027: Looking Down the Road with Aarron Walter

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Empathy
027: Looking Down the Road with Aarron Walter
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User Defenders "The Falcon" Aarron Walter

Aarron Walter inspires us to always try and see the big picture. He challenges us to produce more grounded work by getting outside our bubbles, and feeling a bit more pain. He shows us how storytelling is central to the human experience and transcends our medium. He also inspires us to maintain plenty of inputs in order to craft more interesting experiences for our users.

Aarron Walter (The Falcon) is the VP of Design Education at InVision. Prior to this he founded the UX practice at MailChimp (along many other accomplishments too numerable to mention here). He’s the author of A Book Apart published Designing for Emotion. He’s a frequent speaker at conferences around the world, and his design guidance has helped the White House, the US Department of State, along with dozens of startups and venture capitalists. He’s run with the bulls in Pamplona, met 3 presidents, been blessed by the Pope, and bungee jumped off a 10 story crane. Eat your heart out most interesting man in the world.

  • Secret Identity (2:34)
  • Origin Story (4:47)
  • How Important Is Storytelling To Our Work? (9:49)
  • Has Film Influenced You As A Designer? (13:08)
  • Biggest Superhero (19:45)
  • Second Career Choice (22:37)
  • Biggest Failure (25:38)
  • Awkward Testing Story (33:44)
  • Design Superpower (39:29)
  • Design Kryptonite (40:58)
  • Design Superhero Name (43:50)
  • Fight For Users (44:28)
  • Future Of UX Design (46:39)
  • Habit Of Success (51:45)
  • Invincible Resource (53:02)
  • Book Recommendation (55:25)
  • Best Advice (57:35)
  • Most Excited About (58:16)
  • Contact Info (1:00:16)

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? I’d also be willing to remove my cloak of invisibility from your inbox if you’d subscribe to the Bi-Weekly Bugle for superguest announcements and my Usable Thoughts.

Continue reading 027: Looking Down the Road with Aarron Walter

013: Practice What You Do with Dan Mall

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Leadership
013: Practice What You Do with Dan Mall
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User Defenders "Vision" Dan Mall

Dan Mall inspires us to get really good at what we do by constantly practicing it. He reminds us of the importance of work/life balance and setting the right priorities. He also reminds us that there’s a big difference between being a leader and being a boss, and how great leaders are always looking for ways to serve their people. He also shares with us that the future of good UX is the same as it’s always been…invisible.

Dan Mall (Vision) is the founder and Design Director of the magnificent design collaborative “SuperFriendly” based in Philadelphia where he teams up with his own Justice League of top-notch design superheroes such as Josh Clark (a.k.a. Dr. Touch) and Brad Frost. He’s the author of A Book Apart published “Pricing Design“. He’s been the Design Director at Big Spaceship, Interactive Director at Happy Cog, technical editor for A List Apart, and singer/keyboard player for contemporary-Christian band Four24. He has a passion for playing matchmaker between surprising art direction and intuitive interaction design. His most significant role I’d wager is as an enthralled husband and Dad.

Continue reading 013: Practice What You Do with Dan Mall

008: There’s a Lot of Opportunity for Those Who Are Willing to Take Some Risks with Ben Callahan

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Leadership
008: There’s a Lot of Opportunity for Those Who Are Willing to Take Some Risks with Ben Callahan
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User Defenders "Mr. Middleman" Ben Callahan

Ben Callahan inspires us to be passionate about the interfaces we design and put ourselves in the shoes of the people who are using them to do amazing things. He shares a really interesting parallel from Jazz music to the work we do. He reminds us to make every day count by first thinking about what’s truly important and impactful for that day. He also encourages us to not be afraid to make stuff and put it out there because we’ll only get better by trying.

Ben Callahan is the president of the insanely talented and nimble web design studio Sparkbox in beautiful Dayton, Ohio. Ben is unquestionably one of today’s foremost experts on Responsive Web Design and building responsibly. He’s an active blogger and TedX speaker who has been invited to speak at pretty much any notable web design conference that exists. He’s also a family man, a fellow coffee snob, and one of the nicest, down-to-earth guys I’ve met in this industry.

LINKS
Ben’s Twitter
Ben’s Website
Ben’s Blog
Sparkbox
Codepen Redesign
[VIDEO] Ben’s TedX Talk

[RESOURCE] UIE Library
[BOOK] On The Run (A Fugitive Life In An American City)


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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.

SUPER-CRED
Artwork by Cesar Lemus | Editing by Chris Combs | Music by Wyman Gentry

Continue reading 008: There’s a Lot of Opportunity for Those Who Are Willing to Take Some Risks with Ben Callahan