Design Downtime (Guy Segal)

We’re going to a land down under, as Shannon Leahy joins us to talk about her love for Australia. She reflects on growing up as a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia and how it has shaped her life, with childhood summers in Melbourne, the unique family traditions that anchored her to the country, and the value she finds in regular, “mundane” family gatherings. Through family stories, memories of local foods, and Australian treats that hold sentimental value, Shannon expresses her gratitude for being part of a multicultural family and the joy she finds in revisiting and sharing these experiences. Plus, she also offers tips for visitors to Melbourne!

Guest Bio

Shannon Leahy (she/her) has worked at the intersection of words, strategy, design, and people for 15 years. In that time, she's been a web copywriter, an SEO specialist, an instructional designer, and a senior UX manager. These days, Shannon’s a senior content design manager at Capital One, and she organizes a meetup called RVA Content Strategy, which is running 12 years strong now. Shannon lives in Richmond, Virginia with her family and their dog, Ginger Snap. Melbourne, Australia is her home away from home (she's a dual citizen!). Her favorite neutral is leopard print, and her superpower is asking questions…lots of questions.

Links

Shannon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonleahy

Shannon on ADPList: https://adplist.org/mentors/shannon-leahy

RVA Content Strategy: https://www.rvacontentstrategy.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Let’s dive into the intersection of design, art, and craft, as Anne Hjortshøj joins us to talk about contemporary fine art, which she finds more abstract and intriguing than traditional figurative art. She explores the common misconceptions surrounding design as an art form, and explores the contextual nature of art. Anne touches on the role of museums, the evolution of art trends, and her personal encounters with significant artworks, as well as the economic structures of the fine art world, its small and elitist nature, auction house controversies, and the tension between artistic intent and market value.

Guest Bio

Anne Hjortshøj (she/her) has successfully led design as an executive across B2C industries, including automotive, CPG, retail, financial services and EdTech. She has built design capabilities at three organizations, assembling UX teams from the ground up, while scaling the function and advancing a strong, consistent design culture.

Links

Anne’s website: https://annehj.com/

Anne on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annehj

Anne on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annesaurus.bsky.social

Anne on mastodon: https://better.boston/@annesaurus

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

We talk with Raquel Breternitz about her love for comics. Raquel has a particular interest in indie comics and autobiographical work, appreciating how they can tell unique and often painful stories. She recounts her personal history with comics, starting with reading them as a child, and rediscovering her passion for them during college through works that profoundly impacted her life. She reflects on how comics blend the literary and visual arts, creating a unique medium that matches the complexity of human communication. The conversation touches on the comics community's openness and supportiveness, Raquel's evolving taste in comics, and her current reading list.

Guest Bio

Raquel Rubio Breternitz (she/they) is an award-winning designer with a unique bent for research-driven work built with craft and polish. She is dedicated to inclusion, accessibility, and keeping tech human (and human-focused).

With a diverse background in purpose-driven work across product design and brand, Raquel has served as Design Director for Senator Elizabeth Warren and has contributed to organizations including the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Shopify, the New York Times, Pivotal Labs, and IBM. Currently, they are a founding lead designer at GoodDay software.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Raquel is a writer, public speaker, panel moderator, and sketchnoter. In their free time, they draw comics, tear through fiction novels, play rhythm guitar, and take waaay too many photos of their cat.

Links

Raquel on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/RaquelDesigns/

Raquel on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/raquelbreternitz/

Alison Bechdel and Fun Home: https://dykestowatchoutfor.com/fun-home-2/

Black Hole: https://50wattsbooks.com/products/black-hole-pantheon-graphic-library

Ghost World: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/ghost-world-softback

Adrian Tomine: http://adrian-tomine.com/Booksandcomics.html

Lenore Yerkes: https://lenorayerkes.com/about

Jillian Tamaki: https://www.jilliantamaki.com/books;

Mariko Tamaki: http://marikotamaki.blogspot.com

Squire: https://sara-alfa.com/books/squire/

- and writer Nadia Shammas: https://www.nadiashammas.com/comics

Eden ii, K. Wroten: https://www.fantagraphics.com/products/eden-ii

Tillie Walden: https://www.tilliewalden.com/books

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz herself!

Things get muddy, as Cristina Lutcan joins us to talk about her love for obstacle course racing. She recounts how a military camp gifted by her parents introduced her to crawling in the mud and climbing ropes. Over the years, Cristina embraced both the Tough Mudder’s community-focused, non-competitive nature, where fun and teamwork are central, and Spartan races that push her limits and emphasize upper body strength, intense terrain, and individual endurance. She describes obstacles such as cold water plunges and mild electric shocks, and reflects on the inner resilience needed to push through moments of doubt. Plus, she adds tips and words of motivation for those considering their first race.

Guest Bio

Cristina Lutcan (she/her) is a seasoned UX Designer and community builder with a passion for design, community, and entrepreneurship. Her diverse experience includes projects with startups and large corporations, including recent roles at Slack and TELUS Digital. As the founder of UX Design Talk, one of the largest design communities in Toronto, she has empowered hundreds of designers to gain practical skills in a collaborative environment. Cristina also hosts the UX Curious Podcast, where she dives into the applications of UX across various industries.

Links

Cristina’s website: https://cristinaux.framer.website/

Cristina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cristinalutcan/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Put on your bicycle helmet and join us in the bike lane, as Justin Godard talks about his lifelong passion of cycling. Justin reflects on the changing role the bike has played in his life, from childhood, through teenage years, to adulthood. He shares how the bike offers a balance of exploration and physical challenge, and how it fosters a bond with his daughter.

