The Informed Life (Jorge Arango)
Explore every episode of The Informed Life
| Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 Jul 2021 | Jim Kalbach on Jobs to Be Done | 00:31:37 | |
Jim Kalbach is the chief evangelist at MURAL, a leading provider of online visual collaboration software. He's the author of Designing Web Navigation (O'Reilly, 2007), Mapping Experiences (O'Reilly, 2016), and his latest, The Jobs to Be Done Playbook (Rosenfeld, 2020). In this conversation, we dive into Jobs to Be Done, how it relates to design, and how jobs can create an “out of body experience” for organizations. Show notes
Disclosure: I received Jim's book for free as a previous Rosenfeld Media/Two Waves author. | |||
| 31 Jan 2021 | Kourosh Dini on DEVONthink | 00:30:49 | |
Kourosh Dini is a psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and productivity expert. He is the author of an excellent book on how to take smart notes using DEVONthink, a personal information management tool. In this conversation, we discuss smart note-taking and how DEVONthink can help us work more effectively. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 26 Sep 2021 | Sunni Brown on Deep Self Design | 00:31:16 | |
Sunni Brown is a social entrepreneur who uses visual literacy, design thinking, and visual facilitation to solve complex problems. She's the author of The Doodle Revolution and co-author of Gamestorming. In this conversation, we discuss Sunni's current area of focus, which uses Zen Buddhism and design thinking to help individuals craft a more fulfilling and engaged life. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 28 Feb 2021 | Margot Bloomstein on Trust | 00:31:58 | |
Margot Bloomstein is the principal of Appropriate, Inc., a brand and content strategy consultancy. Over a twenty year career, she has consulted in a wide range of industries. Margot is the author of Content Strategy at Work and of a new book, Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap, which is the subject of our conversation today. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 25 Apr 2021 | Kat Vellos on Friendship | 00:26:31 | |
Kat Vellos on FriendshipKat Vellos uses her background in experience design to empower people to learn, grow, and thrive. She’s written two books on adult friendship, We Should Get Together and Connected from Afar. In this conversation, we discuss the importance and challenges of making friends, especially during this time of ‘social distancing.’ Listen to the show Download episode 60 Show notes
| |||
| 11 Apr 2021 | Matt LeMay on One Page / One Hour | 00:26:04 | |
Matt LeMay is a product management consultant and author. He’s a co-founder and partner at Sudden Compass, which helps companies reconnect with their customers and helps teams focus on addressing human needs. He’s the author of Agile for Everybody and Product Management in Practice. In this conversation, Matt shares with us One Page / One Hour, his pledge to make project collaboration more agile. Listen to the show Show notes Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 28 Mar 2021 | Jesse James Garrett on Leadership and Information Architecture | 00:29:14 | |
Jesse James Garret is a renowned leader in the user experience design field. He’s a co-founder of the influential UX consultancy Adaptive Path and author of The Elements of User Experience. These days, Jesse coaches UX design leaders. In this conversation, we discuss the relationship between leadership and information architecture. Listen to the show Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 10 Oct 2021 | Nathan Shedroff on Foodicons | 00:31:00 | |
Nathan Shedroff is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and a colleague at the California College of the Arts, where we both teach in the graduate interaction design program. Nathan has worked for a long time on driving innovation and sustainability through design. This conversation focuses on his latest project: Foodicons, which is creating a shared, open-source, and royalty-free iconographic language of food. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 03 Jan 2021 | Grace Lau on Information Architecture Events | 00:27:54 | |
Grace Lau is an information architect and user experience designer based in the Greater Los Angeles area. She’s the co-president of World IA Day and one of the program chairs of the 2021 IA Conference. In this conversation, we discuss those professional community events, and why you should participate. Listen to the show Download episode 52 Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 29 Aug 2021 | Karl Fast on Interactionism, part 1 | 00:32:37 | |
Karl Fast is an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist. He's the co-author of Figure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding alongside Stephen Anderson, who was featured in episode 39 of the show. In this conversation, Karl tells us about what interaction designers can learn from cognitive science. We had a lot to discuss, so this episode is the first of two on the subject. Show notes
Disclosure: I received Karl’s book for free as a previous Rosenfeld Media/Two Waves author. | |||
| 02 Jan 2022 | Dan Klyn on the BASIC Framework | 00:35:50 | |
Dan Klyn is co-founder of The Understanding Group, an information architecture consultancy based in Michigan. Dan has also created useful and influential IA frameworks, and in this conversation, we focus on his latest: the BASIC framework. If you’re enjoying the show, please rate or review it in Apple’s Podcasts directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 19 Dec 2021 | Year in Review | 00:48:09 | |
