Dave Hoffer shares why design demands empathy 🧠, courage 🛡️, and long-term thinking 🌱—and how amplifying others can transform leadership in uncertain times 🚀.

He explores design’s shifting role in business, the disruptive rise of AI, and why resilience and critique will shape the future of design.

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Episode Chapters

00:00 – Why Empathy Matters in Design

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Who is Dave Hoffer?

Dave Hoffer is a seasoned design leader and strategist whose career spans product design, digital innovation, and design transformation 🌎.

He has:

Led design teams at Frog Design, PwC, and McKinsey & Company

Grown McKinsey’s global design practice from a handful of designers to hundreds 📈

Brought design strategy into the heart of business and policy change

Advised mission-driven organisations like Safe Kids AI 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Advocated for amplifying others and championing empathy and critique as foundations for impactful leadership ✨

Today, Dave advises organisations as an independent consultant, helping them embed human-centered design practices into strategy and transformation initiatives.

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Find Dave Hoffer here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dave-hoffer/

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Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

Josephine Wong challenges us to design with intention, build cultures that care, and recognise the quiet power of everyday interactions to create truly meaningful work.

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Episode chapters

00:00 – Curiosity, Systems Thinking, and Adding Value

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Who is Josephine Wong?

Josephine Wong is a co-founder and principal at Apogee, a pioneering user experience consultancy founded in 1998 with a vision to bring human-centred design to Hong Kong and the wider region. Over the past 25 years, Apogee has played a significant role in advancing UX across Asia.

She’s also the co-founder of Make Meaningful Work, a studio and learning platform helping people unlock their potential by focusing on meaningful work in environments where they can learn, improve, and thrive together.

If that wasn’t enough, Jo is also the co-founder of UX Hong Kong, an annual learning event that brings together passionate practitioners from across product and service design to explore and celebrate exceptional experience creation.

A committed and influential contributor to our field, Jo has shared her expertise on global platforms including Beat Camp, We Can Do Better, the Reorient podcast, and UXpod.

Her work is deeply informed by her multicultural upbringing and global perspective, allowing her to bridge cultural nuance and inspire designers and researchers around the world.

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Find Josephine here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josephine-wong-6801922/

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

Roberta Dombrowski invites us to rethink success, tune into our intuition, and lead with intention —sharing how mindfulness, healing, and self-compassion can transform the way we work and live.

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Episode chapters

00:00 – Defining Success on Your Own Terms

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Who is Roberta Dombrowski?

Roberta Dombrowski is a certified leadership coach and experience strategist, dedicated to transforming the way people live, learn, and work.

She is the founder of Learn Mindfully, a coaching and training company she launched in 2022. Since then, Roberta has supported hundreds of leaders from companies such as Adobe, Instacart, ServiceNow, Zapier, and Zoom.

Previously, Roberta was a Research Partner at Maze, where she helped clients maximize the platform’s potential. Before that, she was VP of User Research at User Interviews, where she built and scaled the research function while tackling the meta-challenge of researching researchers.

Roberta is also the author of Consciously Crafting Your Career Path, a self-reflection and career planning workbook designed to help people shape fulfilling and intentional careers. Her insights have been featured on podcasts like Lead the People and BLOC, and at events such as Rosenfeld Media’s Advancing Research conference.

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Find Roberta here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertadombrowski/

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

Gloria Osardu urges researchers to slow down, understand the business, and partner with intention—sharing why empathy, alignment, and asking the right questions are the foundation for research that matters.

Highlights include:

05:02 – How did your parents shape your worldview and curiosity?

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Who is Gloria Osardu?

Gloria is a Senior Director and Global Head of UX Research, Brand, and Consumer Insights at Yahoo!, where she leads initiatives to deepen Yahoo’s understanding of consumer behaviour, aligning the company’s brand, product, and marketing strategies with these insights.

