Hotline Design

New episode from the vault - the co-hosts welcome a very special guest, a friend of industry, and a master of strategic career pivots - Mr. Phil Sayer! Episode highlights include: ✨ Pinpointing your purpose at work 🧠 Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivations 🎓 The value of continuous learning

This week, the co-hosts talk all about the exciting world of digital banks. We go back in time to talk about their fairly recent histories and breakdown their innovative mobile banking UIs to see what we can learn from these digital disrupters.

With the end of 2022 fast approaching (I know), we are also wrapping up the end of season 2 of Hotline Design Pod. 

Tune in to hear about the ups and downs of season 2 and of course, everything we learnt from it as well. 

In this week's episode, we discuss what we've learnt from Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans - the phenomenal book that has shaped the lives of both design and non-design folks in significant ways. By applying core principles in design - re-framing, identifying pain points and prototyping - to your life, Bill and Dave believe that anyone can design a purposeful life in line with their values. We agree!

As Lauren says, design thinking isn't just for the holidays, friends! 

The product and UX worlds are full of frameworks and methodologies designed to ensure we keep our users at the forefronts of our minds. 

But sometimes who they are doesn't matter as much as what they use our product for. In this episode, we explore how each feature and product has is 'employed' by our users to do a job for us, and how this framework can help us design more useful products. 

Its been a long time coming, so we could not be more excited to welcome this week’s guest and LunchClub legend, Adam Tillner-Smith! He talks the cohost’s through the bustling world of B2B FinTech and rocking it as a design team of 1.

This week, we're back with Part 2 of our user testing series - focussing on unmoderated user testing. Rejoice - because it triumphs moderated user testing in some ways when you don't have to "play calendar tetris", can launch tests on a weekend and get answers back quickly, and consequently can test with many more users! Keep listening to find out the team's best tips for tools to use and post-testing synthesis. 

Depending on the organisation we're part of, designers either have the luxury of running user testing all the time, or the curse of having to convince our organisations the value it can bring. 

Either way, this episode aims to offer a few tips and tricks, so you can confidently run moderated user testing sessions, in any environment. 

We could not be more excited to welcome this week’s guest and literal sister of the pod, Andrea Karrys. She's an experimental product manager, a blazered-up baddie and business school lassie. Andrea talks the cohosts through the fantastic world of NFTs and experimental product management, all while inspiring us to wear more sundresses in 2022!

This week, the cohosts discuss two cherished artefacts - personas and archetypes. We talk about the pros and cons of each form of user representation and unpack how can they help inform your designs. We also weigh in on the debate about which artefact reigns supreme!

Whilst it's almost the end of March, this episode was recorded mid-January when some of the 'New Year' chat was more appropriate. Regardless, it is not almost the start of Q2 of 2022, so hopefully these tips help you with your Q1 review and onwards planning. 

In this week's episode, Lauren, YuXin and Lavinia chat about their goals, their approaches to setting them and some tips on how to make them stick. And because we work in tech, the usual acronyms are also going to make an appearance. Expect to hear about OKRs and SMART goals.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and Phil for calling into the Hotline Design Hotline this week!

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Or send us your questions on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week on Hotline Design, we have the pleasure of welcoming the phenomenal Rachita and Rebecca of Sisterhood School + Studio, whose mission is to bring design education to the 21st century by using creativity as the vehicle for social change to positively impact girls and their futures. They share their journey of starting Sisterhood, from bonding together at design school to testing and persisting with their idea of running long-term creative programmes for girls aged 13-18. Rachita and Rebecca also share what design means to them - both as the creators of Sisterhood programmes and accomplished designers in their own right. In this episode, we also switch things up by interviewing Zainab, a former Sisterhood student, in the Hotline Design Hotline section.

We hope you enjoy the conversation - just in time for International Women's Day!

It's a new year and a new milestone, episode 30! This week, we're tackling onboarding journeys and ensuring they deliver value. We've all been there, clicking 'skip' on 10 modals or closing a boring video attempting to explain the product to us. In this episode, the cohosts are offering their experience and tips on how to make them successful. 

