Sending applications into the void and facing endless final round rejections will break anyone's confidence. Learn how to disconnect your self worth from your career and discover where the market actually wants your skills.

In this episode, we sit down with Gabriela to discuss the brutal reality of the modern job market. After surviving seven grueling application processes only to receive seven rejections, she learned a massive lesson. Rejection is almost never about your actual talent. We explore how to navigate job search fatigue, stop taking hiring decisions personally, and rethink your entire professional identity.


🎧 In This Episode:

• The Rejection Trap: Why getting cut in the final interview rounds is not a reflection of your talent or worth.

• Identity Shift: How to stop tying your personal identity to a specific job title.

• Personal Futures Exercise: A practical framework you can run on your own career to find your next step.

• The Hidden Job Market: How to read what the industry is quietly telling you (spoiler: it is not happening on LinkedIn).

• Defining True Success: Why you need to stop inheriting other people's goals and find your purest vision of success.


Gabriela leaves us with a powerful question: What is your absolute purest idea of success? We want to hear from you! Drop a comment below to share your take. If you found this episode helpful, please subscribe and share it with a friend who might need a confidence boost today.


Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact, title or no title!

Be well,

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Introduction

01:00 Background

05:15 Navigating Layoffs

10:45 Self-Worth

16:45 Career Moves

20:00 Rejection

28:30 Visibility

33:30 Mentoring

40:45 Redefining Success

45:15 Job Hunting

51:15 Future Roles

55:00 Final Thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

* LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/-gabrielasalinas/

* Desiiiiign - https://www.desiiiiign.com/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

[4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

* Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/261-youtube

* Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/261-spotify

* Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/261-apple

* Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/261-snipd

Are your customers tired of dealing with slow and broken systems? Discover what happens when everyday people start using powerful new tools to bypass your organization entirely.

For years, companies and public institutions have delivered bad services simply because users had no other choice. Today, the tide is turning. Civic technology expert Mai-Ling Garcia (Johns Hopkins, city government) joins the show to explain how accessible tech is empowering citizens and customers to build their own solutions. If your organization refuses to adapt, your users will simply route around you.

🎧 In This Episode

• The End of Bad Service: Why organizations can no longer rely on a lack of alternatives to trap their customers.

• The Age of the Workaround: How cheap and powerful tech tools are letting communities bypass broken systems in a single afternoon.

• Frontlines of Public Innovation: Mai-Ling shares her firsthand experiences with empowered users in civic tech and healthcare.

• Humans in the Loop: Why human judgment and decision-making remain critical as AI accelerates our world.

What is a service you are currently working around or wish you could bypass entirely? Drop a comment below to share your thoughts!

Enjoy the episode and keep making a positive impact!Be well,

~ Marc

[ 1. GUIDE ]

00:00 Introduction

03:00 Public Sector Role

05:00 The Empathy Trap

08:45 Real-World Backfire

16:45 Power & Decisions

21:00 Tech & Design

35:00 Citizen Workarounds

43:45 Automation Boundaries

56:15 Key Takeaways

[ 2. LINKS ]

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mai-linggarcia/

• Ling & Company - https://lingandcompany.com/

• Bold Public Works - https://boldpublicworks.com/

[ 3. CIRCLE ]

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

[4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

• Youtube ~ ⁠https://go.servicedesignshow.com/260-youtube⁠

• Spotify ~ ⁠https://go.servicedesignshow.com/260-spotify⁠

• Apple ~ ⁠https://go.servicedesignshow.com/260-apple⁠

• Snipd ~ ⁠https://go.servicedesignshow.com/260-snipd⁠

Are you tired of the relentless AI marketing hype but know you can't afford to ignore it? Discover how to stop blindly applying AI and start mastering it as a malleable "design material" to build impactful, user-centered services .

It’s time to stop buying into the stories big tech companies want us to believe about what Artificial Intelligence can and can’t do. Slapping AI mindlessly onto every project doesn't just create bad user experiences. It can do real harm.

To set a better example for the service design industry, host Marc sits down with Ovetta Sampson. With a resume that includes Director of UX for Machine Learning at Google and AI design leadership roles at Microsoft and Capital One, Ovetta doesn't just talk theory. She runs Right AI to help teams adopt AI safely, responsibly, and effectively. In this conversation, she breaks down exactly how to understand AI's unique properties, navigate its limitations, and mold it into exactly what you need.