Before joining Yahoo!, Gloria was Senior Director and Head of UX Research and Insights at Gusto, where she built and led Gusto’s Global Product Experience Research Team, overseeing both research and research operations professionals.

She has also held senior research roles at Amazon Web Services, where she led UX Research Operations and Programs, and at Capital One, where she headed UX Research for their Enterprise AI and ML Platforms.

With extensive commercial experience in customer insights and analytics, Gloria also brings an impressive academic background, holding a PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, a Master of Science in Applied Health Informatics, and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.

A committed contributor to our field, Gloria is a long-standing mentor with the Computing Research Association and has been featured in User Weekly, as well as on podcasts like Black Stories and Saving UX.

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Find Gloria here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gloriaosardu/

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

Esther Ahn reflects on the twists and turns of her creative journey, shares how critique can unlock better design without breaking spirits, and reveals why embracing the oops is essential for building resilient teams and products.

Highlights include:

12:13 – How do you make sense of your career’s twists and turns?

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Who is Esther Ahn?

Esther is the Director of User Experience for YouTube TV and Primetime Channels on YouTube—a role in which she brings deep expertise in human-centered design and research to enhance the viewing experience across platforms and at scale.

Throughout her career, Esther has pioneered new participatory design methods and conducted global research across the US, Asia, Africa, and Australia.

Before YouTube, she was Director of Digital Health UX at Stanford Health Care and a Creative Director at the world-renowned innovation firm Frog Design.

She’s also worked at two other giants of design—IDEO and Smart Design—where she shaped experiences through multidisciplinary practice.

Esther holds a BA in Architecture from UC Berkeley and a Master’s in Interaction Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

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Find Esther here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherahn/

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

Meryl Evans shares why accessibility is everyone’s responsibility, how captions can create connection—not just convenience—and why progress over perfection is the mindset that drives lasting inclusion.

Highlights include:

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Who is Meryl Evans?

Meryl is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC), a sought-after speaker, trainer, and accessibility marketing consultant who has spent over two decades championing inclusive digital experiences.

Named one of LinkedIn’s Top 12 Voices for Accessibility Advocacy, Meryl’s work has been recognised by organisations such as the North Texas Disability Chamber and featured in The Wall Street Journal, MarketingProfs, and The Dallas Morning News.

She’s the author of The Brilliant Outlook Pocketbook and co-author of Adapting to Web Standards: CSS and Ajax for Big Sites, and her speaking credits include TEDx, SXSW, and the American Marketing Association.

Beyond her consulting and speaking, Meryl is a passionate volunteer, contributing to the W3C’s Immersive Captions community group and XR Access, helping ensure emerging technologies are accessible to everyone.

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Find Meryl here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meryl/

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

Tammy Everts unpacks why web performance is a fundamental UX issue, how slow websites affect user perceptions and business outcomes, and why designers need to take ownership of performance alongside developers.

Highlights include:

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Who is Tammy Everts?

Tammy is the Chief Experience Officer at SpeedCurve—a platform that enables organisations to unlock the full potential of their web performance.

In her role, Tammy champions the connection between site speed, user experience, and business success, working closely with customers to deepen their understanding of how people use with their websites.

Tammy's career journey also includes senior UX roles at Soasta and Radware, and over two decades of pioneering research involving EEG headsets, facial action coding, and advanced machine learning.

She is the author of “Time is Money: The Business Value of Web Performance” and a sought-after speaker, having shared her expertise at prominent events like Chrome Dev Summit, Smashing Conference, and Beyond Tellerand.

Tammy also co-chairs the annual performance.now() conference in Amsterdam and co-curates WPO Stats, a valuable resource of web performance case studies.

Find Tammy here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tammyeverts/

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

In this episode of Brave UX, host Brendan Jarvis interviews designer, author, and educator Carla Diana, a leader in human-centered product design and technology. Carla is the D Designer-in-Residence and Head of Program at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and works part-time as the Design Advisor at Diligent Robotics.

