Design Foundations
New to Design Better? Start here.
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.”
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
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.
Listen on your favorite podcast player