Nikki Anderson is an independent user research consultant, instructor, author, and speaker. Nikki uses her background in education and psychology to mentor people and organizations on the value of user research. And now, she’s written a book to help them build up their research operations. That’s the focus of our conversation today. Show notes Nikki Anderson Impact: A complete guide to creating a user research practice at your organization by Nikki Anderson User Research Academy User Research Academy Substack How To Run a Qualitative Usability Test by Nikki Anderson Write Kick@ss User Research Goals by Nikki Anderson Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 This episode's transcript was produced by an AI. If you notice any errors, please get in touch.

Michael Anton Dila describes himself as a “designer of conversation” and someone with a passion for starting things. Among the things he’s started are ventures in online learning, co-working, and mobile technology. He’s also held several leadership roles in an elite innovation unit in the U.S. Department of Defense. In this conversation, we discuss his latest initiative, Oslo for AI, which seeks to design better processes for governing artificial intelligence. Show notes Michael Anton Dila Michael Anton Dila - LinkedIn Oslo for AI U.S. Department of Defense System 3 OpenAI Stone Soup - Wikipedia Stuart Candy Oslo (film) - Wikipedia Oslo (play) - Wikipedia The Oslo Accords, 1993 Inside OpenAI’s Crisis Over the Future of Artificial Intelligence - NY Times Computing Machinery and Intelligence by Alan Turing (1950) - PDF Projects by IF Sarah Gold New Design Patterns for AI by Sarah Gold Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 This episode's transcript was produced by an AI. If you notice any errors, please get in touch.

Dave Elfving is an experience designer and educator. He spent eleven years at apple, where his last role was as Head of Interactive Strategy. These days, he’s my colleague teaching interaction design at the California College of the Arts. He’s also co-chairperson at Gray Area, a San Francisco-based nonprofit interdisciplinary cultural incubator. Gray Area is fostering fascinating work, and I wanted to discuss it with Dave. Show notes Dave Elfving - LinkedIn aught.io Gray Area Rafael Lozano-Hemmer Projection mapping - Wikipedia Arduino TouchDesigner MadMapper Raspberry Pi Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 This episode's transcript was produced by an AI. If you notice any errors, please get in touch.

Joey deVilla describes himself as an experienced, engaging, accordion-playing, golden-voiced developer advocate looking for a new role. He’s had a long career in the technology space and writes about his experiences in two long-running blogs, The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the Twenty-First Century and Global Nerdy. Recently, Joey became one of the many people in tech who’s lost their job in the last couple of years. That is the subject of our conversation today. Show notes 🪗 Joey (Accordion Guy) deVilla - LinkedIn The Adventures of Accordion Guy in the 21st Century - Joey deVilla’s Personal Blog Global Nerdy : Tampa Bay techie Joey deVilla on software, hardware, and everything in between. Laid off in 2024, part 1: The 15 worst minutes of 2024, followed by 15 more : Global Nerdy World IA Day Cory Doctorow - Wikipedia Up in the Air (2009) - IMDb Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 This episode's transcript was produced by an AI. If you notice any errors, please get in touch.

Elizabeth McGuane is a UX director at Shopify and the author of Design by Definition, a book about the impact of language in user experience. As you might imagine, that’s a subject I’m keenly interested in, so I was excited to speak with Elizabeth about it. Show notes Elizabeth McGuane - LinkedIn Elizabeth McGuane – Medium Design by Definition by Elizabeth McGuane Shopify Intercom Eames chairs Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 This episode's transcript was produced by an AI. If you notice any errors, please get in touch.

