Douglas argues that the main difference between in-person and remote meetings is that the former was familiar. Facilitating remotely is not an excuse to run poor meetings. Yes, it’s a new experience for most of us, but if we have solid basics, then having online interactions is no different than in person. Focusing on intention and being very deliberate about it is always to bring purpose to our meeting culture and systems.

Douglas Ferguson, President and Master Facilitator at Voltage Control, is on a mission to rid the world of bad meetings. He breaks down what it means to control the room, why designing meetings makes them more meaningful and effective, and the definition of meeting culture and meeting systems. Douglas also explains how being deliberate in our intentions can save us from horrible interactions and take our facilitation to the next level.

Alex Genov, PhD Head of Customer Research at Zappos, explains how to create innovation, we need to understand our customers and users as people, not just numbers and data. Alex brings up examples of "innovation on meaning" and explains how this was possible. Spoiler alert: it was achievable thanks to a deep dive into customers' needs!

Filippo Lovotti (Zappos), Paul Pittman (Amazon) sit down with Alex Genov, PhD Head of Customer Research at Zappos, and discuss customers' attitudes during these unusual times. How are the psychology and behavior of customers changing during the pandemic? How are companies reacting and adapting to Covid? Alex brings up great examples and valuable insights from his work as a researcher and Customer Experience expert.

Kelli Lucas, Lead Product Designer at Airship in Birmingham, Alabama, goes over the differences and overlaps between Agency and Corporate UX jobs. Which one you should go for really depends on the type of work you like to do! Kelli also talks about her work-to-life balance and how UX practitioners should approach burnout. In the last few minutes, facilitation becomes the focus of the conversation. Kelli explains her approach to collaborating with clients and users during discovery sessions.

Paul Pittman (Amazon) and Filippo Lovotti (Zappos) discuss their first UX jobs and the learnings they got out of them. The talk moves to the meaning of having “backbone”: why pushing back and advocating on behalf of your users is important? What are good routines and important steps to take on your first UX gig? And finally, the discussion moves over to covering stakeholders and moving around like a squiggly line when leveraging principles VS processes becomes a focus.

Get ready to hear some scary UX Horror Stories in this Halloween Special! Paul Pittman, Danielle Salisbury, Ray Gonzales, and Filippo Lovotti go over some really terrifying examples of "bad UX" and the survival strategies they learned from them. The stories span from companies not understanding UX to getting in trouble by saying "yes" to all users' requests. From clients hovering over designers to startups ignoring their own users. Music by PeriTune https://peritune.com/blog/2016/09/27/spook3/

Paul Pittman (Amazon) explains both the applicant and the hiring manager sides of Amazon’s hiring process and details how they hire UX Designers. Filippo lays out the lengthy Zappos UX hiring process and the many interviews required to get the job. The conversation moves from that to interview prep, focusing on articulating design decisions by backing them up with data. The episode closes with a UX whiteboard challenge example and the approach to get the best out of the challenge.

Paul Pittman (Amazon) explains both the applicant and the hiring manager sides of Amazon’s hiring process and details how they hire UX Designers. Filippo lays out the lengthy Zappos UX hiring process and the many interviews required to get the job. The conversation moves from that to interview prep, focusing on articulating design decisions by backing them up with data. The episode closes with a UX whiteboard challenge example and the approach to get the best out of the challenge.

Filippo Lovotti (Zappos) and Paul Pittman (Amazon) talk about the difference between UX and UI, the portfolio of a UX Designer, differentiating yourself in the UX job market, resume best practices, social media, and how to download a deck to buff up your UX terminology!