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UX Cake

Building the layers you need to be more effective and happy in UX

UX Cake is helping you become more effective in your UX work and career. Join host Leigh Allen-Arredondo as she speaks with leaders in the field from around the globe, bringing you practical advice to get the best outcom
Latest EpisodeThursday, June 1, 2023

Shaping Design Careers, featuring Jason Mesut

Season 4, Ep. 66
Do you want your career to be sustainable and aligned with what truly matters to you? Designing a holistic career that embraces every part of who we are can be a complex and meaningful challenge. This week Leigh and guest Jason Mesut have a captivating discussion about the significance of aligning personal values with work and finding meaning in one's career. Jason is an experienced design strategist and leader, who conducts workshops on and has written extensively about shaping one’s future in design. Jason sheds light on the limitations of traditional career labels and role descriptions, advocating for a more holistic approach. He shares his own path of creating visual frameworks and facilitating workshops that empower individuals and teams to delve into their unique qualities, values, and skills.Join Leigh and Jason in this episode as they discuss the common challenges that people bring to coaching sessions, from navigating the job market to making critical decisions about leadership roles, reigniting passions, or even contemplating a career change. Tune in to discover practical tools and strategies that can propel you toward shaping a more aligned career.🎤About Our Guest:Jason Mesut helps people and organizations navigate their uncertain futures. He does this through executive coaching, community leadership, strategic consulting, futures design and shaping workshops. 📚Additional ResourcesJason’s DesignOps 2019 talk “Shaping Design, Designers and Teams”Jason’s Medium article series on Shaping Designers and Design Teams ---Connect with JasonWebsite | LinkedIn | Linktr.eeConnect with UX Cake!uxcake.co | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTubeConnect with LeighStrategic UX Leader Coaching and WorkshopsFollow on LinkedIn
Thursday, June 1, 2023

Shaping Design Careers, featuring Jason Mesut

Season 4, Ep. 66
Do you want your career to be sustainable and aligned with what truly matters to you? Designing a holistic career that embraces every part of who we are can be a complex and meaningful challenge. This week Leigh and guest Jason Mesut have a captivating discussion about the significance of aligning personal values with work and finding meaning in one's career. Jason is an experienced design strategist and leader, who conducts workshops on and has written extensively about shaping one’s future in design. Jason sheds light on the limitations of traditional career labels and role descriptions, advocating for a more holistic approach. He shares his own path of creating visual frameworks and facilitating workshops that empower individuals and teams to delve into their unique qualities, values, and skills.Join Leigh and Jason in this episode as they discuss the common challenges that people bring to coaching sessions, from navigating the job market to making critical decisions about leadership roles, reigniting passions, or even contemplating a career change. Tune in to discover practical tools and strategies that can propel you toward shaping a more aligned career.🎤About Our Guest:Jason Mesut helps people and organizations navigate their uncertain futures. He does this through executive coaching, community leadership, strategic consulting, futures design and shaping workshops. 📚Additional ResourcesJason’s DesignOps 2019 talk “Shaping Design, Designers and Teams”Jason’s Medium article series on Shaping Designers and Design Teams ---Connect with JasonWebsite | LinkedIn | Linktr.eeConnect with UX Cake!uxcake.co | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTubeConnect with LeighStrategic UX Leader Coaching and WorkshopsFollow on LinkedIn
Thursday, April 6, 2023

Adding Strategic Value to Tactical Work with Laura Barboza

Season 4, Ep. 62
Are you a UX practitioner who's frustrated with feeling like you lack agency in your work? Or maybe you're someone who wants to take their UX game to the next level by incorporating strategic outcomes into your tactical deliverables? You’re not alone! Listen (or watch) on…This week I’m joined by my long-time friend, colleague, and UX Strategy expert Laura Barboza for the beginning of our 4th season of UX Cake! Laura and I explore the differences between strategic and tactical work in UX research and design. We start by discussing why it's so important to incorporate strategic objectives into your tactical deliverables. After all, without a bigger picture in mind, your work may lack direction and purpose.We give you practical tips for adding strategic outcomes to your tactical UX deliverables in both research and design. We discuss the challenges that designers and researchers may face and possible pushback from stakeholders who are more focused on short-term goals, and how to speak to the value of your efforts and tie it back to user and business objectives. By being clear on these objectives from the start, you can ensure that everything ties back to the larger strategic goals.At the heart of this episode is the message that everyone, regardless of level, can and should think more strategically in their work. By understanding the bigger picture and incorporating strategic outcomes into your tactical deliverables, you can become a more effective UX practitioner and build products that truly meet the needs of your users.Connect with UX Cakeuxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTubeConnect with LeighStrategic UX Leader Coaching and WorkshopsFollow on LinkedIn
Wednesday, February 22, 2023

(Best of) On Recovering and Reinvention: Navigating Career Changes with John Maeda

Season 3, Ep. 61
With so many people facing changes in their work and careers right now, navigating the complex and turbulent waters of layoffs, org changes, and economic adjustments can be incredibly challenging.My guest today is renowned design leader and author John Maeda - who is no stranger to career shifts and changes. In this inspiring episode, John shares his message of focusing on recovery instead of failure, the importance of intentional reinvention, and the benefits of renewal and rebuilding.This episode is a replay from 2019, and it's just as relevant today as it was then. Since our conversation in 2019, John has gone on to take on different roles and is now the VP of Design and Artificial Intelligence at Microsoft. We mentioned his keynote at Interaction 19, which has since been recorded and is available online - we've included the link to that and other inspiring references we mention in the show description and on our website at uxcake.co.This episode covers a lot of ground - John talked about why we should focus on recover fast vs. fail fast, why inclusive design is so important, and why we should be using Anpanman to train our AI platforms. Links from this episodeJohn’s Keynote on Recovering & Reinvention at Interaction19John Gardner’s Essay “Self Renewal” Get the Collected Works of classic poet Kahlil GibranJoy and Sorrow - poem excerpt from “The Prophet” by Kahlil GibranBooks by John MaedaThe Laws of SimplicityHow to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of UsRedesigning LeadershipLinks for John MaedaYouTube LinkedIn TwitterMore resources from John available on his site https://maedastudio.comConnect with UX Cakeuxcake.co | Twitter | Instagram | Linked In | YouTube