UX Podcast

Follow UX Podcast
Share on
Copy link to clipboard

UX Podcast is for those who are passionate about balancing business, technology and people within the realm of digital media. Moving the conversation beyond the traditional realm of User Experience. Hosted by Per Axbom & James Royal-Lawson every other Friday from Stockholm, Sweden.

Per Axbom & James Royal-Lawson

Donate to UX Podcast


    • May 22, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • every other week NEW EPISODES
    • 36m AVG DURATION
    • 344 EPISODES


    Search for episodes from UX Podcast with a specific topic:

    Latest episodes from UX Podcast

    Accessible design systems with Karen Hawkins

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025


    S03E11 (#339). Karen Hawkins, accessible design practice lead at Level access and chair of the W3C ARRM group joins us to discuss accessibility and design systems. Design systems can really help improve accessibility, but in reality design teams often don’t know their exact responsibilities, leading to accessibility gaps in implementation.

    Designer burnout with Katrina Alcorn

    Play Episode Listen Later May 8, 2025


    S03E10 (#338). About 15 years ago Katrina Alcorn suffered from burnout while managing a team of designers and raising a family. Drawing from her own experience, Katrina highlights during our conversation the importance of autonomy, connection, as well as purpose in the workplace.

    Headspace with Cal Thompson

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025


    S03E09 (#337). Cal Thompson, VP of Product Design and Research at Headspace, joins us to talk about the evolution of Headspace from a pure mindfulness app to a comprehensive mental health platform, including health coaches and therapists.

    UX for business with Joel Marsh

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2025


    S03E08 (#336). Inspired by feedback from his booked UX for beginners, Joel Marsh has written UX for business. A comprehensive guide for designers navigating real-world challenges. We talk to him about his own journey from design principles to practical business applications.

    ux joel marsh
    Service literacy with Lou Downe

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025


    S03E07 (#335). Lou Downe, author of Good Services and former director of design for the UK government joins us in this episode. We sat down with Lou and asked—Where is service design going wrong, and are we even doing service design?

    Defending against evil with Aarathi Krishnan

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2025


    S03E06 (#334). Aarathi Krishnan is an international aid expert, specialising in humanitarian futures and strategic foresight. In a world where the sets of rules that have governed us as humanity are rapidly changing, how will we know if the solutions that we are designing now are going to be fit for purpose?

    Fail early

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2025


    S03E05 (#333). A linkshow. James and Per discuss two articles they've stumbled on. This time we feature articles about things that slow down your website’s experience and why you can’t do anything about it plus the concept of “failing early” but not in a “failing fast” startup way.

    More systems thinking with Sheryl Cababa

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025


    S03E04 (#332). Two years on from when Sheryl Cababa released Closing The Loop, her book about systems thinking for designers, we hear Sheryls reflections and insights about what she’s learnt during that time and we grapple with the challenge of applying system thinking as designers “out of the box”.

    Murky middle with Christina Joy Whittaker

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025


    S03E03 (#331). Your destiny isn’t tied to a role. You were a person before your role. Leadership expert and strategist Christina Joy Whittaker talks to us about the murky middle, a phenomenon rooted in misalignment and purpose and quite distinct from imposter syndrome which is rooted in confidence.

    The Great Amazon Heist with Oobah Butler

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2025


    S03E02 (#330). Oobah Butler, journalist and filmmaker known for his prankster antics, joined us to discuss his work, including “The Great Amazon Heist” and “The Shed at Dulwich”. Oobah highlights the relative ease of manipulating algorithms, such as TripAdvisor and Amazon, to boost fake products’ rankings.

    Dark mode

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2025


    S03E01 (#329). In the first episode of Season Three, James Royal-Lawson and Per Axbom discuss the concept of dark mode, its benefits, and its implications for UX design, user experience and accessibility. We delve into the European accessibility directive, and the En 301 549 European standard which includes a section on user preferences, requiring user...

