Traditional marketing and communications often take the form of a one-way conversation. Things are put out into the market and it generally ends there. With the emergence of social media, a two-way conversation has also emerged. It leads to the opportunity for companies to sense what is happening in the market and respond to it.

Jeff Gothelf and Josh Seiden previously co-authored the book Lean UX and in their latest, Sense & Respond, they investigate how companies can foster that two-way conversation. In particular, convincing companies that, no matter what industry they're in, they're software companies.

In this podcast, Jeff and Josh share some of the highlights from the book and their research. Our hosts, Adam Churchill and Jared Spool dig into those highlights.

Project management encompasses an important set of skills, such as communication, planning, and forecasting. But does someone need the title of project manager to actually do the work?

In Brett Harned’s book Project Management for Humans, he makes the argument that project management is always needed on projects but the role itself is less important. You should focus on the skills in order to manage projects well.

In this podcast, Brett shares some of the highlights from his book. Our hosts, Adam Churchill and Jared Spool dig into those highlights, in particular, whether designers already possess the skills that project managers have.

There’s a stigma surrounding meetings. They’re often seen as unproductive wastes of time. But in Kevin Hoffman’s view, meetings are actually a design problem. In his upcoming book, Meeting Design for Managers, Makers, and Everyone, Kevin lays out strategies to make meetings better for all those involved, making them gateways to success. In this podcast, Adam Churchill and Jared Spool discuss some of the highlights from Kevin’s book.

Dan believes that collaboration and conflict—that’s right, conflict—are the basis for good design. The book itself evolved from his Surviving Design Projects card game. Dan joins us for this podcast to discuss his book, and his thinking around collaboration and managing conflict.

Steve’s book is a distillation of his years of experience conducting research with users. Somehow existing as both a handbook of sorts and as a casual conversation with one of the sharpest minds in the field, it’s a must-have for anyone thinking about the research side of things. Steve breaks down interactions with users to illustrate when, and how, to ask the right questions to uncover valuable insights.

Facilitation is an important skill, whether with collocated or remote teams. It drives conversation and collaboration. The ability to facilitate well is integral when conducting participatory design activities, giving a presentation, or even giving a virtual seminar. Russ joins Adam Churchill to discuss the book and the various types of facilitation in this podcast.

Here at UIE we’ve amassed quite a library, and we’re adding to it all the time. One of the more recent additions is Margot Bloomstein’s book Content Strategy at Work. The subtitle of Margot’s book is “Real-World Stories to Strengthen Every Interactive Project” and in keeping with that idea, it is chock full of case studies and practical examples. Adam Churchill catches up with Margot to discuss her book in this podcast.