Design Downtime

Shantay, we all stay, when Connie Chen joins us to talk about her love of drag and drag queens. She describes how drag culture became a lifeline for her when she was struggling to adjust to life in California, and how a week-long stay in the hospital watching RuPaul's Drag Race provided hope and laughter. Connie talks about her journey from watching the show to attending drag events and finding an unexpectedly welcoming and positive community, discusses the artistry of drag performance, and explores the significance of drag names as expressions of personal identity and creativity. She also reflects on how drag culture has boosted her confidence, helped her embrace vulnerability, and taught her not to care about others' judgments.

Guest Bio

Connie Chen (she/her) is an accomplished UX designer and mentor with over 10 years of experience. Starting her career as a graphic designer in Boston, she later transitioned to UX design in California, where she contributed to companies such as Ancestry, Apple, and Dell EMC. After a transformative two-year sabbatical, she now works as a UX Designer at Disney on the Enterprise Design team, where she supports tools and platforms for Disney's global supply chain and distribution processes for films and TV shows worldwide.

Links

Connie’s website: https://conniechen.design/

Connie on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/conniechiiiwa.bsky.social

Connie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/conniewzchen/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Get on your dragon and join our magical quest, as Bahar Espiritu talks to us about her lifelong passion for fantasy novels. She recounts listening to her Iranian grandmother’s bedtime stories, which inspired her to paint the scenes since she couldn't yet read or write. Bahar’s reading journey progressed from Persian classics to Western fantasy staples, before arriving at contemporary dark fantasy series, featuring strong female protagonists who overcome childhood trauma to become heroes. She discusses how fantasy serves as a boundless creative space that triggers the imagination, draws parallels between fantasy literature and ancient mythology in teaching moral lessons, and describes her active participation in online fantasy reading communities.

Guest Bio

Bahar Espiritu (she/her) is an award-winning designer and internationally recognized artist, a visionary leader, and an Honorary Marquis Who’s Who Listee, celebrated for her innovative contributions to design systems and brand development at Amazon Prime and Amazon Web Services Cloud. Her work has been instrumental in creating user-centric experiences that merge technology and art, delivering scalable and inclusive solutions for global audiences. Currently, she serves as a Creative Director at Essence of Hockey, where she continues to push boundaries in art, design and storytelling.

Links

Bahar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baharespiritu/

Bahar on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com//baharespiritu

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Watch out for creepers, as Shell Little takes us on a journey to the blocky world of Minecraft. They progressed from vanilla gameplay to modded Minecraft, drawn to the game's complete transparency—where the mechanics are fully documented—which satisfies their need for efficiency and deep knowledge. The game serves multiple roles in Shell’s life: a source of min-maxing satisfaction, a social connector for building relationships with geographically dispersed friends, a therapeutic outlet for burnout, and a reliable comfort activity they can return to whether seeking stimulation or social connection. Shell is excited to see where the modding community takes the game next, viewing it as essential for keeping the game fresh, accessible, and educational for new generations of players.

Guest Bio

Shell Little (she/they) is a Senior Accessibility Specialist, Inclusive Design Leader, and International Keynote Speaker. With over 10 years of experience in the accessibility field, Shell is known for her contributions to cognitive accessibility in both digital & gaming spaces. She is dedicated to integrating accessibility into the beginning of the product lifecycle by partnering with & educating design teams. Her current venture is creating classes aimed at teaching designers how to use and understand the accessibility standard called the Web Content Accessibility Guideline or WCAG. Her other passions are speaking about disability rights & disability inclusion in the workplace. Outside the office, Shell is a cat parent, gamer, and overall Neurodivergent dork.

Links

Shell’s website: https://shellelittle.com/

Shell on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/shellelittle.bsky.social

Shell on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellelittle/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

This episode is going downhill fast, as Chela Giraldo joins us to talk about her love of extreme longboarding. She describes her journey from discovering longboarding while working at a skate shop in Bogota, to becoming a competitive downhill racer who reached the top eight women internationally. Chela talks about the unique feeling of downhill longboarding as "flying just inches off the ground" - a moving meditation that combines pure adrenaline with total calm, and requires complete presence. She shares the story of the serious accident where she broke her femur, leading her to retire from competitive racing, only to return to casual skating mere months later. Through longboarding, Chela discovered her competitive nature, learned to trust others, and found a community that shaped her entire social world.

