Laura Summers and Milly Schmidt have been active contributors in the Australian tech scene for a while now. Both have strong backgrounds in design, development, user experience, copy writing and product management. They’ve also mentored dozens of young women and have both spoke at numerous events. In this two part episode we have a wide ranging discussion including, defining your skillset and handling imposter syndrome, how to navigate interviews, diversity at all levels, handling toxic cultures and how to build positive ones, salaries and more. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

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The Laura & Milly Interview - Part 2

The Laura & Milly Interview - Part 1

In the second of a two part episode we take a look at culture and diversity and learn how successful companies are thinking about this and what we can try in our own companies. We speak with Farai Madzima, A UX Lead from Shopify, Remya Ramesh, Senior Design Manager at REA Group, and Atlassian’s Global Head of Diversity and Belonging, Aubrey Blanche. We learn that both of these important topics are much more nuanced than you might think. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Culture & Diversity - Part 2

In the first of a two part episode we take a look at culture and diversity and explore what they are and how they can be viewed differently. We speak with Farai Madzima, A UX Lead from Shopify, and Atlassian’s Global Head of Diversity and Belonging, Aubrey Blanche. We learn that both of these important topics are much more nuanced than you might think. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Culture & Diversity - Part 1

Carmel was sure she was going to be fired. It was clear to her that she was out of her depth & only a matter of time until someone found out. She should just quit... That's what she though, but not what she did. Carmel changed her thinking & put herself on the path to helping hundreds of other suffering from self doubt. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

So you're not good enough. Now what?

How do you lead if you've never been well lead? We speak to design leaders at some of the world's most interesting companies to learn how they think about leadership, and what their major challenges were and continue to be. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Design Leadership: Easier said than done...

When tragedy strikes & everything you've worked for is taken away from you, how do you respond? In this episode we hear the story of how someone took a devastating event & turned it into a company which changes the lives of thousands. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Designing Experiences that Matter (S2, Ep6)

Motivated by the preventable death of a young girl, a group of students set out to design a better solution to anaphylactic allergies and in the process create an award winning idea. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Saving Our Children (S2, Ep5)

In this episode we learn about a revolutionary dance program which has been liberating Parkinson's sufferers from their symptoms through movement and music.  Where does UX come into this? Well, they received a grant from Google to create an augmented reality application to bring their dance classes out of the studio and into the world of their students. How does you design an AR product which needs to cater for the many and varying symptoms which impose upon a person with Parkinson's Disease? We find out. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

The UX of Parkinson's Disease (S2, Ep4)

This is the first episode in a mini series which revolves around the UX Awards, the premier independent awards, which this year will be held in Palo Alto, California on November 8 and 9. To learn more about the awards, as well as how to enter, go to uxawards.org. In this first episode we speak to the awards founder, Beverly May. We learn why they were created, and how this year the awards are focusing on the future of UX. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

What is good UX?

In 2016 a design partner from Google Ventures (GV), Jake Knapp, released a book called Sprint. The book introduced the idea of Design Sprints, a concept that had existed within Google for several years and was a mainstay in the toolset employed by GV with their portfolio of companies. The beauty of Jake’s book is that it is very specific, there is even a 15-page checklist for when you are running your own Design Sprints. This however did not stop a swathe of folks from appropriating the name, but not the core ideas. What this in turn meant is that acts were being committed under the name of Design Sprint but were not even remotely close to what Jake describes in Sprint. In this episode we dive into what Design Sprints really are, address their detractors and we visit the enterprise giant, Aus Post, where they ran 4 sprints in 5 weeks.  Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Sprinting From Google (S2, Ep3)

Imagine for a moment that we are back in the early 2000’s – 2005 to be specific. You are in San Francisco & own fledgling design agency. You saw first hand the highs achieved by those at the crest of the dotcom bubble & what happened to them once it burst. The design agency you started only a few years early has begun to attract some amazing clients. Celebrities, technology companies like Google & industry giants like NASA. So, what would you say if a new, unproven start-up came to you & offered equity in return for designing their brand & logo? This is the question posed to the Cuban Council when Mark Zuckerberg & Sean Parker met with them in 2005. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Behind Facebook's Logo (S2, Ep2)

In recent years Atlassian has grown from 4 designers to over 120. In this period they've undergone rapid change & widespread scaling challenges. In this episode we go inside their design, growth & UX teams to learn their tips & secrets for continuing to perform at an elite level in order to deliver a world class product. Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Designing for Scale (S2, Ep1)

Loop11’s co-founder Shefik Bey speaks with Elizabeth Churchill, a Head of UX at Google. Elizabeth has also been the Director of Human Computer Interaction at the eBay Research Lab, as well as having held senior research positions at Yahoo and Parc and she is currently a distinguished visiting scholar at Stanford university. They discuss Elizabeth’s background in psychology and path into UX via AI (1:33) then how she moved into he roles at eBay and Google (2:40). Shifting between enterprise and consumer research (5:25) and dealing with data at scale (7:55). Elizabeth explains what she does in her role of Head of UX at Google (8:53). The importance of recruiting passionate, interdisciplinary people to your team (11:55), then exploring the relationship between curiosity and passion (14:45). They then look into what is the appropriate balance between moving quickly, failing fast and ensuring you are moving in the correct direction (19:00) and how it relates to the experience level of the team. Defining the different types of research and how it should be defined (26:15). What designing for emotion means to her (39:00). The recent designing for machine learning systems symposium that she ran and what she found most interesting (47:44). Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Master Series - Elizabeth Churchill

Loop11’s co-founder Shefik Bey speaks with Janaki Kumar, the VP Head of Design and Co-Innovation Center at SAP and the author of ‘Gamification At Work: Designing Engaging Business Software”. They also discuss her Woman of Influence Award and what it meant (2:20), what she feels her strength and decision that led to her position in the industry (3:37) and how innovation lies at the seams of multiple disciplines (5:52) and how this aided her. Janaki’s key area of focus at SAP (8:40) and how she has ended up working in the enterprise (13:20) and why she loves the challenges it presents. The degree and rate of change within the enterprise as it relates to embracing design (16:41). How the creation process requires skillset and mindset and how a good understanding of design principles relate to this (18:21). The increasingly complex nature of the challenges that are being tackled by designers (19:38). The co-creation exercise Janaki ran with the Vilore warehouse staff emphasizing empathy and inclusion (21:06). How to tackle the problem of scaling empathy (27:10) and creating an empathy map to engage stakeholders (30:15). How are enterprise companies managing the balance between convergent and divergent thinking (33:27). Creating a culture of design led innovation and how organization should try to implement this (37:30). SAP’s framework for an innovation culture riding on the three pillars of people, process and place (43:50). Janaki’s history with the UX Awards as a board member, advisor and past winner (50:52) plus how she defines great UX and references the “Hero’s Journey”. Whether the design industry understands how to implement and leverage gamification (55:00) within product design. Areas of work processes which a primed for the inclusion of gamification elements (58:17). Follow True North on Twitter or subscribe to be notified of new episodes.

Master Series - Janaki Kumar

Every day people create and design. Problems are discovered and in turn solutions are found. Lives are intertwined and deeply impacted by these experiences. True North looks to uncover these stories and highlight the testing and research which drives the innovation.

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