Design Life

This episode is sponsored by Playbook , which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential! In this li...

This episode is sponsored by Playbook , which is a collaborative platform for creatives to store, organize, and share their work. It features AI-powered search and integrates seamlessly with design tools, making it a great space to manage all your files and projects. Join the "30 Days of 30 Projects" Challenge with Playbook to elevate your creative skills and unlock your full potential! Charli and...

Femke and Charli dive into the experience of rebranding ConvertKit into Kit . Charli shares a behind-the-scenes look at launch day and the rebranding process, including what didn’t make it into the final launch but is on the roadmap, as well as key lessons learned and what could have been done differently. Timestamps:  0:33 - Intro & Life Update 3:32 - How did it feel when the rebrand was finally...

Femke shares her experience navigating the challenges of parental leave, including her decision to take extended time off supported by her employer and Canadian government benefits. She reflects on the challenges of staying connected with the design industry while on parental leave and the potential motivations for returning to work earlier than planned. Femke also discusses how her perspective on...

Charli and Femke talk about Charli’s recent promotion and how she approached this process. They explore the importance of taking ownership of your professional growth, including how proactively seeking feedback and showing initiative can help advance your career. They also cover important questions like when to bring up a promotion, what the promotion process entails, and how tools like a promotio...

Charli and Femke dive into their experiences working with freelancers and agencies in their side projects and day jobs. Charli shares the decision-making process behind choosing an agency for a recent rebrand at Convert Kit, the challenges they encountered, and how involved they were in the collaboration. The hosts also offer practical advice for anyone deciding whether to keep a project in-house...

Femke and Charli dive into the exciting world of rebranding Convert Kit. We explore the origins of the rebrand, discussing whether it began with a name change or a complete repositioning. Charli explains why they decided to make the rebranding process public instead of opting for a big splashy launch. Given the scale of the project, we delve into the various roles and responsibilities that are cru...

Femke and Charli dive deep into the topic of the business impact of design decisions. We discuss whether impact is expected in the product design world and if it is an integral part of the design process. We also cover how to measure success and incorporate metrics into the design process. Additionally, we highlight the importance of sharing real experiences, including conflicts with PMs, design f...

In today’s episode, we are gonna discuss and break down the recent announcements from Figma Config 2024 conference that took place on June 26-27 in San Francisco, California. We are going to talk about Figma's UI3 redesign, new features such as Figma Slides, Code Connect, new AI features, project transfers, connected workspaces, and many more. Show Timestamps: 0:45 Intro 01:16 Is it “cOnfig” or “c...

Femke and Charli delve into the difficulties of managing a side project that isn't going well. Charli shares her personal experience of trying to organize a live workshop in New Zealand and not managing to attract enough participants. The hosts discuss what Charli learned from this experience and how the situation could have been handled better. Show Timestamps: 2:03 Update from Femke’s side 4:14...

Femke and Charli share their insights on how to approach the application process in the 2024 design job market. The hosts share strategies on how to optimize your application, stand out from the crowd, and increase your chances of securing your desired position. As competition intensifies and hiring standards rise, it is important to excel in every aspect of your application, whether it's a case s...

Charli reflects on her 7-year journey at her current workplace, emphasizing the importance of difficult conversations in clarifying issues such as salary and job satisfaction. Femke talks about the struggles she experienced of leaving behind internal reputation and connections when transitioning roles, highlighting the value of established relationships within a company. They discuss the concept o...

Charli and Femke talk about their experience of having retreats with their teams, how retreats should be structured, what is their purpose and how to make the best out of in-person time with your teammates. As remote work becomes increasingly prevalent and we usually do not get the chance to see our co-workers’ faces outside of video-calls, team offsites can greatly improve the team dynamic and su...

Femke and Charli delve into the concept of personal branding. They discuss whether personal branding requires strategic planning and the level of intentionality one should have regarding their personal brand. Femke and Charli explore the distinction between personal and company brands, the objectives personal branding can help achieve and whether individuals can truly control others' perceptions o...

Charli and Femke give an elaborate reply to one of the listener's requests: whether deadlines should be taken seriously. The hosts share real stories of how they approached deadlines in different projects, how unrealistic deadlines should be handled, what to do in situations when a deadline cannot be met, how to discuss deadlines and set reasonable expectations, and how one's perspective on them c...

Charli shares her personal experience of how she got burned out from her side projects. She talks about the subtle signs and symptoms that indicate burnout and how to confront them. Charli decided to drop her side projects and restructured her life to recover from burnout. Charli and Femke touch upon how burn out can affect your career choices, the importance of diversifying your daily activities...

Welcome back, design enthusiasts! We're kicking off 2024 by bring you up to speed on our latest adventures and aspirations. 🌟 Life Updates: Tune in as we share the latest updates from our lives – from career milestones to more personal things, we're laying it all on the table. 💼 Career and Side Project Plans: Get ready to dive into our ambitious plans for the year ahead. We're talking side gigs,...

In this episode of the Design Life podcast we chat about all things copywriting!

Thank you Config for a fantastic conference! In this episode we recap our highlights and chat all about our meetup.

Are you attending a design conference this summer? In this episode we share our favourite tips for making the most of the conference experience to maximise learning, connection and most importantly - fun!

Preparing for a feature launch as a designer is such an exciting time! To see your work come to fruition brings with it a fantastic feeling, but it's not always plain sailing. In this episode we discuss the highs and lows of working on feature launches as a designer.

Today on the Design Life podcast we are answering a listener question from an engineer, who is looking for advice on how to validate a design and communicate this with the relevant stakeholders.

Wondering if you are on the right path in your design career? Fear not, we have a very reassuring conversation this week on the podcast! Hear all about how we've used the design career checkpoint to help reflect on our careers and set new goals.

This week on Design Life we’re chatting about learning throughout different stages of our design careers, and how our approach to learning has changed over time.

Find yourself in a new role and managing in different directions? Us too! In this episode we're talking how to make the most of managing in different directions.