Guest Bio

Justin Godard (he/him) is a design leader with extensive experience in cultivating collaborative, innovative, and user-centered design cultures within major tech organizations. Currently leading a team at Cisco, he is deeply committed to enhancing the workplace experience, ensuring that all employees have the opportunity to perform at their best by minimizing unnecessary complexities in their tasks. His team of product designers, visual designers, and UX engineers creates an ecosystem where Cisco employees can excel while supporting the company's vision for pioneering hybrid workplace solutions.

Before his current role, Justin’s journey through the tech industry was marked by positions at Varicent, IBM, and Firmex, in addition to design positions in the cosmetics and automotive industries.

Links

Justin’s LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/justingodard

Justin’s Instagram: http://instagram.com/justingodard

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Get your brush and easel ready as Amy Hupe joins us to share her newfound passion for watercolour painting. She talks about reconnecting with the hobby as an adult when a friend suggested painting together as a distraction, and how she discovered watercolour painting uniquely silenced her normally busy mind. Despite not considering herself naturally artistic or visually creative, Amy appreciates watercolour's forgiving nature - it allows for mistakes and corrections in a way that complements her otherwise perfectionist tendencies, and has become a rare exception where she embraces imperfection and enjoys the process over the result.

Guest Bio

Amy Hupe (she/her) is a UK based design systems and content design consultant. Over the past 8 years, she's worked on design systems for some of the biggest names around, including GOV.UK, BT, Springer Nature, the BBC and the Wellcome Trust. Whether she’s leading systems work or designing content, Amy works to champion simplicity and inclusion in the face of increasing complexity.

Links

Amy’s website: https://amyhupe.co.uk/

Amy on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/amyhupe.bsky.social

Amy on Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@Amy_Hupe@social.design.systems

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Holly Camponez shares with us her lifelong passion for cooking which began in a tiny kitchen at the age of six, how it’s been a way for her to contribute to her community, and the shift in her cooking approach that led her to view food as medicine. Throughout the conversation, Holly emphasizes the joy, creativity, and sense of service that cooking has brought to her life, and reveals the one dish she still struggles with.

Guest Bio

Holly Camponez (she/her) is VP of Design & Head of Adobe Practice at Avenue Code. During her time in this role she's had the pleasure of collaborating with clients from the Fortune 100 to create functional, beautiful, and innovative products and services globally and observe design trends in action. She is passionate about the potential of design thinking to create a positive impact both socially and economically. Holly lives in Northern California with her husband, son, daughter, and three cats.

Links

Holly on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hollyvw

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Mordechai Hammer joins us to talk about the world of improv comedy. He talks about his journey into learning and practicing improv, joining a local troupe, taking classes, and performing on stage. Mordechai explores the building blocks of improv, such as the importance of making bold choices or building trust with fellow performers, and reflects on how far he’s come, as well as what skills he’s still working on.

Guest Bio

Originally from Los Angeles, Mordechai Hammer (he/him) graduated from Santa Monica College with a Bachelor’s in Interaction Design. After a stint as a Motion Graphics designer in the entertainment industry, he discovered his true passion — design systems. As a child of deaf adults and a former sighted guide, his work is rooted in a drive for inclusive, accessible design that works for all. In his current role as a Product Designer on the Design Systems team at Lyft, he’s grateful to be surrounded by people who share those values.

He is also an avid teacher, running Figma workshops at California State University Long Beach, as well as internally at Lyft. There’s nothing that brings him more joy than sharing knowledge with his peers. In his spare time, Mordechai just finished taking a woodworking class, which was decidedly not his thing. You’re equally likely to find him hosting his weekly trivia game or on a hike with his wife and pup.

Links

The Idiot Box Comedy Club: https://www.idiotboxers.com/

Mordechai on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/_mordechai

Mordechai’s site: https://www.mordechai.design/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Ben Callahan shares his journey and passion for coffee, a fascination that began in childhood. This curiosity led him to explore the science behind coffee preparation, and his quest for the perfect cup of coffee led him to experiment with various brewing methods, equipment, and even water quality. Throughout the conversation, Ben emphasizes his love for sharing coffee with others and his enjoyment of both the ritualistic and authentic aspects of coffee culture, highlighting his deep passion, continuous learning, and exploration within that world.

Guest Bio

Ben Callahan (he/him) founded Sparkbox in 2009 with a mission to build a better web. He has helped lead and grow the organization while they work alongside clients like Gap, The Oklahoma City Thunder, and Stanford University. He’s focused his energy most recently on developing a maturity model for design systems, articulating the anatomy of design systems, and chronicling his findings about workplace culture in the tech space. When not knee-deep in these explorations with others, Ben is a father, partner, poet, and home barista. His personal motto is, “Stay in learning mode” and this helps him to remember that every interaction is an opportunity to grow.

Links

Espresso Vivace: https://espressovivace.com/

Bialette Moka Express: https://www.bialetti.com/it_en/moka-express.html

Hario v60: https://www.hario-usa.com/products/v60-coffee-dripper-02-ceramic

Kalita Wave flat bottom brewer: https://kalitausa.com/collections/waves-series

Flair Lever Espresso Maker: https://flairespresso.com/

Bellman Stovetop Steamer: https://bellmanespresso.com/products/bellman-stovetop-steamer-50ss

Comandante hand grinders: https://www.comandantegrinder.com/

Niche coffee grinder: https://www.nichecoffee.co.uk/

Fellow Opus grinder: https://fellowproducts.com/products/opus-coffee-grinder?variant=41510665715812

Acaia coffee scales: https://acaia.co/collections/coffee-scales

PRESS Coffee in Dayton Ohio: https://www.pressdayton.com/

Wood Burl Coffee Roasters in Dayton Ohio: https://www.woodburlcoffee.com/

Ben’s site: bencallahan.com

Ben’s company: sparkbox.com

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Ermi Isais joins us to share her fitness journey; from viewing it as a mere obligation to discovering its transformative power. Through the unexpected challenges of obstacle course races, Ermi found joy and fulfillment in pushing her limits. Now, she reflects on the importance of embracing new experiences and viewing failures as valuable lessons. Throughout her journey, Ermi learned to overcome inhibitions and fear of failure, finding strength in vulnerability.

