The Way of Product with Caden Damiano

Season 5 Finale! 

In this episode I learn about excelling in your career by talking to Taylor Palmer.

Taylor has found that he grows most quickly on teams and in environment where there is a culture of experimentation. He tries to set aside 20% of his time to always be working on something that's not on the roadmap.

Taylor has had a steep growth curve since starting at Lucid fresh out of college. Within 5 years he became a director of UX there, and helped build a team of 20 designers. He also started an awesome side project called UX tools which is now the go-to resource for showing the top UX tools in the industry. 

Connect with Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-palmer-6264a171/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

The design thinking philosophy outlines a way to think and approach product development. It isn't a process.

In this episode, I talk with co-creator of UX tools, Jordan Bowman, about the real day to day of a product designer. 

We discuss:

-The job is not a linear process, so your methods change based on the problem.

-The best way to learn about UX, by breaking down methods and using scenarios to practice them.



-How to do consistent customer interviews by reducing your planning to a single focus you need solved right now. 

Connect with Jordan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jrdnbwmn/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

William needed a job, and even with a strong portfolio and track record, it took him three months to land on his feet. 

William talks about how he learned to take control of his career from that day forward, so it no longer took "3 months" to find a new job.

William is the author of "101 Random UX Facts" and a Senior Designer at PayPal and former designer at Home Depot. This episode is a masterclass on hustling to get better career prospects. 

Get Williams book: https://101randomuxtips.com/



Connect with William: https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamntim/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

The key to performance as designer is getting to a point where you are relaxed in the role. 

I chat with Bobby Lloyd, a Principal at United Health and a former UX/UI Strategist at Goldman Sachs, about what needs to happen to become relaxed as a designer.

Bobby calls it being "organic" and a lot of it has to do with practice and getting over imposter syndrome. We dive deep in this one. 

Connect with Bobby: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-lloyd-52a8b35/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

In this episode I chat with Janet Lee on operating a design business.



Janet is Director Of Operations, Digital Agency for the prolific agency Impekable. Where she started off as a design intern. We discuss her shift from designing to becoming an operator of the business itself. Recommend this episode with anyone who is curious about operations in a design or product organization. 

Find Janet here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janplee/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

This episode is about creating products that are designed to "generate value" for consumers, in place of "extracting value" from consumers. There is a big difference! 

George Serediuc is a Principal Designer based in Romania. He runs a consultancy gig to help companies & institutions build inclusive digital products that are purposeful & human-centered. 

We talk about the philosophy of user-centered design and I make a prediction of the end of free trials, as more regulation is created in digital products. Connect with George: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeserediuc/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

Why are designers moving into Product Managment roles?

I bring on an old guest, Bryan Mortensen, to talk about our recent discussions on why we both are considering moving into Product Managment one day. 

We discuss designers losing influence at the business seat of the table, how product management is taking over aspects of design thinking we both like doing, and why having a solid PM is a game changer for a company.  

Connect with Bryan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanmortensen/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

In this episode, Carey Jenkins and I talk about Digital Optimism, a school of thought that empowers technologists to believe in the power of technological innovation to improve our lives and society.

Carey Jenkins is CEO of Substantial, a world-class product development studio based in Seattle, serving a diverse set of clients - from Fortune 50s like Google and Amazon to emerging start-ups and social impact organizations. (They are also hiring remote friendly positions) 

Connect with Carey here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/careyvjenkins/

Check out Careers at Substantial Here: https://substantial.com/careers



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

UX can be romanticized as a profession that can airdrop into any business and work miracles, when it's really just another stakeholder. 

In this episode, I chat about the pitfalls of UX's rising popularity with Michael Tinglin. We also talk about the non-linear career, which is giving yourself the freedom to jump back and forth between IC and management roles as a design professional. 

Michael has a lifetime of experience in the field, and provides some awesome nuggets of wisdom based off his decades of experiences working on innovative products and services for companies like 7-Eleven and Fanny Mae.

Connect with Michael here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeltinglin/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.

In this episode I chat with Adam Fry-Pierce, a former director of the design leadership forum at InVision and current head of design ops at Docusign.



He has personally onboarded and interacted with over 3200 design leaders in the DLF and has some takeaways and lessons from those experiences that you might find interesting. Topics we cover:

- If all design leaders have everything together.

- Leadership and Culture lessons.

- Diversity.



Connect with Adam here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamfp/



If you get any value out of this show, or if it has helped you in any way, please subscribe to “Thinking Out Loud About Design” for free to get the distilled learnings on being a staff-level individual contributor.