032: There is No There with Sarah Doody

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
User Research
032: There is No There with Sarah Doody
Loading
/

User Defenders "Doodle" Sarah Doody

Sarah Doody inspires us to break out of our comfort zones early & often if we want to achieve great things. She teaches us that our drawings should serve more as a communication tool than an art project. She encourages us to tap into our superpowers of using both sides of our brain. She also motivates us to not let anything stand in the way of becoming great at our craft.

Sarah Doody is a user experience designer and product strategist based in New York City. She helps product teams create products people need and love. She does this through smart and fast research, prototyping, and experience design. She produces a highly acclaimed weekly newsletter called the UX Notebook. She created and taught General Assembly’s first 12 week User Experience program back in 2011. She was originally going to be a neuroscientist.

  • Secret Identity/Origin Story (4:38)
  • Biggest Superhero (8:48)
  • Biggest Failure (11:26)
  • Awkward Testing Story (16:07)
  • Design Superpower (19:34)
  • Design Kryptonite (23:56)
  • Design Superhero Name (29:32)
  • Fight For Users (34:21)
  • Habit Of Success (36:44)
  • Invincible Resource (43:16)
  • Book Recommendation (45:06)
  • Best Advice (48:11)
  • Contact Info (50:39)

LINKS
Sarah’s Twitter
Sarah’s Newsletter
Sarah’s Website
Sarah’s User Research Fundamentals Course
Sarah’s Morning Routine
[VIDEO] Hillman Curtis
[VIDEO] Catapulting Chance into your Stupid Head
[VIDEO] Greg McKeown: “Essentialism”
[RESOURCES] Sketch, InVision, Reddit, LinkedIn
[BOOK] Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less


SUBSCRIBE TO AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE NEW EPISODES
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Pandora | Amazon Music | RSS Feed

USE YOUR SUPERPOWER OF SUPPORT
Here’s your chance to use your superpower of support. Don’t rely on telepathy alone! If you’re enjoying the show, would you take two minutes and leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the newsletter for superguest announcements and more, occasionally.

Continue reading 032: There is No There with Sarah Doody

031: Getting Scrappy with Mat Marquis

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Web Dev
031: Getting Scrappy with Mat Marquis
Loading
/

User Defenders "Muscles McTouchdown" Mat Marquis

Mat Marquis reminds us that web design is scrappy business. He inspires us to fight for what we truly believe in. He shows us how we can take our designs and skills further by learning a little code. He motivates us to continue to hone our communication skills by writing a lot. He also encourages us to surround ourselves with people who inspire us, and make us better.

Mat Marquis is an Inclusive Web Developer at Bocoup where he makes fast, accessible and responsive websites. He’s the Chair of the Responsive Issues Community Group where he spearheaded the effort to bring native responsive image solutions to the HTML5 specification. He’s the author of A Book Apart published “JavaScript for Web Designers”. He’s a former editor at A List Apart, and member of the jQuery team. Mat is a frequent speaker at one of my favorite web conferences, An Event Apart. He’s an ex-carpenter, amateur boxer and also bakes a mean batch of croissants.

  • Secret Identity/Origin Story (7:25)
  • Biggest Superhero (15:35)
  • Second Career Choice (17:17)
  • Biggest Failure (18:55)
  • Awkward Testing Story (21:49)
  • Design Superpower (27:11)
  • Design Kryptonite (29:00)
  • Design Superhero Name (34:25)
  • Fight For Users (39:58)
  • Future Of UX Design (43:00)
  • Habit Of Success (53:54)
  • Invincible Resource (55:37)
  • Book Recommendation (59:55)
  • Best Advice (62:52)
  • Most Excited About (70:12)
  • Contact Info (71:27)

Continue reading 031: Getting Scrappy with Mat Marquis

030: Content for All with Aaron Gustafson

User Defenders podcast
Empathy
030: Content for All with Aaron Gustafson
Loading
/

User Defenders "The Enhancer" Aaron Gustafson

Aaron Gustafson inspires us to build a web for all people. He encourages us to keep an open mind about perspectives that are different than our own. He motivates us to keep focused on context when it comes to the users we’re designing for. He also challenges us to plant seeds of growth in others by making ourselves available and open to new opportunities.

