058: Finding the Right Cultural Fit with Justin Dauer

User Defenders podcast
Land a Job in UX
058: Finding the Right Cultural Fit with Justin Dauer
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Justin Dauer implores us never settle in our important quest to find the right cultural fit. He reminds us that being human-centered doesn’t just affect our users, but especially the humans we interact with. He encourages us to think hard about where we choose to hang our hat, & understand what the ramifications of the wrong decision may be. He also reveals the maze of signals to watch out for in our search for the culture that will foster our creativity, & empower our passion to produce what could be our greatest work…yet.

Justin Dauer is a passionate user advocate, designer, writer, and denim elitist from Chicago. Through bloodshot tunnel vision, he’s drawn from career experiences across agency side, client side, design studio, and pure tech to foster healthy, dynamic, supportive, creative cultures. Crafting as the Vice President of UX & Development for bswift by day, his personal creative outlet by night (and day) is pseudoroom which also happens to be his Twitter handle. He eats a bowl of cereal every night before bed. Every. Night.

  • Cultivating-A-Creative-Culture-by-Justin-Dauer-Book
  • Buy the Book

    Buy Justin’s great book through my Amazon affiliate link, and help User Defenders at no additional cost to you. Win/win!

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  • What Does It Mean to Say “The Right Cultural Fit”? (5:07)
  • Why It’s Vital to Find That Fit (7:28)
  • What Are the Reasons You Made This Your Life Mission? (8:55)
  • Is It a Good Plan to Apply for Jobs Everywhere? (17:13)
  • The Best Ways to Vet a Company’s Culture (22:47)
  • Is It Worth Jumping into an Undesirable Culture to Gain Experience? (31:57)
  • Before Heading into an Interview (34:25)
  • Thoughts on Interview Questions (40:32)
  • Advice for Listeners Who Feel Stuck (44:35)

Continue reading 058: Finding the Right Cultural Fit with Justin Dauer

050: We Can Be Heroes with Jason Ogle

User Defenders podcast
Culture
050: We Can Be Heroes with Jason Ogle
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Jason Ogle shows us how we can all be design superheroes with the right mindset. He reveals how grit trumps talent, every day. He reminds us of the peril that bad leadership and ego can have on a team and organization. He challenges us to never stop fighting for our users. He also inspires us to be a catalyst for our community.

Jason Ogle is human, not dancer. He fails early, and learns often. He’s a growth-minded, avid reader and listener whose vehicle is a rolling university, and a biz-minded, strategic designer who loves to make life better for his users. He’s a passionate user defender who fights for the users who are victims of bad design decisions. He’s an influential podcaster who uses the enchanting magic of audio to inspire and equip an audience of hungry and ambitious designers. He’s an evocative (often contrarian) writer who believeth in the power of the written word. He’s a self-aware and highly empathic servant-leader who believes that humans are so much more than resources. He’s also a loving husband, father of seven (one’s in heaven), and thankful believer who has a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Fun fact: He once had to get a manicure to be a hand-model for a tech ad, and he has a rare essay titled “Altars of Satan” given to him and signed by Eldridge Cleaver.

  • Secret Identity (6:49)
  • Origin Story (11:14)
  • Biggest Superhero (21:31)
  • Biggest Failure (28:51)
  • Awkward Testing Story (35:06)
  • Design Superpower (40:35)
  • Design Kryptonite (43:04)
  • UX Superhero Name (49:16)
  • Fights for Users (57:09)
  • Habit of Success (61:28)
  • Recommended Book (67:10)
  • Best Advice (69:58)

Continue reading 050: We Can Be Heroes with Jason Ogle

Cultivating a Creative Culture with Justin Dauer

User Defenders podcast
Special Episodes
Cultivating a Creative Culture with Justin Dauer
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Cultivating a Creative Culture with Justin Dauer

  • Cultivating-A-Creative-Culture-by-Justin-Dauer-Book
  • Buy the Book

    Buy Justin’s great book through my Amazon affiliate link, and help User Defenders at no additional cost to you. Win/win!

    Buy the Book

“We create human-centered interactions and experiences in our field. Empathetic purpose drives our every decision. Mobile First? In reality, it’s humans first. This same mentality, turned inward, forms the cornerstone of something amazing: a creative culture.

Whether in a leadership role or as a member of the team, it’s a fact: a happy and well-supported employee is a fueled, charged, inspired creator.” – Excerpt from Cultivating a Creative Culture

Justin and I dive deep into the problems with creative cultures today. He answers important questions like:

  • What problems are you seeing in creative workplace cultures today?
  • What are the best questions you’ve found to ask to get a strong feel of the culture in an interview?
  • What are some clear indicators that it’s time to leave?
  • Can a creative not in senior leadership working in an awful culture actually affect change in their workplace?
  • Much more…

Where we hang our hat every day is one of the most important decisions in life. Unless we’re remote, we’ll spend more time at work than at home with our loved ones. If we find ourselves in a place that doesn’t trust, or value us or our contributions, and in fact may even be abusive in dealings with us–the stress could actually eventually kill us.

I’m very proud of this episode. If it helps even one of you Defenders avoid the pain of an unhealthy culture, and pushes you to as Justin says, “never settle” in your quest to find the culture that helps you thrive as a creative person–then whatever level of discomfort it may bring listening, was all worth it.

As Justin says in his essential book, “The passion for doing your best work is too precious to be extinguished by an unhealthy culture.”


LINKS
Justin’s Website
Justin’s Twitter
[ARTICLE] Resetting Agency Culture
[ARTICLE] Don’t Be Culture-Clubbed

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ABOUT JUSTIN
Justin Dauer is a passionate user advocate, designer, writer, and denim elitist from Chicago. Through bloodshot tunnel vision, he’s drawn from career experiences across agency side, client side, design studio, and pure tech to foster healthy, dynamic, supportive creative cultures. Crafting as the Vice President of UX & Development for bswift by day, his personal creative outlet by night (and day) is pseudoroom which also happens to be his Twitter handle. He eats a bowl of cereal every night before bed. Every. Night.


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Editing by Chris Combs