Guest Bio

Ermi Mendoza-Isais (she/her) is a design leader with over 20 years of experience, (15 years in visual design, branding, studio management and 7+ years in UX/UI design), working with agencies, corporates, fintech and small startups and has managed a freelance business. She's built design teams from the ground up and established cross-team collaboration processes to help companies with low UX maturity digitally transform and elevate their products and services.

Ermi's an active mentor of the global design community, ADPList, where she shares career advice and EQ skills not taught in UX boot camps. She is a keynote speaker and is regularly invited to speak on design panels and podcasts to share valuable insights through her diverse journey to help inspire designers to thrive in their careers. When Ermi’s not designing, she challenges herself in her fitness journey, an experience that has been life-changing and helped her develop a “fit for life" mindset.

Links

Ermi’s fitness Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ermi_fitness

Ermi’s design Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ermi_isais

Ermi’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ermiisais

Ermi on ADPList: https://adplist.org/mentors/ermi-isais

City2Surt: https://city2surf.com.au/

Spartan race: https://au.spartan.com/en

True Grit: https://truegrit.com.au/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Noelle Lansford enters stage right to tell us about her love of local theatre. She takes us through her journey, starting from her high school days up to her recent involvement in community theatre, and touching along the way on her love for musicals, memorable productions, and the challenges of balancing theatre with other commitments. Noelle shares her transition from acting to backstage roles, and reflects on facing her the fear of imperfection.

Guest Bio

Noelle Lansford (she/her) is a digital product designer and design systems enthusiast. She is passionate about bridging gaps on multi-disciplinary teams from ideation to build processes. She works on AI design standards and patterns at Nationwide Insurance. In previous roles, Noelle has led design systems everywhere from a Fortune 500 SaaS company to a Series A startup. Noelle is passionate about learning and coaching others on their own journey into tech. After teaching and writing web design courses for her alma mater, Noelle has become a presenter and thought leader in the design systems community.

Noelle lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband and bearded dragon, where she enjoys exploring the city and the outdoors. Outside of work, Noelle has rekindled her high-school passion for theatre in the Columbus scene, meeting new people both on stage and behind the curtain.

Links

Noelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/noellelansford/

Noelle’s site: https://www.noellelansford.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab your fabric and pick your favourite stitch, as Elyse Holladay joins us to talk about her adventures with sewing. She recounts being inspired by her mother sewing and her own experiences running a personal style program, and how frustrations with ill-fitting off-the-rack clothing got her to take up the hobby. Elyse reflects on the highs and lows of learning the craft, from her initial overconfidence after sewing a tote bag to grappling with failed projects, and her breakthrough with a simple yet satisfying project, which became a stylish staple and a symbol of her progress. Along the way, she gained a new appreciation for the craftsmanship behind fashion and the ethics of sustainable clothing.

Guest Bio

Elyse Holladay (she/her) is a long-time Design Systems practitioner and speaker, currently the solo Design Systems engineer at Color Health. She was tapped to start the first Design System team for Indeed, has taught hundreds of hours of technical training content, and has been invited to speak at well-known industry events such as Clarity Conference, CSSConf Berlin, and Frontend Design Conference. She's a technical generalist who can flex between design, code, glue work, and OKRs, once quit tech to build a personal style program, is an off-the-charts extrovert, avid reader, and expat Texan with an armadillo tattoo.

Links

Elyse’s website: https://www.elyseholladay.com/

Elyse on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elyseholladay/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Let’s travel into the third dimension with Amy Lee, as she shares about her journey of discovering 3D printing with an initial understanding of the technology as merely a tool to create figurines, and how it evolved, leading her to experiment with more complex items. She tells us of her fascination with the intricacies of 3D printing, including the steep learning curve, the challenges of designing 3D objects on a 2D screen, and the practical hurdles she encountered in her early projects. Amy also talks about how 3D printing has influenced her view of other aspects of life, and how this technology has opened up a world of possibilities for creating custom objects tailored to her specific needs, rather than relying on off-the-shelf solutions.

Guest Bio

Amy Lee (she/her) is a design system leader who believes in the power of collaboration. She has created and led design system teams at large companies like Salesforce and DocuSign, as well as smaller startups. Amy believes that design systems can be a party where everyone is invited. Amy is also an engineer and a musician. She loves the process of creating things and wondering how to make things exist. She has no formal audio engineering training but has built two shipping iPad-based music-making apps. She'll be performing guitar live on stage; she has 4 more months to learn to play guitar. And lately, she's gotten pretty deep into 3D printing and CAD modeling–because why not. Amy lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and enjoys going for walks with her husband.

Links

Amy’s website: https://www.jumpingrobot.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Laura Worrick had a farm and on that farm she had a… well, you’ll have to listen to this episode to find out! Laura shares her journey from childhood farm work in rural Massachusetts to creating a backyard homestead in Austin, Texas. She talks about her evolving relationship with food, her and her partner's efforts to adapt to Texas's unique climate, and how her partner has come to embrace their homestead lifestyle—now complete with two dogs and seven chickens. Laura also shares about the deep satisfaction she finds in nurturing plants from seeds to harvest, and how these small acts of cultivation help her feel grounded in nature.