    A heartfelt update from James and Per ❤️

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2024


    This is an update to let you know that we are delaying the start of season 3 as Per is soon to have a heart operation. We’re aiming now to start Season 3 in the new year, once Per has recovered.

    Season 3 update from James and Per

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024


    This is an update to let you know that we have reached the end of Season 2, a sensible 10-month season this time rather than more than 10 years! It's time for us to take a short break before we kick off Season 3 on August 9th.

    Interviewing users with Steve Portigal

    Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2024


    S02E18 (#328). Over ten years have passed since the first edition of Steve Portigal’s legendary book Interviewing Users was released. Together with Steve, we reflect on how user research has evolved during the past decade, and how the importance of user research in order to understand people and their needs is still crucial.

    users steve portigal interviewing users
    The President of Iceland

    Play Episode Listen Later May 16, 2024


    S02E17 (#327). A linkshow. James and Per discuss two articles they’ve stumbled on. This time we feature articles about how certain features of e-commerce sites have to go, and how a design mistake impacted civic engagement in Iceland.

    Strategic impact with Nathan Shedroff

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2024


    S02E16 (#326). Nathan Shedroff, author of A Whole New Strategy, talks to us about how we as designers can have strategic impact. Through an expanded understanding of the context you are working within, and building both situational and operational awareness, we can bridge the gap between design and business.

    strategic nathan shedroff
    The rule of three with Ellen Lupton

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2024


    S02E15 (#325). Ellen Lupton, designer, educator and author, helps us stock up our toolbox of design principles and methods, starting off with storytelling in visual design, and the “rule of three” before we move on to linear and non-linear experiences. Will we follow the rule of three and have a third topic?

    Sketching workshop with Eva-Lotta Lamm

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2024


    S02E14 (#324). A slightly different episode to usual. Eva-Lotta Lamm joins us to hold a visual thinking sketching workshop – Eva-Lotta, James and Per have fun going through three sketching exercises set by Eva-Lotta that can help you with your creativity, team-building, visual thinking and much more.

    Change leadership with Maria Giudice

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 14, 2024


    S02E13 (#323).  We are in the age of design-driven change. Maria Giudice joins us to talk about being changemakers – How we can design change in a complex world. We start by looking at the history of change management and how we are now firmly in the age of design-driven change and that requires change...

    change leadership maria giudice
    The right question with Meena Kothandaraman

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 29, 2024


    S02E12 (#322).  Asking the right question and wanting to get a good response. How do we handle that as researchers? Meena Kothandaraman joins us to talk about our curiosity as researchers, the different lenses of inquiry we can apply from exploratory to validation. We talk as well about being curious and the skill of getting...

    Building trust in AI with Carol Smith

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 15, 2024


    S02E11 (#321).  How do we know when to trust a system? Carol Smith leads the Trust Lab team at Carnagie Mellon Universty, where they conduct research into making trustworthy, human centered, and responsible AI systems. Our conversation highlights the importance of guardrails and ethical considerations in AI development, as well as to ask the right...

    Digital Ownership with David Dylan Thomas

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2024


    S02E10 (#320). What does it mean to own something? We talk with David about the concept of ownership, going beyond the legal definition and into the wider concept of ownership and how digital artefacts lead us to re-think and re-evaluate some of the concepts that we have previously relied on.

    Experience strategy

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2024


    S02E09 (#319). A linkshow. James and Per discuss two articles that have caught their attention. The articles in this episode are about pragmatic discovery; delivering value to projects, and how UX Strategy should focus on, understand, and design, across all touchpoints, for the users – Experience strategy.

    Lost history with Zoë Rose

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 4, 2024


    S02E08 (#318). Zoë has been researching the history of some of the creative thinking methodologies we use as designers. In this episode she takes on a journey back to the origins of brainstorming, the double diamond, and design thinking.

