Design To Be Conversation

In today’s episode, I speak with Jason James. Jason is the VP of Design at Instacart, a grocery delivery and pick-up service where he leads product design, brand, and research. Previously, he served as VP of Design at Thumbtack and was leading design early in his career for Earnest, Intercom, Kin, and DoneDone. Jason is a mentor at Made in the Future, a program for emerging under-represented designers.

We dive into the competitive field of design and how it fosters hustle culture, the factors that contribute to burnout, and how meditation and therapy can help designers cope with burnout by becoming more mindful in their design process and interactions with others.

In today’s episode, I speak with Jason James. Jason is the VP of Design at Instacart, a grocery delivery and pick-up service where he leads product design, brand, and research. Previously, he served as VP of Design at Thumbtack and was leading design early in his career for Earnest, Intercom, Kin, and DoneDone. Jason is a mentor at Made in the Future, a program for emerging under-represented designers.

We dive into the competitive field of design and how it fosters hustle culture, the factors that contribute to burnout, and how meditation and therapy can help designers cope with burnout by becoming more mindful in their design process and interactions with others.

In today’s episode, I speak with Dori Tunstall. Dori is the Dean of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University, and the first black female dean of a faculty of design. She is a design anthropologist, public intellectual, and design advocate who works at the intersections of critical theory, culture, and design. Dori leads the Cultures-Based Innovation Initiative focused on using old ways of knowing to drive innovation processes that directly benefit communities.

We dive into the depth of design and its interconnectedness with meaning and purpose, the importance of aligning your values with what you do to create understanding and empathy for cultural differences, as well as tactical ways to practice inclusive leadership by listening deeply and responding with compassion and generosity.

In today’s episode, I speak with Dori Tunstall. Dori is the Dean of Design at Ontario College of Art and Design University, and the first black female dean of a faculty of design. She is a design anthropologist, public intellectual, and design advocate who works at the intersections of critical theory, culture, and design. Dori leads the Cultures-Based Innovation Initiative focused on using old ways of knowing to drive innovation processes that directly benefit communities.

We dive into the depth of design and its interconnectedness with meaning and purpose, the importance of aligning your values with what you do to create understanding and empathy for cultural differences, as well as tactical ways to practice inclusive leadership by listening deeply and responding with compassion and generosity.

Today’s episode marks our 18th episode and the final episode of the first season of Design To Be Conversation. Season 2 will start back up the first week of August. We are beyond excited for what’s ahead!

Today, I speak with Pablo Stanley. Pablo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Blush. Pablo has a YouTube channel called Sketch Together and gives talks and workshops around product design, animation, illustration systems, storytelling, behavioral economics, and the art of comics. He is also a writer and illustrator of “The Design Team,” a comic series that follows the lives of designers working at a startup.

We dive into the benefits of staying curious to spark your creativity, ways and techniques to fight creative block, how being curious can keep you grounded and motivated by questioning your assumptions and embracing new ways of learning through your design process, and how cultivating curiosity will help you become a more inspired designer.

Today’s episode marks our 18th episode and the final episode of the first season of Design To Be Conversation. Season 2 will start back up the first week of August. We are beyond excited for what’s ahead!

Today, I speak with Pablo Stanley. Pablo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Blush. Pablo has a YouTube channel called Sketch Together and gives talks and workshops around product design, animation, illustration systems, storytelling, behavioral economics, and the art of comics. He is also a writer and illustrator of “The Design Team,” a comic series that follows the lives of designers working at a startup.

We dive into the benefits of staying curious to spark your creativity, ways and techniques to fight creative block, how being curious can keep you grounded and motivated by questioning your assumptions and embracing new ways of learning through your design process, and how cultivating curiosity will help you become a more inspired designer.

In today’s episode, I speak with Jared Erondu. Jared is a design leader, investor, and advisor. He’s currently the VP of Design at Lattice where they are building people-first HR software to make the time we spend at work more meaningful. Jared is also the co-creator of Playbook and High Resolution, two projects dedicated to furthering knowledge-sharing in the design community.

We dive into the different aspects of growing as a designer, how developing a growth mindset helps you navigate a career filled with meaning and purpose, tactical approaches to design for impact by investing in life-long learning, the importance of adaptiveness and challenging the status quo in relation to people of color as well as benefit designers can have from a growth mindset.

In today’s episode, I speak with Jared Erondu. Jared is a design leader, investor, and advisor. He’s currently the VP of Design at Lattice where they are building people-first HR software to make the time we spend at work more meaningful. Jared is also the co-creator of Playbook and High Resolution, two projects dedicated to furthering knowledge-sharing in the design community.

We dive into the different aspects of growing as a designer, how developing a growth mindset helps you navigate a career filled with meaning and purpose, tactical approaches to design for impact by investing in life-long learning, the importance of adaptiveness and challenging the status quo in relation to people of color as well as benefit designers can have from a growth mindset.

In today’s episode, I speak with Tiffani Jones Brown, Executive Editorial Director at Dropbox. Tiffani oversees an interdisciplinary team of copywriters, UX writers and graphic designers. She specializes in simple and emotionally intelligent branding and copy, defining the voice and tone for multiple startups, including Facebook and Pinterest. Tiffani currently helps lead the transition of Dropbox to Virtual First.

We dive into the importance of effective communication by finding your authentic voice as a designer, practical ways to communicate for brevity and clarity using human-centric language, how simple communication tactics can optimize productivity in a remote culture, and managing conflict to improve team dynamics and collaboration.

In today’s episode, I speak with Tiffani Jones Brown, Executive Editorial Director at Dropbox. Tiffani oversees an interdisciplinary team of copywriters, UX writers and graphic designers. She specializes in simple and emotionally intelligent branding and copy, defining the voice and tone for multiple startups, including Facebook and Pinterest. Tiffani currently helps lead the transition of Dropbox to Virtual First.

We dive into the importance of effective communication by finding your authentic voice as a designer, practical ways to communicate for brevity and clarity using human-centric language, how simple communication tactics can optimize productivity in a remote culture, and managing conflict to improve team dynamics and collaboration.