In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about some of the unanswerable questions they get asked all the time like "What sort of research should  do?" and "What is wrong with my product?" Then we answer them, because why the hell not? 

Drink Pairing: Absinthe

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

In this episode, Kate and Laura discuss why it's so easy to get blocked when doing "creative" work. We also offer a few, probably unhelpful, tips about how we personally get past the blockers. Hint: it's not all booze and self loathing. 

Drink Pairing: Singapore Sling

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

In this episode, Kate and Laura complain about the overuse of UX-specific jargon and then totally contradict ourselves by explaining why we sometimes find it incredibly useful. Laura also complains, unsurprisingly, about the fact that we can't all agree on what certain words like "designer" mean anyway. 

Drink Pairing: Lemon Drops

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about the different types of spaces in which design activities occur and fight about which are the best ones for which tasks. 

Drink Pairing: Scorpion Bowl (which Kate assures me is a Tiki drink and not an actual bowl of scorpions, but she is not to be trusted)

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

Sometimes stakeholders or clients want things that you know will be terrible for their users. In this episode, Kate and Laura discuss how to handle bad feature or design requests and argue about our responsibilities as designers. 

Drink Pairing: Dry Martinis

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

Sometimes stakeholders refuse to look at any deliverables that aren't pixel perfect Photoshop mocks, which causes all sorts of problems for designers. In this episode, Kate and Laura explain why this is such a terrible idea and give designers some suggestions for handling it better. 

Drink Pairing: Something Artisinal

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

You can never get a straight answer out of a designer. In this episode, Kate and Laura explain why designers like the phrase, "It depends" so damn much and what we can do to make it slightly more useful. 

Drink Pairing: Truth Serum (or gin, whichever you have on hand)

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

In this episode, Kate and Laura discuss how to take the feedback you asked for a little more graciously and maybe even benefit from it. Do not, in any way, think that this is a request for you to give feedback to Kate and/or Laura. Yes, we understand the irony, and no, we're not having any of it. 

Drink Pairing: Your Tears, probably

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

In this episode, Kate and Laura talk about the dismissive bastards who claim "users don't know what they want." In a surprising twist, they also give some decent advice about how to think about getting user feedback. 

Drink Pairing: Mimosas 

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton

In this episode, Kate and Laura discuss the one weird trick to doing better customer interviews. Ok, it's not really a trick, but it is weird. When conducting research, interviewers often behave very differently than they would normally, creating a sort of Research Persona or Character that helps them build rapport quickly and get participants to open up and share. 

Drink Pairing: Wassail (that's a thing, right?)

Music: The Future Soon by Jonathan Coulton