In observance of the winter holidays, this episode doesn’t feature a guest interview. Instead, I reflect on five themes that emerged in the diverse conversations we hosted on the podcast during 2021. I wish you and yours happy holidays! Cover photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash. If you’re enjoying the show, please rate or review it in Apple’s Podcasts directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 16 Jan 2022 | Boon Yew Chew on Roam | 00:30:14 | |
Boon Yew Chew is a strategic designer at Elsevier and a leader in IxDA, the Interaction Design Association. In this conversation, we delve into Roam Research, which Boon uses to take notes and tame “an ever-evolving multi-dimensional beast of knowledge.” If you’re enjoying the show, please rate or review it in Apple’s Podcasts directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 09 May 2021 | Jeff Sussna on Customer Value Charting | 00:37:04 | |
Jeff Sussna is a consultant and author specialized in helping organizations deliver software more effectively. This is Jeff’s second appearance on the show. In this conversation, he tells us about Customer Value Charting, a visual tool that helps teams balance strategy and agility. Listen to the show Show notes
| |||
| 20 Jun 2021 | Sarah Barrett on Architectural Scale | 00:31:58 | |
Sarah Barrett is a principal IA Manager at Microsoft. She's been writing compellingly about information architecture in Medium, and in this conversation, we focus on her most recent posts, which deal with how architectural scale affects our perception of information environments. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 07 Nov 2021 | Annie Murphy Paul on The Extended Mind | 00:33:33 | |
Annie Murphy Paul is an acclaimed science writer. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, Scientific American, Slate, Time magazine, The Best American Science Writing, and other publications. Our conversation focuses on the subject of her latest book, The Extended Mind, which is about how human cognition relies on our bodies, other people, and the material world. I loved this book and was thrilled to ask Annie about how this line of thinking plays out in the context of our heavily digitized lives. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 04 Jul 2021 | Udhaya Kumar Padmanabhan on India | 00:33:56 | |
Udhaya Kumar Padmanabhan is a Global Strategic Design Director at Designit, an international strategic design consultancy. He is based in Bangalore, and in this conversation we talk about challenges and opportunities inherent in designing information systems for the Indian market. Listen to the show Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 21 Nov 2021 | Hans Krueger on the Cycle of Emotions | 00:34:32 | |
Hans Krueger is co-founder of the international design consultancy MetaDesign. He also co-founded another design consultancy, FutureDraft, where we worked together for several years. In this conversation, we discuss Hans’s trajectory and how ancient teachings have helped him better understand his emotions. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 14 Feb 2021 | Hà Phan on Product Leadership | 00:27:10 | |
Hà Phan is the Director of Discovery for Pluralsight, an e-learning platform. Before becoming a product leader, she was a principal UX designer at GoPro. In this conversation, we discuss Hà’s journey from UX design to product leadership. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 15 Aug 2021 | Mags Hanley on Career Architecture | 00:30:21 | |
In this conversation, we discuss Career Architecture, the focus of her current coaching work and subject of her upcoming book. Listen to the show Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 17 Jan 2021 | Jason Ulaszek on Healing Social Rifts | 00:33:59 | |
Jason Ulaszek is an experience designer, activist, entrepreneur, and educator. He is the founder of Inzovu, a design collective, and UX for Good, a nonprofit that aims to provide elegant solutions to messy problems. In this conversation, we discuss Jason's work on just such a problem: helping Rwandans heal after their 1994 genocide. Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 13 Feb 2022 | Peter Bogaards on a UX Canon | 00:29:32 | |
Peter Bogaards is an evangelist, educator, and coach at Informaat experience design. Peter has shared design knowledge via his InfoDesign blog since 1997. In this conversation, we discuss his recently proposed canon on UX. Show notes
Show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 27 Feb 2022 | Indi Young on Time to Listen | 00:36:10 | |
Indi Young is a researcher who coaches, writes, and teaches about inclusive product strategy. She was one of the founders of the pioneering UX agency Adaptive Path. Indi wrote two influential books: Mental Models and Practical Empathy. Now she has a new book, called Time to Listen, which is the focus of our conversation today. Show notes
Show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 13 Mar 2022 | Oliver Caviglioli on Graphic Organizers | 00:38:51 | |
Oliver Caviglioli is a former headteacher of a special needs school. Now, he’s an information designer and author of several books about education. His latest book, Organise Ideas, which he co-authored with David Goodwin, explains the practice and science behind using graphic organizers to teach and learn. Show notes
Show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 27 Mar 2022 | Laura Yarrow on Trusted Agitators | 00:33:45 | |
Laura Yarrow is Head of Design for HM Land Registry in the UK. She’s also a public speaker and educator. In this conversation, we talk about how designers can increase their effectiveness in organizations by becoming trusted agitators. Show notes