Guest Bio

Laura Worrick (she/her) is a neurodivergent design leader living in Austin, TX. With over 15 years of experience, Laura has collaborated with various brands including Amazon, Bayer, BBC, IBM, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, United Nations and others. She is an advocate for neurodiverse talent in the design field and has written and spoken about the topic in various forums. Currently she is a design manager at Cisco, leading the design system team and visual design program for Cisco IT. Outside work you can find her hanging with chickens, dogs and horses, or giving people hand poked tattoos.

Links

Laura’s Instaram: https://www.instagram.com/wawawawick/

Laura’s hand poke tattoos: https://www.instagram.com/wawapokes/

Laura’s farm on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mothershipfarmatx/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Start your engines, as Julie Tait joins Design Downtime to share her passion for car racing. Julie tells us how she fell in love with the sport of autocross, and her journey from an enthusiastic fan to a seasoned driver. She highlights the lessons she learned along the way, being part of a community of racers, and her efforts to promote the sport, especially among women.

Guest Bio

Julie Tait (she/her) is a passionate, award-winning creative person and Design System lead with 15 years in design. She lives her life with an attitude of, "I can do it". Rooted in a broad educational upbringing and talented role models in the arts, design, and craft disciplines, she's able to leverage divergent thinking and creative problem-solving to break through challenges in all aspects of life. Being engaged and open-minded to finding resources as a maker allows her to drive her passion for design systems.

In addition to her professional life, Julie is an illustrator, wood-worker, potter, teacher, coach, and mother of 2. She competes in car racing events and gives back to the sport by being a volunteer coach, and advocates for women to get involved with grassroots local racing events.

Julie likes to leave you with the question - "What is your 'and'? Designer and...?"

Links

Julie’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayday_jt/

Julie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliejancen/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

It’s story time on Design Downtime, as Laura Costantino joins us to talk about their lifelong love of stories. They take us all the way back to their childhood in southern Italy, to their father's folk tales, their grandmother's wartime stories, and their aunt's classical literature narratives. Laura tells us how that interest led them to study film and eventually curate film festivals, drawing parallels between the communal experience of oral storytelling and the shared experience of watching films in theatres. Laura also explores their preference for certain genres and touches on the impact of artificial intelligence on storytelling.

Guest Bio

Laura Costantino (they/them) is a senior content designer and strategist working on AI and large language models (LLMs) at Google. For the past ten years, they have worked at the intersection of UX, content, and marketing for some of the world's largest tech companies. Laura developed a passion for storytelling early on and received a MA in Cinema Studies in San Francisco, where they worked as a curator for a range of film festivals and cultural institutions around the Bay Area. Outside of work, Laura is committed to mentoring people transitioning into UX and tech, advocating for content, and sharing advice on LinkedIn. They currently live in NYC, were born in Southern Italy, and speak both English and Italian fluently.

Links

Laura’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauracostantino/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

It’s the season two finale and this week’s episode goes to eleven, as Joe Natoli joins us to talk about his lifelong passion for heavy metal music. From his earliest exposure to Black Sabbath’s Master of Reality at age ten, Joe reflects on the profound emotional connection and sense of identity metal gave him. He shares stories of scouring record stores, trading mixtapes with friends, and devouring music magazines to explore the growing metal scene in the pre-internet era. Joe also discusses the genre's theatrical aesthetics, the thrill of live performances, and the deeper messages in metal lyrics that often get misunderstood. The conversation goes into the diversity of metal’s sub-genres, Joe's favorite bands, and his own personal standards for what makes great metal.

Guest Bio

Joe Natoli (he/him) is a UX consultant, author and speaker. For three decades, he’s advised, trained and empowered the UX, design and product development teams of some of the world’s largest organizations, from Fortune 100 companies to U.S. Government agencies and startups. He has published ten books and is a regular keynote speaker and lecturer at industry conferences and corporate events across the globe. Joe has also taught more than 350,000 students through his online courses and his own UX 365 Academy, in addition to a private coaching practice. Joe’s approach to improving product UX and design focuses on addressing systemic and personal dynamics issues across individuals, teams and organizations: fighting impostor syndrome and increasing self-confidence, improving communication and collaboration, addressing fear and dysfunction driving poor management practices and redesigning inappropriate, counterproductive processes. Joe lives in Washington DC with his wife Eli and three kids, and he strives to be the person his dog Rosie thinks he is.

Links

The Hard Volume Experience Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNuc2kcwGbd_iJvc9-4YUKA

The UX 365 Academy: https://www.ux365academy.com

Joe Natoli's Give Good UX: https://givegoodux.com

Joe on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/joenatoli.bsky.social

Joe on Twitter: https://x.com/joenatoli

Joe on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joenatoli/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab on to your character sheet and roll for initiative, as Chris Strahl shares about his lifelong love of Dungeons & Dragons. He reflects on his early experiences of storytelling and shares insights on his growth as a Dungeon Master, adapting to the unexpected decisions his players make. Chris also talks about his involvement in professional DM'ing, running public games and corporate events, and how he navigates toxic behaviors to ensured a safe, inclusive environment for all players.

