Inside Shopify UX

Inside Shopify UX

By Lola Oyelayo-PearsonArtsDesign
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Inside Shopify UX episodes

  • Did UX kill visual design?

    Host UX Director Lola Oyelayo-Pearson chats to UX Director Yesenia Perez-Cruz and Principal Designer Roy Stanfield about the tension between UX and visual design.


    TL;DL? Read the blog post summary.
    Read the full transcript.

    Shopify is building the future of commerce, but who are the people building it? The Inside Shopify UX podcast introduces some of the leaders and crafters on our UX team and asks them to explain the big commerce problem their team is trying to solve, and gives the real talk on some of the industry's challenges and questions. Listen to learn more about the meaty UX challenges our team is solving and how we're making it easier for independent businesses to thrive.  

    Credits:
    Produced by Jen Shaw, UX Communications and Marketing   
    Assisted by Isabelle Hamel Carassi, Merchant Services Coordinator
    Edited by Michael Busse, Technical Production Operator
    Artwork by Senior Illustrator Alisha Giroux, Senior Culture Designer Dani Chavez Ackermann, Senior Marketing UX Designer Marina Verdu, and Broadcast Motion Graphics Artist Trevor Silvani  
    With music by Senior UX Manager Matt Griffin (silentquietspaces.com)

    40 min
  • Permission to nerd out: Designing developer experiences

    Host UX Director Lola Oyelayo-Pearson chats to UX Director Gavin Harvey and UX Manager Owen Williams about designing developer experiences, including:


    Should designers code?
    Designing for developers is like designing for kids
    Dev ops over developer destinations
    How do you prepare teams to design for devs?  
    Lo/no code is controversial and how to design for different levels of skill
    The retro energy of Shopify.dev
    Building the spirit into Hydrogen

    Full transcript.

    The Inside Shopify UX podcast introduces some of the leaders and crafters on our UX team and asks them to explain the big commerce problem their team is trying to solve, and gives the real talk on some of the industry's challenges and questions. Listen to learn more about the meaty UX challenges our team is solving and how we're making it easier for independent businesses to thrive.   

    Credits:
    Produced by Jen Shaw, UX Communications and Marketing   
    Assisted by Isabelle Hamel Carassi, Merchant Services Coordinator
    Edited by Michael Busse, Technical Production Operator
    Artwork by Senior Illustrator Alisha Giroux, Senior Culture Designer Dani Chavez Ackermann, and Broadcast Motion Graphics Artist Trevor Silvani
    With music by Senior UX Manager Matt Griffin (silentquietspaces.com)

    50 min
  • Season 2 of the Inside Shopify UX podcast ... coming January 2022

    Introducing Season 2 of the Inside Shopify UX podcast hosted by UX Director Lola Oyelayo-Pearson — available in January 2022 to watch as well as listen to.   


    Shopify is building the future of commerce, but who are the people building it? The Inside Shopify UX podcast introduces some of the leaders and crafters on our UX team and asks them to explain the big commerce problem their team is trying to solve, and gives the real talk on some of the industry's challenges and questions.  

    Listen to learn more about the meaty UX challenges our team is solving and how we're making it easier for independent businesses to thrive.  

    Credits: Produced by Technical Production Operator Michael Busse Graphics and branding by Senior Illustrator Alisha Giroux Fortune teller design by Senior Culture Designer Dani Chavez Ackermann Music by Senior UX Manager Matt Griffin  Scheduling by Merchant Services Coordinator Isabelle Hamel Carassi Program management by UX Communications and Marketing Jen Shaw

    1 min
  • UX hiring at Shopify with Holly Fortier

    Many of the unique parts of our UX team show up in our hiring process. From our unique life story interview to our craft pairing interviews, members of our talent acquisition team make a real effort to get to know candidates as people, and give them a glimpse into what it's like to be part of Shopify's UX team.

    In this episode our UX recruitment lead Holly Fortier speaks with host Dalia El-Shimy about:

    • how our interview process is structured
    • the different things that interviewers are looking for in a candidate's answer
    • why we're not looking for a specific type of experience
    • how the team feels about cover letters

      • The full transcript is available at: https://ux.shopify.com/inside-shopify-ux-12-ux-hiring-at-shopify-998f4238e6b6

      47 min
    • The Shop app with Jess Erickson

      Discovering products, tracking orders, and simplifying checkouts are some of the highest-impact ways that Shopify helps merchants succeed. All of them are covered by the Shop app, one of the most downloaded shopping apps in the Apple and Google app stores.


