UX Maturity

We've all been there when priorities keep changing and we have to adapt. We talk about classic examples of priorities shifting, how to build resilience to cope with those changes, and how we can make better quality priorities in the first place to avoid having to change them. ☕️ Grab some coffee and listen to us reflect on shifting prioritiesSubscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episode every other Tuesday.

Will AI replace us as designers? Or will it simply evolve the way we design?In this new episode, we unpick the hot debate and different buzzwords around AI, and its impact on our design industry. From tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney to the ethical and creative dilemmas they bring, we explore how designers can stay relevant, learn to work with AI (instead of against it), and rethink the value we bring in an increasingly automated world☕️ Grab some coffee and listen to us reflect on how AI is impacting our industry Subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episode every other Tuesday.

In this episode of Design Kaffé, we're exploring the ethics of AI and key considerations for designing with it. How do we design ethically with AI? Can we design ethically with AI? How can we empower users and preserve their trust? We discuss bias, transparency, user trust, and the challenges designers may face in creating responsible AI-driven products.☕️ Grab some coffee and listen to us reflect on how AI is impacting our industry Subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episode every other Friday(ish).

We talk about concepting and bringing ideas to life. How do we balance pragmatism and innovation in design? How do we relate to thinking big but starting small?☕️ Tune in to listen to us share advice on how we organise our design space for creative conceptualising yet remain focused on the user problem, challenges we face when sharing concepts with stakeholders, and more.Subscribe to our⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on⁠⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠⁠.New episode every other Friday.

In the first episode of the year, we talk about the state of UX in 2025. What changes have we found in our design roles? How are embracing or being challenged by those changes? What is the role of AI in all of this? We explore how design has shifted towards generalism, dip into the ongoing debate about job titles, discuss the job market, and discuss the role of research and creativity. ☕️ Grab some coffee and listen to us reflect on where UX has been and where we feel it's going. Subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠⁠. New episode every other Friday.

In this episode, we dive into the unique challenges and strengths of introverts in the workplace, especially in design roles. We discuss navigating extroverted environments, finding ways to make our voice heard, and the value of thoughtful leadership. We share practical tips on everything from running inclusive conversations to managing energy as an introverted leader. Whether you're an introvert yourself or work with one, this chat is full of useful takeaways to help teams work better together and make sure everyone's voice is heard. ☕️ Grab a cup and join us for practical tips, personal stories, and a fresh take on what it means to embrace introversion in tech and design. Link to our previous episode on introversion in the workplace Subscribe to our ⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠ or follow us on ⁠⁠Linkedin⁠⁠. New episode every other Friday.

Sometimes it can be hard for us as designers to know when to finish analysing research insights or evaluate which design directions to move forward with. Similarly, when we present users with too many options, they often end up not choosing any. We talk about analysis paralysis and how we can break out of it. Subscribe to our ⁠Substack⁠ or follow us on ⁠Linkedin⁠. New episode every other Friday.

Breaking into a new design role can feel daunting and overwhelming. In this episode, we share how we get ready before joining a team, the goals and frameworks we follow for onboarding, and our priorities in our first month(s) to set ourselves up for success. Subscribe to our Substack or follow us on Linkedin. New episode every other Friday.

Welcome to Design Kaffé, a podcast where we have mindful, candid conversations for designers in tech. In our fortnightly episodes, we discuss a wide range of topics to explore what it means to be a designer, the challenges we face in the tech industry and share thoughts about our craft. Our first episode this season will come out on the 15th November. Happy listening!

In our last episode of season 4, we ask ourselves: do we need product managers? Can people in other disciplines, like designers and engineers, do product management, or is it essential that there is a dedicated PM on every team? When does it make sense to have PMs and when does it not?

This week we're talking about delivery speed and the fine balance to find with delivering quality. We explore why it matters, the impact delivery speed can have on the quality of the team's outputs and how we as designers can face this challenge.

We talk about money. How transparent should we be about salaries with our peers, recruiters, and companies? How should salary negotiations be handled or not handled? What about raises and promotions? Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com.

We're back this week with a heavy topic on discrimination. We're trying to unpack how being discriminated feels like, what discrimination looks like and why it occurs in the workplace. We also explore how we can be better allies and improve our work environments. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com.

We talk about nepotism and other signs of toxicity in the workplace. We discuss why it's so damaging to individuals and teams when there's systemic toxicity at work, and share thoughts on what to do when you find yourself in these situations. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com. New episode every other Friday!

