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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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

007: Focus More on Solving Problems and Less On Dribbble Likes with Rafal Tomal

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
UI
007: Focus More on Solving Problems and Less On Dribbble Likes with Rafal Tomal
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User Defenders "Typography Man" Rafal Tomal

Rafal Tomal inspires us to focus more on solving complicated problems for clients, and less on Dribbble likes. He also emphasizes the importance of keeping our UI and layouts minimal to make room for typography and especially to limit the number of choices we want our users to make to the most critical ones. He also inspires us to not shy away from starting with the most important tools we have…our brain, paper and a pencil.

Rafal Tomal (Typography Man) is the Lead Designer at Rainmaker Digital where he designs effective digital brands and experiences that convert for some of the most successful and respected digital entrepreneurs around. He’s also a blogger and eBook author focusing on teaching others how to make simple, smart, and effective designs that connect with the audience.

LINKS
Rafal’s Website
Rafal’s Twitter

[RESOURCE] InVision App
[BOOK] Don’t Make Me Think


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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 007: Focus More on Solving Problems and Less On Dribbble Likes with Rafal Tomal

006: Let Go of the Things You Can’t Control…Focus On The Things You Can with Chloë Bregman

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Creativity
006: Let Go of the Things You Can’t Control...Focus On The Things You Can with Chloë Bregman
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User Defenders "Creative Juggernaut" Chloë Bregman

Chloë Bregman inspires us to not get caught up with titles like UX Designer, but to find what we’re great at and focus our energy on building those strengths to build products that not only solve problems, but bring happiness to people. She reminds us to focus on the team and that all ideas are valuable. She also shares that the most satisfaction we’ll ever find in our work happens when we invest time in helping others.

Chloë Bregman is the Director of Design & Brand Experience at OneLogin where she leads a team of designers and developers. She’s a blogger who has a published article on TechCrunch. She’s the founder of Street Art SF which showcases the evolving art landscape throughout the San Francisco’s bay area. She’s also a wonderful human being who thrives on finding inspiration anywhere and investing in others everywhere.

LINKS
Chloë’s Website
Chloë’s Twitter
Street Art SF
Going For “Pretty First” Is Wrong: A Designer’s Take On App Development

[RESOURCE] Rely on your own power of observation and measure everything.
[BOOK] 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People
[BOOK] The Call of the Mall


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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 006: Let Go of the Things You Can’t Control…Focus On The Things You Can with Chloë Bregman

005: Surround Yourself with People That Reflect Who You Want to Become with Andi Galpern

User Defenders podcast
Mentorship
005: Surround Yourself with People That Reflect Who You Want to Become with Andi Galpern
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User Defenders "Elle Faye" Andi Galpern

Andi Galpern inspires us to ask where do we want to go, and then encourages us to meet a mentor who can help take us there. She states that community is the key to becoming all we can be and that five minutes with the right person can change our lives.

Andi Galpern is founder of the design and technology organization Cascade SF. Located in the Bay Area, Cascade SF puts on events as a go-to space for designers to learn new skills, connect with industry leaders, mentor and stay relevant to the job market. She also is a fantastic designer and UX strategist who designs for human emotion.

LINKS
Cascade SF
Andi’s Twitter
CooperU

[RESOURCE] Your brain and the community. Pinterest is great for design inspiration. Revisiting 3rd grade and learning grammar, English and how to construct a really clean sentence. Because that’s the core of User Experience. You’re combining visuals and words and people have to be able to comprehend what you’re creating.
[BOOK] Just Enough Research
[BOOK] Mobile First
[BOOK] Lean Analytics


SUBSCRIBE TO AUTOMATICALLY RECEIVE NEW EPISODES
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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 005: Surround Yourself with People That Reflect Who You Want to Become with Andi Galpern

004: Use the Materials You’re Given with Christopher Schmitt

User Defenders podcast
Web Design
004: Use the Materials You're Given with Christopher Schmitt
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Christopher Schmitt "Teleject" on User Defenders: Podcast

Christopher Schmitt reminds us to use the materials that we’re given and that we can learn something from everybody if we keep an open mind. He also encourages us to share what we know through exercising our superpower of writing and we can never go wrong with practicing kindness in our field.

Christopher Schmitt is a pioneer of Web Design. He’s a member of the Web Standards Project and author of several books including the O’Reilly published CSS Cookbook. He’s the Founder of Heatvision: a Web Design and new media publishing studio. He’s also co-founder of Environments for Humans, in which he hosts well-attended online conferences such as CSS Summit and jQuery Summit.

LINKS
Christopher Schmitt’s Website
Christopher Schmitt’s Twitter
Environments For Humans
Christopher Schmitt’s Github

[RESOURCE] Evernote
[BOOK] Understanding Comics
[BOOK] The Design of Everyday Things
[BOOK] Rocket Surgery Made Easy


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.

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

Continue reading 004: Use the Materials You’re Given with Christopher Schmitt