Pierluigi Dalla Rosa is an interaction designer at Humane, the makers of the AI Pin. But that isn’t the focus of our conversation today. Instead, we discuss novel computer interfaces in general, and interactive environments in particular. This is a subject that’s near to my heart, as it points to exciting possibilities for future digital experiences. Show notes pierdr - Pier’s website Pierluigi Dalla Rosa - LinkedIn pier dr (@pierdr) - Instagram IxD Research (@ixdresearch) - Instagram Humane California College of the Arts Joshua Walton — Sensory.cc Tramontana Enrico Gueli (@ris8_allo_zen0) • Instagram photos and videos An exploration in collective interfaces by Pierluigi Dalla Rosa et al Douglas Engelbart Loren and Rachel Carpenter Mark Weiser Marshall McLuhan Hot and cool media (McLuhan) Dynamicland WIRED 1.02: Gossip is Philosophy (Interview with Brian Eno) Apple Vision Pro The Void Meow Wolf Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200 This episode's transcript was produced by an AI. If you notice any errors, please get in touch.

Nathan Shedroff is an entrepreneur, author, speaker, and educator. Like me, he teaches at the graduate interaction design program of the California College of the Arts. This conversation focuses on his new book, A Whole New Strategy, which teaches strategic thinking. Show notes Nathan Shedroff Design Strategy MBA - CCA A Whole New Strategy by Nathan Shedroff Henry Mintzberg Charles Eames Porter’s five forces analysis SWOT analysis Double Diamond (design process model) Regis McKenna Adobe Director Stephen Covey Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