Aaron Gustafson is passionate about web standards and accessibility as would be expected from a former manager of the Web Standards Project. In his two decades working on the Web, he’s worked with companies such as Happy Cog, Major League Baseball, McAfee and The New York Times. He joined Microsoft as a web standards advocate to work closely with their browser team. He loves sharing his knowledge through writing. His three-part series on progressive enhancement for A List Apart is a perennial favorite and his seminal book on the subject, Adaptive Web Design, has earned him numerous accolades and honors. When he’s not writing, he’s probably on the road presenting at conferences and running workshops across the globe. He is a longtime member of Rosenfeld Media’s “experts” group and former technical editor for A List Apart. He and his wife also brokered and produced the DVD release of Drawing Flies which was also produced by Kevin Smith (of Clerks fame who also happens to be a fellow comic book nerd).

  • Secret Identity/Origin Story (3:43)
  • Biggest Superhero (10:11)
  • Second Career Choice (15:17)
  • Biggest Failure (20:48)
  • Awkward Testing Story (30:50)
  • Design Superpower (49:37)
  • Design Kryptonite (51:03)
  • Design Superhero Name (51:41)
  • Fight For Users (53:23)
  • Future Of UX Design (55:18)
  • Habit Of Success (60:20)
  • Invincible Resource (63:30)
  • Book Recommendation (66:45)
  • Best Advice (69:31)
  • Most Excited About (74:16)
  • Contact Info (79:55)

Continue reading 030: Content for All with Aaron Gustafson

029: Be Relentless with Ling Lim

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Empathy
029: Be Relentless with Ling Lim
Loading
/

User Defenders "UX Lifter" Ling Lim

Ling Lim inspires us to be relentless in our pursuit of the person we want to become. She teaches us to create products that connect with our users and their lives by becoming them as much as possible. She challenges us to not sacrifice the sentimental quality of a product when we design for it in the future. She also motivates us to take care of ourselves outside of our work so we can continue to grow in our careers and personal lives.

Ling Lim is a Product Designer currently working at Yahoo based in San Francisco by way of Singapore with an award-winning background in architectural design. She is passionate about using design as a tool to highlight and solve social and urban issues. She mentors students, fellow designers and founders at design events including CascadeSF. When she’s not designing, she’s a competitive powerlifter, solo traveler, snowboarder, writer, and speaker. She also lives relentlessly, values integrity…and tight pants.

  • What Got You Into Lifting (2:41)
  • Secret Identity (3:38)
  • Origin Story (4:58)
  • Ways Architecture Influenced Design (8:59)
  • Do Designers Miss The Importance of Research (12:54)  
  • Biggest Superhero (16:36)
  • Second Career Choice (19:33)
  • Biggest Failure (20:53)
  • Failure Takeaway (25:53)
  • What Do You Say To Uninspired Designers (29:07)
  • Awkward Testing Story (33:49)
  • Design Superpower (34:26)
  • Design Kryptonite (36:10)
  • Design Superhero Name (38:35)
  • Fight For Users (40:28)
  • Future Of UX Design (41:49)
  • Habit Of Success (46:41)
  • How Do You Stay Inspired (47:58)
  • Invincible Resource (30:34)
  • Book Recommendation (49:14)
  • Best Advice (51:23)
  • Most Excited About (53:50)
  • Contact Info (54:37)

Continue reading 029: Be Relentless with Ling Lim

028: Be Persistent with Chris Coyier

User Defenders podcast
Web Dev
028: Be Persistent with Chris Coyier
Loading
/

User Defenders "CSS Man" Chris Coyier

Chris Coyier teaches us that if we care about succeeding in something, we need to be willing to persist for a long time. He inspires us to grab hold of the joy that comes from building for ourselves, too. He encourages us to not just use a framework because we’re “supposed to”, but to use whatever tool is right for the job. He also enlightens us to the superpower of using SVG in practical ways.

Chris Coyier is the founder of everybody’s favorite CSS resource CSS-Tricks, and the author of newly released A Book Apart published “Practical SVG“. He’s a fellow podcaster co-hosting the Shop Talk Show. He co-founded the incredibly innovative web coding playground, CodePen. He loves to share his knowledge as an international speaker and avid blogger. His life goal is to be a banjo player in an old time string band.

Continue reading 028: Be Persistent with Chris Coyier