016: Meaning Comes from Making with Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Mentorship
016: Meaning Comes from Making with Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk
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User Defenders "Essence" Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk

Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk inspires us to go find our why and to not fear reaching out to people who inspire us. She teaches us that the future of UX should be integrated into our education system. She reminds us that we can’t make people care, but we can build things people care about. She also encourages us to design systems that are helpful (not harmful) to future generations.

Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk is a Product Designer at Yelp where she designs thoughtful ways to connect people to local businesses, and business owners to their communities. She also cares about people…a lot. So much so that she started a really interesting project with her partner called “Practice Happy” where they set out to redefine the understanding of happiness. She created a project called #100DaysOfThinking where she posts inspirational quotes and thoughts each day to help make better sense of the world and to relate with others. She’s a designer because she wants to be a part of crafting something greater than herself and for the world to be better because she was here.

LINKS
@AlexaLeighH
Alexa’s Website
Practice Happy

[RESOURCE] Do something not related to design. Get outside, or listen to interesting podcasts. Find a great mentor.
[RESOURCE] Dear Design Student
[VIDEO] We Are What We Build by Eric Meyer
[BOOK] Just Design
[BOOK] Designing for Social Change


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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: Cesar Lemus | Editing: Chris Combs | Prep: Win Goodbody | Music: Wyman Gentry

Continue reading 016: Meaning Comes from Making with Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk

015: Going the Distance with Rachel Andrew

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Web Dev
015: Going the Distance with Rachel Andrew
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User Defenders "Super Gran" Rachel Andrew

Rachel Andrew inspires us to understand people who are not like us because most often the products we design are not for us. She motivates us with her successful habit of GTD (Getting Things Done). She teaches us that solid attention to detail and ability to execute can be more important than specific technical skills. She also proves to us that experience never gets old.

Rachel Andrew is a Web Pioneer and the Managing Director and founder of UK-based web development company EdgeOfMySeat.com. She’s a prolific author of a number of Web Development books including her most recent A Book Apart published “Get Ready for CSS Grid Layout“. She’s also an active speaker who has spoken at a number of notable web conferences. When she’s not writing code, or writing about writing code…she’s a taxi to teenagers and quite a fitness buff.

LINKS
@RachelAndrew
Rachel’s Web Site
Perch CMS

[ARTICLE] Perfectionism or procrastination? Reframing the MVP
[RESOURCE] Style guides and pattern libraries
[BOOK] Atomic Design by Brad Frost
[BOOK] The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande


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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: Cesar Lemus | Editing: Chris Combs | Prep: Win Goodbody | Music: Wyman Gentry


Continue reading 015: Going the Distance with Rachel Andrew

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

012: You Can Only Keep What You Have if You’re Willing to Give it Away with KaL MichaeL

User Defenders podcast
User Defenders podcast
Empathy
012: You Can Only Keep What You Have if You’re Willing to Give it Away with KaL MichaeL
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User Defenders KaL MichaeL

KaL MichaeL teaches us that empathy is less of something we practice and more of a result of patience and perseverance. He challenges us to remain humble enough to know that we do not know everything, and what we don’t know will always far surpass what we do know. He also encourages us to own our skill sets and to not do anything blindly like following trends for the sake of trends.

KaL is a passionate UI and Experience Designer and has been affecting change and improving lives through his design work for the past 14 years. Five and a half of those years were spent as Lead Creative at Apple improving the retail corporate site experience and building internal sites for enhanced communications. He’s utilized his expertise in iOS and Mac design solutions through his design of the award-winning PDF Expert app. He also has a meticulous attention to detail always remains open and teachable in advancing the tech industry. One way he’s doing that is through his work as a Mentor with Cascade SF.

LINKS
KaL’s Website
KaL’s Twitter
ODI
Spark
Plaaying for Mac

[RESOURCE] Draw everything.
[BOOK] What Customers Want


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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 012: You Can Only Keep What You Have if You’re Willing to Give it Away with KaL MichaeL

011: The Best Interface is No Interface with Golden Krishna

User Defenders podcast
UI
011: The Best Interface is No Interface with Golden Krishna
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User Defenders "Platinum Jesus" Golden Krishna

Golden Krishna teaches us that it’s possible to reduce our amount of screen time and still solve people’s problems elegantly in the background. He enlightens us to how much we’re all drowning in screens. He also shares with us that our stuff isn’t good enough, and it never will be because as designers we’re always striving to make things better.

  • The Best Interface Is No Interface by Golden Krishna
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Golden Krishna is a deeply thoughtful design innovator. Even though his website introduces him with the humble title of “UX Designer”, he’s the visionary superhero creating a powerful ripple effect in the UX world through his pioneering of the “No UI” movement starting with his popular essay that turned into his essential-reading book, “The Best Interface is No Interface“. In his work at Samsung, he’s been a part of the creation of products that the market has not even defined yet. He’s also worked at Cooper solving big UX problems for Fortune 50 companies.

LINKS
Golden’s Website
Golden’s Twitter
[BOOK] The Best Interface Is No Interface
[VIDEO] SXSW Talk


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 011: The Best Interface is No Interface with Golden Krishna