Show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 10 Apr 2022 | Dorian Taylor on Christopher Alexander | 00:36:20 | |
Dorian Taylor is a consulting designer. He’s been influenced by the work of the architect and design theorist Christopher Alexander, who died in March. In this conversation, we discuss Alexander’s influence on the design of built environments and software. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 24 Apr 2022 | Veronica Erb on Annotating Books | 00:41:11 | |
Veronica Erb is the author of Finding Out, an email newsletter for people who do and use UX research. Previously, she led UX research at NPR and consulted with a variety of companies. In this conversation, we discuss Veronica’s reading and note-taking practices. Since we recorded this, Veronica published a post with photos and screenshots of her notes. The link is in the show notes, in case you want to see what she's talking about. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 08 May 2022 | Austin Govella on the IA of Note-taking | 00:36:49 | |
Austin Govella is a user experience design lead at Avanade, a global professional services company. He’s the author of Collaborative Product Design and co-author of the second edition of Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web. In this conversation, we focus on Austin’s note-taking system and its relation to his work in UX design and information architecture. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 22 May 2022 | Sam Ladner on Managing Research Knowledge | 00:31:47 | |
Sam Ladner is a sociologist, UX researcher, and student of productivity and the nature of work. She’s been a researcher at Amazon and Microsoft, and is currently Senior Principal Researcher at Workday. Sam is the author of two books on research, Practical Ethnography and Mixed Methods. In this conversation, we discuss sociology and ethnography in the context of organizations and how to manage the knowledge generated by research. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 05 Jun 2022 | Kat King on Notes for Learning | 00:29:55 | |
Kat King is an information architect who’s “interested in information and how we figure things out.” She replied to one of my Twitter threads about note-taking, and I was intrigued by her approach. I recently saw Kat give a thoughtful presentation at the IA Conference and wanted to find out how she uses notes to learn and teach. So, this conversation focuses on note-taking as a means of learning. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 19 Jun 2022 | Mike Rohde on Sketchnote Thinking | 00:33:51 | |
Mike Rohde is a designer, teacher, and illustrator — but you’re more likely familiar with his work in sketchnoting. Mike is the author of The Sketchnote Handbook, which popularized the practice, and the founder of the Sketchnote Army, a showcase of sketchnoters and their work. He’s been described as “one of the leaders of the visual thinking revolution.” In this conversation, we discuss how Mike’s approach to visual note-taking has influenced his work. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 03 Jul 2022 | Daniel Stillman on Conversation Design | 00:50:20 | |
Daniel Stillman is a conversation designer and coach. He’s the host of The Conversation Factory podcast and author of Good Talk: How to Design Conversations That Matter. This is a special episode of The Informed Life: it’s the first recorded in person, while Daniel and I attended and taught at UX Lisbon in May of 2022. Fittingly, it’s an experiment: a freeform, less produced conversation about how we converse. In some cases, this results in less context than you may expect. In particular, you’ll hear references to the names of other speakers at the conference. I’ve included links to their profiles in the show notes. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 17 Jul 2022 | Steve Portigal on Research Skills | 00:33:33 | |
Steve Portigal is a consultant who helps organizations build more mature user research practices. He’s the author of Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories. He’s also the host of the Dollar to Donuts podcast about research leadership. In this conversation, we discuss the skills required for conducting successful interviews with users. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 31 Jul 2022 | Lorenzo Bernaschina on Gems Notes | 00:29:27 | |
Lorenzo Bernaschina is the developer of Gems Notes, a note-taking tool that uses artificial intelligence to find relationships between ideas. In this conversation, we talk about smart note-taking and how technology might be used to extend rather than replace human intelligence. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 14 Aug 2022 | Howard Rheingold on Tools for Thought | 00:30:42 | |
Howard Rheingold is an eminent author, maker, and educator. His work has explored and defined key aspects of digital culture, including the use of computers as tools for mind augmentation, virtual communities, and social media literacy. Photo by Joi Ito (CC BY 2.0) Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 28 Aug 2022 | Natalie Marie Dunbar on Scaling Content Strategy | 00:39:25 | |
Natalie Marie Dunbar is a senior manager of content design at Walmart. She’s the author of From Solo to Scaled: Building a Sustainable Content Strategy Practice. In this conversation, we discuss content strategy, how it might differ from information architecture, and how to stand up a content strategy practice. Natalie has asked me to let you know that rosenfeldmedia.com has a promo code for The Informed Life listeners. The code is INFORMEDLIFESTS, and it’s good for 20% off the purchase of any Rosenfeld Media book until December 31, 2022.
