Most UX practitioners have spent their careers fighting for the user — pushing back against dark patterns, advocating for quality, and insisting that making things better for people is also better for the business. Eric Ries would say that instinct is exactly right. And that it's not enough.

In this episode, host Laura Klein talks with Eric Ries — New York Times Best Selling Author of The Lean Startup and founder of the Long Term Stock Exchange — about his new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad...and How Great Companies Stay Great. Eric makes the case that most of today's business best practices are actively value-destroying, and that the builders, designers, and makers who already believe product quality matters are more revolutionary than they realize — they just lack the tools to protect that belief inside their organizations.

They dig into the history of shareholder primacy, why corporate governance is something every practitioner should understand, and the very specific questions you can ask in a job interview to find out whether a company is genuinely mission-driven or just mission-hopeful.

About Eric Ries | Linkedin

• The Eric Ries Show
• Incorruptible (New Book) - Available Now!
• The Lean Start Up (Book)

Related NN/G Articles & Videos

• UX Stakeholder Engagement 101
• Deceptive Patterns in UX: How to Recognize and Avoid Them
• Four Factors in UX Maturity
• UX Maturity Is a Living System, Not a Ladder
• UXers Need to Think Like Product Leaders

Try One of Our Courses

→ Becoming a UX Strategist (Live Online)→ Successful Stakeholder Relationships (Live Online)→ Lean UX and Agile (Live Online)→ Demonstrating UX Value (Self-Paced)→ UX Maturity: Elevating Organizational UX Practices (Self-Paced)

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What does it actually mean to design conversationally? Not "add a chatbot" — but genuinely apply the principles of human conversation to the systems we build?

In this episode, host Laura Klein sits down with Erika Hall, author of Conversational Design and Just Enough Research, to re-visit a topic that's only gotten more relevant since her book came out in 2018. They dig into why language has always been an important part of any interface, what the cooperative principle of conversation can teach us about interaction design, and how the current AI moment is muddying what "conversational" even means.

Erika also makes a sharp distinction between AI that solves real problems and AI that performs work — and offers a theory about why so many people are reaching for answer machines right now. Plus: why the best consulting advice is often just "you have to talk to each other," the role of domain expertise in getting anything useful out of an LLM, and what painting chickens has to do with learning to see.

About Erika Hall | LinkedIn | Bluesky

• Her Studio - Mule Design
• Conversational Design
• Just Enough Research

Related NN/G Articles:

• AI Chatbots Discourage Error Checking
• Designing AI Products and Features: Study Guide
• Sycophancy in Generative-AI Chatbots
• AI Features Must Solve Real User Problems

Try One of Our Courses

→ Designing AI Experiences (Live Online)

→ The Human Mind and Usability (Live Online)

→ Understanding LLMs (Self-Paced)

→ Informative Microcopy (Self-Paced)

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Navigating the UX job market has always had its ups and downs, especially with AI reshaping the industry. In this episode, host Laura Klein sits down with Evan Sunwall, NN/G's Director of Self-Paced Training, to share candid advice for UX practitioners trying to actively job search or level up in today's competitive market. With nearly 19 years in the field as both a designer and a hiring manager, he has a lot to say about where the field is headed — no matter what stage you're at in your career.

That experience is also what shaped Evan's self-paced course on getting a job in UX, part of NN/G's new and growing library of practical, pre-recorded courses built around real skill gaps. Evan was one of the first to help develop the format — running experiments and prototypes to figure out what actually works for self-directed learners.

Evan also previews a companion course aimed at hiring managers and shares that he's looking for sharp instructors to help expand the library into new topics across research, design, and AI.

Check out our NEW Self-Paced Courses!

About Evan Sunwall | Bio | Linkedin

• Successful UX Job Searching (Course)
• Hiring UX Talent (Course)

Free NN/G Articles:

• How to Apply and Secure a UX Job
• Advice for Approaching a UX Job Search
• Templates and Tools for UX Job Seekers
• Preparation Tactics for a Tough UX Job Market
• Growing in Your UX Career: Study Guide

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If you work in UX, you’ve probably heard the terms lean, Agile, and MVP more times than you can count. But knowing the terms doesn’t mean knowing how to make them work.

In this episode, Laura Klein, Principal Experience Specialist at NN/G, joins Therese Fessenden to talk about what Lean UX was really meant to accomplish — and how teams today can apply its principles without falling into common traps.

Listen as they discuss how Lean UX came about, the skill of zooming between product vision and interaction details, and why growing companies struggle to balance speed and consistency. Whether you’re working at a startup or inside a large enterprise, this episode offers a grounded look at how to design thoughtfully in fast-moving environments.

We’re also excited to have Laura join as the newest co-host of the NN/G UX Podcast. And many congratulations to the Fessenden family as they welcome a new addition to their family.

About Laura Klein | Bio | Linkedin | Bluesky | Usersknow.com

• What is Wrong With UX (Podcast)
• Build Better Products (Book)
• UX for Lean Startups (Book)

NN/G Live Online Courses Taught by Laura

• Lean UX and Agile
• Product & UX: Building Partnerships for Better Outcomes
• All Our Live Courses

Free NN/G Articles & Videos

• Lean UX & Agile: Study Guide
• Lean UX & Agile Glossary
• What is Lean UX?
• Accounting for User Research in Agile
• Why Organizations Don’t Do User Research and How to Change That
• Why Most Product Teams Aren't Really Empowered

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Therese Fessenden talks with design psychologist and product strategist Thomas Watkins (host of The Design Psychologist and Product-Led Growth Leaders) about why understanding the human mind is still a true superpower for designers, researchers, and product teams. They explore how products subtly shape our behavior and identity, why over-relying on templates and patterns can flatten experiences instead of differentiating them, the risks of personifying AI tools, and the practical ways practitioners can use psychology and AI together to automate the tedious parts of work while staying human-centered and creating products that truly fit into people’s lives.

