Design More Despair Less

I know what you're thinking... What in the world is a "prototype"? Isn't that just prototype being misspelled? Well, if that's what you're thinking then you definitely need to listen to this episode! I discuss the differences between the two, when to use them, and how to use them effectively to improve your products and overall product development process. As always, find me on Instagram @learndes...

Happy Labor Day everyone! I took today off, so here is mini episode on the history and purpose of Labor Day as told by the U.S. Department of Labor (link to article below). I will be back tomorrow with a normal episode. In the meantime, enjoy your Labor Day! Article: https://www.dol.gov/general/laborday/history Music by Guidon from Pixabay. Copyright 2022 Design30 LLC.

We can all use a little reminder on how to work more efficiently, right? In this episode I provide a quick description of Little's Law and how you can reduce your Work In Progress (WIP) to complete projects/tasks faster and improve your overall efficiency in design, at work, and at home. If you're enjoying this podcast, please rate it and follow Design30 on Instagram (@learndesign30). Have questio...

A shorter episode this week discussing affordances and signifiers. What are they, what are the differences, and how can they be used to vastly improve your designs! Books quoted in this episode (no affiliation): Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman ( https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Revised-Expanded/dp/0465050654/ref=sr ) Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell ( https://...

In this episode I provide a brief introduction to Mind Maps, give some simple examples, and look at a few papers discussing the effectiveness of Mind Mapping. Finally, I end the episode with an aside on simplicity and, of course, end with the Design30 Discipline for the week. Articles mentioned in this episode: https://philpapers.org/archive/DAVCMM.pdf https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12028392/ htt...

In this episode of the Design30 Podcast Mental Models are discussed. What are they? How are they used? What are examples? Essentially they are a users internal image or concept of how a product works and operates. A users Mental Model is strongly influenced by the design of the product as well as by the marketing, packaging, and manual. A user with an accurate or useful mental model is a more conf...

A top level overview of rapid prototyping. This episode goes over some general techniques/ideas as well as provides some companies to work with for quick turn parts. The two companies mentioned in this episode (no affiliation): Protolabs Xometry Music by Guidon from Pixabay. Copyright 2022 Design30 LLC.

In this episode of the Design:30 Podcast I define what Human Centered Design (HCD) is, how empathy plays a key role in HCD, how to implement visualization to understand the user experience, and finally provide a Design30 Discipline to help listeners solidify and internalize what I discussed. Book Recommendations (no affiliation): Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley ( https://www.ama...

An introductory episode to Design30. I provide a high level overview of what to expect from the Design30 Podcast. Stay tuned for future episodes diving into design strategies and tools to improve creativity, innovation, and design confidence!