UX Murder Mystery

After some heavy episodes, Eve and Brian lighten things up with a fun conversation about their love of movies and movie theaters—and why the industry is in deep trouble. We discuss what makes the theatrical experience magical, how individual UX improvements accidentally killed the communal vibe, and whether movie theaters can survive the streaming era. Discussed in this episode: What we love about...

Ten episodes in, it's time we properly introduce ourselves. In this milestone episode, Eve and Brian step away from investigating product murders to share their own origin stories—how they got into UX, how they met teaching at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the career roller coasters they've survived along the way. We get candid about getting laid off, building resilience, and why your job t...

LinkedIn's AI screening tools are blocking qualified candidates from jobs they're perfect for. We investigate how automated recruiting broke the job market—and what both sides get catastrophically wrong. Comedian and recruiter Lindsay Adams brings a unique dual perspective: the comedy of watching candidates optimize for bots, and the tragedy of talent disappearing into ATS black holes. She reveals...

The UX job market isn't just "tough"—it's forcing designers to leave the country, abandon expensive cities, and consider completely different careers. Brian and Eve get real about what's happening in tech right now: the inhumane way companies handle layoffs, why AWS outages reveal deeper problems with cost-cutting, and whether forming tech unions could actually protect workers. This episode covers...

Clippy never died. It just evolved into the intrusive AI assistants plaguing us today. In this episode, Brian and Eve investigate why tech companies keep building "helpful" features nobody wants, from Microsoft's tone-deaf Copilot to the Rabbit AI device that projects interfaces onto your hand (seriously). We dissect the pattern of solutions searching for problems, explore how AI-generated slop is...

On today's episode: Eve and Brian as the questions: Should UX practitioners need licenses? Is UX Leadership failing designers, writers and researchers? Are they prepared to think critically about AI? UX MURDER MYSTERY HOSTED BY Brian J. Crowley Eve Eden EDITED BY Kelsey Smith INTRO ANIMATION & LOGO DESIGN Brian J. Crowley MUSIC BY Nicolas Lee A JOINT PRODUCTION OF EVE | User Experience Design Agen...

This week, Eve and Brian talk about the biggest UX scam in tech right now, wearable 'innovation' that no one asked for. From Apple Vision Pro's $3,500 ski-mask aesthetic to Meta's mind-reading wristband, they uncover how the race for futuristic hardware keeps ignoring one thing: real humans. Google Glass failed in 2014. Apple Vision Pro launched in 2024 to lukewarm reception. We investigate why AR...

This week Eve and Brian talk about some 🌶️🌶️🌶️. What happens when dating apps evolve backwards how did covid change the game? In this episode of UX Murder Mystery, we investigate how Match, Tinder, and Bumble transformed from hopeful matchmakers into user-hostile addictive profit machines—and why OnlyFans and PornHub users report higher satisfaction than people actually trying to date. Dating apps...

What happens when a game made for kids becomes a playground for predators? Eve and Brian break down Roblox's biggest UX crime — failed moderation — and how better design could have saved more than just reputations. In 2018, Roblox's design team created an in-game economy that pedophiles exploited to groom children. We investigate how UX decisions prioritized profit over safety, why content moderat...

Brian and Eve talk about how LinkedIn was once a useful product and now it's lost it way gaining all the worst noise and anxiety of social media with very little utility. LinkedIn's UX drives away the professionals it's supposed to serve. We investigate why the feed is full of spam, how the interface prioritizes engagement over utility, and why Microsoft's design decisions make networking harder,...

UX designers are being marginalized in product development. We investigate why design roles are shrinking, how AI is being blamed, and what's really happening to the profession. Perfect for: UX designers, product managers, design leaders, career changers, design students UX MURDER MYSTERY HOSTED BY Brian J. Crowley Eve Eden EDITED BY Kelsey Smith INTRO ANIMATION & LOGO DESIGN Brian J. Crowley MUSI...