    Hidden dilemmas

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 16, 2023


    S02E07 (#317). A slightly different linkshow featuring two articles, one by James and one by Per. The articles in this episode are about how the experience of a delayed flight highlights the wider impact of poor service design, and how the way in which you type can reveal who you are.

    Designer accountability with Kim Goodwin

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 19, 2023


    S02E06 (#316). Reflections and Lessons from heathcare design. Kim Goodwin has spent many years working within the healthcare industry. We discuss design principles used in healthcare and how they are transferrable across industries, as well as how designers should be more accountable.

    Presenting design work with Ben Sauer

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 5, 2023


    S02E05 (#315). Death by screens. Presenting high stakes design work with Ben Sauer. We talk about how presenting is an experience that needs to be designed, and we discuss some of the ways in which you can approach crafting a presentation experience and become better at communicating your design work.

    Make it more so with Chris Noessel and Nathan Shedroff

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 21, 2023


    S02E04 (#314). Sci-fi and AI. Over a decade on from our first chat with Chris and Nathan, after the publishing of their book Make It So – Interaction Design Lessons from Science Fiction, Per and James found themselves with the opportunity at UXLx to talk to Chris and Nathan again. Our conversation starts with AI...

    ai science fiction make it so nathan shedroff chris noessel
    Frugal computing

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2023


    S02E03 (#313). A linkshow featuring two articles that have grabbed James and Per’s attention. The articles in this episode are about the need for low-carbon and sustainable computing and CSS media features that can be used for detecting user preferences and creating more inclusive experiences. 

    Get the words to work with Torrey Podmajersky

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2023


    S02E02 (#312). Torrey Podmajersky, author of Strategic Writing for UX, joined us to help us get the words to work. Together with Torrey we highlight the importance of giving our work context as well as establishing a shared vocabulary.

    The leader’s journey with Donna Lichaw

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 10, 2023


    S02E01 (#311). Donna Lichaw takes us on another enthrawling journey in our latest podcast interview with her. This time Donna helps us understand the value of finding out your superpower and becoming a superhero. What’s all that got to do with leadership? Listen along and find out.

    Season 2 update from James and Per

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2023


    We’ve got an update for you about season 2 of UX podcast. After our 10-year long first season, we’re soon back for season 2. August 11th 2023 will see the first episode of the new season released.

    An update from James and Per

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2023


    We’ve got a little update for you about UX podcast. We’ve been publishing an episode every other Friday without fail for just over a decade since episode 33, which is absolutely insane. It’s a streak of 277 episodes. 554 weeks. We’ve quite recently actually surpassed 2.5 million downloads. What we’re going to do now is...

    #310 Fudge design thinking with Anna Kirah

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 9, 2023


    Power dynamics, egos, “I know best”. The ways in which we go about solving problems need to be challenged and changed. Anna Kirah joins us to help us facilitate that change and make a move from design thinking towards transdisciplinary thinking.

    #309 Container queries and design thinking

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2023


    Episode 309 is a linkshow. James and Per discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about container queries being available to use in all major browsers and how design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?

    #308 Systems thinking with Sheryl Cababa

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 9, 2023


    What is systems thinking and how can designers make use of it in their work? In her book Closing the loop, Sheryl Cababa lays out her answer and approach to this question. We talk to her and discuss some of the core definitions and concepts. 

    #307 Policy and design with Alexandra Schmidt

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2023


    In this conversation with Alex Schmidt, author of Deliberate Intervention, we discuss “policy” in relation to digital design and tech. We discuss how even though designers intend to do good and have a positive impact, harm can still happen as a result of our designs. We talk about how it is natural for systems to...

    #306 Human centred design with Alastair Somerville (UXP Classic)

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2023


    We are constantly simplifying the world around us and the people within it. This is a perfectly understandable reaction to the messy things we have to work with. But with every step back we are building a wall between the user and what it is to be human. We talk to Alastair about human centred design. How...

