What is Wrong with UX
135 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 2 years ago - ★★★★★ - 82 ratingsKate and Laura drink and fight about what is wrong with user experience design.
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Episodes
Red Flags
September 26, 2016 15:35 - 26 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura talk about some of the red flags that can mean a project or a job is not a great place for doing good UX design work. Drink Pairing: Red Bull and Vodka Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Questions about Craft
September 13, 2016 16:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura completely fail to answer simple questions about UX. We do blather on for a bit about ourselves though, as usual. Drink Pairing: Craft brews - the more pretentious the better Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Delight
August 30, 2016 16:00 - 24 minutes - 22.2 MBKate and Laura dig in a little more on what "designing for delight" really means. They argue that most things designers find delightful just end up annoying users. Drink Pairing: Something delightful, obvs Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Being Flexible vs Pushing Back
August 16, 2016 15:55 - 30 minutes - 25.3 MBIt's not always clear when you should stand up for yourself against clients or stakeholders and when you should do what is asked of you, even when you think it's a bad design decision. Kate and Laura argue about where the line is and whether it's better to be flexible or to push back. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: The stiffest drink you can stand
UX Trends
August 02, 2016 15:45 - 25 minutes - 20.8 MBKate and Laura answer questions submitted by the fine UXers at Tradecraft. This week, we completely fail to tell the future of the UX. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Vintage Champagne
The Best Advice We Were Never Given
July 19, 2016 16:00 - 23 minutes - 17.3 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura talk about the advice we wish people had given us instead of making us learn things the hard way. We really don't like doing things the hard way. Drink Pairing: You never drink what we tell you to, anyway Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
The Best Advice We've Ever Been Given
July 05, 2016 16:00 - 30 minutes - 22.7 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura discuss the best advice that we've ever been given about life, products, and work in general. Drink Pairing: Ask someone else for advice on this Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
What Is Good Design?
June 14, 2016 15:00 - 22 minutes - 17.1 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura argue about what makes a design good and come dangerously near a few moral absolutes. Drink Pairing: Whatever you like best. Who are we to judge? Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
What We Wish People Knew About Design
May 31, 2016 15:00 - 30 minutes - 23.3 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura discuss the things that we wish people, including designers, knew about UX design. Drink pairing: Rum and coke Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Maybe Is Not an Option
May 03, 2016 16:00 - 17 minutes - 14.7 MBIn this rapid fire episode, Kate and Laura try (and fail) to answer easy, yes or no UX questions. Maybe is not an option, nor is death. It's the antidote to "It Depends." Drinks: Screwdrivers Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Setting Design Priorities
April 19, 2016 16:00 - 25 minutes - 20.3 MBYou can't solve every problem for every user. That means you need to learn to prioritize your design changes. In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about how we think about priorities and the really important things that you're probably forgetting to prioritize. Drink Pairing: The important thing is that you're drinking. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Answering the Unanswerable
April 15, 2016 19:09 - 29 minutes - 24.7 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura talk about some of the unanswerable questions they get asked all the time like "What sort of research should do?" and "What is wrong with my product?" Then we answer them, because why the hell not? Drink Pairing: Absinthe Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Getting Creatively Unblocked
April 05, 2016 16:00 - 21 minutes - 17.2 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura discuss why it's so easy to get blocked when doing "creative" work. We also offer a few, probably unhelpful, tips about how we personally get past the blockers. Hint: it's not all booze and self loathing. Drink Pairing: Singapore Sling Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
On Jargon
March 22, 2016 15:00 - 21 minutes - 17.8 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura complain about the overuse of UX-specific jargon and then totally contradict ourselves by explaining why we sometimes find it incredibly useful. Laura also complains, unsurprisingly, about the fact that we can't all agree on what certain words like "designer" mean anyway. Drink Pairing: Lemon Drops Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Designing Your Design Space
March 08, 2016 16:23 - 28 minutes - 23.6 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura talk about the different types of spaces in which design activities occur and fight about which are the best ones for which tasks. Drink Pairing: Scorpion Bowl (which Kate assures me is a Tiki drink and not an actual bowl of scorpions, but she is not to be trusted) Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Just Do What You're Told
February 24, 2016 04:00 - 23 minutes - 20 MBSometimes stakeholders or clients want things that you know will be terrible for their users. In this episode, Kate and Laura discuss how to handle bad feature or design requests and argue about our responsibilities as designers. Drink Pairing: Dry Martinis Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
When Stakeholders Want Pixel Perfect
February 11, 2016 18:33 - 26 minutes - 22 MBSometimes stakeholders refuse to look at any deliverables that aren't pixel perfect Photoshop mocks, which causes all sorts of problems for designers. In this episode, Kate and Laura explain why this is such a terrible idea and give designers some suggestions for handling it better. Drink Pairing: Something Artisinal Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
It Depends
January 26, 2016 14:42 - 19 minutes - 16.3 MBYou can never get a straight answer out of a designer. In this episode, Kate and Laura explain why designers like the phrase, "It depends" so damn much and what we can do to make it slightly more useful. Drink Pairing: Truth Serum (or gin, whichever you have on hand) Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Stop Arguing with Feedback
January 12, 2016 14:38 - 24 minutes - 20.7 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura discuss how to take the feedback you asked for a little more graciously and maybe even benefit from it. Do not, in any way, think that this is a request for you to give feedback to Kate and/or Laura. Yes, we understand the irony, and no, we're not having any of it. Drink Pairing: Your Tears, probably Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Stop Saying Users Don't Know What They Want
January 05, 2016 14:00 - 22 minutes - 18.3 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura talk about the dismissive bastards who claim "users don't know what they want." In a surprising twist, they also give some decent advice about how to think about getting user feedback. Drink Pairing: Mimosas Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
Your Research Character
December 22, 2015 14:00 - 25 minutes - 21.3 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura discuss the one weird trick to doing better customer interviews. Ok, it's not really a trick, but it is weird. When conducting research, interviewers often behave very differently than they would normally, creating a sort of Research Persona or Character that helps them build rapport quickly and get participants to open up and share. Drink Pairing: Wassail (that's a thing, right?) Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton
It's Not the Change They Hate
December 08, 2015 14:00 - 25 minutes - 21.5 MBUsers who care deeply about your product can get very angry when you make changes. Sometimes it's change aversion, and sometimes you seriously screwed something up. In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about how to tell when it's your fault that your users hate you. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Eggnog
In Defense of Assholes
November 25, 2015 14:00 - 23 minutes - 19.1 MBJust in time for Thanksgiving, a plea to consider the assholes in your life and workplace. Sometimes people who are hard to work with can be incredibly productive, useful members of teams. You can make great products with people you wouldn't necessarily invite over for a drink. In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about what really makes a coworker an asshole and how to deal with difficult people. I shouldn't have to say this, but the language on this one is probably not safe work unless ...