We explore the challenges and difficult feelings of taking time off from work due to mental health. We discuss why it is tricky to be honest and upfront about it, and fears we may have about the perception others have of us and our reliability at work. Follow us on Twitter ⁠@designkaffe⁠ and check out our website ⁠designkaffe.com⁠. New episode every two weeks on Friday

This week Tiia Meuronen and Tom Kerwin guest our podcast to share their experiences with redundancies and having their hours and pay cut. We talk about how you can look after yourself while going through such challenging experiences, how companies handle redundancies and pay cuts well and not so well, and what the wider design community can do to look after each other. Find Tom on LinkedIn, his Innovation Tactics deck on Pip Decks, his Pivot Triggers on Maven, and his consulting services on Trigger Strategy Group. Follow Tiia on LinkedIn and check out her company Béa Fertility. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com. New episode every other Friday!

Today we're discussing feedback and how it can sometimes be delivered poorly. We explore in what contexts or situations poor feedback tends to occur and how we can best react to it.  Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com. New episode every two weeks on Friday

We talk about mediocrity and low standards where design over time doesn't deliver impact or meet the standards set by ourselves and others. We discuss what might cause mediocre design, how experience as leaders and designers can affect our standards, and what we can do to improve our design standards. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com.

This week we talk about toxic goal-setting and productivity. We reflect on the best way to evaluate growth at work and best practices to set goals for ourselves. We also discuss productivity and how to set healthy boundaries when we're caught into the hustle mentality. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com.

We talk about being human at work, whether that's our emotional states or more enduring traits of our identities and personalities which all influence how we interact with our work and our coworkers. We discuss the challenges of the notion of “bringing your whole self” to work and how managers and leaders can better support humans at work. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com.

We're back for another design conversation, this time about bad job search experiences. We share our own past experiences searching for a design role and what we've found frustrating and uncomfortable when interviewing with companies. We also open the Pandora's Box on design tasks and share a few tips on what to do with unpleasant recruitment experiences. Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com. New episode every other Friday!

In our first episode of season 4, we share our experiences of being introverted designers in extraverted workplaces. What challenges have we found, how have we overcome them, and what value can we bring by having more diversity of thinking and communication styles in our industry? Follow us on Twitter @designkaffe and check out our website designkaffe.com. New episode every other Friday!

Welcome to Design Kaffé, a podcast where we have mindful, candid conversations for designers in tech. In our fortnightly episodes, we discuss a wide range of topics to explore what it means to be a designer, the challenges we face in the design and tech industry, and share thoughts on how we can all be better at what we do. We hope you enjoy listening!

In this last episode of season 3, we look back and reflect over the season's episodes and format. We talk about what felt challenging to us and what lessons we took away from this season. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com.

We complete our last theme for season 3 by exploring the when and how of gathering insights. When during design do we know we should gather insights? How do we get started gathering insights, and what are some of the common mistakes we make in doing so? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com.

This week we continue our theme on Insights and deep-dive into identifying and using insights. We talk about the best ways to analyse data and extract meaningful insights, what methodologies we like to use and how visualising insights can be key to retain them throughout the design process. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday

We have the wonderful Léa Samrani on as a guest this week to discuss how product managers and designers can collaborate well with each other. We explore the differences and overlap in PM and designer roles and responsibilities, and the importance of nurturing the PM-designer duo relationship to drive better outcomes. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday!

We're starting a new theme on Insights and discuss the differences of being Data-Driven vs Data-Informed. We dive into how team dynamics or design process can differ with each approach. We also cover lessons from our experience and share why we believe in a Data-informed approach ourselves. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday

We round off our Management theme by talking about managing ourselves. How do we manage our goals—whether they're project goals or career goals—and ensure we set the right goals to begin with? How do we self-manage both our deliverables as well as our ultimate impact and outcomes? And how do we keep ourselves accountable? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday!

We're continuing our Management theme this week and talk about managing upwards. We share our experience and lessons on how to challenge or give feedback to senior colleagues and managers. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday!

This week we are kicking off a new theme on Management, starting with some reflections on what it's like ‘to be managed'. We explore what qualities we value in a great design manager and what management practices have marked us in our experience. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday!

We round off our Productivity theme by discussing how we can be better at making decisions and be biased towards action. How do we create an environment where people are empowered and trusted to make decisions in the face of risk and incomplete information? How do we mitigate sign-off culture and decision paralysis, so that we can effectively move forward towards better outcomes? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday!