In This Episode:

• The Design Material Mindset: How to stop fearing AI and start shaping it like clay to get the outcomes you want.
• Steering the Machine: Practical techniques for guiding generic LLMs to reliably produce high-quality, specific results.
• The Context Crisis: Why understanding your users' real-world context is about to become more important than ever before.
• When "Wrong" Becomes Dangerous: Why AI will always make mistakes, and how to identify the exact point where those errors become harmful.
• Breaking the Model: Why you need to start "messing around" and intentionally trying to break AI tools to build your own grounded mastery.

If you found value in this episode, please hit the Subscribe button on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts so you never miss a conversation. Share this episode with a fellow service designer who needs to hear this!

As always, enjoy, and keep making a positive impact!

~ Marc

[ 1. GUIDE ]

00:00 Intro and AI Sycophancy

03:15 Mindless vs. Mindful AI

06:45 Dangers of Automation Bias

10:00 The Humanizing Trap

17:45 Design as a Verb

24:30 Emergent AI Behavior

27:30 AI Confidence Levels

36:15 The Illusion of AI Memory

39:00 Principle 1 of Mindful AI

43:30 Library vs. Netflix Analogy

49:45 Designing for Failure

55:15 The Socio-Technical Challenge

01:01:45 Advice for Designers

01:06:00 Learning Resources

01:09:00 Redefining the Designer

01:11:15 Outro

[ 2. LINKS ]

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ovettasampson/
• MindfulAI Masterclass: https://www.ovetta-sampson.com/mindfulai-masterclass

[ 3. CIRCLE ]

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

[4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/259-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/259-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/259-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/259-snipd

Want to secure executive buy-in? Stop waiting for a strategic brief from leadership, learn how to pitch solutions that solve your VP's biggest headache.

Tired of doing incredible journey mapping work only to realize you still aren't invited to the room where important business decisions are made? In this episode of the Journey Management Playbook, Martin and I break down a highly specific, 5-slide pitch designed to get you a seat at the executive table. Learn how to stop being viewed as just the "journey maps person" and start navigating boardroom politics like a pro.

📌 In This Episode

• Why asking your VP what could get them fired is the ultimate shortcut to tapping into executive urgency.
• A tactical, step-by-step breakdown of how to write your own strategic brief and present a high-value proposition.
• How to handle heavy pushback from stakeholders and turn a painful "no" into meaningful progress.
• How to reposition customer experience (CX) from a minor workshop activity into a core business solution.

We’ve put together an Objection Response Cheat Sheet with the most common pushbacks and ways you can navigate them. You can download it for free using the link in the show notes.

Enjoy and keep making a positive impact.

~ Marc

[1. LINKS]

Playbook Slides - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/-0sy8

[ 2. GUIDE]

00:00 Introduction

05:30 Season Two Recap

06:30 Insights vs. Decisions

09:15 The Journey Manager

11:15 Owner vs. Manager

15:45 The First Week

20:15 Finding the Owner

25:45 Sophia's Story

36:45 The Horizontal Role

39:45 Monday Rhythm

45:15 Executive's Monday

46:45 Building Briefs

51:15 Closing the Loop

54:15 Season Wrap-Up

[ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ]

Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-12-youtube

Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-12-spotify

Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-12-apple

Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-12-snipd

Are you tired of design feeling boxed in by limiting beliefs and endless support tickets? In this episode, we explore how to break free from the status quo and tackle meaningful, system-level challenges that actually change lives.

There isn't a single service design professional who got into this industry to just solve support tickets all day. You got into this to make a positive impact. But what happens when the systems we operate in are designed to keep things exactly the way they are?

To answer that, Marc sits down with Meghan Bausone, who recently earned her Doctor of Design degree. Drawing from her firsthand experience redesigning maternity care, Meghan shares actionable advice on how to find opportunities to experiment, overcome the frustrations of a rigid environment, and turn your desire to question everything into your greatest professional superpower.

Being stuck in a system doesn't have to be paralyzing. It’s time to recognize the opportunities around you, or even better, create them yourself.

🎧 In This Episode

• The Reality of Modern Design: Why the industry feels boxed in and how to break free from the daily grind.

• Hacking the Status Quo: How to find opportunities to experiment in environments resistant to change.