Disclosure: I received Natalie’s book for free as a previous Rosenfeld Media/Two Waves author. Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 11 Sep 2022 | Erin Malone on Pattern Libraries | 00:34:22 | |
Erin Malone is the Chair of the Interaction Design BFA Program at the California College of the Arts. In this conversation, we focus on Erin’s long trajectory with design pattern libraries, including her recent work with the Anti-Defamation League developing tools and best practices to fight online hate. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 25 Sep 2022 | Rob Ashton on the Science of Writing | 00:40:39 | |
Rob Ashton is a writer who focuses on the science of how the things we read and write influence what we think and do. Rob founded the global learning company Emphasis, and over the last six years, he’s focused on researching the science of reading and writing, ranging from cognitive and social neuroscience to behavioral and neuroeconomics. In this conversation, we discuss how science can make us more effective readers and writers.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 09 Oct 2022 | Alice Albrecht on re:collect | 00:38:49 | |
Alice Albrecht is the founder and CEO of re:collect, a software tool that helps knowledge creators focus and connect. Alice’s background is in cognitive neuroscience and machine learning. In this conversation, we explore how tools for thought such as re:collect can help augment our thinking.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 23 Oct 2022 | Mark Bernstein on Tinderbox | 00:39:19 | |
Mark Bernstein is chief scientist of Eastgate Systems, Inc. He’s been writing hypertexts and developing hypertext authoring software since the late 1980s. Mark is the creator of Tinderbox and other tools for thinking that “harness the power of the link.” In this conversation, we discuss thinking through connected notes.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 06 Nov 2022 | Listener Questions | 00:19:38 | |
This is episode 100 of The Informed Life podcast. To celebrate, I decided to dedicate it to you, the show’s listeners. So today, I don’t have a guest. Instead, I will answer questions sent by listeners of the show. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. Listener questions have been lightly edited for clarity. See links to the original questions in the show notes. | |||
| 20 Nov 2022 | Bram Wessel and Gary Carlson on The Information Layer | 00:40:00 | |
Bram Wessel and Gary Carlson are the founders of Factor, an information architecture and experience design consultancy. In this conversation, we discuss their practice of helping organizations gain alignment by defining the information layer that underpins their digital systems. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 04 Dec 2022 | Amy Jiménez Márquez on Leading Information Architecture | 00:36:48 | |
Amy Jiménez Márquez is Vice President of Experience Design at Zillow. Previously, she led design teams at Amazon and Compass. In this conversation, we focus on the role of information architecture in managing digital experiences at scale, with a particular focus on research and modeling. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 18 Dec 2022 | Scott Jenson on Open Source UX | 00:38:41 | |
Scott Jenson has done strategic UX design work for some of tech’s most important companies, including Apple and Google. Now he’s semi-retired and focused on improving the experience of using open source software. In this conversation, we talk about what’s different about open source, how design can make it better, and how designers can benefit from participating in open source projects. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 01 Jan 2023 | Marcia Bates on Search Systems | 00:31:05 | |
Marcia Bates is Professor Emerita in UCLA’s Department of Information Studies. Over the course of a long career in both consulting and academia, Dr. Bates produced seminal work in user-centered information system design. Her paper on “berrypicking” as a user search strategy has been widely cited and is considered a foundational text in the field. In this conversation, we discuss search systems. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 15 Jan 2023 | David Rose on SuperSight | 00:39:20 | |
David Rose is an entrepreneur, MIT lecturer, author, and pioneer in ambient computing. Among other institutions, his work has been featured in MoMA, The New York Times, WIRED, The Economist, and The Daily Show. He’s the author of two books: Enchanted Objects and his latest, SuperSight, which is the subject of our conversation. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 29 Jan 2023 | Léonie Watson on Accessibility | 00:33:25 | |
Léonie Watson is an accessibility engineer, W3C director, technology writer, and speaker. She’s director at TetraLogical, a consultancy focused on accessibility for emerging and existing technologies. In this conversation, we focus on the role of accessibility in producing experiences that work better for everybody. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 12 Feb 2023 | Michael Becker on Knowledge Work | 00:42:01 | |
Michael Becker is the founder and CEO of Identity Praxis, a strategic advisory firm. He’s also a prolific communicator, having produced dozens of YouTube videos explaining how to use advanced knowledge management tools. In this conversation, we discuss Michael’s approach to knowledge work and how tools such as Tinderbox can help you think and work more effectively. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 26 Feb 2023 | Carrie Hane on Content Models | 00:30:23 | |
Carrie Hane is an evangelist at Sanity, a cloud-based content platform provider. Carrie is co-author of Designing Connected Content, which advocates for content modeling as part of the digital design process. This is also the subject of our conversation. A side note: Carrie is one of the keynote speakers at this year’s information architecture conference, which takes place in New Orleans from March 28 - April 1. I’ll be teaching an introductory IA workshop at the conference, so if you want to learn about IA and can get to the southern U.S. in late March, come see Carrie and me at the Conference. There’s a link below. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 12 Mar 2023 | Hugh Dubberly on Design Models | 00:49:31 | |
