Bloc Thinking
78 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 5 ratingsLet's explore ideas and concepts that make designers and entrepreneurs like us tick. Join us as we feed our insatiable curiosity seeking answers to the questions relevant to our listeners from inside and outside Central Europe.
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Episodes
'Design through the Lens of Culture'
October 17, 2018 10:00 - 56 minutes - 38.7 MBI invite you to look at design through the lens of Culture, with Olga Skoczylas. Olga is a Cultural Economist and co-owner of the Design Agency 'Cultural Design'. In this episode, we cover culture, what it means and why it's important but we don't stop there. She has this innate obsession to create domain names and attach projects of all shapes and sizes to them. To that point, the conversation takes an unexpected detour past blockchain, brutalist design, innovation and art.
Structured experience design, adult pillow forts and a dungeon bar
October 03, 2018 04:00 - 58 minutes - 40.4 MBAndrew Lacanienta is a Doctoral Candidate in Experience Design at Texas A&M University. He is a close friend who makes a yearly pilgrimage to our side of the world to attend the College of Extraordinary Experiences at Czhocha Castle, Poland. We took some time out of the College schedule to talk about his insights on Experience Desing and focused our conversation on the Theory of Structured Experience Design.
Unlocking human potential one brick at a time
September 17, 2018 04:30 - 43 minutes - 30 MBMichel Cloosterman from the Association of Master Trainers in the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® provides us with an insight into the method initiated by LEGO CEO Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen back in 1996.
Allow yourself to surprise yourself
September 03, 2018 04:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBWhat if you could practice what you preached? Well, Seth Minard, a former Interaction Designer at Cooper is an Example of that. Seth has turned the focus of his design practice inwards to re-design his life. Perhaps, transformation starts with the designer, before attempting to design experiences for others?
Mini-Episode - Tipping my hat to Jonathan Gall
August 27, 2018 07:00 - 8 minutes - 5.89 MBWe have a few short announcements and thought we'd try a Mini-Episode. Jonathan's business is growing which is GREAT! However, it has a ripple effect on his involvement in this project as my co-host. We discuss this along with some news about our workshop at Product Development Days.
A sneaky plan to get rid of Dinosaurs
August 19, 2018 23:00 - 55 minutes - 38.2 MBWojtek Kutyla values the ability of a designer to play the role of enabler, and we ‘absolutely’ agree with his approach. If you building something with a team of people they, we, are all busy with the act of creation. In his words, he has a sneaky plan to replace the old dinosaurs with teams with an user-centric approach.
Olga, an agent of effective [marketing] communication
August 06, 2018 04:00 - 33 minutes - 22.9 MBThis week we are joined by Olga Kovalenko. She has found her niche in digital marketing and join us from Kiev, Ukraine where she applies her trade at Trionika as Marketing Team Lead. Here she focuses on email marketing; she's fast to point out that the humble E-mail is not dead [yet], and still remains a key part of the digital communication mix. She recently finished a PhD that focused on unpacking the value of micro-copy within digital communication, amongst others.
"Do what you love."
July 23, 2018 04:30 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBToto Castiglione, pragmatic leader, designer and Team Leader at Netguru takes some time out of his holiday to speak to us. He is a multi-disciplinary professional big picture thinker passionate about solving problems. He shares some insights around becoming a leader in a fast-growing company, some of his favourite tools, the importance of motion in design and a few notes on his favourite projects. Join us for a conversation with Krakow's favourite Italian [Net]guru.
A curious soul solving modern challenges
July 09, 2018 08:15 - 38 minutes - 26.9 MBMariusz Ciesla is a Polish Product Designer who has an uncommon multidisciplinary background. Mariusz is a designer, a developer, a photograph and even more. Before all, he is someone who is curious about all things in life. It led him to work on an amazing journey, working on projects at the edge of technology. Another side of Mariusz is his love for teaching and mentoring, something he does across Europe. During this interview, we touch those points and also the challenges of his life as a ...
Friends, Romans, Machines listen to my voice!
June 25, 2018 07:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBRafal Cymerys is a talented software engineer from Krakow (Poland) who realised that he was more than just a technologist; he is an explorer! Rafal is part of a team of brave explorers who are leading the way into the new and uncharted frontier of voice technology.
Honest, authentic, Aga.
June 11, 2018 10:00 - 1 hour - 50.1 MBFrom academia, corporate and being an owner of her own independent Experience Design consultancy it’s hard to find a design professional with more hands-on experience than Aga Szostek.
From practising UX to creating a learning platform; a journey in good design
May 28, 2018 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBAfter moving from Estonia to London, Sergei Golubev has made a name for himself in the world of Design. He built a great career as a designer and a major learning platform for UX Designers in Europe. Leading The School of UX and The UX Conference in London, at only 32 Sergei is definitely someone to keep your eye on.
