By Liz Gerber
Technical Difficulties centers the stories of female leaders in tech and design. In each episode, these women share career-defining moments, unexpected pivots, values they live and design by, and a
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The podcast currently has 13 episodes available.
Join Margaret, a Leader in Responsible Innovation & Design, Advisor, and Investor and the former VP of Product Design and Responsible Innovation at Meta where she founded the Responsible Innovation team. With over 25 years of experience, Margaret has shaped many of the iconic and consequential platforms we use daily - including Google, Youtube, and Facebook. Ethics in tech and design is critical, but how do we actually make it happen at scale?
Tune in to hear Margaret’s perspective on:
- The intersection of theater and design
- Designing at scale
- Humility and techno-optimism
- Cultivating moments of lifelong learning
- Climate change + tech and AI
Margaret’s shoutouts:
- www.terra.do/
Follow Margaret!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margaretgstewart/
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
Join Shani, a Design Executive at IBM, serving as Vice President of Experience Design. She is an award winning creative leader, working at the intersection of design, technology, and leadership. “Designing Forward” is her philosophy—tune in to hear more!
Tune in to hear Shani’s perspective on:
- Designing forward, and always evolving
- Journeys in art history and digital design
- Taking control of your growth as a designer (and plateaus are normal!)
- Emotional intelligence and being sensitive in design leadership and business
- Advice for young designers and emerging talent
Shani’s shoutouts:
- Milton Glaser
Follow Shani!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanisandy/
Personal website: shanisandy.com
IBM Design: https://www.ibm.com/design/community/Shani/
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
Join Alison, an innovation leader, and a self described “experience unicorn," having been an academic, media/tech leader, entrepreneur, and non-profit exec. Today, she is the Chief Research, Education, Data, and Impact Officer at Sesame Workshop.
Tune in to hear Alison’s perspective on:
- Her career path in academia to media and technology
- Sesame Workshop’s approach to developing educational content for refugee children
- Designing for audiences across vast age ranges
- Play, learning, content creation, and impact
- The win-win-win condition
- Importance of research experience
- Sesame Street
Alison’s shoutouts:
- Sesame Workshop
Follow Alison!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jalisonbryant/
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
Join Radhika, the founder of Reground Design, a practice focused on developing implementable solutions to civic challenges in healthcare, education, human migration and community resilience.
Tune in to hear Radhika’s perspective on:
- The power of design, and structuring engagements that build partnership
- Racoon birthday parties
- Designing, film-making, robotics, biology, and music!
- “Traditional” design studios or consultancies
- Pursuing independent projects and freelancing as self discovery
- Balancing constraints and fluidity
- Building intuition
Radhika’s shoutouts:
- Reground Design
Follow Radhika!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rmagarwal
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
Join Erin, CEO and co-founder of Desklight, a learning innovation firm that brings a learner-centered focus to instructional design. Erin is passionate about helping individuals and companies unlock their learning potential, and tells us about her journey as a design entrepreneur.
Tune in to hear Erin’s perspective on:
- Creativity tools and her start in graphic/visual design
- Emojis
- Learning in the Wild, Erin’s book!
- Creating tension to learn
- Design leadership, owning a studio, and workplace culture
Erin’s shoutouts:
- Desklight
- Canva
- Miro
Follow Erin!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinhuizenga
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
Join Maalvika, a dual PhD student at Northwestern studying Computer Science and Communication who is excited about understanding “how we exist on and with the internet.” You might also know from her podcast, “show me how good it gets” and @maaltoks on TikTok!
Tune in to hear Maalvika’s perspective on:
- Connections between her PhD interests and her observations on TikTok
- Pursuing a PhD and finding her path in STEM
- External validation
- How we exist on the internet
- Being loud about what you love
Maalvika’s shoutouts:
- Micron pen + a journal
Follow Maalvika!
Personal Website: www.maalvikabhat.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@maaltoks?lang=en
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
Join Sarah, Global VP of Design where she leads designers, researchers and writers to bring us meaningful and accessible user experiences to an app that we all know and love—LinkedIn!
