In the Making

A third of America's population struggles to sleep through the night. For many of us, stress and anxiety play a big role in that. Some designers believe they can help us tackle these problems and calm our minds. The sleep-aid market is a multi-billion dollar industry, so it's no wonder companies are trying to design solutions for us. But can apps and gadgets designed to help us sleep, and keep us calm, really help? Or are they just a kind of digital snake oil?

In this episode: 

Wireframe producer Miriam Johnson talks to host Khoi Vinh about her own struggles with insomnia. 

Jon Delman is a Creative Director who just can't fall asleep. 

Iain McConchie, VP of Design at Headspace, talks to us about how Headspace is helping users calm down, manage stress, and sleep better. 

Ania Wysocka is a designer who made Rootd, an app for anxiety, after her own struggles with it. 

Lucas Guarneri is a designer working on sleep trackers at Withings. He believes sleep trackers can change a person's life. 

Dr. Kristyna Hartse, sleep doctor with the Sun City Sleep Center, is cautious when it comes to how much apps can really do for sleep disorders. 

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Learn more about designing with Adobe XD at adobe.ly/tryxd.

On just one day this spring, at the height of global stay-at-home orders for Covid-19, Americans watched 27 billion minutes of streaming video. Dozens of online streaming services court us with an ever increasing amount of television and film content. And yet, more streaming services are coming online. But in the battle to win over subscribers (and our subscription dollars), how much of a role can good UX interface design play in crowning a video streaming champion? Does the best interface matter, or is content truly king?

In this episode: 

The Wireframe team get together online and try to watch a TV show together using Scener, even though they all live in different parts of the continent. 

Wireframe producer Dominic Girard and host Khoi Vinh trade thoughts on the UX of streaming.

Daniel Strickland, CEO of Scener, explains how they've designed a user experience that is basically bolted on top of a video streaming service's own UX. 

Then, CEO and UX designer Thomas Williams of Ostmodern; streaming video analyst and reporter Dan Rayburn; and writer Suzanne Scacca use a few examples of the Netflix and Quibi interfaces to explore how each platform is trying to attract and retain subscribers. 

We then discuss why Netflix is considered a gold standard, and whether or not Quibi is doomed to fail - or is just getting warmed up. 

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Learn more about designing with Adobe XD at adobe.ly/tryxd.

As the pandemic created health and employment crises, a lot of people found themselves in urgent need of financial help. As a result, crowdfunding platforms are proving more popular than ever. They create personal connections between those of us asking for help, and those of us with money to give. We look at how platforms like GoFundMe, Kickstarter, Patreon and Chuffed deploy different strategies in their UX design to encourage us to give, and give more.

In this episode: 

Wireframe producer Dominic Girard and host Khoi Vinh discuss how UX can help us give. 

A hospital emergency amidst a Covid-19 outbreak leads Ryan Parker and Shay Chestnutt to discover the kindness of strangers via GoFundMe. 

Prashan Paramanathan, CEO of Chuffed, explains how a few design and business choices combine to encourage us to give to smaller social causes. 

Charles Adler, designer and one of the founders of Kickstarter, shows us how the site is built to accelerate and encourage empathetic connections between funders and creators with great project ideas. 

And Ursula Sage is the Director of Product at Patreon. She tells us how recent UX changes to the platform has led to a huge increase in fans subscribing and funding their favourite artists. 

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Learn more about designing with Adobe XD at adobe.ly/tryxd.

Your dad’s dog is barking in the background, but he doesn't know how to mute his video chat. Your uncle can’t get Netflix working on his new SmartTV. And grandma still can’t find where her favorite songs are stored on her tablet. Why is your family always depending on you for tech support? Sometimes design, technology, and getting older doesn't add up. And if design is failing older generations, it will eventually fail us all.

In this episode: 

Wireframe producer Miriam Johnson and host Khoi Vinh chat about the risks and rewards of designing for older users. 

UX Researcher Michelle Brown is helping her parents install a new surveillance camera when she learns there's a much bigger problem. 

Dr. Jeff Johnson believes there is a right way to design for an ageing population; he co-wrote a book about it. 