This week the co-hosts are joined by fantastic friend of the pod and design lead extraordinaire, Kelly Kornet Weber from Coeuraj in Canada! She's breaking down the collaborative design process and explaining the exciting world of participatory futurism, all while telling us how to spot the winning contestant on Survivor!

This week, the cohosts share the ups, downs and everything in-between of the day-to-day of being a designer in today’s workforce. We share top tips on structuring your day, writing a solid to-do list and why no agenda means no attenda.

The term designops has been floating around for a while now. Defined by the Nielsen Norman Group as the 'orchestration and optimisation of people, processes, and craft in order to amplify design’s value and impact at scale', the co-hosts discuss what this means for teams in terms of how they work together, how they accomplish the work they need to do, and how to amplify the impact of their work. Plus - hear about Lauren's low-down on the Graham Norton show and Lavinia's close shave with a bull in a field!

"Am I senior yet?" - a question just as philosophical as... "To be or not to be?". Jokes aside, the industry is rapidly changing and we don't yet have clear career structures between organisations. While they can be mapped against each other within tech giants, if you're working for a smaller company, a start-up, an agency or a consultancy, things can get confusing fast. In this week's episode, the cohosts hopefully demystify a little bit of what being a senior designer means. 

Whiteboard design challenges - an exciting, and at times, intimidating staple in the UX interview. This week the cohosts break down the top tips for acing your take home or live whiteboard challenge, all while brining in with pearls of wisdom from Artiom Dashinsky’ fantastic book Solving Product Design Exercises. The cohosts are also bamboozled by the word 'vehemently', but will they endure? Tune in to find out!

This week we tackle Part 2 of how to articulating your design decisions, continuing with our discussion of how to communicate with your stakeholders, keep your sanity, and deliver the best possible user experiences! We focus on top tips for productive conversations with your team and how to follow up to reinforce your design decisions.

Many thanks to Tom Greever for his book, Articulating Design Decisions, which has formed the basis of this 2-parter.

Do you crave speed, collaboration, innovation and action? In this week's episode, the cohosts get off the treadmill and onto the mic to explore design sprints, the ultimate fast-paced, agile approach to product design.

Wisdom comes with age, but so can degeneration across the senses. Aging is an inevitable part of life, no matter how much botox we use. Given we’re all aging, how can we ensure we are making design decisions that are inclusive and accessible to older users? The trio shares their tips for gallant and glamorous geriatric design in this week’s episode.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Lauren for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week the trio chats about the infamous 'art' art of dark UX and how it led to one of the hosts to completely changing their identity and hiding into witness protection. Needy parrots also get a special mention.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Aga for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week, join us in the studio as we carry on with Part II of our Job Hunt series and talk all about the exciting but sometimes dreaded application and interview phases. We cover the Ten Commandments of the perfect application process, drawing on Lavinia's recent experiences of applying ("Helping you nav with Captain Lav"!) Special shout-out to Stephen Brown (our friend and guest from Episode 5), whose amazing audio transition tracks make a feature on this week's episode. 

In this episode & highly anticipated job hunt series, the co-hosts talk all about how to narrow down on the perfect job. Lavinia, YuXin and Lauren highlight the most important questions & considerations for identifying fantastic working opportunities & environments... even in this economy.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to our Hotline Design Hotline caller this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week, the trio welcomes a new guest, Dragos Neagu. Senior developer by day and Bootcamp teacher by night, Dragos also has his own app, KINN, and has a driving passion for equality.

For this episode, he's bringing the developer perspective to the table, sharing how we can all collaborate better as essential team mates of multi-disciplinary teams.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Ben for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

In this week's episode, we talk all about the role of UX designers. We talk about the breadth and the depth of our roles, unrealistic expectations, UX unicorns and hold the criminal authors of Ikea furniture assembly manuals accountable.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to our anonymous unicorn for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week the Hotline Design team chats all things design systems: organisational wonderlands helping to add structure to the otherwise Wild West of our design documents. Join the co-hosts as they discuss why design systems are invaluable to design teams, cite examples of design systems they love and dish out some top tips on organising design systems!

