Brave UX with Brendan Jarvis 🇺🇦

Jaime Levy shares the importance (and danger ⚡) of putting yourself into your work, how UX going mainstream has changed the field, and wonders, “where are all of our design heroes?”. Highlights include: ⭐ How is the mainstreaming of UX changing the field? ⭐ Why is it important to put yourself into your work? ⭐ How far do we have to go to create a meaningful career? ⭐ Why did you stop teaching...

Kate Leto calls on us to improve the EQ of our product orgs, so that we can improve their performance, our team's happiness, and our own self-awareness. Highlights include: ⭐ Why do we focus overly on technical product management skills? ⭐ How do you make the business case for investing in Product EQ? ⭐ What mistakes do we often make when interviewing product people? ⭐ How can people come to t...

In this final episode of 2021, instead of an in-depth interview, you’re going to hear a series of short and important messages from a range of previous Brave UX guests. There's plenty of healthy mind food in this episode, especially as you reflect on the year that's been and contemplate the year ahead. Stay safe and be well. And... Keep being brave! ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear mor...

Gregg Bernstein shares what it takes to build an impactful UX research practice, how to avoid compromising your findings, and why *NSYNC is better than the Backstreet Boys. Highlights include: ⭐ What role does humility play in being an effective UX researcher? ⭐ Is it dangerous for UX Researchers to be seen as service providers? ⭐ What common business blindspots do UX Researchers have? ⭐ How d...

Tracy McGoldrick talks about the challenges of building a Research Ops practice that supports over 100 UX researchers, and how IBM’s increasing the impact of design. Highlights include: ⭐ How do you know if Research Ops is doing a good job? ⭐ What is the biggest misconception people have about Research Ops? ⭐ How has GDPR and CCPA impacted the Research Ops practice? ⭐ Why is IBM investing hund...

Mikkel Michelsen takes us into the world of UX design for mission critical systems (including the F-35), where users’ lives are quite literally in the hands of the designer. Highlights include: ⭐ Did you get to fly in an F-35? ⭐ How did it feel to design systems that had direct impact on human life? ⭐ How did you involve users in the design of mission critical systems? ⭐ How do design for the...

Eva PenzeyMoog shines a light on how digital products are being used to enable domestic violence, and what we can do to protect our most vulnerable users. Highlights include: ⭐ What is domestic violence and how does it show up? ⭐ How is technology being weaponised by domestic abusers? ⭐ Why can’t our users be solely responsible for their own safety? ⭐ How can designers use archetypes to help s...

Amy Santee encourages us to take control of our careers, to take action when we see something that’s not right, and to realise we have more power than we think we do. Highlights include: ⭐ Are jobs in UX and other ares of HCD bullshit jobs? ⭐ Why did you write and publish your own code of ethics? ⭐ How do you help people to establish useful career goals? ⭐ What should people considering a care...

Dan Balcauski makes product positioning and pricing easy to understand, and shares techniques for uncovering what customers value and are willing to pay for.  Highlights include: ⭐ What is product positioning and why does it matter? ⭐ How do you know if your product has great positioning? ⭐ Why is it so difficult for companies to build what customers value? ⭐ How do you determine what a custom...

Ruth Brown dives deep into group polarisation, challenging us to get out of our echo chambers and to practice the empathy that we preach. Highlights include: - Do we still need insiders to call out uninclusive behaviour?  - How does our need to be perfect reinforce unhelpful binary perspectives? - How do designers suffer from group polarisation? - Why do companies find it difficult to be truly hum...

Indi Young challenges us to unlock the potential of the problem space, to be business-wise when engaging with stakeholders, and to listen deeply to learn peoples’ purposes. Highlights include: - Why are we so obsessed with solutions in software? - What do we need to ask ourselves before running research? - Can we expect business stakeholders to trust qualitative data? - What does it mean to listen...

Unpacking the stories, learnings and expert advice of world-class UX, design and product management professionals, Brendan Jarvis is on a mission to help you to create better products.

