In this episode, Kate and Laura attempt YET AGAIN to describe a visual thing with words. So. Many. Words. They explain what a task flow is, why you should do it, roughly how to do it, and why you're a terrible person for not doing it. Drink pairing: Lava Flow
In this episode, Kate and Laura whine for 30 minutes about how people should make things simpler and less nuanced. Occasionally they veer dangerously close to debating the nature of truth, but pull back from it because Laura failed Philosophy at least twice. Drink Pairing: Something with subtle hints of currant, cherry, and asphalt
In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about not wasting time making the wrong stuff. You'll be completely unsurprised that what sorts of deliverables you should make for your team depends entirely on who you're making stuff for and what you want out of it. Drink Pairing: Grappa
In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about fights instead of fighting. Specifically, they bring up some of their least favorite examples of people comparing totally different methodologies against each other. Personas vs JTBD! Agile vs Waterfall! Come on, people. No need to argue. Everything can suck equally. Drink Pairing: Appletinis
In this episode, Kate and Laura UXplain GDPR (probably incorrectly) and talk about some good approaches to treating your users' data a little more respectfully. Drink Pairing: Vodka Martini (I'd say "shaken, not stirred" but that bruises the booze, so knock it off with that nonsense)
In this episode, Laura and Kate revisit the concept of Change Aversion and talk about why change is hard for users and what you can do to make it easier. Drink Pairing: California Zinfandel
In this episode, Kate and Laura discuss how usability testing strategies may change depending on...wait for it...that's right, the context of the company and type of product. Drink every time they say, "It depends." No, seriously, don't do that. You'll die. Drink pairing: Lemon Drops
In this episode, Kate and Laura argue about how understanding what you can do may affect what you want to do, which is exactly backwards from what they usually drone on about. Drink pairing: Cheap Chablis
audio Block Double-click here to upload or link to a .mp3. Learn more In this episode, Kate and Laura complain about screen-based designers again. They also talk about designing for multi-modal interfaces in a failed attempt to sound modern and like they haven't been doing this since the Paleolithic Era. Drink Pairing: Old Fashioned
Happy New Year! In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about what they're probably not going to do differently in 2018, because honestly, who are we kidding? Drink pairing: Bottomless mimosas
In this episode, Laura and Kate do not sing at you. YOU'RE WELCOME. Instead, they continue the discussion about different types of work environments, this time looking at how it's different when you're working on a B2B product vs a B2C product. Drink Pairing: Mulled Cider with Brandy
In this episode, Kate and Laura decide to sing for some reason. 'Tis the season for assaulting your eardrums, apparently. Anyway, I would like to just preemptively apologize for this, and I promise we'll try not to get this drunk in the future. (We will fail at this, but it's the thought that counts, probably.) Look, at least it's short. Drink pairing: Whatever it is, you're gonna need a shitload of it. Did I mention we sing? Sorry, "sing".
In this episode, Laura and Kate talk about how your job as a product manager or designer can vary based on how close you are to the company's business model. There's a framework, because of course there is. Drink Pairing: It's nog season, baby!
In this episode, Kate and Laura give sketchy advice about starting your own freelancing or consulting business. Reminder: you should probably not take legal advice from drunk people on the internet. Drink Pairing: Whiskey Sour
In this episode, Kate and Laura argue about a very specific kind of complexity. They talk about how some features can be complicated problems while others are "just work," and then argue about why anybody might care about this distinction. Laura quotes someone she hates but who she reluctantly admits might be on to something, which really doesn't narrow it down much. Drink Pairing: Pisco Sours
In this week's episode, Kate and Laura reminisce about old research stories and how much better things were before. Ok, mostly they talk about what's still true of the things they learned in old research and what's changed. Drink Pairing: Old Fashioned
In this week's episode, Kate and Laura reveal that everything they've been saying has been a lie and they really think that statistics are lies. Ok, honestly, this is just them banging on about how not everything is for everybody again. Drink Pairing: It's pumpkin spice season, so enjoy bourbon and disdain for people who drink things that taste like pumpkin spice.
Kate's back! In this week's episode, Kate and Laura talk about what it means to truly be an expert in something, and how hard it can be to believe you are one. Laura admits to occasionally having doubts about something, which shocks everybody. Drink Pairing: Irish Affogato (This is an Irish Coffee poured over ice cream. It's a drink I invented because I am a genius.)
On this week's episode, Kate escapes from her cage, so Christina Wodtke valiantly takes her place to talk about how designers can talk to people who aren't designers. That's right. Two designers talking to each other about how they might hypothetically talk to other people. Drink Pairing: Gin!
In this episode, Kate and Laura overthink everything, as usual, and discuss how to take a feature that seems simple and be a total buzzkill by showing how complicated it really is. Drink Pairing: Mint Juleps (because they're muddled)
Kate and Laura, having run out of actual topics, decide that designers need a new animal, now that unicorns have been stolen by big, private, profitless companies. This may be proof that Kate and Laura will argue about literally anything. Strap in. Drink Pairing: Wild Turkey
Kate and Laura begrudgingly tolerate each other for just long enough to tell you how to work better with other people. Also, there's some stuff about how people and teams change each other, but it's not like there's any agreement. Drink Pairing: A 12 pack of something
After a few podcasts talking about things they don't like, Kate and Laura decide to be slightly more positive and discuss a few tools that make their work lives easier. Besides booze. Drink Pairing: Tequila Sunrise
Kate and Laura discuss whether some commonly misunderstood tools and frameworks (Surveys? Agile?) are bad or just really misunderstood a lot of the time. Drink Pairing: Shot of Jager
In this episode, Kate and Laura go off on several tangents about why everything does not have to be designed and built from scratch by your organization. Seriously, you're not making artisanal, locally sourced pickles here, folks. Unless you are. In which case, carry on. Drink Pairing: Small batch, home brewed cider made from cruelty free, free range, heirloom apples, obviously
In this episode, Kate and Laura fight about what it means to design things collaboratively and the ways in which everybody seems to screw it up. Hint: collaborative design does not mean everybody makes every single decision together! This is not a democracy, people. Drink Pairing: Sidecar
Kate and Laura really don't like to be told what to do. That's why they get annoyed when people declare "Designers should really be able to..." In this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of designers learning things like coding, story telling, and metrics, and then we leave it up to you, the listener, to make your own damn decisions. Drink Pairing: Who are we to tell you what to drink? Make up your own mind!
In this episode, Kate and Laura argue about terrible things they hear people say when building products. Apparently, there are words more triggering than "chatbot." Drink Pairing: Dirty Martini
In this episode, Kate and Laura give five reasons why everybody, even designers and researchers, need to understand how their products and companies make money. Drink Pairing: Margaritas
In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about the kinds of things people miss when building products, why that's bad, and how to avoid it. Drink Pairing: Anything but Moonshine (which can cause blindness)
