Do you want your career to be sustainable and aligned with what truly matters to you? Designing a holistic career that embraces every part of who we are can be a complex and meaningful challenge. This week Leigh and guest Jason Mesut have a captivating discussion about the significance of aligning personal values with work and finding meaning in one's career. Jason is an experienced design strategist and leader, who conducts workshops on and has written extensively about shaping one’s future in ...
Jun 01, 2023•41 min•Ep 66•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode, we chat with Sheryl Cababa, Chief Strategy Officer at Substantial and author of "Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers." She introduces the concept of systems thinking, which is a way to consider the broader implications of design decisions. By examining the entire problem and understanding the interconnections between various components, designers can anticipate and address potential issues and create more holistic and impactful solutions. 🎤About Our Guest: Sh...
May 17, 2023•43 min•Ep 65•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is about quiet leadership - how you can be an authentic leader even if you don’t have the loudest voice in the room. We’re joined by Tim Yeo, a design leader and speaker who helps introverts have an impact and influence without having to pretend to be extroverts. Tim is the brain behind The Quiet Achiever, where he coaches introverts to use their strengths to their advantage. Tim shares his experience working in environments where strong opinions and loud voices are the norm, ...
May 01, 2023•40 min•Ep 64•Transcript available on Metacast Are you a UX practitioner who's frustrated with feeling like you lack agency in your work? Or maybe you're someone who wants to take their UX game to the next level by incorporating strategic outcomes into your tactical deliverables? You’re not alone! Listen (or watch) on… This week I’m joined by my long-time friend, colleague, and UX Strategy expert Laura Barboza for the beginning of our 4th season of UX Cake! Laura and I explore the differences between strategic and tactical work in UX r...
Apr 06, 2023•56 min•Ep 62•Transcript available on Metacast With so many people facing changes in their work and careers right now, navigating the complex and turbulent waters of layoffs, org changes, and economic adjustments can be incredibly challenging. My guest today is renowned design leader and author John Maeda - who is no stranger to career shifts and changes. In this inspiring episode, John shares his message of focusing on recovery instead of failure, the importance of intentional reinvention, and the benefits of renewal and rebuilding. This ep...
Feb 22, 2023•30 min•Ep 61•Transcript available on Metacast Do you want to unlock your creative potential and foster innovation? We know that collaboration and communication are vital to producing outstanding work, but what you might not know is that the foundation of that is healthy conflict. Without it, we can't achieve our creative best. On this episode, we welcome Billie Mandel, a seasoned expert in design, coaching, and education with a focus on critique, conflict, and creativity. We'll delve into the importance of expressing divergent ideas, how to...
Feb 09, 2023•47 min•Ep 60•Transcript available on Metacast If you're in UX, you've likely heard the question, "How can we do more with less?" especially during any economic squeeze. Many companies are cutting back on resources and downsizing teams, while still expecting the same results. Some common approaches are to argue the value of UX, or simply say "no" to requests due to lack of resources. But there’s another way, one that can increase the value of your work and foster cross-team relationships. You can look for ways to be more strategic in the wor...
Feb 01, 2023•14 min•Ep 59•Transcript available on Metacast As human beings, it is embedded in us to seek purpose in everything we do. We want to do meaningful work that affects other people or pursue the passion within us. But many people wonder, is it too much to ask for an opportunity to work on something valuable? In today's episode, we are joined by Tutti Taygerly , a Leadership Coach, speaker, and author of the book “ Make Space To Lead: Break patterns to find flow and focus on what matters ” Tutti's primary focus is to help high-achievers ma...
Jan 19, 2023•45 min•Ep 58•Transcript available on Metacast Join host Leigh Allen-Arredondo for this UX Cake Pop - short and sweet when you just want a bite of UX Cake! In this UX Cake Pop, I’m sharing my experience with the true meaning of leadership, which is not about having a specific job title or position of authority, but about inspiring and guiding others towards a shared goal. Anyone can be a leader at any point in their life, regardless of their title or level of experience. There are different ways of being a leader without a traditional leader...
Jan 12, 2023•10 min•Ep 57•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode I’m talking with Ryan Rumsey about feeling like an outsider in design, the very human need to belong, and some of the affects that feeling like an outsider can create in our lives and in our careers. Find out how we’ve overcome feeling like outsiders, and what we’ve done to find community. My guest Ryan Rumsey is author of Business Thinking for Designers and CEO of Second Wave Dive and the Chief Design Officers school. Before founding Second Wave Dive, Ryan worked for over ...