4 Things that Will Make You a Better UX Designer
October 06, 2015 13:30 - 28 minutes - 23.5 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura discuss four things that will make you a better UX Designer. Learn why getting better at taking feedback and understanding business can help improve your career. Also, Laura gets shouty. Again. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Single Malt Scotch
6 Things We Wish We Had Known
September 29, 2015 13:00 - 20 minutes - 16.1 MBKate and Laura talk about the things we wish we'd learned earlier in our careers as UX Designers. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Brandy Alexanders
The Worst Clients
September 24, 2015 02:10 - 30 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura talk about terrible clients (no, not by name. we're not committing career suicide just yet.) and how we can deal with them better as UX Designers. If you work with other people as a UX Designer, this one might be helpful. If you have worked directly with clients, consider this a possible trigger warning. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: The strongest thing you have in the house
Don't Be a UX Designer
August 13, 2015 05:04 - 30 minutes - 24.4 MBIn this episode, Kate and Laura bitch about some of the most annoying things about being a UX Designer and do everything in our power to keep you from becoming one. You'll thank us later. Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: anything with bitters
Storytelling for Entrepreneurs
August 05, 2015 20:15 - 59 minutes - 41.7 MBIn this very special hour long episode, Kate and Laura argue about how entrepreneurs and founders can tell their stories better by applying some very basic UX design techniques (like thinking about humans and whatnot). This episode was filmed in front of a live studio audience, and we take questions for the second half of it. Yes, there is video of us drinking while filming this Podclash. No, you may not see it. Intro Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Prosecco
Being Human Centered Humans
June 27, 2015 22:27 - 24 minutes - 20.7 MBUX Designers can talk a great game when it comes to empathy and being Human Centered, but how well do you walk the walk? In this podcast, Laura and Kate discuss how you can use some of those Human Centered design techniques to make yourself a better co-worker and human being. If that's what you're into. Also, Kate bitches about things that she finds annoying, to the surprise of absolutely nobody. Intro Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Fireball Whiskey
What is Wrong with Personas
June 02, 2015 23:45 - 21 minutes - 17.6 MBLaura and Kate discuss the reasons that most UX personas are useless and how to fix them to make them actually worth doing. Intro Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Late Harvest Zinfandel
Should Designers Learn to Code?
May 13, 2015 21:01 - 30 minutes - 25.8 MBKate has Strong Opinions about exactly how technical other designers should be. Laura mostly just humors her. Intro Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Manhattan
The Five Things UX Designers Must Never Say
May 01, 2015 18:53 - 30 minutes - 30.7 MBIn this week's episode, Kate and Laura bitch about the stupid things people say during the design and research process and the terrible questions people ask their customers. No UXers were harmed in the making of this episode, probably because Kate was just drunk enough to not have to be restrained. Intro Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton, who is awesome Drink Pairing: Woodford Reserve Bourbon
What the Hell is a Product Designer, Anyway?
April 18, 2015 04:20 - 27 minutes - 21.4 MBIn this episode of What Is Wrong with UX, Kate and Laura argue about what the term Product Designer means and whether it's just a new word for the same job we've been doing for years. Intro music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton. Drink Pairing: Single Malt Scotch
C-FWOTs
March 23, 2015 23:38 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBKate and Laura talk about C-FWOTs or Colossal Fucking Wastes of Time. What makes a design project a C-FWOT, and how can we avoid them? Intro music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Absinthe
Is There Such a Thing As a Junior Designer?
March 23, 2015 23:35 - 22 minutes - 15.7 MBKate and Laura fight about what makes a designer "senior" other than just years on the job and what that means for hiring people to your design organization. Intro music: The Future Soon, by Jonathan Coulton Drink Pairing: Sauvignon Blanc