Introducing Design Better's Experts in Residence Program
We’re teaming up with brilliant design and tech pros to expand the Design Better experience.
There are so many topics we want to explore on Design Better, because growing in your career and becoming a better designer takes more than just surface-level knowledge—it requires depth across a range of subjects. To help expand and enrich the Design Better learning experience, we’re introducing something new: the Experts in Residence (EiR) program.
Much like how venture firms bring in seasoned pros to guide entrepreneurs, we’re teaming up with some of the most talented people in design and tech to share their expertise with you.
What to expect
Each month, our Experts in Residence will share exclusive content through:
In-depth articles in The Brief newsletter
Short-form interviews exploring their specialized expertise
AMAs where you can ask our experts questions directly
Workshops and learning opportunities for individuals and organizations
It all kicks off Wednesday, April 9 with our first article from behavioral scientist, Kristen Berman.
Meet Our Inaugural Experts in Residence
Kristen Berman: Behavioral Science and Product Design
Kristen Berman is a pioneer in applying behavioral science to product design. As co-founder of Irrational Labs with Dan Ariely, she helps companies create products that align with how people actually behave, rather than how they should theoretically act.Irrational Labs partners with industry leaders including LinkedIn, Airbnb, Meta, and PayPal to drive meaningful behavior change across the customer journey.
Before founding Irrational Labs, Kristen helped found the behavioral economics group at Google, collaborating with over 25 teams to implement innovative behavioral interventions. She also co-founded and ran Common Cents, Duke University's financial decision-making lab.
Through her Substack publication Product Teardowns, Kristen deconstructs popular products to reveal the psychological principles that make them effective.
Her insights have been featured in prominent publications including Stanford Innovation Review, TechCrunch, and Scientific American.
Learn more about Kristen in her recent interview on Design Better, and she’ll be the first of our EiRs to be featured in The Brief, coming out April 9th.
Brad Frost: Design Systems and Front-End Development
Brad Frost is a renowned design system consultant, front-end developer, and author based in Pittsburgh, PA. His methodology for creating and maintaining effective design systems, detailed in his book Atomic Design, has transformed how teams approach digital product design.
Brad helps organizations establish collaborative workflows and build better software together. Beyond his consulting work, he's created numerous tools that have become staples in the web design community, including Pattern Lab, Styleguides.io, and This Is Responsive.
As co-host of the Style Guides Podcast, Brad continues to share practical knowledge and insights that help teams create cohesive, scalable design systems.
Brad was on Design Better this week, and is launching a course on design tokens.
Ryan Rumsey: Design Leadership and Business Thinking
Ryan Rumsey is a former design executive turned entrepreneur, coach, and author. As CEO of Second Wave Dive and founder of CDO School, his groundbreaking training programs have helped thousands of designers grow their impact beyond design.
A highly sought out strategist, he’s partnered with leaders at companies like Google, Zillow, LinkedIn, and ANZ to accelerate design’s influence at scale.
Before venturing out on his own, Ryan spent 20+ years making his way from designer to executive at companies like Apple, Electronic Arts, and USAA.
His book Business Thinking for Designers has become essential reading for designers looking to increase their organizational impact. Through his popular newsletter Second Wave Dive, he continues to share novel and pragmatic ways that designers can shape the future of business, and reimagine their careers.