The Informed Life

Léonie Watson is an accessibility engineer, W3C director, technology writer, and speaker. She’s director at TetraLogical, a consultancy focused on accessibility for emerging and existing technologies. In this conversation, we focus on the role of accessibility in producing experiences that work better for everybody. Show notes Léonie Watson Léonie Watson - LinkedIn Léonie @tink@front-end.social (@...

David Rose is an entrepreneur, MIT lecturer, author, and pioneer in ambient computing. Among other institutions, his work has been featured in MoMA, The New York Times, WIRED, The Economist, and The Daily Show. He’s the author of two books: Enchanted Objects and his latest, SuperSight , which is the subject of our conversation. Show notes David Rose - Enchanted Objects David L. Rose - Wikipedia Da...

Marcia Bates is Professor Emerita in UCLA’s Department of Information Studies. Over the course of a long career in both consulting and academia, Dr. Bates produced seminal work in user-centered information system design. Her paper on “berrypicking” as a user search strategy has been widely cited and is considered a foundational text in the field. In this conversation, we discuss search systems. Tr...

Scott Jenson has done strategic UX design work for some of tech’s most important companies, including Apple and Google. Now he’s semi-retired and focused on improving the experience of using open source software. In this conversation, we talk about what’s different about open source, how design can make it better, and how designers can benefit from participating in open source projects. Transcript...

Amy Jiménez Márquez is Vice President of Experience Design at Zillow. Previously, she led design teams at Amazon and Compass. In this conversation, we focus on the role of information architecture in managing digital experiences at scale, with a particular focus on research and modeling. Transcript https://theinformed.life/2022/12/03/episode-102-amy-jimenez-marquez/ Show notes Amy Jiménez Márquez...

Bram Wessel and Gary Carlson are the founders of Factor, an information architecture and experience design consultancy. In this conversation, we discuss their practice of helping organizations gain alignment by defining the information layer that underpins their digital systems. Transcript https://theinformed.life/2022/11/20/episode-101-bram-wessel-gary-carlson/ Show notes Bram Wessel - LinkedIn G...

This is episode 100 of The Informed Life podcast. To celebrate, I decided to dedicate it to you, the show’s listeners. So today, I don’t have a guest. Instead, I will answer questions sent by listeners of the show. Transcript https://theinformed.life/2022/11/06/episode-100-listener-questions/ Show notes IA: WTF? workshop Vinish Garg’s question on LinkedIn Nigel Rawlins’s question on Twitter Digoam...

Mark Bernstein is chief scientist of Eastgate Systems, Inc. He’s been writing hypertexts and developing hypertext authoring software since the late 1980s. Mark is the creator of Tinderbox and other tools for thinking that “harness the power of the link.” In this conversation, we discuss thinking through connected notes. Show notes Mark Bernstein Eastgate Systems Tinderbox The Tinderbox Way, Third...

Alice Albrecht is the founder and CEO of re:collect, a software tool that helps knowledge creators focus and connect. Alice’s background is in cognitive neuroscience and machine learning. In this conversation, we explore how tools for thought such as re:collect can help augment our thinking. Show notes Alice Albrecht (LinkedIn) re:collect @recollect_ai (Twitter) RENDER(); Tools for Thinking  confe...

Rob Ashton is a writer who focuses on the science of how the things we read and write influence what we think and do. Rob founded the global learning company Emphasis, and over the last six years, he’s focused on researching the science of reading and writing, ranging from cognitive and social neuroscience to behavioral and neuroeconomics. In this conversation, we discuss how science can make us m...

Erin Malone is the Chair of the Interaction Design BFA Program at the California College of the Arts . In this conversation, we focus on Erin’s long trajectory with design pattern libraries, including her recent work with the Anti-Defamation League developing tools and best practices to fight online hate. Show notes Erin Malone (LinkedIn) @emalone (Twitter) Interaction Design Program at the Califo...

Natalie Marie Dunbar is a senior manager of content design at Walmart. She’s the author of From Solo to Scaled: Building a Sustainable Content Strategy Practice . In this conversation, we discuss content strategy, how it might differ from information architecture, and how to stand up a content strategy practice. Natalie has asked me to let you know that rosenfeldmedia.com has a promo code for The...