About Thomas Watkins: Bio | LinkedIn

• The Design Psychologist Podcast
• Product-Led Growth Leaders Podcast
• 3Leaf Consulting (Thomas’ Design Team)

Related Live Online Training: The Human Mind & Usability

Free NN/g Study Guides & Articles:

• Psychology Study Guide
• Humanizing AI Is a Trap
• The ELIZA Effect: Why We Love AI
• The 4 Degrees of Anthropomorphism of Generative AI

As AI-powered tools flood the market promising quick evaluations and audits, the conversation zeroes in on a critical issue: the reliability of these tools. In this episode, co-hosts Therese Fessenden and NN/G VP Kate Moran sit down with Jamie Holst and Christian Holst, the co-founders of Baymard Institute, to examine the growing role of AI in UX analysis. The group discusses the risks of over-relying on AI—particularly for junior UX practitioners—and the deeper implications for professionalism in the field.

About the speakers:

• Christian Holst (Co-founder & Research Director, Baymard Institute)
• Jamie Holst (Co-founder & CTO, Baymard Institute)
• Kate Moran (VP, NN/G)

Links Referenced in the Episode:

• Try UX Ray for Free: https://baymard.com/product/ux-ray
• Read their article on AI accuracy: https://baymard.com/blog/ai-heuristic-evaluations

Related NN/G Courses:

• Accelerating Research with AI
• AI for Design Workflows
• Designing AI Experiences
• AI Product Strategy

Check out ALL of our courses at nngroup.com/learning

Related NN/G Articles:

• AI Hallucinations: What Designers Need to Know
• AI-Powered Tools for UX Research: Issues and Limitations
• AI as a UX Assistant
• AI Chatbots Discourage Error Checking

The interest in “customer insights” is higher than ever, and more people are interested in both research insights and carrying out research on their own. But, who’s making sure research is done well? Therese sits down with Ned Dwyer, CEO and co-founder of Great Question, to talk about the balance between access and rigor in UX research. They discuss the need for democratization charters, how AI is reshaping research roles, and why enabling good research at scale is as much a cultural challenge as it is a technical one.

Connect with Ned Dwyer: LinkedIn

• Learn more about Great Question
• Subscribe to Great Question’s Newsletter

Learn about UX: nngroup.com/learning

Related NN/g Courses & Articles:

• ResearchOps: Scaling User Research (UX Certification course)
• Democratize Research in 5 Steps (free article)
• Democratization of UX (13-min video)

In this episode, Therese interviews Jay Dutta—Global Head of UX at Deutsche Bank about how designing at scale isn’t just about reaching millions, but about preserving depth: of empathy, culture, and context. With a career spanning Adobe, Flipkart, and MakeMyTrip, Jay reflects on why he’s drawn to complex, broken systems and how those environments offer the richest opportunities for impact. He discusses the importance of designing for the individual within vast systems, and how storytelling, risk-taking, and honoring human experiences can lead to more meaningful and scalable design solutions.

About the speaker: JayDutta.com | LinkedIn

DesignUp Conference (Bangalore, India - Nov 3-5, 2025 ): https://designup.io/

Related NN/G Course: Global UX: Designing and Leading Across Cultures (full-day & half-day courses)

Related Free NN/G Articles:

• ‘Our Users Are Everyone’: Designing Mass-Market Products for Large User Audiences (free article)
• Modify Your Design for Global Audiences: Crosscultural UX Design (free article)
• Imagery Helps International Shoppers Navigate Ecommerce Sites (free article)

What does it really take to get hired in design today? In this episode, design recruiter and former product designer Hang Xu shares hard truths about what’s changed in hiring, why portfolios miss the mark, and how candidates can better align with what employers actually want. He also talks about his bold new project, OnlyFAANGs.design, where he documents his journey back into design from the recruiter’s seat.

About Hang Xu: LinkedIn | OnlyFAANGs.design

Level Up Your UX Career with UX Certification: nngroup.com/learning

Related Free NN/G Resources:

• Templates and Tools for UX Job Seekers (article)
• How to Apply & Secure a UX Job (article)
• The Return of the UX Generalist (article)
• How to Get UX Experience Without a Job (video)
• User Experience Careers Report (free report)
• More articles & videos about UX careers

Who do we really mean when we say “the user”? And who gets left out?

In this episode, Therese Fessenden chats with cultural anthropologists Mike Youngblood and Ben Chesluk, who are challenging overly narrow definitions of users in UX. They explore how systems thinking and anthropology can deepen our understanding of complex user ecosystems — and why rethinking “the user” is more important than ever.

About the speakers:

• Mike Youngblood (LinkedIn)
• Ben Chesluk (LinkedIn)

About Rethinking Users, including some helpful resources and a link to purchase the book:

https://www.rethinkingusers.com

Article about User Ecosystem Thinking:

https://www.epicpeople.org/toward-ethnography-of-friction-and-ease-in-complex-systems

Mike & Ben’s other books:

• The Routledge Companion to Practicing Anthropology and Design, which includes Mike & Ben’s chapter on systems thinking in design anthropology, as well as many other chapters/contributors exploring the role of anthropology in design:
• Ben’s book Money Jungle is an anthropological study of the redevelopment of New York City’s Times Square.
• Mike’s book Cultivating Community is an ethnographic study of a massive, grassroots social movement in rural India.

Related NN/g Articles & Videos:

• Personas vs. Archetypes (article)
• Why Personas Fail (article)
• Ethnography in UX (3-min video)
• Contextual Inquiry: Inspire Design by Observing and Interviewing Users in Their Context (article)