If you’re new to Design Better Podcast or missed some of our best episodes, dive into these episodes that explore foundational concepts. We’ve organized episodes by topic, so you can binge the episodes that align with your interests.

Creative process

Seth Godin

We talk with Seth Godin—entrepreneur, bestselling author, and speaker—about why writing is often the best starting point for almost any type of creative work, how being creative is an act of generosity, and the idea of “creative destruction.”

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Tina Seelig

As Executive Director of Knight-Hennessy Scholars at Stanford University, Dr. Tina Seelig teaches courses on leadership, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. We discuss the difference between creativity and innovation, and what it takes to find your superpowers. 

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John Cleese

As one of Monty Python’s founding members, co-writer and star of the Academy-Award nominated film A Fish Called Wanda, and author of Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide, John Cleese is no stranger to the creative process. We speak with him about collaboration in the midst of friction, how to be comfortable with ambiguity, and creating boundaries to get in a creative mode.

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Product design

Tony Fadell

It’s hard to think of any individual who has had more of an impact on the modern world of product design than Tony Fadell, co-inventor of the iPod and iPhone. We chat with Tony about what some of his early failures taught him, why the best teams are multigenerational, and how to deal with the assholes you’ll likely encounter in your career.

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Steve Johnson and Rochelle King

In the realm of digital product design, Netflix has its own star power. We speak with Steve Johnson, VP of Design, and Rochelle King, VP of Creative Production at Netflix, about how they approach inclusive design for a global audience, use a data-informed rather than data-driven product strategy, and why looking for passion rather than for credentials might be the key to your next great hire.

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Eileen Fisher

Eileen Fisher is the founder of her eponymous and iconic fashion brand Eileen Fisher, Inc., which is known for its ethical and sustainable practices, and elegantly simple clothing. We talk to Eileen about her design principles, how she thinks about form, function, and sustainability, and how systems thinking has helped her develop a brand that stands the test of time.

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Technology and Artificial Intelligence

John Maeda

John Maeda—currently VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft—has a long history at the intersection of design and technology. We talk with John about what’s most misunderstood about AI, the co-pilot role AI will take in the creative process, and his optimistic take on what the future holds for designers who embrace these new tools. 

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Matt Mullenweg

As co-founder of WordPress—the platform behind an astonishing 42% of the websites in the world—Matt Mullenweg knows a thing or two about technology. But his roots are in jazz, and we talk about his journey from musician to developer to entrepreneur, his perspective on distributed work, and his thoughts on the transformative capabilities of the latest generation of generative AI.

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Sarah Seager

Professor Sara Seager is on a mission to discover potentially habitable planets outside our solar system. In the course of our conversation, we talk to Sara about how multidisciplinary teams push beyond initial friction, and how giving herself permission to fail has driven much of her success. 

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Design Leadership

Julie Zhuo

As a former VP of Product Design at Facebook (now Meta), and author of The Making of a Manager, Julie Zhuo has a lot of wisdom to share about leadership. We learn how she got her start, and grew to be a highly influential design leader renowned for building top-notch teams. Julie talks about the difference between leading and managing, and shares personal examples that can help you advance your career.

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Irene Au

For many years Google’s engineering-led culture cherished efficiency over user experience. Irene Au arrived at a pivotal moment in the company’s history, and helped shape the way that Google’s products clearly value design today. We speak about how she helped scale design at Google, shaped the design philosophy that carries into today, and now, as design partner at Khosla Ventures, helps startups build their own teams and processes to create the best design experiences.

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Donna Lichaw

Donna Lichaw is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and author of the bestselling books, The User’s Journey and much-awaited follow-up, The Leader’s Journey.

We chat with Donna about why leadership often gets conflated with management, how to find your own narrative, and why your product isn’t the hero. 

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Episodes

Video AMAs

Articles

In 2023 we started two new series for Design Better, on design history and the creative process. In this post, we’ve put together the design history episodes so that you can find them easily and share with other folks who want to learn more about some of the foundational movements and figures in the history of design (we’ll continue to add to this list as new episodes air).

LLisa Demetrios, granddaughter of Ray and Charles Eames

Mid century modern design aesthetics are enduring and as relevant today as ever. Perhaps no designers influenced those philosophies more than Charles and Ray Eames whose body of work transcends media and is still being produced today.

It’s hard not to think of the Eames’ as monolithic design heroes, but today we’re taking a different look at them as human beings. We’re talking with Llisa Demetrios, Chief Curator of the Eames Institute and the granddaughter of Charles and Ray.