    #305 Dyscalculia and ChatGPT

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 29, 2022


    Episode 305 is a linkshow. James and Per discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about designing for people with dyscalculia and low numeracy, and How ChatGPT is blowing Google out of the water: a UX breakdown.

    #304 Building a content strategy practice with Natalie Marie Dunbar

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 15, 2022


    Getting anything up and running takes both time and planing. Content strategist Natalie Marie Dunbar joins us to talk about her content strategy practice blueprint and how it can help you when building a practice. What to do in order to avoid being an unheard and unappreciated silo as you grow from being a solo...

    #303 Metacognition with Steve Fleming

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 1, 2022


    We take a dive into neuroscience and metacognition. Thinking about thinking and thinking about other minds. We are joined by Professor Stephen Fleming, neuroscientist and author of the book Know Thyself to learn more about how our cognition works and the implications for our work as mind-creating creatives and in the development of AI.

    #302 Articulating design decisions with Tom Greever (UXP Classic)

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 17, 2022


    We talk to Tom Greever about Articulating Design Decisions. How do we talk about our designs effectively with stakeholders? Every designer has to explain (and justify) their design decisions to non-designers but what are the skills tactics and methods that are needed to pull this off in a way that opens the door for your project to create...

    #301 Informed consent with Kim Foulds and Joyce Rafla

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 3, 2022


    Informed consent is a critical part of the research process. We talk to Kim Foulds and Joyce Rafla about how they made use of videos featuring Sesame Workshop muppets to make taking a consent decision more inclusive, accessible and informed.

    #300 Jokes and humour with Delia Chiaro

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2022


    We’ve been tacking jokes onto the end of our shows since Episode 138. So to celebrate Episode 300, we take a look at jokes and humour. We’re joined by Professor Delia Chiaro, who has spent decades researching humour to learn more about what makes things funny and if it’s safe for us to be humorous...

    #299 Best practice with Rich Brophy

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 6, 2022


    “Let’s find out what’s best practice and just run with that”. That’s something many of us will recognise and have experienced. But what actually is best practice? Is it something we should follow? And can we? Rich Brophy joins us to talk about best practice and to offer some advice about what might be even...

    #298 Colonised Thinking and Figma

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 22, 2022


    Episode 298 is a linkshow. Per and James discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about how car culture colonised our thinking, and how Figma is making you a bad designer.

    #297 Complexity with Jonas Söderström (UXP Classic)

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 8, 2022


    In this classic UX Podcast, Jonas Söderström joins us to talk about complexity. We like to think that we have made the world better through digitalisation, but perhaps all of the productivity gains were actually in the very early days of computing. 

    #296 Introvert designers with Tim Yeo

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2022


    How do you make an impact as an introvert without pretending to be an extrovert? Often designers find themselves as quiet people in a noisy world, struggling in silence and being frustrated at not being heard. Tim Yeo joins us to talk about how introverted designers and design leaders can work with their introversion and...

    #295 Discovery with Dan Brown (UXP Classic)

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2022


    We need to ask the big hard questions at the beginning of the process so we can make good design decisions later. We talk to Dan Brown about the “discovery phase” or, as Dan suggests, the “discovery mindset”.

    #294 Sitemaps

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2022


    Episode 294 is a linkshow. Per and James discuss two articles that have grabbed their attention – we feature articles about designing the perfect button, and how sitemaps are an essential tool in web design.

    #293 Designing for stress with Katie Swindler

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2022


    We often find ourselves in stressful situations. Sometimes that’s expected, but sometimes it’s not.  The same can be said about the things we design. Sometimes we knowingly design for stressful situations, but sometimes our designs are used (unexpectedly to us) by people while under stress. Katie Swindler, Author of Life and Death Design joins us...

    Claim UX Podcast

    In order to claim this podcast we'll send an email to with a verification link. Simply click the link and you will be able to edit tags, request a refresh, and other features to take control of your podcast page!

    Claim Cancel