Today, I’m talking to Mike Mai.

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Mike is currently the principal UI designer at Pegasystems primarily working on design systems. He started out with a strong design background, graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design at Massachusetts College of Art. There, he learned all the design fundamentals that helped him become the accomplished designer he is today.

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Last spring, he was my mentor when I was a Design Intern on his team at Pega. And if you’ve checked out the thumbnail of this episode, you know this is gonna be a fun one. And can I just say: Mike is a designer with personality and swag, no kidding. We talked about his epic senior design project at MassArt, the importance of code to designers, accessibility, and so much more. I was really excited about this one, and it sure did not disappoint. So without further ado, here’s my conversation with Mike Mai.

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Highlights

⭐ The three fundamentals of design

⭐ Mike’s senior design project (epic)

⭐ Should designers code at all

⭐ How to get started with coding as a designer

⭐ Importance of accessibility in design

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Links

🔗 Heydon Pickering

🔗 Adam Argyle

🔗 Stephanie Eckles

🔗 Mike’s article “Case for Respect”

🔗 Adrian Roselli

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.

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Have a great day! :)

Today, I’m talking to Aimee Franco.

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Aimee is currently a Product Design Manager at OpenTable, an online restaurant reservation service company. If you’ve ever tried to reserve a restaurant, you’ve probably heard of this company before.

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She started out her career as an industrial designer, later transitioned into UX, and worked at companies such as Caremerge, CDW, and now at OpenTable. In our conversation, what really stood out to me was the vulnerability that Aimee expressed in the end when she talked about her past struggles of bringing her authentic self to work. And for early-career designers, this is so important to remind ourselves: to be an authentic human being and designer.

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We talked about working with engineers and PMs, the design culture at OpenTable, her biggest design failures, and so much more. So without further ado, here’s my conversation with Aimee Franco.

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Highlights

⭐ Transition to UX with an industrial design background

⭐ Working with engineers & PMs

⭐ Day-to-day as a Product Design Manager at OpenTable

⭐ Design culture at OpenTable

⭐ Her biggest design failure & learnings

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show 🙏

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Have a great day! :)

Have you ever wondered how to land a UX Design internship at Meta? Well, today we’re gonna try to answer exactly that.

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In this episode, you’ll hear from three incoming design interns at Meta:

1. Parth Mehta - Masters student at University Washington (Information Management)

2. Mira Dhingra - Junior at Georgia Tech (Industrial & Product Design) + Runs a lifestyle/design channel called madebymira

3. Hannah Hong - Junior at Boston University (Graphic Design & CS)

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I asked them a series of questions such as

⭐ What’s the application process at Meta?

⭐ How did you prepare for the app critique & presentation?

⭐ What do you think Meta looks for in design interns?

⭐ Any advice for future applicants?

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.

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Have a great day! :)

Today, I’m talking to Heather Cassano.

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Heather is now the Senior Director of UX at Google, leading the Google Play Team with over 100 people. Before this, she was a product design leader at tech companies such as Facebook, Google, Pearson, and Yahoo.

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Oof, honestly, in the beginning, I was quite nervous talking to Heather considering she’s in such a high-level position. But now, I’m so glad that I did.

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I learned so much about leadership, ways to communicate the value of design, her day-to-day as a Senior Director of UX at Google, and so much more. I’m sure you’ll love this one. So, without further ado, here’s my conversation with Heather Cassano.

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Highlights

⭐ Software engineer to manager

⭐ What is good UX (with example)?

⭐ Day-to-day as a Senior Director of UX at Google

⭐ How to communicate the value of design

⭐ Tips for leading a team

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.

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Have a great day! :)

Today I’m talking to Eli Gold Ferrer.

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Eli is now a Product Design Manager on the Payment & Services Team at Upwork, the world’s work marketplace. Before this role, he was a product design leader in companies such as Wabtec, Home Depot, and more.

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During our conversation, we went over a variety of topics such as the power of storytelling, being a design manager, working with cross-functional teams, and so much more.

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Highlights:

⭐ Do design processes matter?

⭐ Power of storytelling

⭐ Why did you become a design manager?

⭐ How to work with cross-functional team members

⭐ Advice for a new manager

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.

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Have a great day! :)

Today I’m talking to Yaya Ya-Ting Wang.

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Yaya started out her design career studying Industrial & Interaction Design at Syracuse University. Then, after completing a 3-month design bootcamp, she began her product design journey at Conde Nast, a global media company and home to iconic brands such as Vogue, The New Yorker, and more. And now, she’s working at Adobe as a Senior Product Designer on the Adobe Acrobat Web Team.

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During our conversation, what truly resonated with me was our conversation about having a third-culture identity. Yaya shared her own way to resolve this and shared valuable tips for anybody who’s struggling to cope with a third-culture identity. This is a conversation I truly enjoyed, and there were lots of laughs along the way. Without further ado, here’s my conversation with Yaya Ya-Ting Wang.

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Highlights:

⭐ Industrial design to UX Design

⭐ Will you recommend people to go to design bootcamp?

⭐ Day-to-day as a Senior Product Designer at Adobe

⭐ Managing a full time + freelance

⭐ Having a third-culture identity

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.

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Have a great day! :)

Today I’m talking to Poyi Chen.

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Poyi recently joined Meta as a product designer. Before Meta, he was a UX Manager at Chegg. And if you’re a student, you’ve probably heard of this education tech company, whether you were trying to rent textbooks or look for homework answers. Outside of work, he loves to give back to the design community through mentorship.

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In our conversation, one of the things that stood out to me was the reason why he started to mentor - his introverted self / the feeling that he wasn’t great at communicating. And as an introvert myself, I can really relate to that. We talked about his journey from graphic design to UX design, tips for interviews, how to network as an introvert, and so much more.

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Highlights:

⭐ Transitioning from graphic design to UX Design

⭐ What companies should fresh grad designers join?

⭐ Meta's company culture

⭐ Tips for interviews

⭐ How to network as an introvert

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Not Just Pixels is a student-led UX Design podcast that strives to help you grow as a designer and get that next design internship or job. This is the podcast I wished I had as a design student, and I hope you’ll get something valuable from this show.

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Have a great day! :)

👋 HI THERE!

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Welcome to the Not Just Pixels Show!

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My name is Guo, and I'm a rising junior studying Engineering Psychology at Tufts! And I'm the host of the Not Just Pixels Show!

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This show has two simple goals. We want to help you:

1. Grow as a UX Designer

2. Land that UX Design internship or job

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This is the design podcast I wish I had, so I hope you'll get something valuable out of this show.

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And I'll see you in the next episode!