Design Better

Federico Casalegno: Samsung EVP and MIT Design Lab founder on what 20,000 years of human creativity means for design today

When Samsung’s CEO asked Federico Casalegno to redesign the cameras on the company’s phones, Federico told him he was the wrong person for the job. He wasn’t an optical e

Jonathan Adler returns: The minimalist inside the maximalist

Jonathan Adler was one of our favorite guests, so we’ve been angling to get him back ever since. He started as a potter and now designs furnishings and interiors that are

Clay Parker Jones: author of "Hidden Patterns" on why your team isn't really a team

We all know that there is something fractured about the workplace, that makes it inefficient, and at times inhumane. If only someone was thinking deeply about those probl

Angel Steger: Wealthfront's VP of Design on what architecture teaches you about software

A few years ago, Dropbox redesigned its website and revenue dropped by thirty percent. It was an all-hands-on-deck moment: people working weekends, everyone hunting for a

Ben Drury: Yoto co-founder on audio, imagination, and screen-free design

Like a lot of parents, Eli struggled over the years to get his kids more into reading and away from screens. He wasn’t necessarily on the search for a technological solut

Jeff Hammoud: Chief Design Officer of Rivian on constraints, color, and what separates designers from stylists

This is a special bonus episode, an interview with Rivian’s Chief Design Officer, Jeff Hammoud. We’ve got all the audio here, but it’s worth heading over to our Youtube c

Eric Ries: Lean Startup author on why good companies go bad, and why good design is critical to success

Fifteen years ago, Eric Ries handed a generation of founders a playbook. When Eli was in a Palo Alto-based startup accelerator in 2011, The Lean Startup felt like the onl

Ian Bogost: Game designer, Atlantic writer, and philosopher of the ordinary, on the small stuff that makes life delightful

A few years ago, Ian Bogost wrote what he thought was a throwaway Atlantic piece about how electric vehicles would finally kill the manual transmission. It went off like

Chris Entwisle and Mark Havens: authors of WAIL on the constraints that led to timeless designs for Prestige Records

Years ago, two friends in Philadelphia — both designers, both obsessed with jazz — kept noticing the same notation on the back of their favorite records: “recorded by Van

Niyati Gupta: Netflix Product Design Lead on what happens when a designer becomes a product manager, and why your influence might not be in your title

Niyati Gupta describes her career as one long experiment — deliberately putting herself in uncomfortable, ambiguous situations and treating every move as a personal learn

Mike Schnaidt: Fast Company Creative Director on typography, creative endurance, and designing for the long haul

Typography is often treated as a detail — the thing you finalize after the real design decisions are made. But for our next guest, it’s closer to the foundation everythin

Bonus Episode: Dorrian Porter returns with the Vestaboard Note

There’s something magical about the Vestaboard: it’s a physical, split-flap display connected to the internet that displays missives and useful information with a charm t

Tina Roth Eisenberg: Creative Mornings founder on building communities that run on trust

When Tina Roth Eisenberg moved to New York in 1999 as a new designer, she kept asking herself the same question: where are my people? Eighteen years ago, she answered it

Paul Ford: Writer, developer & "fun Cassandra" on why everything is changing (but not how you think)

Paul Ford likes to call himself a “fun Cassandra” — someone who, like the priestess in Greek mythology, sees trouble coming, but unlike her tries to make the warning as e

Jessie McGuire: National Design Award-winning studio leader on design as a civic tool

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, the Constitution remains the most consequential document in American life — and more people are reading it than eve

Colin Fisher: The lone genius is a myth

This is a preview of a premium episode. To listen to the full thing, visit our Susbtack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/colin-fisher In jazz, there’s a concept called

Nir Eyal: Beyond Belief and how to change your mind to change your life

Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/nir-eyal-returns If you want to understand how much your beliefs shape your reality, try

Mason Currey: Mason Currey: Author of Daily Rituals on Making Art and Making a Living

This is a preview of a premium episode. To the listen to the full thing, head over to our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/mason-currey At several points in h

Etinosa Agbonlahor: Behavioral economist on why pricing belongs in the design process

Find the full episode and bonus content on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/etinosa-agbonlahor For product teams at startups and established tech giants a

Paul Dichter: Stranger Things writer on why the writers’ room isn’t so different from the design studio

Both Aarron and I are official Stranger Things nerds. We watched the show ourselves when they came out, and again when our kids were old enough. As children of the 80s, t