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to our Hotline Design Hotline caller this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

What’s better than one diamond? Two – just ask any fabulous divorcee! In this second part of our first ever 2-part series, we go back for another helping of luster and shine. Join our gleaming co-hosts as we take on the second and final diamond in the Double Diamond Design Framework and zero in on Develop and Deliver.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Dragos for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Email: hotlinedesignpod@gmail.com

Designers are often seen as artists, or untamed creatives, who create incredible work out of thin air. But really, we love a good framework. And turns out, we love a good cinch too - and the Double Diamond process is our go-to for both! Join the co-hosts this week as we outline the first two stages in the Double Diamond, the Design Council's framework for innovation.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Alex for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

We are thrilled to have our 2nd guest star this week - Nicole Faccio (@facciolita), fellow podcaster at Normal Adjustments (@normaladjustments), product manager and advocate of lymphedema awareness! Nicole dishes out her insights on product management, managing your career and how to ensure greater product management x product design collaboration and cohesion.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

Join the Hotline Design cohosts as we delve into the wonderful world of user interviews. We explore the tried and true user interview process, our experiences (including lots of geriatric ethics approval) and give you 10 terrific tips for ensuring your interviews absolutely kill it! 

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Adam for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

*Please note we talk about Sarah Everard's tragic loss of life at the start of this episode. If you'd prefer to skip, please start listening at 7:00.*

Would we even be a design podcast if we didn't talk about imposter syndrome? Join the cohosts this week as we share the history of imposter syndrome, our experiences and top tips on how to combat the inner saboteur!

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Bella for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

Happy International Women’s Week! Join the ladies of the pod as we celebrate women in design we absolutely love, talk sexism in the workplace and take a swing at putting an end to ‘decorative Pan-Am uniform adorned lobby women'

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Alastair for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week, the co-hosts share their experiences with facilitating great (and not so great) workshops. Tune in for how to get the most out of your workshops - both virtual and in-person.

Hotline Design Hot Tip: unexpectedly pelt participants with beanie babies to keep them alert and energised!

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Alastair for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week we are proud to introduce our first guest (star 🌟), the one, the only Mr. @stephensjbrown. This creative chameleon talks design, coding, dance, making music, clothing design and even modelling, together with the process that ties them all together. Tune in to this Wednesday's episode to hear more about this fantastic friend of the pod!

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Audrey for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

Accessibility in UX design is paramount. This week join the cohosts as they discuss why accessibility is important, what tools they use and why lime green text on a red background is *never* okay.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and to Andrea for calling the Hotline Design Hotline this week.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

Sketch? Figma? Abobe XD? Where do your allegiances lie? Which user interface design tool has your heart? Tune in this week as Hotline Design steps in the ring to see how these titan tools measure up.

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and our anonymous Canadian listener for calling into the Hotline Design Hotline this week!

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Find us on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

This week join the trio to hear about Ottolenghi, reverse scamming, and excel-induced crying. 

Aside from that we’ll be focusing on how we got into UX (without going to design school), and answering a question from a mystery Hotline Design Hotline caller!

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music.

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Or send us your questions on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd

Ring, ring - "Is your podcast running? Well you better go catch it!"

We are beyond thrilled to share our VERY FIRST episode of Hotline Design Podcast with you all! This week, we're talking about the pros, cons and wonders of being a UX team of one. Will give you all the top tips you need for success if you find yourself alone in abyss as the sole designer on your project. 

Special thanks to @matt_beadnall for the music and @sophieperle_ for calling into the Hotline Design Hotline this week!

Don't forget you can always record a question for us at https://anchor.fm/hotlinedesignpod

Or send us your questions on social media:

Instagram: @hotlinedesignpod

Twitter: @hotlinedesignpd