• Designing Better Maternity Care: Meghan’s firsthand insights into navigating and improving systems that have been stuck for ages.

• Overcoming Limiting Beliefs: Recognizing our own mental roadblocks about what design is "supposed" to do.

• Question Everything: Why having the courage to be "annoying" or disruptive is actually a designer's ultimate superpower.

If you want to find ways to work on challenges that truly matter, this conversation is for you! What is the biggest limiting belief you’ve had to overcome in your design career? Let us know in the comments!

Don't forget to Subscribe to stay updated on future episodes that help you make a positive impact through design.

Enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact.

~ Marc

[ 1. GUIDE 📺 ]

00:00 Welcome to episode 258

00:00 Introduction

00:45 Megan's Background

03:30 Invisible Constraints

05:45 Path to UX Design

09:15 Maternal Health Crisis

12:00 Pursuing a Doctorate

14:15 Improving Systems

21:00 Embracing Biases

25:15 Localized Solutions

31:00 Questioning HCD

37:15 Leverage Points

41:45 Managerialism Ideology

49:45 Institutional Deserts

56:00 Practical First Steps

59:15 Final Reflection

[ 2. LINKS 🔗 ]

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanbausone/

[ 3. NEXT STEP 💪 ]

Looking for more? We've got you covered.

Click the link below to join the Service Design Show community.

https://servicedesignshow.com/subscribe/

You'll get access to inspiring stories and practical advice that helps to level up your service design career!

[ 4. FIND THE SHOW ON ]

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/258-youtube

• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/258-spotify

• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/258-apple

• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/258-snipd

Are we actively designing our own future, or just everyone else's? 🔮 Discover how integrating "futures thinking" into your practice can help you spot industry shifts early and make better, more deliberate decisions today.

It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day grind of deadlines and deliverables. But if we don't think about the long-term role of design, we risk building a world we don't actually want to live in.

In this episode, Marc sits down with Professor Lucy Kimbell—author of the upcoming book "Futures for Design"—to tackle a fascinating issue: the "futures blind spot." We explore why designers work tirelessly to shape the future of healthcare or education, yet rarely apply that same forward-thinking lens to our own profession.

🎧 In This Episode

• The Futures Blind Spot: Why designers often fail to apply futures inquiry to their own professional practice.
• Strategic Uncertainties: Why studying what you don't know is far more valuable than trying to predict a perfect, clear picture of the future.
• Growing Your Futures Literacy: Practical, everyday ways to integrate futures thinking into your team's workflow without adding to the overwhelm.
• Spotting Weak Signals: How to identify early, quiet trends in the design industry before they evolve into dominant, disruptive forces.

If you're ready to turn off autopilot and co-create the future of design with intention, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode!

We also want to hear from you: If you had to pick one word to describe how you feel about the future of design, what would it be? Drop it in the comments or send us a message!

As always, enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to episode 257

00:00 Episode Introduction

01:30 Breaking Design Autopilot

02:30 Design is Political

03:45 Designing on Autopilot

06:15 Consequences of Financialization

08:30 Surveillance Capitalism

12:00 Next-Gen Design Pressures

14:30 Futures for Design Book

17:00 Oxford Scenarios Methodology

21:00 Transactional vs Contextual

30:30 Institutional Fragmentation

32:45 Weak Signals in Design

35:00 Uncertainties to Scenarios

39:00 Scenario Planning vs Sci-Fi

45:00 Lucy Kimball's Journey

48:30 Limits of Speculative Design

52:15 Value of Writing

54:15 Present-Day Strategy

56:45 Managing Macro Chaos

1:00:45 The 10-Year Question

01:02:30 Final Thoughts

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucykimbell/
• UAL web profile and links to publications - https://researchers.arts.ac.uk/1178-lucy-kimbell

• Design in 2040 project with UAL graduates  - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrcI04iMvZHJNQxiytGv1yU_iVtNchee_&si=nU5nQp9dYYAXsSmd
• Coming Soon: Futures for Design: Uncertainties, Scenarios, Implications by Lucy Kimbell (Book)

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

--- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] ---

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/257-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/257-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/257-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/257-snipd

Tired of spending weeks on design strategy only to watch executives scrap two-thirds of your work? 📉 Discover how to drop your design ego, master the "politics" of implementation, and finally get your projects shipped. 🚀

In this episode of Inside Service Design, Marc sits down with JD and Gabriel to tackle one of the most frustrating realities for designers: the translation gap. If you've ever felt like clinging to your design artifacts is actually preventing you from making a lasting impact, this conversation will change how you approach your next stakeholder meeting.