      In this episode our senior UX manager for Shop Jess Erickson speaks with host Dalia El-Shimy about:

      • what it's like to build for buyers instead of merchants
      • what's important when building native e-commerce experiences
      • balancing speed vs. quality when designing a new product
      • how her team is structured and the experiences that help people succeed

        • The full transcript is available at: https://ux.shopify.com/inside-shopify-ux-11-shop-4f70c9be8838

        39 min
      • Shopify Fulfillment Network with Vadim Tslaf

        Fulfilling orders can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming tasks an online merchant has on their plate. That's why Shopify launched the Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) to remove that burden from merchants and let them focus on the parts of their business they do best.

        In this episode our senior UX manager Vadim Tslaf speaks with host Dalia El-Shimy about:

        • how SFN assumes this challenging responsibility for merchants
        • how the team thinks about building trust with merchants and suppliers
        • how building a product from scratch differs from working on a more mature product
        • the unique UX challenges of designing a product that spans both software and hardware

          • The full transcript is available at: https://ux.shopify.com/episode-10-shopify-fulfillment-network-cfce79de19

          42 min
        • Selling across borders with Alaine Mackenzie

          Selling outside of your home country can be one of the most challenging things for businesses to manage, but can be an essential part of growth. At Shopify, our UX team is working to make the process of selling across borders as simple and seamless as possible.

          In this episode our UX director Alaine Mackenzie speaks with host Dalia El-Shimy about:

          • the most common challenges that merchants have when selling internationally
          • the UX challenges behind designing for multiple currencies, international payment methods, localization and translation, and duties and customs
          • how her team thinks about moving along the spectrum of making something possible, making it easy, and making it magical
          • how working with data analysts has changed how she thinks about UX

            • The full transcript is available at: https://ux.shopify.com/inside-shopify-ux-9-selling-across-borders-1bd855613469

            37 min
          • Shopify Money with Becky Kanach-Quade

            The Shopify Money team aims to reshape financial services by empowering Shopify merchants at every stage of their business. They do so by building and growing products like Shopify Capital and Shopify Balance.

            In this episode our UX manager for Banking Becky Kanach-Quade speaks with host Kevin Clark about:

            • what Shopify Balance is and what it will help business owners to do
            • how to scale up your knowledge (and your team's) in an unfamiliar product area
            • how her team thinks about design strategy for FinTech
            • her career path from medical illustrations to financial products

              • The full transcript is available at: https://ux.shopify.com/inside-shopify-ux-8-shopify-money-ec2025319f7

              28 min
            • UX career growth

              Our UX director for Core products, Amy Thibodeau, has taken a winding path career path. Starting in arts organizations and then becoming an early member of Facebook's content strategy team, then starting at Shopify as a discipline lead before quickly leading a cross-disciplinary project (the launch of our Polaris design system) to becoming a cross-functional leader. Along the way, she's learned a lot about what it takes to be successful in growing your career in UX.

              She and host Kevin Clark talk about:

              • The power of positive discontent
              • How to talk yourself into raising your hand for projects that stretch you
              • Trusting your team
              • What's wrong with taking a "culture fit" approach

                • The full transcript of the conversation can be found at: https://medium.com/p/a765fbaec5fb/edit

                25 min
              • UX leadership with Kyle Peatt

                Leadership within the Shopify UX team is a journey that has many paths. We have multiple leadership tracks and responsibilities can look different depending on who you are and what your strengths are. Learning what kind of leader you are is a key skill.


                To explore this topic, host Kevin Clark sits down with UX director and experience architect Kyle Peatt to discuss:


                • The difference between management and leadership
                • Why many leaders at Shopify are on a continuum somewhere between people leadership and leading through craft
                • Great questions for leaders to ask their team
                • Why we hire "weird shaped people"

                  • The full transcript of this episode is available at: https://ux.shopify.com/inside-shopify-ux-6-ux-leadership-5e8d5ff6d3ea


                  44 min

                About Inside Shopify UX

                From the publisher's feed

                Shopify is building the future of commerce, but who are the people building it? Inside Shopify UX introduces some of the leaders and crafters on our UX team and asks them to explain the big commerce problem their team is trying to solve, and tackle some of the industry's challenges and questions.