Guest Bio

Chris Strahl (he/him) is the CEO and co-founder of Knapsack and the host of the Design Systems Podcast. Knapsack helps the world's leading enterprises go from design to code quickly and accurately using design systems. A respected speaker, he has shared his visionary perspective on the use of generative design and AI technology in next-generation design systems at organizations like Google, Meta, Dribble, Clarity, and other pioneering companies. Outside of work, you can find Chris in the PNW on a river, climbing a trail, or dreaming up new worlds for his latest tabletop game. Chris started tabletop gaming with friends in his teenage years, and he used to be a professional game master in Portland, OR where he lives today. While being a CEO takes up a lot of time, he still holds a weekly game with his friends and spends time organizing games for friends and family.

Links

Chris’s LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisstrahl

Chris’s company: https://www.knapsack.cloud/

Chris’s podcast: https://www.designsystemspodcast.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

In the first episode of season 3, Karen VanHouten joins us to share her love of ’80s new wave music, a love that began in high school in the mid-1980s. She talks about discovering the music through friends, noting how it was "accessible enough, but different enough to make you feel a little special”. That juxtaposition of the dark and the beautiful in new wave music resonated with her, and made her a fan for life. Karen talks about music sharing in a pre-internet era, her time as a college radio DJ, and how the music scene fostered a sense of community. She ends with a list of essential new wave albums, recommended for new and curious listeners.

Guest Bio

Karen VanHouten (she/her) is an expert generalist and a curious skeptic who is committed to designing better ways for teams to work together. She loves messes of both the digital and human kind. She’s been working as a UX leader, a researcher, and a strategist in both the private and public sector, both in-house and as a consultant, for over 25 years. She uses the foundations of human-centered design (with a dash of scrappiness) to create healthy digital strategies and help teams safely operate in the space between opportunity and risk.

Links

Karen’s website: https://www.designinginward.com/

Karen on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/designinginward.bsky.social

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

PJ Onori joins us to talk about his lifelong love of photography. He discusses his introduction to a manual camera in art school, finding deeper meaning through street photography, sharing his art (or not) with others, and the essential role the camera plays in documenting his family throughout the years.

Guest Bio

PJ Onori (he/him) has been working on software for close to 20 years and has been most focused on design systems for the past decade. He's worked for companies like Adaptive Path, Disney and Pinterest.

Links

PJ’s website: https://pjonori.com/

Matt Black: https://www.mattblack.com/

Darcy Padilla: https://www.darcypadilla.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Angelina Severino joins us to talk about her love of poster art. She discusses the evolution of the poster from a practical advertising tool to a recognized art form, and her personal project to celebrate poster graphic design, detached from its commercial use. The conversation gets quite philosophical as Angelina explores the intersection of design and art, and questions the traditional view that design lacks personal expression.

Guest Bio

Angelina Severino (she/her) is an inspirational design leader with more than 15 years of combined Branding and Product experience in renowned advertising agencies and various tech companies. As a Design Lead at Gamgee, Angelina has brought this innovative startup from 0 to 1, from the very first product MVP to a full, complex product with an advanced multi-brand design system. Angelina is a Top Design Mentor at ADPList, and a Mentor and Advisory Board member at Women in Tech.

Aside from her design work, Angelina creates art posters inspired by graphic design and typography. She and her husband are raising three lovely daughters who undoubtedly keep them busy and inspired.

Links

Angelina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelina-severino/

Angelina’s website: https://www.angelinaseverino.com/

Angelina’s Postress project: https://posteress.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab your controller and get ready to double jump, as Asia Hoe joins us to talk about her love of video games, starting with memories of playing Mario and Donkey Kong between her parents as a child. She discusses how her relationship with gaming evolved from pure childhood immersion to a more analytical adult perspective, and explains how her love for collection-based games matches her perfectionism. Asia highlights her appreciation for indie games, explores her experience developing games at game jams, and touches on the artistic value of video games, arguing that indie games tend to be more artful due to their personal, specific nature.

Guest Bio

Asia Hoe (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary, award-winning product design leader with over 15 years of expertise in user experience design and strategy, front-end development, and design systems. She has worked with startups, agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and small business owners to develop user-centric experiences in education, healthcare, and finance. She recently joined the team at Jasper to explore the intersection of marketing and AI.

Links

Asia on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/asia.bsky.social

Asia’s gaming account on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gynesys.bsky.social

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Podcasting all-star Davy Fung joins us to talk about… podcasting?! He tells us how he went from being a listener to trying to create a podcast himself, and how it evolved into an ongoing creative outlet. Davy shares insights into the technical aspects of podcast creation, from equipment to editing, and reflects on how important authenticity is in building a successful podcast.


Guest Bio

Davy Fung (he/him) is a Product Design Lead, supporting the Meta Business Design System. Previously he’s been the Design Manager for Design Systems for Disney+ and Hulu. In his spare time, Davy co-hosts the Design Systems Office Hours podcast, talking about all things design systems, and LOVES COFFEE.

Links

Design System Office Hours podcast: https://officehours.systems/

Davy’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/DavyF

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Season one of Design Downtime is ending on a high (musical) note, as Brad Frost joins us to talk about how much he loves making music. Brad recounts the early days of his musical journey, playing bass guitar in a family band, and his taste evolving from classic rock to punk and ska, and eventually embracing a wide musical spectrum. He talks about shedding the pressure to commercialize his music and how it allowed him to enjoy it purely for fun. This culminated in organizing "Frostapalooza," a one-night-only concert involving 40 musicians from his network, and Brad shares the massive planning effort to curate and coordinate such an event.

Guest Bio

Brad Frost (he/him) is a design system consultant, front-end developer, speaker, writer, musician, and artist located in beautiful Pittsburgh, PA. As a principal and design system consultant at Big Medium, he helps teams establish and evolve design systems, establish more collaborative workflows, and create better software together. He is the author of the book Atomic Design, which introduces a methodology to create and maintain effective design systems. He co-hosted the Style Guides Podcast and has helped create several tools and resources for web designers, including Pattern Lab, Styleguides.io, Style Guide Guide, This Is Responsive, Death to Bullshit, and more.