Hugh Dubberly is the founder of Dubberly Design Office, an interaction design studio based in San Francisco. Hugh has a long trajectory in the design world. Before opening his studio, he did pioneering work at leading tech companies like Apple and Netscape. He is also a thinker and teacher of uncommon depth and breadth. He’s my colleague at the California College of the Arts, and I’m also lucky to call him a friend and mentor. I met with Hugh in his office to discuss his recent paper arguing against framing design as problem-solving, and that is the focus of this conversation. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 26 Mar 2023 | Nicole van der Hoeven on Obsidian | 00:33:25 | |
Nicole van der Hoeven is a Developer Advocate at Grafana Labs. She is also a communicator, sharing what she learns through her writing, conference presentations, and YouTube videos. The latter are what brought Nicole’s work to my attention: she runs a YouTube channel focused on one of my favorite tools for thought, Obsidian. In this conversation, we focus on how Nicole uses Obsidian to “learn in public.” Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 09 Apr 2023 | Andy Fitzgerald on Structured Content | 00:41:55 | |
Andy Fitzgerald is an information architecture and content strategy consultant. He works with mission-driven organizations to produce systems that communicate clearly, align business and user goals, and scale effectively. Our conversation today focuses on moving beyond the page as a metaphor for how information is delivered toward more flexible content structures. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 23 Apr 2023 | Jerry Michalski on Jerry's Brain | 00:39:38 | |
Jerry Michalski helps organizations become more trustworthy by exploring their language, processes, and intentions. That’s fascinating in itself — but I wanted to talk with him primarily because he curates an online resource called Jerry’s Brain, a deep repository of interconnected thoughts. He’s worked on Jerry’s Brain for a quarter of a century, longer than any other such experiment I’m aware of. So, I wanted to find out why and how he does this. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 07 May 2023 | Sheryl Cababa on Systems Thinking for Social Change | 00:39:33 | |
Sheryl Cababa is the Chief Strategy Officer of Substantial, an experience design consultancy based in Seattle. She’s the author of Closing the Loop, a new book about systems thinking in design. The book emphasizes the role designers can play as catalysts for social change, and that is the focus of our conversation. Show notes
Rosenfeld Media provided a review copy of Sheryl’s book. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 21 May 2023 | Dan Russell on The Joy of Search | 00:35:47 | |
Dan Russell spent 17 years working at Google, with a significant part of that tenure as a Search Anthropologist: “someone who tries to understand how people search, what kinds of things they seek, and how their tools influence their search process.” Dan is the author of The Joy of Search, which is the focus of our conversation today. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 04 Jun 2023 | Are Halland on the Core Model | 00:32:42 | |
Are Halland has worked in digital product development, strategy, design, and communication for over a quarter of a century. During that time, he created the core model, a tool for designing websites and products that align business goals and user needs. He has now written a book about the core model, which is due to be published later this year. In this conversation, he explains what the core model is and how it can help us create more effective digital products. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 18 Jun 2023 | Bob Kasenchak on Music, part 1 | 00:41:56 | |
Bob Kasenchak is a taxonomist and information architect at Factor. Bob’s background is in music, and this conversation delves into what information architects can learn from studying music. We recorded two conversations on the subject: this one focuses on the structure of music itself, and the second covers how we can make music more findable. Look for that one in an upcoming episode.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 02 Jul 2023 | Bob Kasenchak on Music, part 2 | 00:48:56 | |
Bob Kasenchak is a taxonomist and information architect at Factor. This is the second of two episodes with Bob that focus on what information architects can learn from music. The first conversation, which you can find in episode 116, focused on the structure of music itself. Today’s conversation focuses on how we can make music more findable — but there are insights here for anyone working with any type of information, not just music.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 16 Jul 2023 | Maggie Appleton on Digital Gardening | 00:37:59 | |
Maggie Appleton is a product designer at Ought, an AI research lab that’s working on ways to scale open-ended thinking with machine learning. She’s also an advocate of sharing personal knowledge online. She publishes one of the best digital gardens I’ve seen, located at maggieappleton.com. In this conversation, we discuss the what, why, and how of digital gardening. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 30 Jul 2023 | Aidan Helfant on PKM for Learning | 00:35:21 | |
Aidan Helfant is a college student who’s using personal knowledge management (PKM) to improve his learning. He’s also sharing his methods and tools to help other college students succeed. In this conversation, we unpack Aidan’s approach to note-taking for learning. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 13 Aug 2023 | Alex Wright on Informatica | 00:40:41 | |