In this interview, we get to know some of the personal stories behind the legendary designers, from how they met, to Llisa’s experience having two of the most creative grandparents a child could wish for.

Listen to the episode with LLisa

Paula Scher on design, persuasion and embracing mistakes

Paula Scher’s work and kinetic typography sits in the canon of graphic design history. Described as the “master conjurer of the instantly familiar,” Scher straddles the line between pop culture and fine art in her work.

She’s been a partner at Pentagram since 1991 where she has led the redesign of numerous major brands including Citi and Tiffany & Co.

One other fun story from the show…we learn the real backstory behind the Citibank logo that Paula created, and the story isn’t the same one you’ll find if you Google it.

Listen to the episode with Paula

Barry Katz on the history and philosophy of design in Silicon Valley and beyond

We bet you don’t know where the term “interaction design” comes from, but Barry Katz does. Katz’s book, Make It New, captures the lost history of digital design that should be required reading for all in the software design industry.

In our conversation with Barry we learned when exactly design became an essential part of technology businesses, and the origin story behind some of the challenges designers commonly have with engineering teams. This is an eye opening episode.

Listen to the episode with Barry

Paola Antonelli on how design shapes culture

The Museum of Modern Art brings to mind images of Van Gough’s Starry Night, Salvador Dali’s Persistence of Memory, and Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans. But thanks to Paola Antonelli, senior curator in the Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA exhibitions also encompass the role design has played in shaping culture and the human experience. 

We talk with Paola about how we can look at digital design through a historic lens, some of the most important design movements in the past 100 years, and how the creative process has evolved through these different movements.

We also talk about the history of the “@” symbol, why craftsmanship is necessary to experimentation, and some of the current challenges in design education.

Listen to the episode with Paola

Jonathan Hoefler on type history, philosophy, and entrepreneurship

Chances are you have a few fonts on your computer designed by Jonathan Hoefler. Since 1991, Apple has included Hoefler Text on every Mac. Ideal Sans, Knockout, Archer, Verlag, and Sentinel—are a few more of Hoefler’s well known typefaces —each is steeped in history and timelessly beautiful. It’s no wonder that Jonathan was featured in the Netflix series Abstract, which explores design and creativity, as he is truly a typography legend.

We talk with Jonathan about his typographic influences, his philosophical views on the value of presentation and why he views entrepreneurship as an invitation, and some of the themes in his work like “Unfinished Business” and “Conservation and Preservation.”

Listen to the episode with Jonathan

Many of our guests have written books that take you deeper into topics like design, creative collaboration, becoming a manager, and more. We’ve put together a reading list below with links to their books. If you’d like to support the show, buy a book using the link, and we’ll get a small affiliate fee.

Emotion by Design by Greg Hoffman

There is probably no better training ground than Nike to learn about creativity as a team sport, and Greg Hoffman, former Chief Marketing Officer of Nike, shares this lesson—along with many other valuable insights—in his new book, Emotion by Design.

Listen to the episode with Greg

From the publisher:

In EMOTION BY DESIGN, Hoffman shares lessons and stories on the power of creativity drawn from almost three decades of experience within Nike. A celebration of ingenuity and a call-to-arms for brand-builders to rediscover the human element in forming consumer bonds, EMOTION BY DESIGN is an insider’s guide to unlocking inspiration within a brand and building stronger emotional connections with consumers, using Hoffman’s three favorite guiding principles:

• Creativity is a Team Sport

• Dare to be Remembered

• Leave a Legacy, Not Just a Memory 

The Smallest Lights in the Universe by Sara Seager

Professor Sara Seager is an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at MIT, and to discover exoplanets, she relies not only on her own brilliance—she’s the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, otherwise known as the “Genius Grant”—but also on some pretty extreme collaboration across different disciplines.

Listen to the episode with Sara

From the Publisher:

Sara Seager has always been in love with the stars: so many lights in the sky, so much possibility. Now a pioneering planetary scientist, she searches for exoplanets—especially that distant, elusive world that sustains life. But with the unexpected death of Seager’s husband, the purpose of her own life becomes hard for her to see. Suddenly, at forty, she is a widow and the single mother of two young boys. For the first time, she feels alone in the universe.

Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky

What if you could set aside a distraction-free space to accomplish one meaningful thing in your life each day? How might that change your relationships, hobbies, work, or mental wellbeing?