In this episode, we will cover:

• Why your best work doesn't matter if the people in the room don't understand why it's important.
• Why giving stakeholders a "boring" spreadsheet is often the smartest move you can make to drive decisions.
• JD’s framework for compromising today while guiding your team toward your overarching north star tomorrow.
• How to successfully transition from focusing purely on your craft to mastering the political landscape of an organization.

Where do you draw the line between practicing "design jiu-jitsu" to get something shipped, and compromising the core values of your craft? Let us know in the comments or tag us on social media!

If you want to bridge the gap between strategy and execution, hit subscribe so you never miss an episode, and share this with a fellow designer who needs to hear it today.

Enjoy the episode and keep making a positive impact.

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Inside Service Design EP

04:00 UX & Systems Thinking

07:00 What is a Business Service Architect?

09:15 Managing Strategy & Transformation

11:15 Journey Frameworks

15:00 Using AI for User Archetypes

16:30 Mapping Internal Workflows

20:00 In-House Practitioner Insights

21:15 Design Values in an AI World

24:00 Navigating Corporate Silos

29:00 Empathizing with Stakeholders

31:00 Proactive Conflict Management

35:00 Design vs. Corporate Politics

41:00 Why Research Fails Without Business Context

43:00 Miro Boards vs. Excel Sheets

44:15 Driving Value Through Deliverables

46:45 Proving Your Team's Worth

47:15 Design Jiu-Jitsu & The MVP

52:00 When UX Becomes Just a Verb

53:45 Defending Small Sample Sizes

55:30 Video Gen in Service Design

57:00 Wrap Up & Community Tool Prototype

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/jondelina-buckley-0631a9
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabriel-leal-80604aa4/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

--- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] ---

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-14-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-14-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-14-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/inside-service-design-14-snipd

Over-optimized systems are quietly killing the human soul of our services by obsessing over speed and efficiency. In this episode, discover how to break free from the "efficiency trap," embrace design as a genuine practice of hope, and use localized indigenous wisdom to design with authentic care and deep community respect.

🎙️ In this episode

The relentless pursuit of transactional and industrialized models has pushed design to prioritize cost-cutting over real human value. In this episode, we sit down with Nan O'Sullivan, former head of the School of Design Innovation at Victoria University, to unpack how to actively push back against this pervasive efficiency trap. We move past standard problem-solving frameworks to explore the transformative power of Mātauranga Māori, positionality, and why designers must learn to look in the mirror before looking out the window to serve others.

Here is what we cover:

• Why treating design like an industrialized assembly line always strips out authentic human care and community reciprocity.

• How shifting your baseline away from negative problem-solving and toward a practice of hope allows you to forecast a vision of true systemic joy.

• How to use your positionality as a design professional not to feed your own ego, but to actively enhance the mana (the dignity and respect) of the communities you serve.

• Why standing out as a distinct human is your ultimate superpower as automated cogs and AI take over routine transactional outputs.

• How focusing on localized, relational impacts protects incoming practitioners from paralyzing climate and societal anxiety.

What is the most important source that helps to ground your design decisions? When the path forward is unclear, where do you look for clues? Let me know, I really do read and reply to all responses.

As always, enjoy the conversation and keep making a positive impact!

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 256

04:00 Practice of Hope

06:15 Indigenous Knowledge

09:15 Personal Values

14:15 Humanity Over Automation

17:00 Co-Design Responsibility

19:30 Reflection and Reflexivity

23:00 Core Curriculum

27:00 Local Grounding

33:00 Inward Research

38:30 Workforce Evolution

40:45 Corporate Accountability

45:15 Professional Bravery

47:15 Commercial Pressures

53:00 Relational Frameworks

55:00 Actionable Hope

57:15 Wrap-up

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nan-o-sullivan-45709759/

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

[4. FIND THE SHOW ON]

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/256-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/256-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/256-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/256-snipd

Want to secure executive buy-in? Stop waiting for a strategic brief from leadership, learn how to pitch solutions that solve your VP's biggest headache.