Howard Rheingold is an eminent author, maker, and educator. His work has explored and defined key aspects of digital culture, including the use of computers as tools for mind augmentation, virtual communities, and social media literacy.  In this conversation, we discuss computers as extensions for our minds, Douglas Engelbart’s unfinished revolution, basic literacies for interacting in information...

Lorenzo Bernaschina is the developer of Gems Notes , a note-taking tool that uses artificial intelligence to find relationships between ideas. In this conversation, we talk about smart note-taking and how technology might be used to extend rather than replace human intelligence. Update 2022-08-14: This episode was edited at the guest’s request. Show notes Lorenzo’s personal website Lorenzo Bernasc...

Steve Portigal is a consultant who helps organizations build more mature user research practices. He’s the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories . He’s also the host of the Dollar to Donuts podcast about research leadership. In this conversation, we discuss the skills required for conducting successful...

Daniel Stillman is a conversation designer and coach. He’s the host of The Conversation Factory podcast and author of Good Talk: How to Design Conversations That Matter . This is a special episode of The Informed Life : it’s the first recorded in person, while Daniel and I attended and taught at UX Lisbon in May of 2022. Fittingly, it’s an experiment: a freeform, less produced conversation about h...

Mike Rohde is a designer, teacher, and illustrator — but you’re more likely familiar with his work in sketchnoting. Mike is the author of The Sketchnote Handbook , which popularized the practice, and the founder of the Sketchnote Army, a showcase of sketchnoters and their work. He’s been described as “one of the leaders of the visual thinking revolution.” In this conversation, we discuss how Mike’...

Kat King is an information architect who’s “interested in information and how we figure things out.” She replied to one of my Twitter threads about note-taking, and I was intrigued by her approach. I recently saw Kat give a thoughtful presentation at the IA Conference and wanted to find out how she uses notes to learn and teach. So, this conversation focuses on note-taking as a means of learning....

Sam Ladner is a sociologist, UX researcher, and student of productivity and the nature of work. She’s been a researcher at Amazon and Microsoft, and is currently Senior Principal Researcher at Workday. Sam is the author of two books on research, Practical Ethnography and Mixed Methods . In this conversation, we discuss sociology and ethnography in the context of organizations and how to manage the...

Austin Govella is a user experience design lead at Avanade , a global professional services company. He’s the author of Collaborative Product Design and co-author of the second edition of Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web . In this conversation, we focus on Austin’s note-taking system and its relation to his work in UX design and information architecture. Show notes Austin Govella A...

Veronica Erb is the author of Finding Out , an email newsletter for people who do and use UX research. Previously, she led UX research at NPR and consulted with a variety of companies. In this conversation, we discuss Veronica’s reading and note-taking practices. Since we recorded this, Veronica published a post with photos and screenshots of her notes. The link is in the show notes, in case you w...

Dorian Taylor is a consulting designer. He’s been influenced by the work of the architect and design theorist Christopher Alexander , who died in March. In this conversation, we discuss Alexander’s influence on the design of built environments and software. Show notes Dorian Taylor @doriantaylor on Twitter The Making of Making Sense (Dorian’s newsletter) At Any Given Moment in a Process (Dorian’s...

Laura Yarrow is Head of Design for HM Land Registry in the UK. She’s also a public speaker and educator. In this conversation, we talk about how designers can increase their effectiveness in organizations by becoming trusted agitators. Show notes Laura Yarrow @laura_yarrow on Twitter The people, place and space newsletter HM Land Registry Laura’s Twitter thread about trusted agitators Pace Layerin...

Oliver Caviglioli is a former headteacher of a special needs school. Now, he’s an information designer and author of several books about education. His latest book, Organise Ideas, which he co-authored with David Goodwin, explains the practice and science behind using graphic organizers to teach and learn. Show notes Oliver Caviglioli @olicav on Twitter Organise Ideas: Thinking by Hand, Extending...

Indi Young is a researcher who coaches, writes, and teaches about inclusive product strategy. She was one of the founders of the pioneering UX agency Adaptive Path. Indi wrote two influential books: Mental Models and Practical Empathy . Now she has a new book, called Time to Listen , which is the focus of our conversation today. Show notes Indi Young @indiyoung on Twitter Indi Young on LinkedIn Ti...