Rosenfeld Media

How can remote workers stay connected without burning out? At Wayfair, it quickly became clear that virtual happy hours and virtual team lunches were adding time to peoples’ schedules without really adding value. Rusha Sopariwala is a Senior Manager of Product Design at Wayfair, and she helped her team pivot to important new rituals for remote teams, like dedicated “focus times” to lighten meeting loads, mindfulness over different time zone differences, and “camera off” meetings to reduce employee exhaustion. In this episode, get a taste of what Rusha will cover during her presentation at Design at Scale 2022 this June 8-10 — from tips for helping remote employees share their passions, to creating remote connections without adding to potential burnout. Learn more about Rusha: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2022/speakers/rusha-sopariwala/ Rusha recommends: Hidden Brain Podcast by Shankar Vendentam which dives into human brains and just how we perceive and think and how our unconscious patt

How can individual designers use their skills to improve the experience of people in disaster situations? Emily Danielson, Senior Design Strategist at ExxonMobil, joins Lou to not only consider this question, but to reflect on past experiences—including the database she developed which was used by the FBI in a multi-million dollar federal corruption lawsuit—and look ahead to her talk at the upcoming Design at Scale conference this June. Emily recommends: Learn more about the benefits offered by mutual aid and ways for UX professionals to use their skills to support our communities: mutualaiddisasterrelief.org Learn more about Emily’s talk at Design at Scale 2022: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2022/sessions/i-mean-i-can-lift-a-shovel-design-skills-in-disaster-response/

What is it like to start work on a new book on the big picture of design right before a global pandemic? Kevin Bethune, author of the new book Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation joins Lou to share his experience and insights learned from doing just that, as well as the importance of curiosity, how to understand one's own privilege, and overcoming doubt from others. Kevin will be speaking at Design at Scale 2022 this June; learn more about his talk and register for the conference: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2022/speakers/kevin-bethune/ Kevin recommends: Follow Radha Mistry, who leads the foresight practice at Autodesk https://www.radhamistry.com/about Follow Kevin on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevinbethune Check out Kevin’s website: https://www.kevinbethune-reimaginingdesign.com/

How can you use the humble question to be a better leader? Over the past year or two, Brave UX Podcaster Brendan Jarvis has been asking great questions of over 75 of the best and brightest design leaders with the goal of surfacing the biggest questions facing the field, and using them as a springboard to becoming a better leader. Brendan joins Lou for a wide-ranging conversation about questions—a preview for his talk at June’s Design at Scale 2022 conference. Along the way, they cover the importance of diverse perspectives, the controversies of Amazon Alexa, and how designers can get a seat at the table. Warning: this talk may raise more questions than it provides answers for! Learn more about Brendan’s conference presentation and register for Design at Scale 2022: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2022/sessions/ux-leadership-trends/ Listen to Brendan’s podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/nz/podcast/brave-ux-with-brendan-jarvis/id1552607805 Follow him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/br

If the past two years haven’t made it clear, researchers and designers absolutely must be prepared to understand and address trauma as a factor in our work and our lives. Social worker, designer, and Advancing Research 2022 speaker Rachael Dietkus joins Lou on the Rosenfeld Review to plumb the intersection of social work, UX, and how these play out in trauma-informed research and design. She shares her approach to applying trauma-informed principles to the research process, and highlights important key factors including: • Defining Rachael’s three main intersections between design and social work: social work values, design research methodologies, and trauma-informed (also known as trauma-responsive) principles • The importance of asking how the above three principles meld together in design to foster a humanistically-informed lens • The ways social work as a care field translates into user experience design, and why this is a necessary step to include in design methodology • How the concept of “care,” which

Although large areas of the federal government focused on design as a practice do not closely involve the citizenry in their design processes, Victor Udoewa, Chief Experience Officer and Service Design Lead, NASA, has taken a vastly different approach to end user design methodology in government. In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Victor brings us up to speed on participatory design and its pros and cons. He also explains his radical approach to it—a meta-methodology he’s used in service and system design—and how his radical approach enables people to participate in and influence high-level government design projects. Victor shares his insights around key areas of participatory design, including: • A redefined approach to “radical” participatory design, and how this difference meaningfully distinguishes his work from a socio-human perspective • A focus on his department’s efforts to help develop the economy in support of small businesses • Weighing the impact of “power” in design organizations as the

Covid has fragmented our teams, workplaces, work rituals, and in some circumstances, our self-confidence. It has also forced us to learn, adapt, and improve our work at a stunningly rapid pace. It’s a great time to take stock of what we learned these past two years, and get ready to apply those lessons in the years to come. In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Lou speaks with long-time Design at Scale conference curators Kit Unger and Lada Gorlenko to discuss how the conference presents the perfect opportunity to make that pivot—and make the case for you to be a part of the conference program. Topics discussed include: • How closely-aligned teams can forge ahead despite the challenges Covid has presented • The importance of reconsidering how teams currently support objectives • Learning to work together in new ways that help shift the existing work dynamic into a positive and more powerful frame • Uncovering drivers that allow teams to surpass pre-established boundaries around collaboration • Shifting