Tune in to hear Sarah’s perspective on:
- Her educational path in HCI
- Being an individual contributor vs. managing
- Prioritizing user experience and trust in LinkedIn products
- Design leadership
- Careers and finding a place that aligns with your values
Sarah’s shoutouts:
- LinkedIn!
Follow Sarah!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sculbers/
This show is produced by Lauren Lin and Liz Gerber and made possible by the Center for Human Computer Interaction and Design at Northwestern University.
What does design leadership look like in tech? Join Nicole Kahn, VP of Design at Carta, as she reflects on discovering design research, the secret to telling sticky stories, and transitioning into tech. She has led design at companies like IDEO and WeWork, and is now building out what good design looks like at Carta. Nicole coined the "Bar Test" for storytelling, and is dedicated to unlocking the creative potential in all.
Watch the video version on Youtube
Tune in to hear Nicole's perspective on:
- Transitioning from chemical engineering to design research to tech, and the realities of grad school
- Learnings from WeWork: hypergrowth and authentic leadership
- UX debt
- The "lone designer type"
- The "Bar Test" for better stories
- Realizing your expertise as a designer
Nicole's shoutouts:
- The Bar Test developed with Neil Stevenson
Follow Nicole!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-kahn-a497a11/
Technical Difficulties is hosted by Liz Gerber and produced by Lauren Lin & Gilli Nieh. Special thanks to the Alumnae of Northwestern and Northwestern’s Center for HCI + Design.
How did researching buffet lines inspire the pursuit of designing technology? Join Emily Harburg, CEO of PairUp, as she takes us along her adventures in industry, startups, and academia. Emily worked on theme park technology at Disney Imagineering, UX research at Facebook (Meta), and led Emerging Tech and Innovation and EF Education First. Emily received her PhD in Technology and Social Behavior from Northwestern! Her startup, PairUp, is a digital mentorship platform all about creating workplace relationships that help everyone grow.
Watch the video version on Youtube
Tune in to hear Emily's perspective on:
- Discovering design by researching buffet lines at Disney
- Blending computer science and psychology (and not majoring in anything tech-related in undergrad)
- It's hard—but not impossible.
- Building tech with empathy
- Co-founding a nonprofit, Brave Initiatives, dedicated to helping women build tech skills and confidence in coding for social impact
- Transitioning from research and academia to the tech entrepreneurship
Emily's shoutouts:
Check out PairUp here! https://pairupapp.com/
PairUp LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pair-up-inc/
Follow Emily!
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyharburg/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eharburg?lang=en
Technical Difficulties is hosted by Liz Gerber and produced by Lauren Lin & Gilli Nieh. Special thanks to the Alumnae of Northwestern and Northwestern’s Center for HCI + Design.
How do you create space for your identity in design? Join Lesley-Ann Noel, an Assistant Professor in the Dept. of Design Studies at North Carolina State University, as she brings us along her entire design journey—from her first encounters with design education, creating the Designer's Critical Alphabet, and recently, The Little Book of Designer's Existential Crises in 2022. Lesley brings an expansive lens to practice design through emancipatory, critical, and anti-hegemonic lenses to center those who are often excluded from research. She advocates for critical awareness in design, and sits as co-Chair of the Pluriversal Design Special Interest Group within the Design Research Society.
Watch the video version on Youtube
Tune in to hear Lesley's perspective on:
Her "I'm a designer" moment as a young student
Critical thinking in design and design education
If you’re not in existential crisis as a designer in 2022, maybe you’re not doing it right!
Creating A Designer's Critical Alphabet card deck
The Anti-design movement
Transactional design research
Entering design and challenging it
Lesley's shoutouts:
A Designer's Critical Alphabet
The Little Book of Designer’s Existential Crises in 2022
Pluriversal Design, Design Research Society
Follow Lesley!
Website: https://lesleyannnoel.wixsite.com/website
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyannnoel/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lesleyannnoel/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mamaazure
Technical Difficulties is hosted by Liz Gerber and produced by Lauren Lin & Gilli Nieh. Special thanks to the Alumnae of Northwestern and Northwestern’s Center for HCI + Design.
The podcast currently has 13 episodes available.