Karl is currently the CEO and co-founder of nuTonomy , a software company that builds software for fully driverless vehicles. nuTonomy’s mission is to radically improve the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of transportation in cities worldwide. That means a future where driverless vehicles are available where people need them, when they need them, in cities from Singapore to San Francisco and everything in between. By eliminating accidents due to driver error and maximizing vehicle utilizat...
Aug 29, 2018•39 min
ProPublica is a digital-only media company focused entirely on investigative journalism. ProPublica digs deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust, and follows those stories as long as it takes to hold power to account. And they do it as a non-profit. It’s an interesting business model for a media company, but one that has been successful for ProPublica in its 10+-year history.ProPublica and its staff of journalists have received four Pulitzer P...
Aug 29, 2018•31 min
Many people know Charles Adler as one of the co-founders of Kickstarter, the ground-breaking crowdfunding platform (now the world’s largest) that revolutionized how independent creative projects are funded globally. Now, Charles has moved onto his latest venture for independent creatives: Lost Arts , a community workshop in Chicago. A new format of workspace for ambitious creators in the 21st century, Lost Arts aims to drive innovation through open support of creativity. In this Fika break, we t...
Aug 10, 2018•39 min
Fjord’s Daniel Freeman talks to Carla Diana, a noted robotics expert, on how we use design to set expectations in our communications with robots and explores the moral and ethical obligations as our relationships with them grow.
Jul 31, 2018•28 min
As the author of three internationally acclaimed books on the digital revolution (Cult of the Amateur, Digital Vertigo and The Internet Is Not the Answer), Andrew Keen has plenty of opinions on the topic—and a lot of them are controversial. In this Fika, Keen and Fjord’s Mark Curtis discuss the progression of the digital age: the role designers have in mapping out the future, what it means to be a digital company, and possible solutions to some of the more damaging and disturbing outcomes of the...
Jul 19, 2018•26 min
Marc English is a designer, teacher and author based in Austin, Tx. In this Fika break, we talk to Marc about what made him want to be a designer, his work as a teacher, and his experience with the AIGA, which includes establishing the Austin chapter. We also explore the link between design, art and history, talk about his book “ Designing Identity ,” and discuss how month-long motorcycle trips help him learn how to do more with less....
Jul 17, 2018•31 min
Eduardo Aguilar is head of technology at the Helix Centre , a design studio based inside an NHS hospital. In this Fika break, we talk to Eduardo about his work at the Helix Centre, how to use technology to create better health products for both carers and patients, and how to use human-centered design to improve healthcare, reduce the pain of going to a hospital and improve end-of-life care.
Jul 05, 2018•27 min
Does talking about design make you a better designer? In this Fika break, we talk to designer Kevin Finn about his work as editor of Open Manifesto , an independent journal that focuses on the intersection of design with social, cultural, political and economic issues issues, what networking and investing in information exchanges can do for both designers and non-designers, and his years of groundbreaking design work, including designing the TV identity of SBS , Australia’s multicultural and mul...
Apr 23, 2018•29 min
Sara Wachter-Boettcher is the author of a new book Technically Wrong: Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech from W.W. Norton. In this Fika break, we talk about algorithmic bias in everything from products and services to search results and also tackle racial and gender bias arising from broken algorithms and human missteps, Facebook and Russian ads, and the nefarious side of digital companies focused on manipulating human behavior....
Mar 26, 2018•42 min
ProPublica is a digital-only media company focused entirely on investigative journalism. ProPublica digs deep into important issues, shining a light on abuses of power and betrayals of public trust, and follows those stories as long as it takes to hold power to account. And they do it as a non-profit. It’s an interesting business model for a media company, but one that has been successful for ProPublica in its 10+-year history.ProPublica and its staff of journalists have received four Pulitzer P...
Mar 13, 2018•31 min
Many people know Charles Adler as one of the co-founders of Kickstarter, the ground-breaking crowdfunding platform (now the world’s largest) that revolutionized how independent creative projects are funded globally. Now, Charles has moved onto his latest venture for independent creatives: Lost Arts , a community workshop in Chicago. A new format of workspace for ambitious creators in the 21st century, Lost Arts aims to drive innovation through open support of creativity. In this Fika break, we t...
Feb 05, 2018•39 min
Sara M. Watson is a writer and technology critic. She writes and speaks about emerging issues in the intersection of technology, culture and society, and she advocates for a constructive approach to technology criticism that not only critiques, but also offers alternatives. In this Fika break, we spoke to Sara about the the current state of technology coverage and criticism, why it matters now more than ever and why tech critiques often carry negative connotations when other types of culture cri...
Jan 16, 2018•39 min
Marina Lvova is the Director of Client Engagement at Fast Forward Group, a leadership development company that ignites people to take ownership of their business, career and life. An avid traveler, Marina is an alumna of Remote Year, a program designed for digital nomads to travel the world while working remotely. In this Fika break, we talk about leadership coaching, travel and the joy of working remotely.
Nov 29, 2017•35 min
Tim Stock is the co-founder of scenarioDNA , a strategic foresight consultancy that marries consumer anthropology with data science to measure and understand the ideological dynamics impacting society. He is also the co-inventor of a patented methodology called Culture Mapping, which helps companies develop strategic frameworks that support their growth and sustainability. In this Fika break, we talk to Tim about about culture, ideology and the impact on innovation, organizational design and the...
Nov 08, 2017•41 min
The future of design education.
Oct 24, 2017•38 min
Dan Ward served in the U.S. Air Force for more than 20 years where he specialized in leading rapid innovation project. Today, he’s a consultant and writer, best known for his book, “F.I.R.E.: How Fast, Inexpensive, Restrained, and Elegant Methods Ignite Innovation.” In this Fika break, we talk to Dan about his time in the military, the concept of “stormdraining” (the opposite of brainstorming), and how being fast, inexpensive, simple, and small is the secret to innovation.