Links

Brad’s website: https://bradfrost.com/

Frostapalooza: https://frostapalooza.bradfrost.com/

Frost Frost on SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/frostfrost-1

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab your clay and join us as Amelia Marschall-Miller shares her journey with pottery, rekindled after a long hiatus since her childhood fascination with ceramics. She is self-taught and enjoys the creative and experimental process of wheel-throwing, where getting comfortable with unpredictability is the key to having fun. Amelia describes her artistic style and influences, and looks to deepen her expertise while keeping pottery an enjoyable and fulfilling activity, rather than a stressful obligation.

Guest Bio

Amelia Marschall-Miller (she/her) is a Senior Director of Experience Design at EPAM Systems. She has spent her career in digital design consulting, having previously worked for Deloitte Digital and TCS. She also co-founded a web and mobile development company in Michigan called Gravity Works - which she led for four years and grew from 2 to 13 people, and is still operating today. After earning a degree in Graphic Communications from Northern Michigan University, her roles have included work in UX and UI design, user research & discovery, front-end development, project management, and operations. After spending 8 years in Colorado and Utah, she now lives in the woods near Traverse City, Michigan. When she's not making pottery in her home studio she enjoys hiking, mountain biking, boating, swimming, and cross country skiing with her husband, John, and blue heeler, Bitsy.

Links

Amelia’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sleepingsandspottery/

Amelia’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ameliamarschall/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab your longboard and join us on the beach, as Val Poon shares her unique journey from growing up in the urban environment of Hong Kong to becoming an avid surfer. Her first surfing experience in Hawaii, which she fondly remembers despite the challenges, set the stage for her lifelong passion. That passion has profoundly influenced her life, from her daily routines to her mental and emotional well-being. She discusses the patience she’s developed, the way surfing has shaped her approach to life’s uncertainties, and how it has even helped her navigate feelings of imposter syndrome. Val recounts experiences surfing in various locations around the world, how each place has offered a different perspective on surfer culture, and reveals her surfing bucket list.

Guest Bio

As a curiosity and UX-driven product designer, Val Poon (she/her) experiments with sensory-rich elements to create digital experiences that captivate and communicate intuitively. Her superpower lies in keenly discerning the right timing to act on user and business needs, much like navigating through waves when surfing. Now learning to code, Val is looking forward to deepening her understanding of our ever evolving digital landscape. A gentle reminder for listeners from Val is to embrace every moment, because then your journey unfolds into a rewarding map of destinations.

Links

Val’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valpoon/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

We’re reaching new heights, as Katie Langerman joins us to talk about her adventures in indoor rock climbing. She introduces the different types of climbing (bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing), and talks about how climbing has become a way for her to confront her fear of heights. Katie discusses a serious ankle injury she sustained in 2023 while bouldering, and explains how returning to climbing after the injury was challenging yet therapeutic. She explores the problem-solving nature of climbing, and how that helps her achieve a near-meditative state. Katie also shares advice for people afraid of heights (like the host of this podcast), who are interested in giving rock climbing a try.

Guest Bio

Katie Langerman (she/her) is an interface designer specializing in design systems, currently contributing to GitHub’s Primer. She focuses on creating flexible, scalable systems that help bridge the gap between design and code. Katie is also passionate about fostering collaboration across teams, sharing insights on leadership as an individual contributor, and tackling challenges like design tokens and asynchronous teamwork.

Links

Katie’s podcast, Complementary: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/complementary

Katie’s website: https://www.langermank.com/

Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/langermank

Katie on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katielangerman.bsky.social

Katie on Twitter/X: https://x.com/KatieLangerman

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

It’s not just IKEA and fjords, as Katharina Koberdamm joins us to share her deep passion for Scandinavia. Her fascination began in her 20s with Swedish music, which inspired her to take her first solo trip through Sweden and Denmark. Looking at the cultural differences between Scandinavia and her home in Germany, Katharina highlights the minimalist design, the more uniform style, and the serene landscapes of the Nordic countries, and dreams of future trips with her growing family to further share the lands she loves.

Guest Bio

Katharina Koberdamm (she/her) is a design leadership expert and coach from Germany. She is best known for creating the Design Leadership Framework, which helps design leaders be more strategic and structured in managing their teams. Before fully dedicating her time to coaching, Katharina worked as a UX Designer and Lead, collaborating with organizations across Europe. Her passion has always been to make complex things easy to understand, whether it's a user interface, a customer journey, or the abstract challenges of managing a UX team. She holds a degree in Business Administration and specialized in Human-Computer Interaction and User-Centered Design for her diploma thesis. This combination has enabled her to bridge the worlds of business and design effortlessly throughout her career. In her personal life, Katharina loves listening to music, drinking coffee, and traveling. She is married and has a two-year-old son who keeps her very busy.

Links

Katharina’s website: https://designleadershipframework.de/

Katharina’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/designleadership

The mentioned artists:

Ane Brun: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/2L3kwZFd16zjHz9a5kEPAm

Christian Kjellvander: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/2NNMCcN4t0zn04kTzdVAS6

Frida Hyvönen: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/58XdW0XyGukvmGatf7NC2R

Tina Dico: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/6AHLjrNUzvqs8jg5JntmeL

Asgeir: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/7xUZ4069zcyBM4Bn10NQ1c

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

You won’t need a starter for this conversation, as Pavel Samsonov joins us to share his passion for baking sourdough bread. Like many others, he started experimenting with sourdough during the pandemic, but has continued baking since then, diving deep into the science. Pavel recounts some humorous missteps, including an overheated sourdough starter that caused a minor fire in his workspace. He also discusses the satisfaction of giving homemade bread as gifts, and how the tactile, hands-on nature of baking offers a refreshing change from his work at a computer. Finally, he reflects on how baking connects him to a community of artisans, even if he's "just messing around in his kitchen”.