Mike Duggan is a senior user who feels like Spotify wasn't made for his generation. 

Sophie Kim, a designer at Studio Red, made a music app just for people like Mike. 

Don Norman, tech and design expert, says that when we talk about designing for the elderly, we've got it all wrong.

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a unique podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Learn more about designing with Adobe XD at adobe.ly/tryxd.

Your dad’s dog is barking in the background, but he doesn't know how to mute his video chat. Your uncle can’t get Netflix working on his new SmartTV. And grandma still can’t find where her favorite songs are stored on her tablet. Why is your family always depending on you for tech support? Sometimes design, technology, and getting older doesn't add up. And if design is failing older generations, it will eventually fail us all.

In this episode: 

Wireframe producer Miriam Johnson and host Khoi Vinh chat about the risks and rewards of designing for older users. 

UX Researcher Michelle Brown is helping her parents install a new surveillance camera when she learns there's a much bigger problem. 

Dr. Jeff Johnson believes there is a right way to design for an ageing population; he co-wrote a book about it. 

Mike Duggan is a senior user who feels like Spotify wasn't made for his generation. 

Sophie Kim, a designer at Studio Red, made a music app just for people like Mike. 

Don Norman, tech and design expert, says that when we talk about designing for the elderly, we've got it all wrong.

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a unique podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Learn more about designing with Adobe XD at adobe.ly/tryxd.

With our first episode, we tackle the Covid-19 pandemic question directly: how has it affected designers and the work they do? Our episode explores the changing nature of work from a designer's perspective. We also examine what it means to design during a pandemic - and how our anxieties and concerns we have intersect with the responsibilities UX designers already have in making technology work better for us.

In this episode: 

At the height of the pandemic, UX researcher Doug Collins found himself working in a very strange new office. 

Erika Hall at Mule Design wonders if it's time to say goodbye to the "old way" of doing things. 

Deroy Peraza recalls what he's learned navigating his studio, Hyperakt, through previous crises, and how the outbreak can focus his priorities. 

Sarah Foster lost her design job in the crisis; she's taking stock of where to go from here. 

Kevin Twohy thinks this crisis will change the kinds of projects he's willing to do in the future. 

Designer Paola Mendoza-Yu is still trying to understand how her role as a designer can help drive change. 

Designer Jessica Gaddis explains why now is the time for designers to listen, not act.

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business. 

Learn more about designing with Adobe XD at adobe.ly/tryxd.

With the pandemic, the user experience of life has changed. It has affected how we feel, how we communicate, how we think and how we entertain ourselves. This season, we examine how good UX design can help technology support some very current anxieties. Can design help us sleep? Can it encourage us to be more charitable? Can it solve our family tech support conundrums? Can it entertain us with better online content? And come November, can it help us vote?

Read the PDF transcript of this trailer.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

With the pandemic, the user experience of life has changed. It has affected how we feel, how we communicate, how we think and how we entertain ourselves. This season, we examine how good UX design can help technology support some very current anxieties. Can design help us sleep? Can it encourage us to be more charitable? Can it solve our family tech support conundrums? Can it entertain us with better online content? And come November, can it help us vote?

Read the PDF transcript of this trailer.

Wireframe reveals the stories behind user experience design and how it helps technology fit into our lives. It’s a podcast for UX/UI designers, graphic designers, and the design-curious. Hosted by Khoi Vinh, one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.

Can an app really help you fall in love? Sometimes using a dating app feels like getting hit by cupid’s arrow - and sometimes it feels like you’ve been stung. We talk to designers and daters to see whether the UX of these apps is meant to help you find that someone special, or just to keep you swiping left indefinitely.

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.

The world of FUI or fantasy user interface design is responsible for on-screen depictions of UX. Like the heads up displays for superheroes, or what a hacker sees as she cracks the government’s mainframe. All of these worlds are designed by someone. But, when it comes to designing these worlds, the lines between fiction and reality are often blurred. How do FUI designers create the futures we see on screen, and how do they influence the traditional designers who are building our real-life futures?

Read the PDF transcript of this episode.