In a special episode of Design Better, we talk to Jake Knapp, co-author of the New York Times bestseller Sprint, about his new book, Make Time. The book advocates for forgetting about being productive and focusing instead on being purposeful by using design sprints thinking to define a “highlight” for each day.

Listen to the episode with Jake

From the publisher:

Make Time isn't about productivity, or checking off more to-dos. Nor does it propose unrealistic solutions like throwing out your smartphone or swearing off social media. Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction.

A must-read for anyone who has ever thought, If only there were more hours in the day..., Make Time will help you stop passively reacting to the demands of the modern world and start intentionally making time for the things that matter.

Creative Confidence by David Kelley and Tom Kelley

David Kelley doesn’t like to claim to have come up with the term design thinking, even though most people would say he did. But regardless of who coined it, as founder of IDEO and the Stanford d.school he has been one of the most influential proponents of design thinking, and human-centered design in general.

Listen to the episode with David

From the publisher:

Too often, companies and individuals assume that creativity and innovation are the domain of the "creative types."  But two of the leading experts in innovation, design, and creativity on the planet show us that each and every  one of us is creative.  In an incredibly entertaining and inspiring narrative that draws on countless stories from their work at IDEO, the Stanford d.school, and with many of the world's top companies, David and Tom Kelley identify the principles and strategies that will allow us to tap into our creative potential in our work lives, and in our personal lives, and allow us to innovate in terms of how we approach and solve problems.  It is a book that will help each of us be more productive and successful in our lives and in our careers.

The Making of a Manager by Julie Zhuo

In our interview with her, Julie Zhuo said “Management is a job. It’s a role. It’s like being a teacher, or a police officer, or a heart surgeon. There are various responsibilities that come with that role. It can be given to you, and it can be taken away, whereas leadership is a quality that you have to earn.”

Listen to the episode with Julie

From the publisher:

The Making of a Manager is a modern field guide packed with everyday examples and transformative insights, including:

• How to tell a great manager from an average manager (illustrations included)

• When you should look past an awkward interview and hire someone anyway

• How to build trust with your reports through not being a boss

• Where to look when you lose faith and lack the answers

Whether you're new to the job, a veteran leader, or looking to be promoted, this is the handbook you need to be the kind of manager you wish you had.

Reimagining Design by Kevin Bethune

Not many people can say they’ve gone from being a nuclear engineer to helping design Air Jordans at Nike. But that’s part of Kevin Bethune’s story, and today we chat with him about his journey from engineering to design.

Kevin also published a best-selling book last year called Reimagining Design: Unlocking Strategic Innovation. We talk about what he hoped to learn from writing the book, and discuss a critique of design thinking, the role of rigor in creativity, and the rewards and challenges of working with multidisciplinary teams.

Listen to the episode with Kevin

From the publisher:

Design offers so much more than an aesthetically pleasing logo or banner, a beautification add-on after the heavy lifting. In Reimagining Design, Kevin Bethune shows how design provides a unique angle on problem-solving—how it can be leveraged strategically to cultivate innovation and anchor multidisciplinary teamwork. As he does so, he describes his journey as a Black professional through corporate America, revealing the power of transformative design, multidisciplinary leaps, and diversity. Bethune, who began as an engineer at Westinghouse, moved on to Nike (where he designed Air Jordans), and now works as a sought-after consultant on design and innovation, shows how design can transform both individual lives and organizations.

To Sell is Human by Dan Pink

Dan Pink is the bestselling author of books like To Sell is Human, When, Drive, and A Whole New Mind, and we sat down with him to discuss how we’re all tasked with selling something in our day-to-day roles, and why collaboration is the key to being persuasive.

We also chat with Dan about creating meaningful connections in a Zoom-dominated workplace, and giving teams a sense of purpose given all that is going on in the world today. Dan also dives into the reasons that design literacy is critical for all business leaders who want to remain relevant.

Listen to the interview with Dan

From the publisher:

To Sell Is Human offers a fresh look at the art and science of selling. As he did in Drive and A Whole New Mind, Daniel H. Pink draws on a rich trove of social science for his counterintuitive insights. He reveals the new ABCs of moving others (it's no longer "Always Be Closing"), explains why extraverts don't make the best salespeople, and shows how giving people an "off-ramp" for their actions can matter more than actually changing their minds.

Along the way, Pink describes the six successors to the elevator pitch, the three rules for understanding another's perspective, the five frames that can make your message clearer and more persuasive, and much more. The result is a perceptive and practical book--one that will change how you see the world and transform what you do at work, at school, and at home.