Alex Wright is the Head of User Experience at Google News. He’s also an author, and his most recent book, Informatica, is the second edition of Glut, his deep history of the information age. In this conversation, we discuss the history of information technologies and why learning about it matters to people who work in tech. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 27 Aug 2023 | Chiara Ogan on Personal Libraries | 00:42:15 | |
Chiara Ogan is a former UX designer and information architect. She recently left that career to become a mental health therapist. Chiara’s background is in library science, and in this conversation, we discuss how she organizes her personal book collection — which she just did in preparation for this major life change. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 10 Sep 2023 | Sönke Ahrens on Smart Notes | 00:44:33 | |
Sönke Ahrens is an independent researcher and coach. He is best known as the author of How to Take Smart Notes, a popular book on the zettelkasten method of note-taking. In this conversation, we discuss the role of notes in thinking and learning, with a focus on zettelkasten-inspired note-taking.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 24 Sep 2023 | Jenae Cohn on Design for Learning | 00:37:00 | |
Jenae Cohn is the Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley. Along with Michael Greer, Jenae recently published Design for Learning, a book about how to teach better using technology, and what online teachers and instructors can learn from UX designers. Show notes
Disclosure: Rosenfeld Media provided a copy of Jenae’s book for review. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 08 Oct 2023 | Karl Fast on Reading | 00:43:21 | |
Karl Fast is an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist. He’s the co-author with Stephen Anderson of Figure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding. Karl is one of the most avid readers I know, and in this conversation, we compare our reading practices. We discussed this subject in preparation for a personal knowledge management workshop we will teach later this year. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 | |||
| 22 Oct 2023 | Karl Voit on Org Mode | 00:41:36 | |
Karl Voit describes himself as “a life hacker trying to make deliberate decisions on every aspect of life.” Among these are the tools he uses to manage his personal information. In particular, Karl is an avid user of Org Mode in Emacs, which is the focus of this conversation. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 05 Nov 2023 | Nate Davis on IA Sub-disciplines | 00:35:41 | |
Nate Davis is an independent information architecture consultant and a longtime contributor to the global IA community. In this conversation, we discuss his ideas about IA sub-disciplines that influence the construction of digital user interfaces.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 19 Nov 2023 | Audrey Crane on Shadow Design | 00:36:29 | |
Audrey Crane is the Head of Growth at DesignMap, a product and strategy design firm. She’s also the author of What CEOs Need to Know About Design, a book that helps leaders understand and tap into the power of design in their organizations. In this, Audrey’s second appearance on the show, we focused on how organizations can ensure they’re getting the best design work for their money.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 03 Dec 2023 | Steve Portigal on Writing, part 1 | 00:39:03 | |
Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve was previously on the show last year, talking about research skills. This conversation is a bit different: both of us have written new books, and we thought it’d be fun to compare notes about the process. We decided to split our conversation into two parts. This episode focuses on the motivations for writing, and the second part will focus on processes.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 17 Dec 2023 | Steve Portigal on Writing, part 2 | 00:37:07 | |
Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve and I both have new books, so we thought it’d be fun to compare notes on writing non-fiction. In this, the second of two episodes on the subject, we focus on the process of writing. If you haven’t done so already, listen to our previous conversation, which focused on our motivations.
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 31 Dec 2023 | 2023 Year in Review | 01:10:04 | |
This episode is a compilation of conversations from 2023. It’s not meant as a best-of collection, but an opportunity to highlight some themes that emerged during our conversations throughout the year. The episode is also an experiment, with the themes being curated partly by an AI. Cover photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash. Show notes
Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: | |||
| 14 Jan 2024 | Nathan Shedroff on Strategy | 00:43:19 | |
Nathan Shedroff is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and educator. Like me, he teaches at the graduate interaction design program of the California College of the Arts. This conversation focuses on his new book, A Whole New Strategy, which teaches strategic thinking. | |||
| 28 Jan 2024 | Pierluigi Dalla Rosa on Interactive Environments | 00:43:11 | |
Pierluigi Dalla Rosa is an interaction designer at Humane, the makers of the AI Pin. But that isn’t the focus of our conversation today. Instead, we discuss novel computer interfaces in general, and interactive environments in particular. This is a subject that’s near to my heart, as it points to exciting possibilities for future digital experiences. See full show notes: | |||
| 11 Feb 2024 | Elizabeth McGuane on Design by Definition | 00:34:14 | |
Elizabeth McGuane is a UX director at Shopify and the author of Design by Definition, a book about the impact of language in user experience. As you might imagine, that’s a subject I’m keenly interested in, so I was excited to speak with Elizabeth about it. | |||