Tired of doing incredible journey mapping work only to realize you still aren't invited to the room where important business decisions are made? In this episode of the Journey Management Playbook, Martin and I break down a highly specific, 5-slide pitch designed to get you a seat at the executive table. Learn how to stop being viewed as just the "journey maps person" and start navigating boardroom politics like a pro.

in this episode

• Why asking your VP what could get them fired is the ultimate shortcut to tapping into executive urgency.
• A tactical, step-by-step breakdown of how to write your own strategic brief and present a high-value proposition.
• How to handle heavy pushback from stakeholders and turn a painful "no" into meaningful progress.
• How to reposition customer experience (CX) from a minor workshop activity into a core business solution.

We’ve put together an Objection Response Cheat Sheet with the most common pushbacks and ways you can navigate them. You can download it for free using the link in the show notes.

Enjoy and keep making a positive impact.

~ Marc

[1. LINKS 🔗 ]

• 👉 Playbook Slides - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/-0sy8
• 👉 Objection Response Cheat Sheet - https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-11-objection-response-cheat-sheet-podcast
• The Journey Management Playbook - https://www.theydo.com/resources/journey-management-playbook?utm_source=article&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=202605-Global-Marc

[ 2. GUIDE 📺 ]

00:00 Season 2 Recap

02:00 Shifting Focus to Business Impact

04:45 The CX Trust Gap Explained

06:30 Breaking Out of the Workshop Box

11:15 Creating a High-Value Proposition

29:45 Repackaging for Time Constraints

35:30 Surface vs. Root Cause Problems

40:15 Aligning Strategy with Backlogs

51:00 Re-evaluating Urgency

55:30 Handling Objections & Silence

57:00 Setting 90-Day Timelines

1:00:00 Turbocharging Your Preparation

1:02:45 Overcoming Presentation Rejection

1:04:15 Wrap-Up

--- [ 3. FIND THE SHOW ON ] ---

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-11-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-11-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-11-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/journey-management-playbook-11-snipd

If building digital products becomes instant and free, what happens to the value of a service designer? Discover why traditional discovery is under attack and how to survive the impending "Design Winter."

The rapid trajectory of AI development has completely shifted the rules of corporate problem-solving. In this episode, host Marc van Tijn sits down with academic coordinator Pablo Fernández Vallejo to unpack the deep structural changes hitting the design industry. They move past basic chatbot hype to look at the realities of autonomous AI agents, shifting organizational power dynamics, and why designers must quickly transition from "authors" to "editors" to stay relevant.

Here is what we cover:

• Why corporate obsession with cheap, instant builds risks turning upfront design discovery into an operational roadblock.
• Why automating the messy, time-consuming parts of qualitative work might actually cause our core design muscles to atrophy.
• How autonomous AI agents are forcing us to redesign websites and platforms for machine consumption instead of human eyes.
• How to harden your service ecosystems before competitors or angry clients launch automated, voice-cloned agent swarms to overwhelm support desks.
• Why the future belongs to designers who can let go of the static deliverable and focus on continuous, systemic agility.

On a scale of 1-10, how fluent do you feel with AI as a design material right now? Let me know, I really do read and reply to all responses.

Enjoy and keep making a positive impact!

~ Marc

--- [ 1. GUIDE ] ---

00:00 Welcome to Episode 255

03:45 AI Velocity

08:45 Future Job Market

13:30 Productive Friction

19:15 Impact on Designers

23:15 What happens to our value

28:30 How we combat corporate Proto Bros

34:00 Where we anchor the "real" domain of design

36:45 Impact on Services

37:30 Autonomous Agents

42:15 Designing AX

47:45 Ecosystem Defense

50:15 Broken Journey Maps

52:00 Impact on Organizations

56:30 Authors vs Editors

--- [ 2. LINKS ] ---

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/pablofernandezvallejo
• Website - https://www.fernandezvallejo.com/
• Watch Part 1 of Pablo's Previous Interview on AI on Service Design - https://youtu.be/B142M6lhac8?si=uUKREkC1wztjUSYj

--- [ 3. CIRCLE ] ---

Join our private community for in-house service design professionals.

⁠https://servicedesignshow.com/circle

--- [4. FIND THE SHOW ON] ---

• Youtube ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/255-youtube
• Spotify ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/255-spotify
• Apple ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/255-apple
• Snipd ~ https://go.servicedesignshow.com/255-snipd