Design Thinking 101

Lisa Elzey Mercer is a designer, educator, and researcher. Her interests are in developing and executing design interventions focused on the topics of human trafficking, incarceration, race, and racism. She's an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design and Design for Responsible Innovation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We talk about learning to see, and responding to, racialized design.  Listen to learn about: Ethics in design Impact over intent Racism Untaught The elements of racism Racialized design Our Guest Lisa Elzey Mercer (she/her/hers) is a designer, educator, and researcher. Her interests are in developing and executing design interventions that fuel and sustain responsible design for social impact. The developed frameworks and tools are intended to create a space for conversation and knowledge exchange where participants can collaborate in creating new ideas and solutions. This type of methodology is evidenced in her current projects focused on the topics of human trafficking, incar

Rich Wiener is an educator and consultant who works to engage K-12 learners at a high level, and has zeroed in on design thinking as a key component. Rich's career has included being a school principal, Director of Curriculum for Ramsey Public School District in New Jersey, and an adjunct professor of education at Columbia University. We talk about the impact of design thinking in K-12 education. Listen to learn about: The design thinking classroom program in the Ramsey public school district How design thinking impacts Ramsey’s high school students and teachers Advice to school districts wanting to start their own design thinking program Some of the partner projects students worked on during the program Our Guest Rich Wiener has served the educational community as a teacher, principal, curriculum director, and adjunct professor of education. He received his Masters Degree from the University of Oregon and his Doctoral Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University. He taught the supervision course in th

Kara DeFrias is the current Chief of Staff for the Intuit QuickBooks Platform, with a background rich in both private and public sector experience. Previous work includes serving as senior advisor to the leadership team of the technology and design consultancy 18F in the Obama Administration, founding TEDxIntuit, and being part of the Emmy Award-winning production staff on the Oscars. A do-gooder at heart, Kara has done pro bono digital strategy. Today on the show we talk about UX and moving into, through, and almost out of design.  Listen to learn about: Advice for newcomers wanting to get into design Seeing the world through design The importance of choosing work that aligns with your values The need for new voices in the design industry Designing in-person UX Our Guest Kara DeFrias' passion for designing engaging experiences has brought her to many exciting places, including the Super Bowl, the Oscars, and two White Houses. Kara's background is a unique mix of private and public sector experience, includ

This episode of the Design Thinking 101 podcast is 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: the Opioid Overdose Epidemic. Our guest today is Stacy Stanford, the Senior Director of Overdose Injury and Violence Prevention at the National Association of County and City Health Officials in Washington DC (NACCHO). At NACCHO, she leads the overdose injury and violence prevention team to deliver funding and technical assistance to more than 60 communities across the United States.   Listen to learn about: The current state of the U.S. opioid overdose epidemic The ways COVID-19 has affected the healthcare system’s ability to work with and treat those who use drugs The core principles of harm reduction The role misperceptions and stigma about drug use play in making it difficult for those who use drugs to get treatment Our Guest Stacy Stanford joined NACCHO in 2012 and is currently serving as a Senior Director of Overdose, Injury and Violence Prevention. She provides leadership, planning and guidance to the team

Diana Sonis is a passionate believer in holistic 360 strategy and design, with extensive expertise in UX and CX design, service design, and design thinking. Lis Hubert is an acclaimed design and strategy thought leader, writer, and speaker with extensive experience in digital strategy, customer experience, information architecture, and design. Together, they founded CX by Design, a human-centered design company that helps businesses design people-centric products, services, and organizational systems in order to create exceptional customer experiences.  Listen to learn about: Customer experience design Near- versus long-term strategy Helping organizations make design thinking part of their internal processes What exactly is innovation? Systemic innovation Designing for customer intent  Our Guests: Diana Sonis Diana is a passionate believer in holistic, 360 strategy and design, with extensive expertise in UX Design, CX Design, Service Design, and the Design Thinking methodology.  As founding partner of CX by