| 25 Feb 2024 | Joey deVilla on Layoffs | 00:35:53 | |
Joey deVilla describes himself as an experienced, engaging, accordion-playing, golden-voiced developer advocate looking for a new role. He’s had a long career in the technology space and writes about his experiences in two long-running blogs, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the Twenty-First Century and Global Nerdy. Recently, Joey became one of the many people in tech who’s lost their job in the last couple of years. That is the subject of our conversation today. | |||
| 10 Mar 2024 | Dave Elfving on Gray Area | 00:37:11 | |
Dave Elfving is an experience designer and educator. He spent eleven years at apple, where his last role was as Head of Interactive Strategy. These days, he’s my colleague teaching interaction design at the California College of the Arts. He’s also co-chairperson at Gray Area, a San Francisco-based nonprofit interdisciplinary cultural incubator. Gray Area is fostering fascinating work, and I wanted to discuss it with Dave. | |||
| 24 Mar 2024 | Michael Anton Dila on Oslo for AI | 00:48:55 | |
Michael Anton Dila describes himself as a “designer of conversation” and someone with a passion for starting things. Among the things he’s started are ventures in online learning, co-working, and mobile technology. He’s also held several leadership roles in an elite innovation unit in the U.S. Department of Defense. In this conversation, we discuss his latest initiative, Oslo for AI, which seeks to design better processes for governing artificial intelligence.Show notes See full show notes at: | |||
| 07 Apr 2024 | Nikki Anderson on Research Impact | 00:31:51 | |
Nikki Anderson is an independent user research consultant, instructor, author, and speaker. Nikki uses her background in education and psychology to mentor people and organizations on the value of user research. And now, she’s written a book to help them build up their research operations. That’s the focus of our conversation today. See full show notes at: | |||
| 21 Apr 2024 | Dave Gray on Possibilities | 00:42:35 | |
Dave Gray describes himself as a possibilitarian. He focuses on helping people and teams realize their creative potential. Dave the author of several influential books, including Liminal Thinking and Gamestorming, which he co-authored with Sunni Brown and James Macanudo. He also founded the pioneering visual thinking company XPLANE. In this conversation, we discuss how to move beyond mental models that constrain us to open up new possibilities. See full show notes at: | |||
| 05 May 2024 | Chris Aldrich on Cybernetic Communications | 00:48:22 | |
Chris Aldrich has the most multi-disciplinary resume I’ve ever seen, with a background that includes biomedics, electrical engineering, entertainment, genetics, theoretical mathematics, and more. Chris describes himself as a modern-day cybernetician, and in this conversation we discuss cybernetics and communications, differences between oral and literary cultures, and indigenous traditions and mnemonics, among many other things. | |||
| 19 May 2024 | Emily Campbell on The Shape of AI | 00:38:05 | |
Emily Campbell is a design leader and advisor. She brings thoughtfulness and depth to producing business results through design and helping designers develop their careers as they fulfill that mission. Like me, Emily is deeply interested in AI. She’s developing an emergent pattern language for working with AI, and that is the subject of our conversation. | |||
| 02 Jun 2024 | Rachel Price on Responsible AI | 00:41:56 | |
Rachel Price is a Principal Information Architect at Microsoft and teaches Information Architecture at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. She was a guest on The Informed Life in 2019, discussing the role of structure in improvisation. Today’s conversation focuses on a subject that’s on a lot of information architects’ minds: how to responsibly design AI-powered systems. | |||
| 16 Jun 2024 | Stéphanie Walter on Neurospicy | 00:39:43 | |
Stéphanie Walter is a UX researcher and designer based in Luxembourg. She’s prolific in sharing useful information via social media and her newsletter. Recently, she co-founded a new project, called Neurospicy, to bring more awareness to issues of neurodiversity in design. Neurospicy has evolved since we recorded this conversation, but as you’ll hear, organic evolution is part of Stéphanie’s approach. See full show notes at: https://theinformed.life/2024/06/16/episode-142-stephanie-walter/ | |||
| 30 Jun 2024 | Harry Max on Prioritization | 00:46:13 | |
Harry Max is an executive player coach with a long trajectory in Silicon Valley. Through his consultancy, he helps senior leaders and their teams realize their visions by zeroing in on pragmatic solutions to complex challenges. And on that note, Harry’s written a new book, called Managing Priorities, that teaches leaders how to do just that. You can buy Harry’s book from Rosenfeld Media. Use discount code INFORMED20 for 20% off until July 30, 2024. Disclaimer: I received a copy of Harry’s book from Rosenfeld Media for review purposes. | |||
| 14 Jul 2024 | Colin Eagan and Jeffrey MacIntyre on Personalization | 00:43:38 | |
My guests today are Colin Eagan and Jeffrey MacIntyre. Although they work for different companies, Colin and Jeffrey share a common focus: how information technologies might offer more personalized experiences. They co-authored an article on the subject for A List Apart and Jeffrey gave an excellent presentation based on that material at this year’s IA Conference, which led to this interview. | |||
| 28 Jul 2024 | Greg Petroff on the State of Design | 00:41:35 | |
Greg Petroff is a renowned executive design leader. He’s built and led design teams for companies like GE, Google, Compass, and Cisco. In this conversation, we discuss the state of design and how designers can have more relevance in today’s changing environment. | |||
| 11 Aug 2024 | Jodi Forlizzi on Designing With AI | 00:46:00 | |