This episode is a compilation of conversations from 2023. It’s not meant as a best-of collection, but an opportunity to highlight some themes that emerged during our conversations throughout the year. The episode is also an experiment, with the themes being curated partly by an AI. Cover photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash. Show notes Episode 107: Michael Becker on Knowledge Work Episode 108: Carrie Hane on Content Models Episode 110: Nicole van der Hoeven on Obsidian Episode 111: Andy Fitzgerald on Structured Content Episode 112: Jerry Michalski on Jerry’s Brain Episode 114: Dan Russell on The Joy of Search Episode 115: Are Halland on The Core Model Episode 116: Bob Kasenchak on Music, part 1 Episode 117: Bob Kasenchak on Music, part 2 Episode 118: Maggie Appleton on Digital Gardening Episode 119: Aidan Helfant on PKM for Learning Episode 120: Alex Wright on Informatica Episode 121: Chiara Ogan on Personal Libraries Episode 122: Sönke Ahrens on Smart Notes Episode 125: Karl Voit on Org Mode Episode 126: Nate Davis on IA Sub-disciplines Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve and I both have new books, so we thought it’d be fun to compare notes on writing non-fiction. In this, the second of two episodes on the subject, we focus on the process of writing. If you haven’t done so already, listen to our previous conversation, which focused on our motivations. Show notes Steve Portigal Steve Portigal - LinkedIn Portigal Consulting Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (2nd edition) by Steve Portigal Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve Portigal Duly Noted: Extend Your Mind Through Connected Notes by Jorge Arango Living in Information: Responsible Design for Digital Places by Jorge Arango Information Architecture for the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango Scrivener Tinderbox The Informed Life episode 99: Mark Bernstein on Tinderbox Freeform on the App Store Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott (PDF) Jack Kerouac - Wikipedia The Informed Life episode 2: Gretchen Anderson on Writing Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Steve Portigal is an independent user research consultant. He is the author of Interviewing Users and Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries. Steve was previously on the show last year, talking about research skills. This conversation is a bit different: both of us have written new books, and we thought it’d be fun to compare notes about the process. We decided to split our conversation into two parts. This episode focuses on the motivations for writing, and the second part will focus on processes. Show Notes Steve Portigal Steve Portigal - LinkedIn Portigal Consulting Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (2nd edition) by Steve Portigal Doorbells, Danger, and Dead Batteries: User Research War Stories by Steve Portigal The Informed Life ep. 92 - Steve Portigal on Research Skills Louis Rosenfeld Information Architecture for the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango Blogger The Informed Life ep. 118 — Maggie Appleton on Digital Gardening Maggie Appleton About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design (4th edition) by Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin, and Christopher Noessel Write Useful Books by Rob Fitzpatrick Obsidian Building a Personal Knowledge Garden (Information Architecture Conference 2022 workshop) Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Audrey Crane is the Head of Growth at DesignMap, a product and strategy design firm. She’s also the author of What CEOs Need to Know About Design, a book that helps leaders understand and tap into the power of design in their organizations. In this, Audrey’s second appearance on the show, we focused on how organizations can ensure they’re getting the best design work for their money. Show notes Audrey Crane - LinkedIn DesignMap What CEOs Need to Know About Design by Audrey Crane Banish Shadow Design with These Proven Techniques – DesignMap The Cost of Shadow Design Teams – DesignMap Levels of Organizational Design Readiness – DesignMap The Informed Life episode 37: Audrey Crane on Design in Organizations Dubberly Design Office Hugh Dubberly - AIGA San Francisco Marty Cagan - Silicon Valley Product Group Ben Horowitz - Wikipedia Dunning–Kruger effect - Wikipedia Peter Merholz Design maturity: Yesterday vs. today - Inside Design Blog Leah Buley Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you. By Sara Wachter-Boettcher - Nice Work Jared Spool - Wikipedia Salesforce Marketing Cloud Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Nate Davis is an independent information architecture consultant and a longtime contributor to the global IA community. In this conversation, we discuss his ideas about IA sub-disciplines that influence the construction of digital user interfaces. Show notes Nathaniel Davis - LinkedIn Methodbrain Four Information Architecture Disciplines Every Team Should Consider When Building Digital User Interfaces by Nate Davis GPT-4 - Wikipedia Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Karl Voit describes himself as “a life hacker trying to make deliberate decisions on every aspect of life.” Among these are the tools he uses to manage his personal information. In particular, Karl is an avid user of Org Mode in Emacs, which is the focus of this conversation. Show notes public voit - Homepage of Karl Voit Karl Voit on Mastodon (@publicvoit@graz.social) Filofax - Wikipedia Franklin Planner - Wikipedia LaTeX - A document preparation system Emacs - Wikipedia Emacs Lisp - Wikipedia Org-mode - Wikipedia Daring Fireball: Markdown GitHub Orgzly - Notes & To-Do Lists Syncthing abo-abo/hydra: make Emacs bindings that stick around public voit — How to Use This Blog Efficiently novoid/lazyblorg: Blogging with Org-mode for very lazy people Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Karl Fast is an independent scholar, information architect, and futurist. He’s the co-author with Stephen Anderson of Figure It Out: Getting From Information to Understanding. Karl is one of the most avid readers I know, and in this conversation, we compare our reading practices. We discussed this subject in preparation for a personal knowledge management workshop we will teach later this year. Show notes Karl Fast - LinkedIn The Informed Life episode 69 - Karl Fast on Interactionism, part 1 The