Guest Bio

Pavel Samsonov (he/him) is a New York-based designer exploring the applications of design as a decision-making framework. Pavel has been a product manager, UXer, design strategist, and user researcher across various industries, and currently builds a design practice at AWS. Off the clock, Pavel uses articles and speaking engagements as an opportunity to explore new ideas and help designers envision better ways of working. Pavel likes to frame design as a job that works on calendar time, not clock time - so the necessity of downtime is a topic near and dear to his heart.

Links

Three-Stage 80% Sourdough Rye Bread recipe: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/keyword/3stage-detmolder-rye

Beginner Sourdough Starter recipe: https://www.theclevercarrot.com/2019/03/beginner-sourdough-starter-recipe/

Pavel’s Medium page: spavel.medium.com

Pavel’s website: pavelsamsonov.com

Pavel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavel-samsonov-44ba2833/

Pavel on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/spavel.bsky.social

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Joining us on the field is Taylor Cashdan, who’s here to tell us about his love for sandlot baseball. Taylor talks about the approachability of the sport, how inclusive it is, and how he was drawn to the community aspect of it. He touches on the challenges of maintaining a casual and fun atmosphere while accommodating players of varying skill levels, and the rituals and preparations involved on game days. Taylor highlights how he’s grown through sandlot baseball, which he sees as an opportunity for making connections beyond the realm of work.

Guest Bio

Taylor Cashdan (he/him) is a North Carolina-based multidisciplinary creative and community builder that’s passionate about people, design, and all the intersections in between. He has a burning desire to collaborate with others to create exceptional work for people who give a shit.

With nearly a decade’s worth of experience, Taylor currently spends his workdays leading the next evolution of the Mayo Clinic’s design system program. Previous roles include a variety of in-house positions within the management consulting realm, ad-tech, and HBO all focusing on brand and marketing maturation, as well as leading fintech UX projects, contributing to and consulting for established design systems, and leading design standardization and operations efforts.

Links

Carolina Sandlot Collective: https://www.carolinasandlotcollective.com/

Neuse River Nine: https://neuse-river-nine.square.site/

Taylor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-cashdan-7720b442

Taylor on Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/taylorcashdan

Taylor on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylorcashdan/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Have you ever felt the pressure to constantly hustle, grind, and push yourself to the limits in your design career? I know I have. In a world where hustle culture reigns supreme, it's easy to get caught up in the frenzy of productivity, always striving for that next big breakthrough.

But here's the thing – it's okay to hit the pause button. It's okay to slow down, take a breath, and enjoy the simple pleasures of life beyond the confines of our screens and workstations. That's why I created "Design Downtime".

This podcast is a sanctuary for anyone in the realm of product design who believes that life is about more than just work. It's about rediscovering the joy of hobbies, passions, and interests that light up our souls and feed our creativity in unexpected ways.

Credits

Cover art by Raquel Breternitz.

In the first episode of season 2, Sara Wachter-Boettcher shares her journey with powerlifting, and how it helped her redefine her relationship with her body and cultivate a sense of strength and confidence both in and out of the gym. She talks about her early introduction to strength training, and how her interest in lifting evolved over the years. Sara reflects on the societal pressures women face regarding body image and explains how lifting shifted her focus from appearance to physical capability. She also touches on the importance of embracing failure as part of the process.

Guest Bio

Sara Wachter-Boettcher (she/her) is a leadership coach, speaker, author, and the CEO of Active Voice, a company dedicated to creating bold leaders and better workplaces in design and tech. She started Active Voice after spending a decade running a content and UX consultancy. Her books include Technically Wrong, Design for Real Life (with Eric Meyer), and Content Everywhere. Learn more about her work at activevoicehq.com.

Links

Sara’s company: https://www.activevoicehq.com/

Sara’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saraboettcher/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

You have 30 minutes to find the code to the exit, as Shelby Corbella joins us to talk about her love of escape rooms. Shelby, who has completed over 220 escape rooms worldwide, tells us how her first immersive experience of a well-designed escape room helped her "escape" everyday life. She explains that escape rooms fulfill a unique need for her, as they engage multiple aspects of her brain simultaneously, and outlines the key elements that make an escape room memorable. As an experienced escape room player, Shelby describes her role as an "escape room sherpa," helping to identify team members' strengths and ensuring everyone has a positive experience. She also shares stories about her most memorable escape rooms, as well as those that are on her "bucket list".

Guest Bio

Shelby Corbella (she/her) is a Senior Product Designer specializing in design systems and diving into the emerging field of designing for AI. Her work balances functionality with innovation, aiming to elevate digital experiences while setting high standards for design consistency. Currently based in Colorado, Shelby spends her free time exploring scenic hiking trails before the chill of winter arrives. When not immersed in the great outdoors, she’s dedicated to achieving a perfect score on Astro Bot and is in the early stages of launching an escape room-themed blog and podcast, merging her love for puzzles with storytelling.