Sarah Cantor is a co-founder and the executive director of Greater Good Studio, where she and her team think of themselves as pissed-off optimists. We talk about design for good, ethics in design practice, and creating social impact. Listen to learn about:  Human-centered design Greater Good Studio’s project “gut check” The power designers wield Better ways of co-designing with clients Community-based design work Our Guest Sara Cantor is a creative leader and human-centered designer focused on equity, inclusion and social innovation. After seven years using human-centered design to create new markets for corporate clients, she co-founded Greater Good Studio in 2011 to apply the process and principles of design to the more pressing challenges of the social sector. Her team of “pissed-off optimists" has helped nonprofits, foundations, and government agencies to build internal capacity for social innovation, create and prototype new programs and services, and sustain and scale their impact. Show Highlights [01

This is a Design Thinking 101 episode in the Ask Like a Designer series. Ask Like a Designer helps people explore thinking and solving like a designer. You’ll learn about design thinking, service design, learning design, leading and building high-performing teams, and ways to achieve better outcomes. This episode is based on this article: ALD012 // Want Better Outcomes? Find Better Problems. Read the article and others like it on Fluid Hive’s Ask Like a Designer. What did you think of this episode? Please send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Design Thinking 101 Podcast Host President, Fluid Hive Show Highlights [00:53] The human desire to create. [01:15] Rushing solutions leads to poor outcomes. [01:37] Problem spaces and finding the right question to answer. [02:15] The people inside the problem space. [02:38] The context in which the people experience the problem. [03:02] The history of the people and the context reveal changes over time. [03:15]

Chelsea Mauldin is the Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab and an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.  Listen to learn about: The work of the Public Policy Lab How design and design thinking can help governments make better public policy Human-centered design in public policy The preparatory work that often goes underrecognized in the design cycle  Our Guest Chelsea Mauldin is a social scientist and designer with a focus on government innovation. She directs the Public Policy Lab, a nonprofit organization that designs better public policy with low-income and marginalized Americans.  The Public Policy Lab partners with government agencies and NGOs to develop more satisfying and effective policies and service delivery through ethnographic research, human-centered design, rapid prototyping, and formative evaluation. Find out more on PPL's website, or on Twitter. Chelsea is a frequent keynote speaker and panelist at global conferences, and she serves as

This episode of the Design Thinking 101 podcast is 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: the Future of Higher Education. Our guest today is Bryan Alexander. Bryan is a senior scholar at Georgetown University and runs a consultancy focused on the future of higher education.  Listen to learn about: The current state of higher education Student loan debt and the financial structure of universities and colleges The role of tech and digital platforms in higher ed The effects of the lack of population growth and increased longevity on higher education and society The connection between higher education and the climate crisis How science fiction can help us think about the future Our Guest Bryan Alexander is an award–winning, internationally known futurist, researcher, writer, speaker, consultant, and teacher, working in the field of higher education’s future. He completed his English language and literature PhD at the University of Michigan in 1997, with a dissertation on doppelgangers in Romantic-era fict

Dr. Abby Bajuniemi holds a PhD in applied linguistics from the University of Minnesota and is currently a user researcher in industry. We talk about language, design research and researcher self-care. Listen to learn about: How language and linguistics affect design The interaction of society and language Trauma-informed user research Researcher self-care The importance of asking for help Language and technology Being mindful about the language used in design Our Guest  Abby is the manager of UX Research and Content at Calendly. She holds a PhD in Hispanic and Lusophone Literatures, Cultures, and Linguistics with specialization in Second Language Acquisition and Sociolinguistics. She loves to nerd out with people about language and research methods, either together or separately. She loves the Oxford comma, but will never correct your grammar Show Highlights [00:57] How and why Abby moved from linguistics to user research. [02:06] The importance of taking the time to think about language as a designer. [03:

