The UX Level-Up

Allie Ofisher is a UX designer and consultant with deep roots in systems thinking, visual design, and user research. She’s worked with countless teams to help them understand what they’re building, why they’re building it, and how to bring clarity to complex products using OOUX. As the lead steward of the Representation Round at OOUX, Allie brings her sharp visual eye and her obsession with relationships, context, and user mental models to everything she touches.In this episode of the UX Level Up Podcast, Sophia and Allie dig into Relationship Representation—how to avoid isolated objects, why contextual navigation matters more than top-down menus, and how Nested Object Matrixes (NOM) unlock innovation, break down silos, and transform collaboration with product owners and developers. They explore how disconnected UI patterns often point to deeper organizational issues, how research questions reveal real user needs, and how OOUX gives teams a shared language for designing systems that actually think the way users think.

LINKS:

Check out Allie's website

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Allie Ofisher has worked as a UX consultant across AgTech and nonprofit product spaces, teaches the OOUX Representation Round in Foundations, and co-hosts the YouTube series “OOUX: We Did It Again.” In this episode of the podcast, Sophia and Allie talk about using OOUX since 2020 to navigate the trickiest projects, why designing against the four UX “fails” (especially masked objects) helps teams onboard and audit existing products quickly, and how reverse-engineering Representation first—with intentional choices in shapes, labels, and attributes—keeps designs clear and resilient.

LINKS:

Allie Ofisher https://www.allieofisher.com/• Connect with Allie Ofisher on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/allieofisher• OOUX We did it Again https://www.youtube.com/@OOUXwediditagain

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In this 12th installment of the ORCA Series, Jake Z is back to wrap up the Prioritization Round with Attribute Prioritization. In this episode we discuss content clashes, marketing demands, and how to align across teams when everyone wants their data front and center.

LINKS:

Check out Jake's previous appearances on the UX Level Up Podcast:

079 - ORCA Series #11 - CTA Prioritization

077 - ORCA Series #10 - Relationship Prioritization

038 - OOUX at Hello Fresh with Jake Zukowski

Join the waitlist for the Self-Paced OOUX Masterclass 3.0!

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After leading a major gov site launch, Philippe Fara is back to share how OOUX helped him deliver better outcomes with less chaos. From mastering the ORCA Process to mentoring others, he spills the tea on scaling UX strategy, building confidence, and making complexity intuitive.

OOUX LINKS:

Check out Philippe's last appearance on the UX Level-Up Podcast!

Admire Philippe's work on Renfrewshire.gov.uk

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Jobs To Be Done meets Object-Oriented UX! Sophia and JTBD legend, Jim Kalbach, nerd out on frameworks, the magic of teaching to learn, and evolving your process. It’s a fun, honest convo about clarity, complexity, and cringey first diagrams. Enjoy! #UX #JTBD #

OOUXLINKS:

Check out the JTBD Toolkit!

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Jake Zukowski has worked as Vice President of Global Design and Research at HelloFresh, led design teams at Frog and Fjord (now Accenture Song), and contributed his expertise to innovative companies like Magic Leap, Microsoft, and Expedia. Today, he’s the founder and CEO of Cosmic Plumbing, where he creates professional astrology and tarot tools.

In this episode, Sophia and Jake unpack CTA prioritization—how to balance user needs with business goals, why “contra CTAs” matter for ethical UX, and how to navigate tough stakeholder convos to build trust and deliver real, lasting value.

LINKS:

Connect with Jake on LinkedIn!

Sign up for OOUX Foundations

Join the waitlist for Cohort 12 of the OOUX Masterclass (Fall 2026)

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A viral LinkedIn post claims UX is “just battles and compromises.” In this episode, Sophia gets spicy about why that’s wrong. Tune in for a soapbox rant on why we shouldn’t settle for burnout culture — and how to reclaim UX as the world-changing craft it was meant to be.

LINKS:

Join Cohort 11 of the OOUX Masterclass! Doors close August 29th at 11:59 PM EDT!

Follow Sophia on LinkedIn!

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What if prioritizing relationships could boost your bottom line? In this 10th ORCA Series installment, Sophia is joined by former VP of design at Hello Fresh, Certified OOUX Strategist, and Cohort 11 Mentor, Jake Zukowski, to explore how ORCA’s Relationship Prio helps businesses build trust, create clarity around revenue objects, and design strategies that work for both users and businesses.

LINKS:

1. Join Cohort 11 of the OOUX Certification! Doors are open until Friday 8/29 at 11:59 PM EDT.

2. Check out all the amazing testimonials for the OOUX Certification on OOUX.com/testimonials.

3. Continue the conversation on the OOUX Forum!

Advanced OOUXer Karen Hewell joins me to share how she’s helping government agencies shift from page-based chaos to object-based clarity. We talk breaking silos, creating shared ownership, and making massive content ecosystems easier to manage (and actually intuitive). 🎯

LINKS:

Keep up with Karen's work at Anthro-tech

Follow Karen on LinkedIn

Get on the waitlist for Cohort 11 of The OOUX Certification Program!

Continue the conversation on The OOUX Forum!

In this ninth installment of the ORCA Series, Sophia kicks off the Prioritization round with Object Prioritization. Tune in as she shares how this step can bring clarity to your design process and your project backlog — plus a personal story on tackling creative chaos with compassion and strategy.

LINKS:

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