Guest Bio

Chela Girlado (she/her) is a Colombian senior product designer based in Austin, Texas, who recently joined realtor.com to work with their design system team. She specializes in design systems and accessibility, and brings over 10 years of experience across visual, motion, UX, UI, and product design. She’s also a first-time mom to a wild little toddler who keeps her on her toes and when she’s not chasing her around or smothering her with a million kisses, you’ll probably find Chela bombing hills on her longboard — something she’s been doing since 2011.

Links

Chela’s website: https://chelagiraldo.com/

Chela on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chela-giraldo/

Chela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelagiraldo

Chela on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HellaChelaaaa/

Chela’s skate videos:

- https://youtu.be/Xnhqy7NVdz8?si=5WM55R76YZG3j3s_

- https://youtu.be/o-alztDnEiQ?si=3yun_tUb9yDRuvKJ

- https://youtu.be/SJX_rrU69jM?si=8sOw3fW64TL8OeOU

- https://youtu.be/SJX_rrU69jM?si=XhQYlBaegxB-fh3t

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

In the first episode of season 4, Dan Brown joins us to share about his love of hobby board games. He talks about transitioning from games like Monopoly to discovering the more advanced Carcassonne, which became his gateway into modern board gaming. Dan explores the relationship between game themes and mechanisms, saying he’s drawn to games where these elements work together cohesively. He discusses his collection's evolution from simple games he could play with his family to more complex strategy titles, and touches on his fascination with observing how people interact with game systems. Dan emphasizes the tactile, screen-free nature of board gaming as an important escape from digital experiences, and offers advice for newcomers to the hobby on how to look for the right game for them.

Guest Bio

After running boutique design firm EightShapes for 18 years, Dan Brown (he/him) struck out on his own, starting Curious Squid Design Lab to continue providing high quality information architecture and UX consulting to enterprise organizations. Through Curious Squid, Dan helps product teams build complex products to align with user needs while meeting business objectives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he produced the podcast A Lens A Day, conversations about information architecture, and currently co-hosts and produces the podcast Unchecked, the architecture of disinformation. Dan’s passion for information architecture is eclipsed only by his passion for board games.

Links

Dan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmbrown/

Dan’s podcast, Unchecked: https://unchecked.buzzsprout.com/

The IA Conference: https://www.theiaconference.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

It’s the season 3 finale, and to celebrate, Erika Hall joins us to talk about her unique artistic journey of painting chicken portraits. What began as a creative sabbatical evolved into an unexpected obsession, when she recognized that most of us take chickens for granted despite their dinosaur-like nature, and committed to painting individual chicken portraits that treat them as more than mere objects. Erika has grown the project beyond personal art therapy into a digital presence with a website and an interactive game where visitors compare chickens using random adjectives like "pedantic" or "rambunctious." Her chicken portraits serve as both a meditation on seeing overlooked creatures as individuals with distinct personalities and a broader commentary on taking time to truly observe and appreciate what we often dismiss as mundane.

Guest Bio

Erika Hall (she/her) is the co-founder of Mule Design Studio and Mule Books, and the author of Just Enough Research and Conversational Design, as well as the forthcoming The Business Model is the Grid. Her primary professional interests are design and communication strategy, collaboration, and evidence-based decision making. She is based in San Francisco and used to fly around the world giving talks, but now she does everything remotely and really only travels as far as she can ride her bike.

Links

Erika’s chicken portraits website: https://www.chicken.pics/

Clickens game: https://clickens.chicken.pics/

Erika on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/erikahall.bsky.social

Erika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikahall

Mule Design: https://www.muledesign.com/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Put the kettle on and get ready to hear Dominika Noworolska talk to us about her love of tea. She describes her journey from discovering tea culture as a teenager in Krakow's atmospheric tea houses to becoming a dedicated tea enthusiast in the UK, and how those early experiences in dimly lit basement tea houses created lasting associations between tea and meaningful dialogue. She explains the difference between Western and Eastern brewing methods, discusses how different teas create distinct moods and effects, and shares her discovery of Scotland's tiny craft tea industry. Dominika emphasizes tea as both a sensory experience and a ritual for focus and relaxation, while offering practical advice for newcomers to move beyond tea bags—most importantly, investing in a temperature-controlled kettle!