Jodi Forlizzi is the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Human-Computer Interaction at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Forlizzi has a distinguished career as a service designer, researcher, design leader, and academic. In this conversation, we discuss the changing role of design in the face of disruptive new technologies such as AI. | |||
| 25 Aug 2024 | Chris Risdon on Service Design | 00:43:02 | |
Chris Risdon is a Senior Staff Designer at eBay. Chris describes himself as an interaction designer that tends to look through a service design lens. Alongside his co-author Patrick Quattlebaum, Chris wrote Orchestrating Experiences, which is an excellent guide to the practice of service design. In this conversation, we unpack service design: what it is, how it benefits organizations, and how it might be changing in light of new technologies like AI. | |||
| 08 Sep 2024 | Luc Beaudoin on Hookmark | 00:40:56 | |
Dr. Luc Beaudoin is the co-founder and CEO of CogSci Apps, the developers of a brilliant Mac productivity tool called Hookmark. He is also an adjunct professor at Simon Fraser University and author of two books on using cognitive science to improve productivity. In this conversation, we discuss the origins and philosophy of Hookmark, the concept of ubiquitous linking and how it improves productivity, the importance of deep focus for knowledge work, how to reduce friction in information management, how cognitive science can help you work more effectively, and the importance of deliberate practice for knowledge workers. Whether you’re a student, academic, or professional, this conversation offers valuable tips and strategies for using this powerful tool to streamline your workflows and help with your focus. | |||
| 22 Sep 2024 | Tamsen Webster on Communicating Change | 00:39:52 | |
Tamsen Webster describes herself as “part message designer, part English-to-English translator, and part magpie.” She is also a consultant and author who helps leaders enact large-scale change. Her latest book, Say What They Can’t Unhear, explains how to drive lasting change through effective communication. That is the focus of our conversation. | |||
| 06 Oct 2024 | Scott Berkun on Why Design is Hard | 00:36:03 | |
Scott Berkun is the bestselling author of nine books on design, innovation, remote work, and more. His most recent book, Why Design Is Hard, is the second of a pair on why design makes a difference and how designers can best go about it. That is the focus of today’s conversation. | |||
| 20 Oct 2024 | Karen McGrane on Content Management | 00:41:09 | |
Karen McGrane describes herself as a “UX multi-hyphenate”: information architect, content strategist, technical communicator, accessibility advocate, and more. She’s co-founder of Autogram, a content management and design system consultancy, and author of two classic books on content strategy. In this conversation, we focus on how AI might affect content management on the web. See full show notes: | |||
| 03 Nov 2024 | Andy Budd on The Growth Equation | 00:41:32 | |
Andy Budd co-founded pioneering UX design agency Clearleft. After leading and growing that company, he became an advisor, VC, and coach. He’s now written a book on how early stage startups can benefit from good design. That is the focus of our conversation. | |||
| 17 Nov 2024 | Joe Natoli on The UX Team of One | 00:37:57 | |
Joe Natoli is a renowned UX design consultant, advisor, and educator. Now, he’s collaborated with Leah Buley on a new edition of her classic book, The User Experience Team of One. That is the subject of our conversation. | |||
| 01 Dec 2024 | Peter Morville on Exit Interview, part 1 | 00:51:03 | |
Peter Morville is a pioneer of information architecture. He co-authored Information Architecture for the World-Wide Web, the classic O’Reilly “polar bear” book on the subject. This is Peter’s third appearance on the show. I asked him back because I wanted to learn about his decision to retire from IA consulting. This is the first of two conversations with Peter about navigating big changes. | |||
| 15 Dec 2024 | Peter Morville on Exit Interview, part 2 | 00:32:37 | |
Peter Morville is a pioneer of information architecture. He co-authored Information Architecture for the World-Wide Web, the classic O’Reilly “polar bear” book on the subject. In our previous conversation, I interviewed Peter about a big change in his life. In this interview, we turn the tables: he interviews me about a big change to this show. | |||
| 29 Dec 2024 | Epilogue | 00:41:54 | |
In this final episode, I reflect on things I learned by producing the show. Photo by Diego Jimenez on Unsplash. | |||
| 30 Jan 2022 | Madonnalisa Chan on Notes for Living | 00:31:39 | |
Madonnalisa Chan is director of product management, taxonomy, and content services at Salesforce. I’ve known Lisa for a long time and admire her work as a taxonomist. But this conversation doesn’t focus on her work; instead, we discuss how she uses physical notes to manage her personal life. Show notes
Show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 05 Dec 2021 | Dan Brown on IA Lenses | 00:31:20 | |
Dan Brown is the co-founder of UX design studio EightShapes. He’s also the author of Communicating Design, Designing Together, and Practical Design Discovery. In this conversation, we focus on Dan’s Information Architecture Lenses, a set of cards that help designers interrogate IA decisions. If you’re enjoying the show, please rate or review it in Apple’s Podcasts directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||
| 23 May 2021 | Alla Weinberg on Work Culture | 00:29:39 | |
Alla Weinberg helps teams and organizations improve the quality of relationships at work. She has a background in design, but now calls herself a ‘work relationship expert.’ In this conversation, we discuss her new book, A Culture of Safety, and how teams can create environments that allow people to do their best work together. Listen to the show Show notes
Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. | |||