Descender

Descender is back! The design podcast where we deep dive below the surface is coming up for air to share with you more conversations for designers by designers.In our new mini-series, we’re peeling back the lid on the world of UX writing. Or is it the world of content design? Or are they really just UX designers who work with words? Nicolaas Netherland and Alex Tkachenko are the word experts who will help us pick apart the impact of this new and evolving job title as they share with us their best, their worst, and hopefully their future ways of describing UX writing.

We’re wrapping up Season 1, and hope that some of these stories have freshened up your perspective along the way. But if you still need some ideas on how to broaden your mindset about your design career, listen in to Anushae Hussain and Ahmed Aarbaj’s tip on how to think fresh in any project or design process

QR codes. 90’s eyebrows. Dancing Queen played with a hand flute. Airport food court menus. All of these topics will (somehow?) be discussed on this week's episode. We’ll dive into the when, how and why to keep up with design trends. Jonatan Andersson ( Scania, Sectra, Swedish Migration Agency, Klarna) and Elizaveta Potapkina (Mobile World Congress, Visa, currently at Klarna) will take us into their world of when they do -- or intentionally don’t-- bring design trends into their daily work and inspiration.

No, it’s not another conversation about Corona. But this is a conversation about reflecting on the switch to remote work during this past year. Catch up with Axel Lindmarker (Klarna, Google Creative Lab) and Noukka Signe (Klarna, ING) about what they’ve learned about work-life balance, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the importance of proactive growth.

In this episode we talk with Tim Plummer ( Klarna, Yelp) and Ricardo Esteves (Facebook, Klarna) about how to get unstuck in design projects, and in your design career. We learn that the good kind of stuck shows you you’re at the heart of a problem, and how to get out of the bad kind of stuck with reflection exercises, refinding inspiration and bringing the problem back to what matters— the users.  They’ll also discuss how their design process evolves between B2C and B2B projects, and how game design has broadened their perspective.

What does a product designers life look like when they switch between agency, start-ups or a big product team? We catch up with Marcus Johansson (R/GA, Apegroup, Creuna, Klarna), Melanie Löff-Bird (R/GA, Elephant, Klarna) and KJ Vogelius (DDB, Klarna) about their experiences flip-flopping between different types of teams. We dig into how the designer experience might differ depending on a company’s type, structure and size. But also that there are some core elements, like design positive environments and colleagues that you can learn from, are always key to a great gig.

As diverse product designers, we’re always asking ourselves “should I learn one more new skill, or go deeper into perfecting the repertoire I already have?” In todays episode, we speak with Francesco Cutolo (design systems designer) , Dilara Neutze (design lead and generalist), and Haerin Song (an expert motion and prototyper designer) about how they’ve navigated the question of whether to be broad design generalists, or super skilled design specialists. They’ll talk about how their designs careers have evolved naturally and consciously over time, how they communicate their place on the design spectrum to designers, non-designers and in interviews, and what their chosen path means for their career growth and opportunities going forward.

Descender is a new to dive deep into the design career topics we all think about, but don’t talk enough about.

With a diverse crew of digital product designers, we’ll dive into questions like,

There’s no right answer, and your perspective will change throughout your career. But let’s get a head start by asking different product designers to share what they’ve learned along the way.

Descender is hosted by Rachel Rosenson, and produced by Francesco Cutolo, Minna Engelmark, Anushae Hussain, and Rachel Rosenson. This podcast is brought to you by the design team at Klarna. 

Have questions you want to hear designers talk about? Write us at [email protected].