What connects product designers and UXers? And does that connection help in the transition from UX to product management? In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, you’ll meet Christian Crumlish, Founder of Design in Product and author of the soon-to-be released Product Management for UX People. Christian and Lou deep dive into the world of product management and its relationship with UX, as well as the advantages design practitioners share when moving into product management roles. Highlights from this discussion include: • Understanding the current state of product management relative to UX; • The superpower designers can tap into when communicating effectively, and how that skill is inherently utilized by product management folks (the “language of the bosses”); • How designers/strategists/researchers share an advantage by shifting to product management through intuitively asking questions such as “how will we grow?” and “how can we keep this going?” with consideration to cost-effective solutions; • The n

Creating and maintaining an inclusive environment that makes anyone feel welcome requires conscious and consistent effort. Whether it’s presentation, operation, or curation—incorporating your team’s voices in a healthy and organic manner as a business practice requires thinking outside the box. In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, you’ll hear from Danielle Barnes, CEO of Women Talk Design, as she and Lou discuss the fundamentals of designing meetings and conference presentations that are more inclusive. Key points Danielle and Lou address include: • Remolding non-inclusive systems to which women and non-binary folks are forced to adapt; • Assigning rotating facilitator roles, and how those roles can promote inclusivity; • How truly “listening” to those who are speaking can give facilitators the insights they need to curate a fantastic meeting; • Raising awareness for the consequences of being talked over, and how to drive safety and accessibility in meetings for team members; and • Tips to improve your

What can designers learn from astronauts and race car drivers? In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Lou speaks with Katie Swindler to answer this and similar questions in her upcoming Rosenfeld Media book, Life and Death Design. Katie’s new book will help us redefine how we might view a core human function – specifically, the stress response – and how stress can be an informative tool for designers. As an experienced presenter who has spoken on UX topics internationally at industry events, Katie believes that brands who wish to truly connect with consumers must expand utility through emotion. She illustrates how leveraging stress-informed design enables users to perform optimally during high-stress or traumatic experiences. Important questions Katie tackles are: How does understanding the stress response help designers deal with high-stress situations? How can designers leverage redundancy and biomimicry to enhance a final product? How stress-informed design can support experts in a way that preserve

Angelos Arnis is a strategic designer focusing on delivering experiences with humane principles. For the past 10 years, he has been working with product/service companies and startups, both in early and high growth stages. Angelos is currently changing the ways of working at Posti Group, Finland’s postal service. He is a co-founder at Joint Frontiers, and a co-host of ‘Human, the designer’. Additionally, he is a community organizer at IxDA Helsinki, as well as an alumnus organizer of Joint Futures, DSCONF, & Junction Hackathon. In his free time, he enjoys making music, and playing computer games. In this talk, Angelos discusses the State of DesignOps 2021 Global Report, and will be sharing this information during this year’s DesignOps Summit 2021 on September 29 - October 1. Angleos began his journey to better understand how one can position their career in design, which then led to exploring more questions that can present a wider range of answers on the subject. The quantitative data collected for the re

Sarah Brooks is a design leader and intrapreneur who uses strategic design and mixed-methods research to help teams and organizations reach better outcomes. She has worked in enterprise, federal, non-profit, start-up, and hybrid organizations. If you’re one of millions of US military veterans, her work at the Veterans Administration has touched your life. We are pleased to welcome Sarah as a member of the Civic Design conference (https://rosenfeldmedia.com/civic-design-2021/) and community curation team! In this Rosenfeld Review episode, she shares her experience at the VA, digging into specific challenges when working within a large org, learning what ‘patriotism’ means from people who are in the service, and how soft-skills (people skills, really) are needed at the systems level. Sarah recommends: Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown https://www.amazon.com/Emergent-Strategy-Shaping-Change-Changing/dp/1849352607 Tickets to Civic Design 2021 are now available; register now! https://rosenfeldmedia.com

Martha Dorris, Founder and CEO, Dorris Consulting International, has almost 34 years of government experience in acquisition, technical and program management to customer experience. Martha has run many government organizations that build and deliver agency and citizen facing programs to deliver government services anytime, anywhere on any device. Most recently, Martha led and managed GSA’s Office of Strategic Programs where she brought a customer-centric lens to the services and acquisitions they award. In this Rosenfeld Review episode, she takes a dive into her projects at the GSA improving Customer Experience (as opposed to the previous focus on Customer Service), as well as work across the government and her advice for anyone just starting out. We are pleased that Martha is supporting the curation team for our new Civic Design conference and community, which will be launching soon with our first monthly videoconference. Sign up here to be notified: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/civic-design-2021/ Tickets

Ariel Kennan is a service design and product development leader who has worked across the public, private, academic, and nonprofit sectors. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation at Georgetown University. We are pleased to announce that she has joined the curation team of our new Civic Design conference and community, which will be launching soon with our first monthly videoconference. Sign up here to be notified: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/civic-design-2021/ In this Rosenfeld Review episode, Ariel discusses the myriad of public service projects she’s had a hand in, and particularly the ways in which Civic Design can improve peoples’ lives, especially those who are underprivileged (for example, the application for unemployment benefits during the covid-19 pandemic.) Ariel recommends: Creative Reaction Lab — building capacity in historically marginalized communities and training designers to work in new ways. https://www.creativereactionlab.com/

