Who really benefits from our current AI assistants? In this final episode of the NoelAI mini-series on A76, I go on a deeply personal and sharply critical journey of the current state of AI assistants. And ask why—after years of hype—we still don’t have an assistant that truly serves us.

Blending design thinking, cultural critique, and speculative hardware, I posit a radically user-centric vision for an AI assistant built around human needs and not tech company agendas. What would it look like to ditch your iPhone and have something smaller, smarter, and more human by your side? And more importantly, what’s standing in the way?

This is a call to reimagine. To push past uncanny interfaces and shallow convenience into something more meaningful and ultimately demand more from our digital tech.

Keep designing. Keep growing. And keep making a positive impact.

~ Noel

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

Welcome back from our mid-season break! In today’s pod, I chat with Jennifer Andrews, who leads the Experience Design team in Digitas’ New York office. We chat about web1, her personal origin story, Japanese culture, her work in the Accessibility Center of Excellence and AI's impact on design.

And afterwards I highlight recent episodes and share how you can support A76.

Recent free episodes:
030: The path to a carbon neutral A76 with Matt Saip
029: Personalized micro-interaction fails with Noel Childs

Recent Patreon episodes:
NoelAI Series  One / Two / Three

Keep designing. Keep growing. And keep making a positive impact.

~Noel

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

My goal is to make A76 sustainable in as many facets as I can. And for my 30th episode, I'm sharing my introductory conversation with Matt Saip, Head of Technology at Digitas Chicago, where we discuss the tech side of achieving this goal. We have an open discussion about calculating the exact carbon footprint of my production, the potential for green web hosting and sustainable tech. 

Shedding light on an area we so often taken for granted, the energy it takes to power our digital lives is both instructional and inspiring. And this marks the beginning of my shared journey toward achieving carbon neutrality for A76. Thanks for joining me on this path.

~ Noel

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

Welcome to a new episode of A76. Today, we're taking a detour from our usual in-depth interviews with designers and makers to explore something a little different—micro-interactions and moments of personalization that could be vastly improved.

If you're curious about what's happening over on our Patreon or if you simply want to support the A76 Design Pod, head over to patreon.com/A76designpod. By joining, you'll gain access to exclusive episodes and my original series on hyper-personalized AI assistants, dubbed NoelAI. In that series, I dive into topics of working for tech, personal risk concerns, the uncanny ID, conversational UI, behavioral habit mapping and debating the pros and cons of an AI assistant.

Looking ahead this season, Matt Saip and I will discuss our journey in making the A76 Design Pod a carbon-neutral production including our insights, research, and plans for achieving this goal.

Also, exciting news—I'll be announcing an in-person A76 event in Chicago, featuring an open debate panel, salon-style, towards the end of the season. Stay tuned for topics and details.

A big thank you to all our Patreon members—your support makes this all possible.

Now, let's dive into the world of personalization—specifically, the micro-interactions and moments that absolutely drive me bonkers. I can't turn off my designer brain when engaging with these frequently failing experiences, even in my daily life. And while it may sound harsh, my aim is to help us learn as designers by examining these small, fixable interactions. And all the examples we'll discuss are drawn from well-resourced brands, that should do better. While I'm not personally connected to these brands or their teams, these are interactions I've personally experienced. And while I have hundreds I could pull from, I've pulled five for example.

I'm fully aware of the challenges involved in launching amazing digital experiences, from platform and database limitations to the inevitable concessions designers must make. If you've worked on any of the examples I discuss today, I'd love to hear from you. Reach out via email or on BlueSky. Enjoy!

Example references

1. EA Sports FC
2. NordiTrack Treadmills
3. Chipotle App
4. Apple Ultra Watch & Suunto Race Watch
5. My Northwestern App

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

This is an A76 Patreon preview Icebreak episode coming off my interview with Tracy Kramer, President of BuzzCo. If you haven't listened to that interview you can find it here.

If you're new to A76's Patreon, Icebreak episodes are exclusive for members, where I talk about my production of the podcast, break down some of the discussions coming out of my free interviews. I bring new ideas here, things I’m kicking around and I share additional interview content.

You can sign up for the A76 Design Pod Patreon here.

Today's full Icebreak episode, is part 3 of a theoretical series—what if there was an AI Assistant trained on all my personal data and was so well crafted that it essentially was a digital version of me—a NoelAI. And with a rough voice from a tough week I ideate around counter points to parts 1 and 2. Because we love dualistic thinking here at A76. And it makes for a stronger and deeper exploration. Plus Tracy and I play the ThinkFast game.

Keep designing. Keep Growing. And keep making a positive impact.