Oct 09, 2017•35 min
Karl is currently the CEO and co-founder of nuTonomy , a software company that builds software for fully driverless vehicles. nuTonomy’s mission is to radically improve the safety, efficiency, and accessibility of transportation in cities worldwide. That means a future where driverless vehicles are available where people need them, when they need them, in cities from Singapore to San Francisco and everything in between. By eliminating accidents due to driver error and maximizing vehicle utilizat...
Sep 11, 2017•39 min
Abby Covert is a staff information architect at Etsy and the author of “How to Make Sense of Any Mess” a book about information architecture for everybody. She says that it is not uncommon to see semantic arguments and legacy decisions drive the information architecture of products and the organizations that make them. This can negatively impact organizational efficiency and user experience. In this Fika break, we talk to Abby about the messes made of information, how she helps companies arrange...
Aug 30, 2017•29 min
Carey Russell is an internationally-recognized filmmaker, photographer, writer and naturalist. A frequent collaborator with director Terrence Malick , Carey’s recent work includes directing the 10-part documentary web-series, “Tibetan Stories,” and a soon-to-be released book of photography about summer camps and scouting titled, “The New Arcadians.” In this Fika break, we speak to Russell about photography and videography and cultural identity, storytelling (and unintended consequences), and the...
Aug 14, 2017•25 min
What if you can create sustainable, clean energy just by taking a walk? Well, you can, thanks to Laurence Kemball-Cook. His energy harvesting startup, Pavegen, has pioneered a flooring tile that converts wasted kinetic energy from footsteps into renewable electricity, which has the ability to transform smart cities of the future, entirely through footfall. In this Fika break, we spoke to Kemball-Cook about energy harvesting, fighting climate change, and weathering the ups and downs of entreprene...
Aug 02, 2017•25 min
Greg Walsh believes that if you want to design for kids, you have to design with them. For the last several years, he has led the University of Baltimore’s intergenerational design team, KidsteamUB, through which children and adults work as partners to design new technologies used for education and entertainment. In this Fika break, we talk to Walsh about co-designing with kids, the future of design education (hint: if you want to solves more problems, co-design from K-12 and beyond), what’s wro...
Jul 17, 2017•29 min
From Airbnb’s impact on local rental markets to Uber’s impact on local industries to fake news swaying public opinion, examples of unintended consequences of business on society are numerous. And through it all, Baroness Beeban Kidron, a filmmaker and founder of 5Rights, a campaign that seeks to deliver the established rights of children in all interactions with the digital world, says nobody has thought about the impact on kids growing up in this new world order. In this Fika break, we talk to ...
Jul 03, 2017•25 min
Why can’t hospitality be reinvented? That was the question in Robin Chadha’s mind when he joined and helped launch citizenM hospitality group in 2008. In this episode, we talk to Chadha about what differentiates citizenM from other hotel groups, how to embed design thinking into an organization, the critical need to always keep the customer’s needs first and foremost, and finally, how technology can help you think ahead and stay innovative.
Jun 19, 2017•34 min
Designing for someone is not the same as designing with someone – and this is particularly notable when dealing with marginalized groups. In this Fika break, we talk to Ralph Vacca, a researcher, designer and educator with a background in mental health, about how technology can empower us to be more self-aware, compassionate, actively participate in civic life and education technology.
Jun 07, 2017•36 min
How would you like to cut your commute time from hours to minutes? How would you like to say goodbye to traffic forever? What if we said this is possible today, but you’d have to swap your car (or train or bus) for a helicopter? And you’d be able to do it all for the cost of a car service. Sound too good to be true? Well, on-demand helicopter service (think the Uber of the skies) is now available in São Paulo, Brazil, and soon may be coming to your congested city, too. In this Fika episode, we t...
May 23, 2017•26 min
Like many user experience folks, Lou Rosenfeld started somewhere (library science), made his way somewhere else (information architecture), and has ended up in an entirely different place (publishing). He’s widely known for co-authoring the IA “bible,” Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (i.e. Polar Bear book). In this episode, Fjord’s Andy Polaine speaks to Rosenfeld about the legacy of the book, the changing landscape of UX, and the emerging field of design operations....
May 09, 2017•22 min
Today, we’re living in a world of mixed and blurred reality, evidenced by the staggering success of Pokémon Go last year. In this episode, Fjord’s Andy Polaine speaks to Mark Pesce, an inventor and futurist, about mixed reality as the next true technological frontier, why we need to make better use of 2D before we fully embrace 3D, and his utopian and dystopian visions of the future.
Apr 24, 2017•26 min
Fjord’s Daniel Freeman talks to Carla Diana, a noted robotics expert, on how we use design to set expectations in our communications with robots and explores the moral and ethical obligations as our relationships with them grow.
Apr 10, 2017•28 min
Today’s companies, especially large, multi-nationals, are struggling through a crisis of innovation. Fjord’s Andy Polaine speaks to Dave Gray, a noted author, thought leader and creative, on how to solve for this crisis and ultimately get innovation to stick.
Mar 27, 2017•25 min
Have you ever binge-watched Orange is the New Black or Friends or some other show on Netflix even though you were exhausted? Of course you have. We all have. While binge-watching is not the worst behavior in the world, the same path of least resistance that keeps you in front of the TV can be harnessed for good. It’s called nudge theory, which means using indirect technological suggestions to disrupt human nature. We spoke to our very own Kelly Baron, a product strategist at Fjord Austin, about ...
Mar 13, 2017•28 min
