Design Better
211 episodes - English - Latest episode: 6 days ago - ★★★★★ - 286 ratingsDesign Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with inspiring guests across many creative fields. Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Episodes are released semi-weekly. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.”
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Episodes
#006: Michael Leon: from skate punk to creative force
September 03, 2017 18:00 - 40 minutes - 94.2 MBHow do you go from being a self-professed skate punk, to a design director at Nike, creative director at Patagonia, and land as the global creative director for Sonos? As a creative force, Michael Leon has worked with some of the most product driven companies out there. In this episode, Aaron and Eli talk with Michael about the tension between sustainability and business goals, maintaining a consistent voice and tone across a company like Patagonia that sells hundreds of different products...
Alex Schleifer: Airbnb's hasty Super Bowl decision guided by a clear mission
August 20, 2017 18:00 - 51 minutesShow notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/alex-schleifer Airbnb’s mission is both simple and powerful: to help create a world where you can belong anywhere. Alex Schleifer, Airbnb’s head of design, fully embraces this mission. To create the products that make the Airbnb experience so welcoming and immersive, he also believes in being product driven, and organizes his teams in an Engineering, Product, Design (EPD) structure, which they also call “the triforce.” Have a listen as Aarron and ...
#005: Alex Schleifer: a mission to belong anywhere
August 20, 2017 18:00 - 49 minutes - 67.6 MBAirbnb’s mission is both simple and powerful: to help create a world where you can belong anywhere. Alex Schleifer, Airbnb’s head of design, fully embraces this mission. To create the products that make the Airbnb experience so welcoming and immersive, he also believes in being product driven, and organizes his teams in an Engineering, Product, Design (EPD) structure, which they also call “the triforce.” Have a listen as Aarron and Eli talk with Alex about the advantages of this team struc...
#004: Albert Lee: kickstart a design transformation
July 21, 2017 17:43 - 49 minutes - 68.6 MBAlbert Lee has had an amazing arc to his career. From his beginnings as a wine-steward at Chez Panisse, to working at Frank Gehry’s architecture studio, and on to the role of Associate Partner at IDEO and now Design Partner at NEA, the nation’s largest VC firm, Albert always strives to work with the best of the best. Given the breadth of his experience at these top institutions, it’s probably not a surprise that even though his expertise is in design, he values the balanced approach betwee...
Albert Lee: Learning UX from Frank Gehry, IDEO, and Chez Panisse
July 21, 2017 17:43 - 46 minutesShow notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/albert-lee Albert Lee has had an amazing arc to his career. From his beginnings as a wine-steward at Chez Panisse, to working at Frank Gehry’s architecture studio, and on to the role of Associate Partner at IDEO and now Design Partner at NEA, the nation’s largest VC firm, Albert always strives to work with the best of the best. Given the breadth of his experience at these top institutions, it’s probably not a surprise that even though his expertis...
#003: Dan Winger: building the future at LEGO
July 21, 2017 17:35 - 34 minutes - 79.7 MBIf you’re anything like us, playing with LEGOs was a foundational part of your childhood, and a big part of the reason you got interested in design. And given the arc of their history, it is clear that LEGO is a product-driven company: their products are addictively engaging, highly-engineered design masterpieces, they clearly understand the needs of their customers, and they are constantly evolving and innovating with their products to remain a highly-profitable company. So you can imagin...
Dan Winger: The evolution of LEGO from simple bricks to interactive storytelling
July 21, 2017 17:35 - 36 minutesShow notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/dan-winger If you’re anything like us, playing with LEGOs was a foundational part of your childhood, and a big part of the reason you got interested in design. And given the arc of their history, it is clear that LEGO is a product-driven company: their products are addictively engaging, highly-engineered design masterpieces, they clearly understand the needs of their customers, and they are constantly evolving and innovating with their products to...
#002: David Kelley: creative confidence and aligning teams
July 20, 2017 19:03 - 47 minutes - 109 MBDavid Kelley doesn’t like to claim to have come up with the term design thinking, even though a most people would say he did. But regardless of who coined it, as founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school he has been one of the most influential proponents of design thinking, and human-centered design in general. When it comes to bringing together engineering, product, and design teams early in the design process, and aligning those teams towards a common goal, design thinking has few equals...
David Kelley: The birth of design thinking and what he's most proud of
July 20, 2017 19:03 - 51 minutesShow notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/david-kelley-creative-confidence David Kelley doesn’t like to claim to have come up with the term design thinking, even though a most people would say he did. But regardless of who coined it, as founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school he has been one of the most influential proponents of design thinking, and human-centered design in general. When it comes to bringing together engineering, product, and design teams early in the design process, a...
#001: Irene Au: scaling design at Google and beyond
July 20, 2017 18:57 - 32 minutes - 75.7 MBGoogle could now be considered a product driven company, but it wasn’t always that way. For many years Google’s engineering-led culture cherished efficiency over user experience. Irene Au arrived at a pivotal moment in the company’s history, and helped shape the way that Google’s product’s clearly value design today. Now in her role as a design partner at Khosla Ventures, she helps startups “build high performing teams, establish design practices, mentor and grow the next generation of gre...
Irene Au: How Larry Page's view on aesthetics changed Google
July 20, 2017 18:57 - 35 minutesShow notes: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/irene-au-scaling-design-at-google Google could now be considered a product driven company, but it wasn’t always that way. For many years Google’s engineering-led culture cherished efficiency over user experience. Irene Au arrived at a pivotal moment in the company’s history, and helped shape the way that Google’s product’s clearly value design today. Now in her role as a design partner at Khosla Ventures, she helps startups “build high performing...