Stephen Gates started his design education when he was two years old, setting type with his dad on a 700-pound cast iron letterpress in the basement. At the age of 12, he was introduced to the agency world, then moved in-house a time or two before arriving at his present gig as the Head Design Evangelist at InVision. Tune in to hear Stephen’s thoughts on unspoken truths, design commoditization and the trouble with comparing our insides to others’ outsides.
Can code be cool, and appeal to a wider audience—even elementary students in underrepresented communities? Absolutely, according to Armando Somoza and Chenits Pettigrew. As co-founders of CodeScty, they’re out to change computer science training as we know it, teaching complex concepts and curriculum through original hip hop music and videos. Armando and Chenits join us to talk about CodeScty and their quest to develop not just coders, but true innovators who can impact our world and our societies in constructive and positive ways.
What are the biggest challenges facing design leadership? When we posed that question to 100+ design leaders, a flood of responses came back, citing everything from recruiting to utilization, growth, imposter syndrome, remote work and more. But one respondent had a different take: none of these challenges should really be challenges if we start looking at things a different way. Could it be that simple? Tune in to hear Chris Wilkinson, Director of Product Design at Devbridge Group, talk about a shift in mindset, and ways we can help prepare the next generation of design leaders.
Forecasting may seem complex, confusing and largely unattainable. But with the right guidance, it’s within reach. Rob Harr, Vice President of Sparkbox, and Jody Grunden, Managing Member of Summit CPA, join us to share their perspectives on forecasting, understanding capacity and determining a systematic approach to operations and your finances.
Time. What would you do if you had more of it? After working as the VP of Design at Etsy and Head of Design at Artsy, Randy J. Hunt recently completed, as he calls it, “a big, deep, multi-month breath.” Taking time for personal projects, reading, reflection and life’s little things, Randy is now in Singapore, working on a super app called Grab. Tune in to hear about Randy’s journey to product design, and the best place to start when you want to make the best use of everyone’s time.
In the ‘90s, Bill Barbot was part of the alternative rock band Jawbox. When Jawbox broke up in 1997, he went on to play in other bands and eventually co-founded the digital agency Threespot. Fast forward 25 years and the previous members of Jawbox approach Bill about getting back together. Bill joins us to talk about his decision and the importance of putting your passion into everything you do.
A self-proclaimed “reluctant detailed guy,” Dean Schuster is Founder and Partner at Truematter, a UX consultancy that helps create digital products including apps, websites and wearable software. As Dean says, you can’t let a big-picture person loose in a project management scenario and expect good things to happen. Unless you have some processes in place. Dean joins us to talk about project management at Truematter, the qualities they look for in a DPM and how managing client relationships is really about setting up processes to rein yourself in.
You’ve got your process…and it’s working. But then you get this new project, or new team members or new stakeholders, and suddenly your project management approach starts to break down. What is happening? Anita Sagar, Agile Consultant at Enterprise Knowledge, has a simple explanation: not all situations or challenges are created equal. So no single process will fit all contexts. Anita joins us to talk about the Cynefin framework, how to use it to determine the right project management approach and why waterfall might not be as bad as it’s made out to be.
Every generation experiences a different culture, economic reality, social forces and so on. Inevitably, these different experiences can cause conflict when we’re all working together. Dr. Sidjae Price, CEO at Priceless Planning and Founder of Speak Loud Inc., joins us to talk about generational pressures, organizational conflict and how we can make our businesses better.
Like many digital companies, SUMO Heavy Industries knows no bounds. The eCommerce consulting firm began with two people working out of a spare room in an apartment in Philly. They moved to New York, bounced around WeWorks and are now back in Philly again. This time, with their own dedicated office space. So how much does the decision of a physical location impact a business? Bart Mroz, CEO of SUMO Heavy, joins us to talk about making seven or eight moves in nine years, how remote thinking can help onsite teams and how moving can actually be kind of fun.