Lisa Maria Marquis encourages us to be better designers by thinking more deeply about the decisions we’re making and their potential for harm. Highlights include: ⭐ What are some harmful IA decisions that we're making? ⭐ Why is Information Architecture undervalued and under-practiced? ⭐ How do we actively build a safe and trusting relationship with users? ⭐ Why do gender categories cause some...

Jane Austin speaks openly about the twists and turns of her journey from designer to executive-level design leader, and reminds us that it’s okay to be both vulnerable and assertive.  Highlights include: - How do you help people to be more comfortable with being wrong? - Why is it important to find your voice as a design leader? - How does “strong opinions loosely held” work in practice? - Why is...

Dan Brown dives into the world of creative and collaborative mindsets, the importance of self-reflection in UX, and why we shouldn’t be too rigid in our design process. Highlights include: - Which battles need to be fought in design and which don’t? - Why do we need to develop better Information Architecture skills? - Do we rely too much on established design processes? - What does it mean to be a...

Jon Deragon shares with us his UX design leadership journey in South East Asia, how to engage more effectively with stakeholders, and why we mustn’t let life pass us by. Highlights include: - How are UX designers like music composers and ER doctors? - What is it like being a Westerner living and working in Vietnam? - How do you get past “no” from other stakeholders? - What characterises a product...

Koji Pereira tells his inspiring story of becoming a senior design leader for some of the world’s hottest tech companies, against all the odds.   Highlights include: - What’s enabled you to swim and not sink in tough situations? - Why was Google’s Orkut social network sunset? - How can we make our products work for people who have low literacy? - What hard lessons did you learn leading a startup?...

Rich McCoy unpacks some formative experiences from the Kalahari Desert, how we can conquer our creative fears, and why designing lean creates value faster.  Highlights include: - How has growing up in the Kalahari Desert shaped you? - What does it mean to “get primal” with design? - How do we get over our fear of showing our work? - What are some clues that product teams are out of alignment? - Ho...

Sachi Taulelei shares what it’s like to interview people at the end of their lives, why research methods need to adapt to cultural context, and the heavy cost of poor diversity in tech. Highlights include: - What is it like interviewing people at the end of their lives? - How is researching with Pasifika peoples different? - How have Pasifika been impacted by rapid digitisation? - Why is diversity...

Bob Baxley reflects on his time as a design leader at Apple, why no one can name a famous product designer, and the importance of having conviction in your ideas. Highlights include: - What was it like presenting design work to Steve Jobs? - Is a job in design more than a means to an end? - Why was Dr. Seuss trying to kill Dick & Jane? - What role does humility play in supporting ideas? - How can...

Uday Gajendar dives deep into what it takes for enterprise design leaders to thrive, and calls on all designers to amplify human virtues through their work. Highlights include: ⭐ How is designing a political act? ⭐ What is meta design and why does it matter? ⭐ How can agile and design coexist to the benefit of all? ⭐ Why do people want to kill your ideas and how to protect them? ⭐ What are th...

Lada Gorlenko speaks about high-stress research environments, how to effectively engage wth senior executives, and where great enterprise UXers come from. Highlights include: - How do you help your team to let go of perfectionism? - Is enterprise UX boring compared to consumer UX? - What did you learn studying murderers and drug offenders? - How do you involve executives effectively in research? ...

Steve Fisher opens up about the importance of diversity in technology, the challenges of design leadership, and the role conflict plays in making change. Highlights include: - How do you ensure diversity at the Design & Content Conference? - Is conflict still the key in achieving positive momentum? - How can new design leaders make a more effective start? - What do you look for when hiring junior...

Dave Malouf gets real about the role of DesignOps, how to protect design from errant efficiency seekers, and the challenge of designing in agile environments. Highlights include: - What is the value of design? - Why are we confused about what design is? - What can design leaders do to better articulate the value of design? - How can designers play to their strengths and stay relevant? - Is DesignO...

Laura Faulkner gives a passionate and practical overview of how to frame decision risk, develop better stakeholder relationships, and do research that matters. Highlights include: - Why is UX hard? - How can you frame risk to make better decisions? - What is an intake conversation and why do they matter? - How can we improve our chances that stakeholders will take action? - What is vital to get ri...