A76 | a design pod

In this A76 episode, I talk with Matt Saip the SVP Technology Lead at Digitas' Chicago office. Matt spends his days translating complex topics, rejecting technical language others use as a crutch, and seamlessy delivers innovative platforms and projects at a global scale. He scales by keeping it simple. He's a hard working tech leader, there’s no one better at it and I appreciate his par...

Introducing Season 3 of A76 How do we design for the future, for new users, for niche cultures and our greater global society? How do we take amazing ideas and make them real and when is scale a negative? Growing teams. Enterprise design systems. Personalization. From macro ecosystems to micro interactions, the Art and Science of Scale. A76 and its episodes are created by Noel Childs Season 4 on t...

In this bonus episode of the A76 design pod, I talk with the creator of our intro theme music, the talented artist and musician, Stella Solveig . She illuminates her writing and recording process, discusses what informed her decisions, including defining what design sounds like, and shares insights into her own personal music and career. Check out more of Stella’s music at   Her website stellasolv...

Bringing you part 2 of my conversation with mentor and creative juggernaut, Frank Grubich. If you haven't listened to Part 1, definitely go check that out first .  In this lively conversation, we chat about how walking your dog leads to deeper insights, the challenges designers face in being valued and how we all need to continue to push boundaries by taking risks and continuously asking ques...

For today’s pod - I’m thrilled to bring you part 1 of my interview with Frank Grubich . He’s had a 35 year career that’s still going. He’s a creative juggernaut who owned a successful design agency for years called Laughing Dog—years before I designed with him. And he's worked on everything you can think of in the creative and design industry.  Yet, the qualities I appreciate most about Frank...

In today’s episode, I talk with friend of the pod Casey Hudetz . He’s a Senior Product Design Manager at Docusign, an AI enthusiast and international speaker on all things AI, tech and UX Design. We chat about many things including reconnecting with the greater design community and building sails to catch the future winds of change. A76 and its episodes are created by Noel Childs Season 4 on the H...

In today’s pod, I interview the talented Christin Norris , an Experience Design Manager at Accenture on the Design and Digital Products team. We talk about what we do when we’re not working, how making sourdough is a metaphor for managing change, and how to craft a successful design career via critical choices. I've also launched an A76 Patreon. Please consider becoming a member and supportin...

In today’s pod I break down my Adam Buhler interview from season 2’s episode 5— The new electricity —plus I experiment with interviewing Pi, an AI chatbot and have an uncanny, a little glitchy, yet ultimately intriguing discussion. A76 and its episodes are created by Noel Childs Season 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel Childs Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs Season 2 on Change w...

Continuing with our season of change, I talk with the incomparable Adam Buhler . Adam's the SVP Head of Creative Technology at Digitas, ferociously curious and strikingly prophetic around the direction of tech trends. We discuss everything from 30 minute meeting flow to the new electricity.  A76 and its episodes are created by Noel Childs Season 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel Childs...

After some time off, A76 design pod is back. I discuss episode 3's February interview with Dolly Vu, talk Brad Stulberg's Order, Disorder, Reorder cycle and preview an upcoming episode.  A76 and its episodes are created by Noel Childs Season 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel Childs Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs Season 1...

In the third episode of our season of change, I talk with  Dolly Vu an Associate Creative Director at Huge focusing on user experience and user interfaces. We have an open conversation around mitigating risk by providing design options; how storytelling design is so critical; and we discuss the challenges around a designer shifting to managing people. I hope you enjoy our conversation. A76 and its...

I'm Icebreaking my interviews as part of season 2's discussion of change. Specifically in this episode I discuss the behind the scenes context of chatting with Paul Grachan, what it takes to produce an episode of A76 and what happened when I challenged a co-worker to a footrace.  A76 and its episodes are created by Noel Childs Season 4 on the Human Spark is produced by Noel Childs Season...

Welcome to A76. We kick off our season of change, chatting with Paul Grachan . Paul is a long time friend, designer, creative spark, and driver of change. When I thought about who I wanted to chat with for this first episode I only had one person in mind. You might have heard his story of the dollar bill with his wife’s name on it on This American Life and if you know him, it’s so Paul. He’s one o...

Change. It’s so ubiquitous that it seems ridiculous to even talk about.  Yet our relationship to change is challenging. We have poor reactions to it, we ignore it hoping it will go away. We’re even surprised when it happens; which we should never be. The only thing in life that is constant and will never stop, is change. Obviously this is a big topic with many facets to it, but why do we have to a...

Noel and Casey wrap the season chatting on how their understanding of AI has changed over the course of the season. They discuss the highlights of the various guests they interviewed, how they’ve integrated AI into their design craft and implemented it in their design teams. They talk about how AI came to the design industry right at the perfect time, how it’s critical that UX designers immerse th...

Gavin Lew has decades of experience in both corporate and academic environments, as well as founding and selling one of the largest UX firms in the US. He’s a faculty member of the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and adjunct professor at DePaul. A frequent presenter at national and international conferences and the inventor of several patents, Gavin is also the author of the...

In this pod we talk to Andreas Refsgaard an artist and creative coder based in Copenhagen. Working in the field between art and interaction design he uses coding and machine learning to explore the creative potentials of emerging digital technologies. By connecting inputs and outputs in unconventional ways, Andreas allows people to experiment, interact and have fun with algorithms. We discuss his...

In today’s pod we talk to Mick Champayne, a senior visual designer at Google by day who moonlights as an illustrator. She loves navel-gazing about the future, especially how designers can support people’s values and intentions. With AI coming at us at warp speed, the implications for both design and illustration are far-reaching, but she's actively working on shifting her mindset from, in her...

The British Design Council codified the Double Diamond model in 2005. If you’re not familiar with the Double Diamond Model, it’s a visual model that interprets the design process represented by 2 diamonds. First one is all about Discovery and Research. Second one is all about design and testing. There are many articles written about it and many takes. We’ll break down the details and unpack it her...

In May of 2021, the iceberg that would become A76 calved off an ice shelf in Antarctica. Spotted by Keith Makinson, a polar oceanographer, he estimated it to be over 100 miles long and 16 miles wide, one of the largest icebergs in history, more square mileage then Rhode Island. Eventually it broke into 3 separate icebergs that are still floating out there in a vast sea of ice. My guess is you’ve n...