Jan 04, 2023•50 min•Ep 56•Transcript available on Metacast A business can only grow as much as its people. That is why it is important to build teams with the knowledge that each of them is a key member who will eventually become a senior as you grow. In this episode, Leigh Allen-Arredondo interviews Anjali Deswandikar , the Design Director at Terralogic, Inc. and Design Team Lead at Lollypop Design , about building design teams that scale. Anjali talks about the process it took to build her teams across the globe, seeing as they...
Oct 03, 2022•41 min•Ep 55•Transcript available on Metacast Accessibility needs to be the gold standard for everything. If you have the power to make things more accessible and inclusive, strive for that. You are actually leaving money on the table if you don't design with accessibility in mind. There are billions of persons with disabilities, and companies need to consult them. If you're a small company, then it's okay to start small. Start with what you can control and change first. Join Leigh Allen-Arredondo as she talks to product designer&nbs...
Aug 19, 2022•37 min•Ep 54•Transcript available on Metacast Great digital products don't just happen. They're the result of a strong designer-developer relationship. That is because the two groups bring different but complementary skill sets. By understanding and respecting each other's strengths, the designer and developer can work together to create user-friendly and technically sound products. In this episode, Abhishek Nayak talks about how their company, Appsmith , addresses some of the common issues in the designer-developer relati...
Aug 10, 2022•43 min•Ep 53•Transcript available on Metacast Level up with UX Strategy In this episode of UX Cake Podcast, we discuss how you can create a UX strategy for better outcomes for your users, and the products or services you help create. There are many different perceptions about what UX Strategy actually is. My guest Jaime Levy - who wrote the book "UX Strategy" - defines as the intersection between business strategy and UX design, with a key component being early and continuous validation of the value proposition with customers. It’s a high-l...
Jul 19, 2022•34 min•Ep 52•Transcript available on Metacast Scaling user research, means doing more, doing more research, and doing more with user research, through democratization, or enablement. Democratization in UX, is a topic of controversy, yet this episode is a conversation and not My an argument debate. I think partially because the term democratization and the concept of democratization really has some baggage. Instead of having to spend your time evangelizing the importance of research, which takes up a lot of a lot of time, you are able to spe...
Jul 05, 2022•38 min•Ep 51•Transcript available on Metacast In this episode of the UX Cake podcast, we’re bringing you lots of great information about UX writing as a specialty within UX. In this special Ask Me Anything format we cover some of the most useful soft skills for a career in UX writing, hard skills that are transferable from other industries, ideas on how to upskill your UX writing, finding a mentor, and career trajectories for UX writers. My guest is Laura Costantino (they/them), a senior UX writer at Google. For the past 10 years, Laura has...
Jun 22, 2022•40 min•Ep 50•Transcript available on Metacast This episode is all about creating meaning from data, and making it easy for your audience to understand by making it visual. We can apply the same principles we use to design dashboards to presentations - whether you’re communicating design concepts (and the data-driven decisions behind your design) or user research findings. I had such a great time talking with my guest Thomas Watkins about how to show meaning using data, I know the term ‘data visualization’ sounds a little overwhelming to som...
Jun 07, 2022•45 min•Ep 49•Transcript available on Metacast Increasing our influence also increases the impact our work can have. This is especially important in user experience design and research… when not everyone we work with may have the same user obsession as we do, so it sometimes takes extra effort to see the impact we want. Often the UX folks are not the ultimate authority in the room, or on a project. And then add to that the fact that others’ bias can also undermine your authority - biasis about gender, race, age, disability… I...
May 03, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep 48•Transcript available on Metacast No doubt you're practicing challenging assumptions in your user-centered work already -- identifying what you think you know (or assume) about users' beliefs and actions, and finding out if those assumptions are true, or what else is true. What if you take that same approach towards the people you work with, and in your own career? The result can be surprising, and even transformational. ******** If you enjoy this podcast, there are some really simple ways you can help us: follow us on twi...
Apr 12, 2022•21 min•Ep 47•Transcript available on Metacast Have you found interest in User Research, but are unsure if a career change is possible? Today I'm talking to Eniola Abioye, a Sr. User Researcher at Meta, specifically about transitioning into user-focused or design research from research-related backgrounds in other disciplines. Eniola herself came from biotechnology before moving into the design research space. Eniola has a passion for helping others figure out how to utilize their existing experience, and to learn through doing, getting rele...