In our second episode on Productivity, we deep-dive into the value of slack: why is it important — and not counterproductive — for productivity to have downtime, take breaks, and not do work for a while? What does good slack and bad slack look like? How can we be better at incorporating slack into our practice as individual designers as well as teams? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com.

In this week's episode, Yuri Martins joined us to talk about accessibility and his approach at Typeform! We dive into accessibility by design, what a good process looks like and also chat about some of the big misconceptions about accessibility. Yuri recommends the following resources for accessibility: Microsoft figma library, Twitter Figma library, Microsoft/Inclusive, Building for Everyone, Universal Design, Designing Voice User Interfaces Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday

We kick off a new theme, Productivity, by discussing the difference between efficiency and effectiveness. How are they different, and how do they go hand in hand? When should we focus on being efficient and when should we focus on being effective? What are our hacks and tips for have we can be more productive by working more efficiently and effectively? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episodes every Friday!

This week, we cover our last topic in our theme of The Designer Role where we talk about those valuable skills that sit outside the core product design skills. We explore how service, research and content design skills can either often be included in your responsibilities or be stand alone functions that you collaborate with. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episode every Friday morning!

We continue exploring the theme of The Designer Role by discussing whether or not a UX/UI Designer is the same as a Product Designer. Where are they similar? What makes them different? Do titles even matter? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com. New episodes every Friday!

We start a new theme about The Designer Role. Our episode this week tackles the controversial topic about UX vs UI

In our last episode about Discovery, we discuss how we deal with ambiguity in discovery: when and how do we run into ambiguity in our discovery work? Should we always seek certainty or embrace ambiguity? How do we help our stakeholders deal with ambiguity as well? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website uxmaturitypodcast.com.

This week is about Continuous Discovery! We explore how it differs from project-based discovery as well as some of the best practices about when and how to implement it in your team. We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates. New episode every Friday morning.

This week we are tackling the big mighty theme of Discovery. Starting with a first topic on how to design the right thing VS designing the thing right. We talk about how we frame problems, when we feel that it's time to move forward within the design process and how solution phase also involves discovery. We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates. New episode every Friday.

For our last episode in our trilogy on how to not lose your soul, we talk about knowing our value as designers: when do we think we're being undervalued as designers? What can we do to help the rest of the organisation understand what value we bring? To what extent does where design sit in the org chart speak to our value? We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates. New episode every Friday.

We continue our topic on how to not lose your soul by deep-diving into the challenges of staying creative as a designer. What is creativity in UX and design, and why can it sometimes be so hard to stay creative? What are some ways we can overcome our creativity blocks? We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates. New episode every Friday.

Sarah Doody joins us this week to talk about UX career and job search. She tells us about how we can benefit from treating our career like a product and gives many valuable advice to designers in search for their next role. Sarah is the founder and CEO of the Career Strategy Lab™. Articles and videos mentioned in the episode can be found right here: how to write a case study, how to create a UX resume and how to optimise your LinkedIn profile We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates. New episode every Friday.

We explore a new theme: how to not lose your soul. How do we keep our soul as product designers? How do we stick to our user-centred values and principles while meeting business needs? How do we escape the feature factory? Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity or buy us a coffee to support us.

This week, we dive into our last empathy topic and talk about the importance of building empathy with ourselves. We discuss how self-empathy impacts us both positively or negatively at work and what practices we've tried to build self compassion. We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates.

We continue our empathy theme and talk about why it's important to build empathy with stakeholders. We also share thoughts on how we might be better at being empathetic to our stakeholders and building a compassionate culture. We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates.

Our first theme for the season is empathy: we define empathy, talk about the importance of building empathy with our users, and share ways we can be more empathetic with users throughout our design process. We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates.

We're back! Here's an overview of who we are and what to expect from UX Maturity season 3. We are @UX_Maturity on Twitter and UX Maturity on LinkedIn — follow us there for the latest updates.

In our last episode of season 2, we share our thoughts and opinions on what's valuable to consider when switching careers into UX. See you in season 3! Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website: uxmaturitypodcast.com.

We talk about active listening: what it is, why it's important, and tools and techniques to improve how we actively listen to our users, stakeholders, and colleagues — so that we can be better designers. Follow us on Twitter @UX_Maturity and check out our website: uxmaturitypodcast.com.