This episode of the Design Thinking 101 podcast is 5.5 Things Every Designer Should Know About: Strategic Foresight. Our guest today is Bart Édes. Bart is a professor at McGill University in International Development. Listen to learn about: Future thinking and strategic foresight The benefits of using of foresight  How to start using foresight in your organization Teaming up with a futurist Three skills decision makers need to prepare for the future The Futures Wheel  Our Guest Bart Édes is a policy analyst, commentator, and author of Learning From Tomorrow: Using Strategic Foresight to Prepare for the Next Big Disruption. He focuses on Asian economic cooperation and integration, sustainable development, international trade, trends reshaping the world, and futures thinking. Édes contributes to the work of the OECD Development Assistance Committee's Friends of Foresight Community and Task Force on Foresight for Sustainable Development Finance. Based in Montréal, Édes is a Professor of Practice at McGill Univ

Jos Harrison is the global head of brand experience and design at Reckitt. We talk about brand experience design and commercial design for good. Listen to learn about: Brand building Finding ways for companies to do good in a way that builds brand  Learning design Omnichannel communication and its effect on brand building Design’s role in creating a better future  Our Guest Jos is obsessed with bringing brands closer to people — in all the ways (big and small) that improve lives, making people happier and healthier. Jos designs experiences for people, communities and societies — never for 'consumers' — and in doing so, he tries to fulfill my responsibility to our planet: protecting and nurturing it in any way I can.  Show Highlights [01:04] Jos talks about Reckitt, building toolkits and frameworks, and the clients they work with. [03:01] Jos’ early background as an industrial and product designer. [03:21] A stint in marketing and commercial interior design. [03:50] Moving into branding, working at Cadbury S

Marc Bolick is the managing partner of the DesignThinkers Group. We're talking about innovation and culture, the future of work and designing value. Listen to learn about: DesignThinkers Group Using design thinking in innovation strategy and projects The future of work Innovative leadership International Development Change management and “corporate antibodies” Our Guest Marc leads DesignThinkers Group, an innovation support firm with consultants across North America and associates in 20 countries. He uses his technical, business and design skills to help organizations ask the right questions and find innovative solutions through human-centered problem solving methodologies. Marc has led projects for a range of multinational brands, non-profits, foundations, NGOs and public sector agencies both in the USA and abroad. He holds an MBA and Master of Business Informatics from Rotterdam School of Management and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Clemson University. Marc is an inspiring speaker, a probing strateg

Thank you for listening to this Ask Like a Designer episode of the Design Thinking 101 Podcast.  This episode continues where episode 89 on crafting transformation stories left off, and focuses on telling your solution’s transformation story.  This episode is based on this article: ALD011 // Protect Your Solutions with Transformation Stories: Part 2 — Telling Well. Read the article and others like it on Fluid Hive’s Ask Like a Designer. In these short Ask Like a Designer episodes on the Design Thinking 101 podcast, you’ll find new ways to explore the show’s stories and ideas about design-driven innovation. I’ll share methods, templates, and ideas that have worked in my practice in teaching. What did you think of this episode? Please send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Design Thinking 101 Podcast Host President, Fluid Hive Show Highlights [00:54] What is a transformation story? [01:15] The magic bridge. [01:44] Defining a good transformation story.

Raja Schaar is an industrial designer, afrofuturist and doomsday optimist. She is the Director at Drexel University's product design program and co-chair of the Industrial Designers Society of America, Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council. Listen to learn about: Raja’s career in design Climate change and design How Raja uses science fiction and futurism in her teaching and work Black Girls STEAMing Through Dance Social Impact Design The power of design Media resources for designers wanting to explore future-thinking   Our Guest Raja Schaar, IDSA (she/her) is Director and Associate Professor of the Product Design Program at Drexel University’s Westphal Collage of Media Arts and Design. She co-chairs IDSA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council is the past Education Director for the organization. Raja studies the ethical implications of design and technology through the lenses of speculative design and climate change. Her current projects address biases maternal health through wearable technology and par

Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy are the founders of How Might We, a service design studio in Ireland. We talk about Lego Serious Play, creating together, and designing for being.   Listen to learn about: The importance of giving adults permission to be playful The LEGO Serious Play method  How LEGO Serious Play can unlock creativity and innovation The changing view of the workplace and how teams work post-COVID-19 Design for Being philosophy   Our Guests Dr. Jane Hession and Ronan Healy are co-founders of How Might We, an Irish Service Design studio that facilitates meaningful conversations to improve employee and customer experiences. At the very core of their studio’s capability is the LEGO SERIOUS PLAY method. They LEGO Serious Play to make service design and systems thinking more accessible to organisations. Ronan and Jane believe the LEGO Serious Play method has untapped potential in the corporate world and they see great potential for its usage.   Show Highlights [01:24] Ronan and Jane talk about the

Thank you for listening to this Ask Like a Designer episode of the Design Thinking 101 Podcast. This episode shows you everything you need to create your solution’s transformation story (and why it’s so important to do so). This episode is based on this article: ALD010 // Protect Your Solutions with Transformation Stories: Part 1 — Crafting Well. Read the article and others like it on Fluid Hive’s Ask Like a Designer. In these short Ask Like a Designer episodes on the Design Thinking 101 podcast, you’ll find new ways to explore the show’s stories and ideas about design-driven innovation. I’ll share methods, templates, and ideas that have worked in my practice in teaching. What did you think of this episode? Please send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Design Thinking 101 Podcast Host President, Fluid Hive    Show Highlights [00:56] Why we need stories. [01:27] What is a transformation story? [01:33] The magic bridge. [02:14] Storytelling neglect. [0

Michele Ronsen is the founder of Curiosity Tank, a leading user research consultancy and educational institution, helping individuals and organizations learn how to ask better questions, conduct research, and make better decisions around the world.   Listen to learn about: The benefits of user research to designers User research skills Quantitative vs qualitative research Curiosity Tank’s six-workshop series, Ask Like a Pro Where user research is headed   Our Guest Michele Ronsen is an executive with 20 years of experience in Fortune 500s, academia, and start-ups. A professionally trained graphic designer, Michele worked at top design firms before moving to Nordstrom where she built two creative teams from the ground up. From there, she built a career helping numerous entities strategically design and grow their businesses. In 2010, Michele founded Ronsen Consulting, a design and strategy firm specialized in human-centered research and development. In 2020, she founded Curiosity Tank to further expand the t

Thank you for listening to this Ask Like a Designer episode of the Design Thinking 101 Podcast. This episode is about what to do when you need to solve like a designer FAST. This episode is based on this article: ALD009 // The 30-Minute Solution Matrix: How to Think and Solve Under Pressure. Read the article and others like it on Fluid Hive’s Ask Like a Designer. In these short Ask Like a Designer episodes on the Design Thinking 101 podcast, you’ll find new ways to explore the show’s stories and ideas about design-driven innovation. I’ll share methods, templates, and ideas that have worked in my practice in teaching. What did you think of this episode? Please send your questions, suggestions, and guest ideas to Dawan and the Fluid Hive team. Cheers ~ Dawan Design Thinking 101 Podcast Host President, Fluid Hive   Show Highlights [00:56] Thinking and solving like a designer when in crisis mode. [01:06] Fluid Hive’s 30-Minute Solution Matrix: nine questions that can help you solve quickly. [02:19] How to use the

Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg is the author of What’s Your Problem and coauthor of Innovation as Usual. We talk about problem reframing, developing innovation skills, and the power of thinking deeply about problems.   Listen to learn about: Framing and reframing problems Helping teams and companies to change their approach to problem-solving Thomas’ books Advice for companies and individuals wanting to learn problem reframing A shortcoming in design thinking tools The future of innovation and problem framing Some hints about Thomas’ new book-in-progress   Our Guest Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg is the author of "What's Your Problem," published by Harvard Business Review Press. He works with companies all over the world to help them solve the right problems. HIs first book was "Innovation as Usual," coauthored with Paddy Miller, focusing on how to drive innovation as part of an everyday job. He was born in Denmark and is now based in New York.   Show Highlights [01:19] How a failure led Thomas into a collaboration w