Informed Life episode 70 — Karl Fast on Interactionism, part 2 Be Useful — Arnold Schwarzenegger on 7 Tools for Life, Thinking Big, Building Resilience, Processing Grief, and More (#696) - The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss War and Peace - Wikipedia Obsidian God, Human, Animal, Machine: Technology, Metaphor, and the Search for Meaning by Meghan O’Gieblyn Our Own Devices: How Technology Remakes Humanity by Edward Tenner To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of DeathTo Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of DeathTo Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death by Mark O’Connell The Bodybuilders: Inside the Science of the Engineered Human by Adam Piore No-dig gardening - Wikipedia Mise en place - Wikipedia Everything in Its Place: The Power of Mise-En-Place to Organize Your Life, Work, and Mind by Dan Charnas Readwise Slow Reading in a Hurried Age by David Mikics Fight Club (1999) - IMDb Build a Personal Knowledge Garden (Karl and Jorge's workshop)– use discount code TILPKG before October 30, 2023 for 20% off the regular price Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Jenae Cohn is the Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at UC Berkeley. Along with Michael Greer, Jenae recently published Design for Learning, a book about how to teach better using technology, and what online teachers and instructors can learn from UX designers. Show notes Jenae Cohn Jenae Cohn, PhD - LinkedIn Design for Learning: User Experience in Online Teaching and Learning by Jenae Cohn and Michael Greer Center for Teaching & Learning - UC Berkeley California College of the Arts Learning management system - Wikipedia Richard Saul Wurman - Wikipedia Disclosure: Rosenfeld Media provided a copy of Jenae’s book for review. Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Sönke Ahrens is an independent researcher and coach. He is best known as the author of How to Take Smart Notes, a popular book on the zettelkasten method of note-taking. In this conversation, we discuss the role of notes in thinking and learning, with a focus on zettelkasten-inspired note-taking. Show notes Sönke Ahrens How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens Niklas Luhmann - Wikipedia Bielefeld University Zettelkasten - Wikipedia Luhmann’s digitized zettelkasten Personal wiki - Wikipedia The Informed Life episode 74: Annie Murphy Paul on The Extended Mind Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Chiara Ogan is a former UX designer and information architect. She recently left that career to become a mental health therapist. Chiara’s background is in library science, and in this conversation, we discuss how she organizes her personal book collection — which she just did in preparation for this major life change. Show notes Chiara Ogan Chiara (Berlingo Fox) Ogan - LinkedIn Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-scale Web Sites by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville Billy bookcases Ambient Findability: What We Find Changes Who We Become by Peter Morville Dewey Decimal Classification - Wikipedia S. R. Ranganathan - Wikipedia Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt by David McCullough Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Alex Wright is the Head of User Experience at Google News. He’s also an author, and his most recent book, Informatica, is the second edition of Glut, his deep history of the information age. In this conversation, we discuss the history of information technologies and why learning about it matters to people who work in tech. Show notes Alex Wright Alex Wright (@alexgrantwright) / X Alex Wright - LinkedIn Informatica: Mastering Information through the Ages by Alex Wright Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age by Alex Wright Paul Otlet - Wikipedia S. R. Ranganathan - Wikipedia Charles Ammi Cutter - Wikipedia Melvil Dewey - Wikipedia Anthony Panizzi - Wikipedia Universal Decimal Classification - Wikipedia Vannevar Bush - Wikipedia The Printing Press as an Agent of Change by Elizabeth Eisenstein book The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook by Niall Ferguson Carl Linnaeus - Wikipedia Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon - Wikipedia Betamax - Wikipedia Walkman - Wikipedia Apple II - Wikipedia The Futures Cone, use and history – The Voroscope Institute for the Future Claude Shannon - Wikipedia Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Aidan Helfant is a college student who’s using personal knowledge management (PKM) to improve his learning. He’s also sharing his methods and tools to help other college students succeed. In this conversation, we unpack Aidan’s approach to note-taking for learning. Show notes Aidan Helfant Aidan Helfant - YouTube Aidan’s newsletter Aidan’s blog Aidan Helfant (@AidanHelfant) / Twitter Ali Abdaal Building a Second Brain The PARA Method: The Simple System for Organizing Your Digital Life in Seconds Linking Your Thinking League of Legends Stardew Valley - Wikipedia Finite and Infinite Games by James P. Carse Cornell University Obsidian How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman Google Workspace Notion Tinderbox: The Tool For Notes Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200

Maggie Appleton is a product designer at Ought, an AI research lab that’s working on ways to scale open-ended thinking with machine learning. She’s also an advocate of sharing personal knowledge online. She publishes one of the best digital gardens I’ve seen, located at maggieappleton.com. In this conversation, we discuss the what, why, and how of digital gardening. Show notes Maggie Appleton Maggie Appleton on Twitter Ought [Metaphors We Live](https://amzn.to/43q0eEj) By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI by Maggie Appleton Goffman’s Theory of Performance of the Self Erving Goffman: The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life by Adam D. Barnhart Clifford Geertz - Britannica Substack Work with the garage door up by Andy Matuschak Niklas Luhmann - Wikipedia ChatGPT Nicole van der Hoeven on Obsidian – The Informed Life Obsidian Hacker News Show notes include Amazon affiliate links. We get a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you're enjoying the show, please rate or review us in Apple's podcast directory: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-informed-life/id1450117117?itsct=podcast_box&itscg=30200