‘Design is about being practical, and building something that works’
May 14, 2018 08:00 - 46 minutes - 31.7 MBHubert Turaj is the founder of Edisonda, well known and acknowledged UX Design outfits from Krakow Poland. He and his team have managed hundreds of multichannel experiences, starting out as a small circle of friends to a close-knit group delivering work for multinational like ING, ABB, Autodesk and Goodyear. Hubert appreciates the value human-centric design, not only in the work they create for their clients but the close-knit team bond they share within the Edisonda team.
Friendship, Partnership and hard work, Elements of Design
April 30, 2018 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBYou have an opportunity to make a difference and be a designer of the extraordinary, no matter the medium. For Olga Rafalska and Paulina Kacprzak, it’s building a platform where designers can learn, share and co-create
A digital specialist with an analogue secret in his back pocket
April 16, 2018 04:00 - 58 minutes - 40.1 MBResponsive in many ways, from web design, podcasting, newsletters and a custom Pocket Books range Justin Avery is a Designer unable to sit still. Originally from Australia, sprouting roots in the UK, he is a thought leader and the creator of www.responsivedesign.is a rich treasure trove of knowledge focusing on the design and development of responsive web solutions.
A little research, goes a long way
April 02, 2018 04:45 - 54 minutes - 37.4 MBIf you want to create experiences people love you have to leave the studio to observe, engage and listen. Kasia Gawlik, born and bred in Warsaw (Poland), is a UX Research Manager with over 15 years experience in Research.
Practice makes [for great learnings]
March 19, 2018 12:44 - 50 minutes - 34.4 MBNicole Saidy is a global citizen and talented digital nomad passionate about travel, design, collaboration and mentorship. She has more than 7 years experience in front-end design, user experience, active prototyping, digital products and shaping new designers through her activities as a mentor within the design community.
Honest stories from a poor lonesome product guy
March 05, 2018 05:30 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBShaping products through the art of storytelling is just one of the many things that drive Nicolas Vérité. He has over 20 years experience and has held various roles from product owner, scrum master, agile coach to a product manager.
Life's a journey [map]
February 19, 2018 05:50 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBYuri Vedenin is the founder of UXPressia.com an online platform for visualising and managing Customer and User Experience. He hails from Belarus and represents an interesting combination of UX Designer, Entrepreneur and Engineer.
'Serving the design, team, business and not your ego.'
February 05, 2018 05:59 - 39 minutes - 27.1 MBMeet our friend Sophie Freiermuth, a Senior User Experience Designer and independent consultant from the UK. Sophie whips products into shape and embodies the confident servant leader needed to shape effective teams and product. This show is chock-full of truth, advice and tips for designers currently shaping their careers.
Red Pill, Blue Pill? (feat. Maciej Jakubowski)
January 31, 2018 08:45 - 30 minutes - 20.7 MBMaciej Jakubowski asked his audience, “Red Pill or Blue Pill?” Intrigued? Amongst many of his accolades and experience, Maciej’s also the (former) Head of Service Design at Alior Bank.
UX and Agile, finding the right balance (feat. Jeremy Kriegel)
January 30, 2018 08:45 - 20 minutes - 14.1 MBJeremy Kriegel has more than 20 years design experience and is an authority when it comes to adapting UX to agile methodologies and finding the right balance to build successful Agile teams.
Strive to be the best you can be (feat. Lynn Skotnitsky)
January 29, 2018 08:45 - 14 minutes - 9.92 MBWith a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to change, Lynn supports individuals on their journey of personal mastery, and guides teams, organizations and communities to co-create environments that bring out the best in people.
Building bridges through education (feat. Edyta Korona)
January 26, 2018 08:45 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MB“Central Europe has the potential to be more than merely another outsourcing hub!”, Meet our friend and benefactor Edyta Korona from Innovators' Bridge.
Power of 'Team' (feat. Przemek Gawroński)
January 25, 2018 08:45 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBWe know how important teamwork is right? Przemek Gawroński knows how to turn individuals into stronger teams.
Driving meaningful change (feat. SuiLin Yap)
January 24, 2018 08:45 - 19 minutes - 13.5 MBSuiLin Yap wants to change the world for the better by building stronger economies. Whilst on this quest she also finds the time to be a Product Manager at Facebook in Seattle where she takes care of B2B analytics solution.
No Ninja's, just meaningful experience design (feat. Dan Maccarone)
January 23, 2018 08:45 - 29 minutes - 20 MBHe might not be the French president but he is an 18 year UX industry stalwart and owner of Charming Robot in New York City. Dan shares his thoughts on the parallels that can be drawn between theatre and User Experience Design.
A future full of exponential opportunities (feat. Anitha Vadavatha)
January 22, 2018 08:45 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBAnitha Vadavatha is a global innovation strategist and futurist all the way from Silicon Valley, San Francisco.