How We Scaled It for Design Teams (Academy)

In this episode, we sit down with Joel Lewenstein, Head of Product Design @ Anthropic. In this episode, we discuss how AI is changing the way we design and how teams can prove their value to the organization they support. Guest: Joel Lewenstein, Head of Product Design @ Anthropic Host: Adam Perlis, CEO at Academy 1:26 - AI in Design 6:03 - Design Leadership and Strategy 17:42 - AI Integration and Design Approaches 36:21 - Proving Design Value and Scaling Teams Resources mentioned in the episode: • Responsible Scaling Policy - https://www.anthropic.com/news/anthropics-responsible-scaling-policy • Constitutional AI - https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.08073 • Collective Constitutional AI - https://www.anthropic.com/news/collective-constitutional-ai-aligning-a-language-model-with-public-input 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cAfSJ8X4bUtFHSRQ6okZE -------------------------------------------- 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ --------------------------------------------

Welcome to 'How We Scaled It for Design Teams', a show that explores the journey through the arduous road to growing a successful design practice. Hosted by Adam Perlis, Founder and CEO of Academy (https://academyux.com), a UX staffing and recruiting agency and for this session, he'll talk with Alex Schleifer, Former Head of Design at Airbnb.

Alex has an incredible story to tell. Despite dropping out of high school, he went on to found his own successful design agency before making his way to Airbnb where he was tasked with scaling the design team at one of the fastest growing startups in history. Over the next few years, Alex led the design team through some of the company's most significant growth periods.

During his time at Airbnb, Alex faced many challenges, but he was always able to find creative solutions to each of them. From building out a robust team to establishing a strong design culture, Alex played a critical role in Airbnb's continued success. Today, he shares his story and offers valuable insights into what it takes to scale a design team and overcome the obstacles that arise along the way.

Guest: Alex Schleifer, Former Head of Design at Airbnb

Host: Adam Perlis, CEO at Academy UX

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Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions |

In this episode, we're joined by Frank Yoo, Head of Design & Research @ Nextdoor and previously at Coinbase, Google, and Lyft. We discuss the challenges of navigating cultural shifts and organizational changes, and how design leaders can maintain team stability and align with company values during times of uncertainty and lead with empathy. Host: Adam Perlis, CEO at Academy UX 🎧 Listen on YouTube: https://youtu.be/b9BFu3114kw -------------------------------------------- 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ --------------------------------------------

In this podcast episode, design advisor Richard Banfield shares practical insights for design leaders on assembling healthy teams for design success. Drawing from his experience as VP of Design Transformation at InVision and author of influential design books and artist, Richard offers guidance on navigating conflicts, managing stress, and other challenges. Discover how his coaching empowers leaders to create impactful designs and foster a thriving team environment. Join us for invaluable strategies and tools to achieve design success. You can follow along with Richard's work at the following links: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbanfield/ 🎨 https://richardbanfieldart.com/ 🤝 https://www.richardbanfield.com/ 👕 https://www.domesticpropaganda.com/ -------------------------------------------- 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbEyqPvZsenzKJErqAQCXqcVbm0Z8KBFU 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ -------------------------------------------- Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions | https://youtu.be/GSU8MqZADYw Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

In this episode, we speak with Christina Goldschmidt, VP & Head of Product Design at Etsy. We discuss the nine pillars of scaling your UX team. Christina shares her experiences and insights on how to build a strong design culture, align business goals with design vision, and create high-performing teams. Whether you're a design leader or a member of a growing UX team, this episode offers valuable insights into how to scale your team for success. You can follow along with Christina's work at the following links: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinagoldschmidt/ -------------------------------------------- 🎧 Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrlCVsoSF4U 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ -------------------------------------------- Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions | https://youtu.be/GSU8MqZADYw Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