~Noel

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

In today’s episode I chat with Tracy Kramer. Tracy is the president of Buzz Company, a talent and recruitment agency based out of Chicago. I originally met Tracy while at design school, and she’s lead BuzzCo from a place of empathy and empowerment for decades. With roots in design, she just gets designers. And she loves not only helping designers find jobs but taking care of her people.

We touch upon the state of the industry, the necessary changes BuzzCo has made over the years, a bit around AI and promoting yourself in a genuine way. Plus Tracy talks about how she went from designer to business owner.

I’ve partnered with her in the past and would recommend BuzzCo to anyone and everyone. Woman owned and family operated, BuzzCo truly are the guardians of creativity and Chicago pride, as they say on their website. 

You can also hear the ThinkFast game I do with Tracy as part of a new A76 Patreon episode dropping next week. If you’re interested in supporting A76, check out patreon.com/A76designpod. You'll get exclusive episodes, all the ThinkFast games from my interviews this season and you can hear my series NoelAI—where I conceptualize what it would be like to have a hyper personalized AI assistant trained on my data.

Hope you enjoy my chat with Tracy Kramer.

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

Welcome to a new Icebreak episode coming off my conversation with friend of the pod Mick Champayne about design and play. If you haven't listened to that interview, hit pause on this one, and go check it out here first. It was a lot of fun.

If you're new to A76's Patreon or are listening to a preview for the first time, Icebreaks are where I talk about my production of the podcast, break down some of the discussions coming out of my free interviews. I bring new ideas here, including things I’m kicking around; plus I share additional interview content.

For today's Icebreak, I’ve got part 2 of my theoretical series, NoelAI. What if there was an AI Assistant trained on all my personal data (and I mean all) and was so well crafted that it essentially was a digital version of me? How useful and how bonkers would that experience be? 

If you’re a patreon subscriber, you'll hear this episode in its entirety and you’ll hear Mick and I playing the ThinkFast game at the end. 

You can sign up for the A76 Design Pod Patreon here.

Keep designing. Keep Growing. And keep making a positive impact.

~Noel

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

I’ve often found, that the best designers have a lightness about how they go about their craft. They regularly joke, don’t take themselves too seriously, and connect with others through humor. One minute they’re clowning, dropping memes and the next delivering a mind-blowing design perspective —and that’s definitely true of Mick. She’s a talented designer at Google working in the Doodles & Delight Team, a beloved Illustrator recently being named one of the Noun Project and Dribble’s top illustrators of 2024 and a sought-after global speaker, most recently taking the stage at awwwards.conf in NYC; all the while being a self-described class clown. Please enjoy my interview with friend of the pod, Mick Champayne.

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

This is an A76 Patreon preview of an Icebreak episode coming off my interview with Matt Saip; he's the SVP Tech Lead in the Digitas Chicago office. If you haven't listened to that interview you should listen to it first here.

If you're new to A76's Patreon, Icebreak episodes are exclusive for members, where I talk about my production of the podcast, break down some of the discussions coming out of my free interviews. I bring new ideas here, things I’m kicking around and I share additional interview content.

You can sign up for the A76 Design Pod Patreon here

For today's full Icebreak episode, I question how useful digital technology is in its current state and who it's serving. And I introduce part 1 of a theoretical series—what if there was an AI Assistant trained on all your personal data (and I mean all) and was so well crafted that it essentially was a digital version of you—in my case a NoelAI. Would it be helpful, would it lead to deeper insights, would it help you with more then just booking your travel? And if it completed all of your tasks, what then?

I also call for a revolutionary rethink on how we leverage technology and Matt and I play the ThinkFast game.

Keep designing. Keep Growing. And keep making a positive impact.

~Noel

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky

In this A76 episode, I talk with Matt Saip the SVP Technology Lead at Digitas' Chicago office. Matt spends his days translating complex topics, rejecting technical language others use as a crutch, and seamlessy delivers innovative platforms and projects at a global scale. He scales by keeping it simple. He's a hard working tech leader, there’s no one better at it and I appreciate his partnership on my experience design projects. 

A76 was created by Noel Childs

Season 3 on Scale is produced by Noel Childs
Season 2 on Change was produced by Noel Childs
Season 1 on AI was produced by Casey Hudetz and Noel Childs

Our theme music was composed and performed by Stella Solveig
and mixed and mastered by Abbey Nettleton
Our outro was read by Kari Childs

If you like what you hear, please give us a rating.
Or become a member of the A76 Patreon at patreon.com/A76designpod
Have a question or comment, email [email protected]
and connect with us on Bluesky