logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
16m 56s

13. Special Edition: What's the "UX hill...

NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP
About this episode

To kick off Season 2, we're releasing a special edition episode, inspired by a tweet posted by @AllisonGrayce in Feb 2021, where she asks followers, "what's a #ux hill you regularly die on?" Host Therese Fessenden asks both NN/g team members and members of the UXC and UXMC community what issues, topics, and principles they fiercely stand by, and shares their answers.

Guests and submissions featured in the episode (in order):

Chris Callaghan (UXMC) - UX and Optimisation Director (Manchester, UK)
Twitter: @CallaghanDesign

Kara Pernice - Sr. VP at Nielsen Norman Group
Bio: nngroup.com/people/kara-pernice 

Mary Formanek (UXMC) - Senior User Experience + Product Lead Engineer (Arizona, US)
Mary's Article: "Label Your Icons: No, we can’t read your mind. Please label your icons."
Tiktok: @UXwithMary

Ben Shih - UX Consultant and Product Designer (Stockholm, Sweden)
Portfolio: benshih.design

Rachel Krause - UX Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group
Bio: nngroup.com/people/rachel-krause/ 

Anna Kaley - UX Specialist at Nielsen Norman Group
Bio: nngroup.com/people/anna-kaley

You can find also information about the upcoming UX Vision and Strategy Series with Anna Kaley and Sarah Gibbons here. 

Up next
Sep 26
53. Why You're Not Getting Job Interviews (feat. Hang Xu, Design Recruiter)
What does it really take to get hired in design today? In this episode, design recruiter and former product designer Hang Xu shares hard truths about what’s changed in hiring, why portfolios miss the mark, and how candidates can better align with what employers actually want. He ... Show More
50m 17s
Jul 18
52. Rethinking Users as Ecosystems (feat. authors Mike Youngblood and Ben Chesluk)
Who do we really mean when we say “the user”? And who gets left out?In this episode, Therese Fessenden chats with cultural anthropologists Mike Youngblood and Ben Chesluk, who are challenging overly narrow definitions of users in UX. They explore how systems thinking and anthropo ... Show More
46m 50s
Jun 2025
51. The Future of Service Design in the Age of AI (featuring Erika Flowers, author of Practical Service Blueprinting)
What does it mean to design experiences in a world where pixels are no longer the focus? In this episode, service design thought-leader and author Erika Flowers shares her thoughts on how designers must evolve as AI transforms the tools, processes, and expectations of our work. E ... Show More
43m 49s
Recommended Episodes
Jul 2020
Episode 180: AI in UX with Tony Beltramelli
AI is disrupting multiple industries, and UX design is no exception. What if UX designers could leverage AI in their workflow? Our guest today is Tony Beltramelli, CEO and co-founder of Uizard Technologies. You’ll learn how AI powers products and interfaces, along with Tony’s ins ... Show More
21m 52s
Sep 2022
Episode 247: Self-audit for Designers with Rajeev Subramanian
How can a self-audit help you move forward in your design career? Our guest today is Rajeev Subramanian, founder of Shift UX. You’ll learn about the three stages of doing a self-audit, why it’s important to lean into a specific niche, how this process can help inform your job sea ... Show More
32m 28s
Aug 7
#119 5 AI Shifts UX Designers Can’t Ignore
💻 ✨Waiting list for the AI Academy: 6-week Bootcamp to Learn How to Master AI as a Designer. Opening in September.→ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the waiting listToday, I’m breaking down the five biggest tech shifts from the past month that every designer should understand.T ... Show More
17m 44s
Sep 2024
Episode 225: UX Potpourri (An Extended Edition)
In this UX potpourri session, Darren focuses on the following topics: 1) The importance of domain knowledge (and the consequences of exalting general knowledge); 2) The rise and fall of UX; 3) Tell-tale markers (of job seeking) and 4) Of AI and empathy. Check out this extended UX ... Show More
1h 7m
May 2025
#113 The Psychology of UX – Are We Designing for Minds We Don’t Understand?
In this episode, we’re tackling a question that every UX designer thinks they understand—but do we really?💡 Are we designing for how people actually think—or just how we assume they think?We rely on psychology-based UX laws like:✔️ Hick’s Law (Too many choices slow people down—r ... Show More
14m 38s
Jul 2024
Top 5 VC funds raise big $, venture capital DPI is back, and Sequoia’s offer to LP’s | E1981
This Week in Startups is brought to you by… OpenPhone. Create business phone numbers for you and your team that work through an app on your smartphone or desktop. TWiST listeners can get an extra 20% off any plan for your first 6 months at https://www.openphone.com/twist Assembly ... Show More
1h 1m
May 2025
#112 Quarterly UX & AI Update: Agents, Research Tools & Smarter Design Platforms
In this episode of Future of UX, I’m back from a little break — and a big life change (spoiler: I had a baby!).We’re kicking things off with a fresh quarterly update on everything new and exciting in the world of UX, AI, and design tools.I’ll walk you through:What’s new with AI a ... Show More
23m 4s
Aug 14
#120 The GPT-5 Upgrade: What It Really Means for UX & Product Design
AI for Designers: 5-week Bootcamp 💻 Enrollment starts Sep 01 ✨ → ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the ⁠waiting listIn this episode of Future of UX, I share my honest review of the new GPT 5 after testing it intensively for a week.If you have been on LinkedIn, X, or Instagram l ... Show More
14m 51s