Mar 29, 2022•37 min•Ep 46•Transcript available on Metacast This week we're talking about UX Strategy, and UX Strategy Sprints. The term UX Strategy gets defined in different ways by experts across our discipline. I like to define UX Strategy at it’s simplest, highest level as identifying business objectives and user needs to create a vision that aligns those two things. And while that might sound simple, getting to that vision for a product or a service is anything but simple. My guest today is Craig Nishizaki, Head of Business for UpTop, a User Experie...
Mar 15, 2022•44 min•Ep 45•Transcript available on Metacast If we want to make products and services that people want and use, we have to talk to those people. Whether you’re involved in product strategy, UX, development, marketing, any part of building products or a business or a service – you’ve got to understand what your audience or user’s goals, what will really serve their needs, what motivates them. And how do we do that? We talk to them. More importantly, we listen to them talk. So, how do we get them to talk about what’s really most important to...
Mar 09, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep 44•Transcript available on Metacast UX cake podcast is coming back for Season 3 !! I have missed you all so much these last couple of years while the podcast has been on a break ,and I'm really excited to share with you some of the changes that are coming in season three and give you just a little glimpse into some of the great content and learning that you have to look forward to. UX cake has always been a podcast that helps you become more effective in your work and to really grow in your career, tune in to hear more of what you...
Mar 07, 2022•3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 43: In the third of 3 episodes in our special mini-series called Learning UX, guest host Leo Zhang talks with Sara Hubbard and Caryn Wylie, the organizers of the meetup group Seattle Women of Design and UX, about growing your network and experience by getting involved in the UX community around you. From Leo: In our third and final Learn UX episode of the mini-series I wanted to bring on the founders of Seattle Women of Design and UX meetup (seaDUXX). Caryn Wille and Sar...
Feb 17, 2020•37 min•Ep 43•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 42: Maybe there are times you’ve found yourself hesitating to speak up, to put your voice out there… this happens a lot, it’s not just a UX issue but is a common complaint in UX, and in tech in general. And it happens at every level, I’ve been in leadership roles for 20 years and I still experience this at times. My guest is LaDonna Willems, who is the associate editorial director at Dropbox . LaDonna is a writer, and she’s an expert on voice. So when she realized that she wasn’t alway...
Jan 22, 2020•40 min•Ep 42•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 41: This episode is the second in our special mini-series called Learning UX, hosted by Leo Zhang. In this mini-series, Leo talks in-person with local UX leaders about their careers and topics they’re passionate about. This episode Leo is talking with Kimberly Wiessner, about her career spanning design, creative direction and product strategy, and about bringing teams together to align on UX value. From Leo Zhang: In our second Learn UX episode of the mini-series I wanted to bring ...
Jan 17, 2020•33 min•Ep 41•Transcript available on Metacast Ep 40: Since I started asking users questions as part of my design process over 20 years ago, I’ve often asked myself, how could I ask better questions. Am I asking the right questions? What bias am I bringing into the interaction? As we progress in our research practice and go beyond the 101 lessons like avoiding leading questions, asking questions that are open-ended, leaving silence in the spaces to allow participants to talk more, learning to interpret actions and expressions not just ...
Dec 05, 2019•32 min•Ep 40•Transcript available on Metacast We're introducing a new series, called Learn UX, hosted by Leo Zhang. Leo started a meetup here in Seattle called Learn UX, aimed at UXers in earlier to mid-career, that hosts great speakers like Torry Podmajersky, who we had on our show talking about strategic UX writing back in episode 33. Leo is adapting his content to a podcast format for UX Cake, and we're trying out a three part series of to see how that resonates with our listeners. So we totally want to hear what you think about thi...
Nov 20, 2019•49 min•Ep 39•Transcript available on Metacast Ep. 38: This week I got to talk with Jaime Levy , a UX pioneer, and Author of the book ‘ UX Strategy ’, about 'moving beyond’ being a designer or researcher in UX, and ‘leveling up’ in your career by moving into UX strategy or digital transformation. We talk about the difference between UX Strategy as a process or workflow vs. UX strategy as a role, and what that takes. Then we talk about Digital Transformation as the next step up in leveling up, from UX Strategy. There are many different defini...
Oct 23, 2019•36 min•Ep 38•Transcript available on Metacast This episode was a live recording for the podcast at the 5th annual Radical Research Summit in Vancouver BC. Our panel topic was collaborative research - Working with people in other disciplines, in other teams, or even in other organizations to produce really impactful research that will get integrated into the experiences we’re creating. The panelists were Ariba Jahan, Innovation Director at Ad Council, Judd Antin, Director of Research at Airbnb, and Komal Faiz, a UX researcher at Zensuri...
Oct 09, 2019•38 min•Ep 37•Transcript available on Metacast 