Links

Shelby’s escape rooms website: https://www.gtfoescapes.com/

Shelby’s podcast, GTFO Escapes: https://rss.com/podcasts/gtfo-escapes/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

In our first episode, we talk with Emilie Mazurek about her passion for travel. Emilie discusses her first time traveling solo, and how that adventure has shaped her approach to life. She highlights the importance of adaptability in addition to planning, the joys and challenges of traveling with others, and her preference for quality experiences over quantity in her travels. Emilie also shares surprising destinations she's visited and her future travel aspirations.

Guest Bio

Emilie Mazurek (she/her) grew up thinking she wanted to be a doctor. She received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry from University of Calgary, worked in a microbiology lab, wrote the MCAT, volunteered in Guatemala and even won two World Champion marching band titles. However, when the application cycle rolled around, she had more anxiety that she would be accepted rather than rejected–that’s when she knew something wasn’t right.

When she discovered UX Design it was like a lightbulb went on. After graduating bootcamp she landed a full-time, remote role in less than 3 months and was promoted to senior designer in just over a year. Now she’s helping others do the same.

When she’s not working you can find her arguing with her parrot Cheeto, giving unsolicited hot chocolate reviews, or finding any excuse possible to book another vacation.

Links

Emilie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilie-mazurek

Emilie’s website: https://www.dandydesign.ca/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Grab your skates but don’t forget your helmet and knee pads, as Anna Cook joins us to talk about her newfound passion for roller derby. She explains how a friend’s invitation to watch a match sparked her interest, how having no prior skating experience made her first day challenging, and how the encouragement from fellow teammates and coaches gave her the support she needed. Anna provides insights into the structure and rules of roller derby, the various roles within a team, and the rigorous training required to participate in bouts. She talks about the inclusive and nurturing community she discovered in the sport, particularly highlighting its embrace of diversity, including those who are queer, neurodivergent, or disabled.

Guest Bio

As a Senior Designer at Microsoft, Anna Cook (she/they) specializes in building inclusive products, focusing on accessibility and inclusion for Azure and beyond. She has over ten years of experience in digital product design and a Masters in Creative Technology + Design from the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science.

Links

Boulder County Roller Derby League: https://bouldercountyrollerderby.com/

Anna’s website: https://annaecook.com/

Anna’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaecook/

Anna on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/annaecook.com

Anna on Mastodon: https://mstdn.social/@annaecook

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Get into the groove, as Donnie D’Amato shares his journey into the world of dance, from dancing in the kitchen with his family to mimicking moves from video games. His passion for dance continued into high school, where he joined a breakdancing group, and an unexpected audition led him to his first paid job for a DJ company. Donnie touches on his unique journey in the dance world, including his appearances on “So You Think You Can Dance” and his involvement with the New York Dance Parade. He also reflects on the balance between following patterns and finding room for personal expression.

Guest Bio

Donnie D’Amato (he/him) is the Founder & Chief Architect of Design Systems House; a consultancy dedicated to the future of design systems.

He is also the moderator of the Slack, Twitter, and Mastodon design system communities, author of gridless.design; a thesis on mismatching the design grid to the web medium, and instructor for User Research and Interaction Design at Parsons School of Design. Previously, Donnie was the first UX Engineer at Compass, and currently he is engineering lead for the UXCore library at GoDaddy.

Links

Donnie’s website: https://donnie.damato.design/

Donnie’s podcast: https://wireframe.fm/

New York Dance Parade: https://danceparade.org/

Central Park Dance Skaters Association: https://cpdsa.org/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Let’s take to the sky, as Ian Murchison flies us into the thrilling world of drone racing. He shares his background in racing remote control cars and how that competitive spirit led him to racing drones. Ian recounts his first race, the nerves he felt racing indoors, and how the drone racing community helps newcomers ease into the sport. He describes the complexities of controlling drones in 3D space, explains how tracks are designed, and emphasizes the balance between technical skill and competitive racing. The conversation also touches on his experience designing and building his own drones, and how it allows him to stay connected to building objects in physical space.

Guest Bio

With a background as an industrial designer and as someone who has made the switch from the physical to the digital world, Ian Murchison (he/him) has had the joy of working for some major brands like Blackberry and Nokia while also building up his own consultancy, designing, building and shipping award winning products globally. Ian’s work has crossed all scales, from products that are consumed by hundreds of millions, to newborn ideas without a customer in sight. Ian is currently a Principal Designer working on the design system team at Autodesk. Beyond the 9-5 Ian focuses on the outdoors, not hiking or camping, but he’s started his own hop farm, providing locally sourced ingredients to craft breweries. He spends countless hours cycling the countryside and, what we’re going to talk about today, competing in FPV drone racing.

Links

Ian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianmurchison

Ian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianmurchison/

Ian on Threads: https://www.threads.net/@ianmurchison

MultiGP drone racing league: https://www.multigp.com

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.

Turn off the lights and enjoy the vibrant colours, as Soren Hamby joins us to talk about their love of glow art. They share their fascination with natural bioluminescence, and how a birthday party sparked a deeper passion for this medium, leading to participatory art projects and installations. Soren also reflects on the glow art community, and the notion that the value of art isn’t determined by mainstream acceptance but by the impact it has on those who experience it.

Guest Bio

As a Senior Manager of UX, Soren Hamby (they/them) is dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion within teams while spearheading the transformation towards accessible design. With a BFA in Design, post-graduate and professional coursework at Cornell, Parson’s, and CUNY, and a wealth of experience in the field, Soren is a seasoned professional committed to making the design industry more equitable.

In their free time, they often indulge their creative side through crafting, fashion, collecting enamel pins, and creating weird art that glows.

Links

Soren’s website: https://www.soren.ooo/

Soren’s social media presence: https://soren.start.page/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Breternitz.