocate looking for a new role. He’s had a long career in the technology space and writes about his experiences in two long-running blogs, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the Twenty-First Century and Global Nerdy . Recently, Joey became one of the many people in tech who’s lost their job in t...

Elizabeth McGuane is a UX director at Shopify and the author of Design by Definition , a book about the impact of language in user experience. As you might imagine, that’s a subject I’m keenly interested in, so I was excited to speak with Elizabeth about it. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/02/11/episode-133-elizabeth-mcguane/

Pierluigi Dalla Rosa is an interaction designer at Humane, the makers of the AI Pin. But that isn’t the focus of our conversation today. Instead, we discuss novel computer interfaces in general, and interactive environments in particular. This is a subject that’s near to my heart, as it points to exciting possibilities for future digital experiences. See full show notes: https://theinformed.life/2...