Join Carla and Brendan as they explore the future of smart technologies, including Carla’s work on humanizing healthcare robots and her project "Mobility Town," which reimagines public transportation in Detroit. Carla also discusses the challenges of designing relatable robots, societal misconceptions about AI, and the ethical implications of technology. The conversation delves into the roles of designers in shaping how people interact with technology innovations like autonomous systems and social robots, urging a thoughtful consideration of technology’s impact on society.

Highlights include:

• 00:00 - Getting to Know Carla Diana

Who is Carla Diana

Carla Diana is a highly influential designer, author, and educator known for her work at the intersection of technology and human-centered product design. She is the founder and designer-in-residence of the Interaction Design Programme at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she leads an innovative exploration into smart objects, immersive environments, and intelligent systems. Carla also serves as a design advisor at Diligent Robotics, shaping healthcare robots to assist workers better. 

Her extensive experience includes roles at Smart Design and Frog Design, where she worked on diverse products, from robots to connected home appliances. Carla authored "Leo, The Maker Prince," the first children’s book about 3D printing, and "My Robot Gets Me," which focused on intuitive design for intelligent technologies. She’s a frequent speaker at prominent events like TEDx SXSW, and her writing has been featured in Fast Company, The New York Times, and Popular Science.

Find Carla Diana Here

• Carla Diana on LinkedIn

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In this episode of Brave UX, Brendan welcomes Kelly Goto, CEO and Founder of gotoresearch and gotomedia. Kelly is a trailblazer in web and UX design with nearly 25 years of experience. She shares her inspiring journey as a fourth-generation Japanese American and discusses her work with major brands like Netflix and Samsung. They delve into the importance of emotional connection in product design, the impact of technology on attention spans, and the evolving methodologies in research, especially in light of generative AI. Kelly also reflects on cultural lessons and the significance of continuous learning in design. Don't miss this insightful conversation packed with valuable perspectives on UX and the intersection of culture and innovation!

Highlights include:

Who is Kelly Goto

Kelly is passionate about helping organizations truly understand and empathize with their customers so they can deliver products and services that are genuinely meaningful. After over 20 years on the digital frontier, Kelly knows user experience (UX) better than most. As a design ethnographer, she focuses on uncovering how people integrate products and services into their daily lives — what those experiences mean to people and how to shape that meaning better.

Kelly heads up gotoresearch, the global leader in research-driven strategy and solutions for digital products and connected experiences. The gotoresearch team dives deep into the customer’s world, translating unspoken wants and needs into UX realities. This enables clients such as Samsung, Hyundai, Sony, Target, Verizon, and Pearson Education to relate with customers in new and innovative ways. Her book, Web Redesign 2.0: Workflow That Works, is an industry classic translated into 22 languages.

Find Kelly Goto Here

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Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

In this episode of Brave UX, Brendan welcomes Lawton Pybus, Principal and Co-Founder of Drill Bit Labs. Join them as they dive into the evolving landscape of UX amidst recent tech layoffs. Lawton shares insights from his extensive research on UX job markets and discusses the importance of valuing UX in organizations. With a blend of personal anecdotes—including a ‘fun’ story about a venomous snake—this conversation highlights key trends, challenges, and the potential role of AI in UX. Listeners will find valuable advice for navigating their careers and fostering resilience in the UX field. Don’t miss this insightful and entertaining discussion!

Highlights include:

• 00:00 - Introduction

Who is Lawton Pybus

Lawton is a Principal and Co-founder of Drill Bit Labs. With a background in human factors, he has prior experience leading UX research teams at UserTesting, UserZoom, and MeasuringU and executing research on teams at Charles Schwab and Cabela's. He is the author of many insightful blog posts and regularly speaks at industry conferences like UXPA.

Find Lawton Here

• Lawton Pybus on LinkedIn

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• LinkedIn

Brendan Jarvis hosts the Show, and you can find him here:

• Brendan Jarvis on LinkedIn

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