Guest Bio

Dominika Noworolska (she/her) is a Polish (turned Scottish) monotropic researcher and facilitator driven by her desire to support meaningful change by making sense of complexity, in our social world and ourselves. She has worn many hats over the years: commercial semiotician, ethnographer, user researcher, and mediator. Through her company Cosense, she aspires to facilitate collective sensemaking and better dialogue across differences; with warm tea in hand.

Links

Dominika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominika-noworolska/

Dominika on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dominikanow.bsky.social

Scottish Tea Factory https://scottishteafactory.co.uk/

Mei Leaf channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MeiLeaf

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

This episode is bursting with neon colours, coming-of-age movies, and acid-washed jeans, as Ryan Rumsey joins us to talk about his deep connection to the 1980s. He shares about moving across the country as a child, growing up as a "latchkey kid”, and how MTV, movies, and music became transformative influences during his youth. Ryan explores how the ‘80s represented a unique cultural moment with the advent of cable television, 24-hour news channels, and the transition of movies from art to commercial blockbusters during the Reagan era. While he appreciates modern ‘80s nostalgia in shows like Stranger Things, he notes how his children connect more with ‘80s music than films, bonding with him over classic tracks during car rides.

Guest Bio

Ryan Rumsey (he/him) is a former tech executive turned author, coach, consultant, and tiny business owner. He’s the CEO of Second Wave Dive, founder of Chief Design Officer School, and partner at Jump Ship!. Ryan has extensive hands-on product, management, and executive experience at companies like Apple, Electronic Arts, and USAA. He’s the author of the books Business Thinking for Designers and Play Up Your Impact.

Links

Ryan’s website: https://www.ryanrumsey.com/

Second Wave Dive: https://www.secondwavedive.com/

Chief Design Officer School: https://thecdo.school/

Ryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrumsey/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

Grab a pen, paper, and maybe some dice, as Anthony Hobday joins us to discuss his journey into solo tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs). He talks about discovering pen-and-paper solo TTRPGs while exploring dungeon crawling games, and finding the format appealing because it allowed him to create complete games as simple documents. Anthony describes his design philosophy, talks about creating games around a gimmick, like fitting all rules into 36 words, and touches on the crucial role of online platforms in supporting independent game creators. Throughout the conversation, Anthony talks about the strengths and weaknesses of solo TTRPGs compared to group games and video games, and shares surprising feedback from his community of players.

Guest Bio

Anthony Hobday (he/him) thinks about interface design a lot. He shares everything he knows on his website. He prefers a systematic approach to design, but has a passionate interest in visual design.

Links

Anthony’s website: https://anthonyhobday.com/

Anthony’s games on itch.io: https://ahobday.itch.io/

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.

All quiet in the studio, as Homer Gaines joins us to share his lifelong journey with music production. He recounts developing his skills creating music with fellow students in high school, composing an original score for the school's production of “Fame”, and his evolution through college, where he worked in studios and performed with hip-hop groups. A devastating theft in 2003 caused him to abandon music entirely until his wife gifted him a Roland keyboard in 2016, prompting his return as an independent artist. Throughout the conversation, Homer reflects on the differences between producing for himself versus others, and his current focus on educating young artists about the business side of music.

Guest Bio

Homer Gaines (he/him) is a designer, UI engineer, and certified accessibility professional with over 30 years of experience. With a background in behavioral psychology and neurology, he focuses on leading, promoting, and advancing accessibility at every stage in the product development lifecycle.

Links

Homer on YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC6q3s2LMS9YmUXrnL4vz7cg

Homer’s website: https://www.homergaines.com

Homer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/homergaines

Homer on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/xirclebox.com

Credits

Cover design by Raquel Rubio Breternitz.