In this episode, we talk to Chris Reardon, Former Head of Product Design, Responsible AI @ Meta, about the future of UX. We discuss how AI is changing the role of UX, the skills that will be most important for UX professionals to have in the future, and how they can ensure that they are using and producing AI in an ethical way. You can follow along with Chris' work at the following links: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherreardon/ ✍️ https://medium.com/@chris.reardon.ux 🤝 www.c-squared.ai Books about AI: The Most Good You Can Do and also his other book Practical Ethics - Peter Singer https://a.co/d/8vV8gOG The Ethical Algorithm: The Science of Socially Aware Algorithm Design - Michael Kearns, Aaron Roth https://a.co/d/e19fkqn Ruined by Design: How Designers Destroyed the World, and What We Can Do to Fix It - Mike Monteiro https://a.co/d/2XeNXQb Humans Are Underrated. What High Achievers Know That Brilliant Machines Never Will - Geoff Colvin https://a.co/d/e5468Yy Podcasts about AI https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4yob2PmhAD52PdgkzxAW3r?si=ec16549000fb4c69 -------------------------------------------- 🎧 Listen on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/tV6I6KT0V1M 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ -------------------------------------------- Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions | https://youtu.be/GSU8MqZADYw Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

In this episode, we sit down with Meredith Black, former Head of Design Operations at Pinterest, Founder of DesignOps Assembly and DesignOps Consultant. As a co-author of definitive books in this space, Meredith has become an authoritative figure in the Design Ops community. Together, we'll delve deep into the crucial role of Design Ops in successfully expanding a design team, confront the common challenges, and understand the ideal time to bring on board a Design Ops manager and subsequently scale the function. Links mentioned in the episode: 🔗 https://www.linkedin.com/in/msmeredithblack/ 👉 https://www.designopsassembly.com/ 🔎 https://blog.academyux.com/a-guide-to-creating-a-winning-designops-portfolio/ -------------------------------------------- 🔴 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbEyqPvZsenzKJErqAQCXqcVbm0Z8KBFU 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ -------------------------------------------- Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions | https://youtu.be/GSU8MqZADYw Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

In this episode, we sit down with Mig Reyes, Head of Product Design @ Duolingo. We explore Duolingo's innovative approach to hiring and retaining talent.

In this episode, we're joined by Michael Holzer, Head of UX (EVP) @ Hubspot. We discuss the importance of building strong relationships with cross-functional partners, and his candid thoughts on the common sentiment among UX designers of feeling undervalued.

In this episode, we sit down with Kevin Wong, Head of Design at Webflow. We discuss how Webflow goes about launching new features for their platform and everything that goes into it. Stay tuned for our chat with Kevin. Looking for great Webflow templates. Check out our article: https://blog.academyux.com/best-ux-portfolio-templates/ Sign Up for Webflow: https://webflow.grsm.io/2fs1y1c0rtbz?ref=blog.academyux.com -------------------------------------------- 🎧 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0cAfSJ8X4bUtFHSRQ6okZE?si=6d4e21ef04a3430e 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/

In this episode, we sit down with Peter Merholz, the co-author of “Org Design for Design Orgs”, design executive and organizational consultant​, to discuss the challenges of scaling a design team, knowing when to scale and how to structure your team effectively. We also discuss the different types of team structures and their pros and cons. -------------------------------------------- 🎧 Listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbEyqPvZsenzKJErqAQCXqcVbm0Z8KBFU 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ -------------------------------------------- Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions | https://youtu.be/GSU8MqZADYw Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/

In this episode, we discuss the challenges small startups and lesser-known brands face when trying to attract top-quality talent to their team. Our guest expert,  @AlexAntolino , former Creative Director at Typeform shares some creative ways to stand out and brand your team to attract the best candidates. From leveraging social media to highlighting your company culture, Alex provides practical tips and insights for companies of all sizes. Guest: Alex Antolino, Former Creative Director at Typeform Host: Adam Perlis, CEO at Academy UX

🔴 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoHoj8_8pA -------------------------------------------- 👉 Want more content like this? Sign Up for the Academy Resources newsletter where we provide tools, resources, and industry expertise on all things UX to help industry leaders, teams, and talent thrive: https://blog.academyux.com/ 👉 Struggling to find the right UX talent? Academy is a product design agency built around flexible resources. Whether you need a studio team, a few resources or want to find a full-time person we are a one stop shop whatever stage you are in. https://academyux.com/ 👉 Want to hear more from  @AlexAntolino  be sure to subscribe to his YouTube channel and follow him on LinkedIn. -------------------------------------------- Music by: ELo-Fi Fashion Chill Hip Hop | Vlog by Alex-Productions | https://youtu.be/GSU8MqZADYw Music promoted by http://onsound.eu/