We are excited to welcome Charlotte Lee as a co-curator of our new Civic Design conference and community, which will be launching soon with our first monthly videoconference. Sign up here to be notified: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/civic-design-2021/ In this episode, Charlotte and Lou discuss the intersection of design and technology, machine learning, how the House of Representatives legislates, and more. She also shares details about her current project, redesigning congress.gov, and a peek into what you can expect from the Civic Design Conference. Looking for a great read? Charlotte recommends: Humanocracy https://www.humanocracy.com/ by Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini About Charlotte: Charlotte Lee is an award-winning entrepreneur and human-centered design practitioner based in Washington D.C. She is the founder and CEO of Monday Design Company, a service design consultancy as well as Kastling Group, a digital transformation consultancy. She is a strategic advisor to public and private executives in organ

Caroline’s book “Surveys That Work: A Practical Guide for Designing and Running Better Surveys” https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/surveys-that-work/ is a decade in the making — and finally coming in July 2021! Here, Caroline shares some glimpses into the methodologies and tricks she’ll share in the book, and how it evolved along the years. Caroline recommends: Mentor Black Business https://blackbusiness.mcsaatchi.com/ founded by Akil Benjamin More about the book: Surveys That Work explains a seven-step process for designing, running, and reporting on a survey that gets accurate results. In a no-nonsense style with plenty of examples about real-world compromises, the book focuses on reducing the errors that make up Total Survey Error—a key concept in survey methodology. If you are conducting a survey, this book is a must-have.

Surya Vanka, speaker at the upcoming Design at Scale conference, joins Lou to discuss “Design Swarms,” which he’ll also cover during his conference presentation. Surya shares his experiences working to solve major social problems like gender discrimination and the opioid crisis through design thinking exercises. He also discusses ways leaders can step back to create more value from the “swarm.” Surya recommends: Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change by Victor Papanek https://www.amazon.com/Design-Real-World-Ecology-Social/dp/0897331532 About Surya’s talk at Design at Scale 2021: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2021/ Enterprises, even those with mature design practices, find it difficult to tap into the creativity of all of its workforce. Yet unleashing that broad creativity is now needed more than ever as success of teams depends on having the nimbleness of an ant farm to adapt and find their way around obstacles. Enterprise design processes, systems and ops are often tied to

A self-described “failed architect,” Sha Hwang joins Lou to discuss the challenges of scale when merging two companies, and his journey from Trulia and Stamen Design to being part of the team that rescued Healthcare.gov and, subsequently, founding Nava, a public benefit corporation formed during those efforts. Sha Recommends: • Civic Technologists Practice Guide https://www.amazon.com/Civic-Technologists-Practice-Guide/dp/1735286508 Sha will be speaking at Design at Scale 2021 this June 9-11. https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2021/sessions/the-lost-year/ About Sha’s talk, The Lost Year: The pandemic made it painfully clear that the failure of critical public services causes real harm, both physical and financial. Our healthcare system is being overwhelmed, millions are pouring onto unemployment, and we’ve seen an unprecedented number of people trying to access government programs. It has never been more important for government services to be simple, effective, and accessible to all, yet we’re f

Sheri is the author of the upcoming book Giving a Damn about Accessibility, and a speaker at Design at Scale 2021 this June 9-11. In this latest Rosenfeld Review podcast, she discusses the critical importance of starting projects and products with a mindset of accessibility. Spoiler alert: it’s far more difficult to go back later. VMWare, where Sheri is currently an Accessibility Architect, recently launched an Accessibility Champions program, increasing their hires with disabilities and those with interest in specialized training. She and Lou talk through the program and other ways you can scale accessibility—even while acquiring new companies, as Sheri has experienced (more than ten in two years!) Interested in learning more? Check out Sheri’s presentation at DAS2021: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/design-at-scale-2021/sessions/accessibility-at-scale/ Sheri recommends: Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School https://habengirma.com/ Lily Zheng, DEI Consultant https://lilyzheng.co/ She

Design at scale is perhaps the most interesting challenge facing the design industry right now. How do you maintain quality and not get bogged down as your team grows? Much of the discussion focuses on systems and processes, but that starting with systems runs exactly contrary to the true value that design brings to companies, which is a humanistic and creative problem-framing and problem-solving approach. In other words, this focus on systems could ironically undercut design’s potential within organizations— in other words, “Design at Scale” is humanism at scale, and share what’s needed to keep people at the center of this work. Peter Merholz will be both a speaker and a workshop instructor during this year’s Design at Scale conference! Here, Lou and Peter muse over stories from the early days of information architecture before meandering their way to contrasting UX in the public versus private sectors. They also discuss a preview of Peter’s talk at the conference, Design at Scale is People! More about Pe