Join Vinita and Sam in our last episode of the series, as they reflect on their IxDA podcasting journey.

The IxDA podcast emerged in 2022 as a unique approach to the IxDA Sydney mentoring program, interviewing design leaders around career progression and mentoring. This year we've delved more into the 'zeitgeist of design', covering topics from Web3 to design accessibility.

We'll be taking a short break from the podcast while the team focuses on delivering an amazing program for Interaction 24.

You can find the the audio transcript for this episode as well as any resources mentioned at ixdaysydney.org. 

Hello and welcome to the latest episode of the Sydney IxDA Podcast. In this episode, Vinita and Jess are chatting with the team at Therapy for Designers. Simone Attanasio - Product Design Lead at Canva, Benaz Irani - Product Design Manager at OpenTable and Milly Schmidt - Experience Design Manager at Atlassian.

We've all heard of career growth programs through ADPList and IxDA's mentoring program. Therapy for Designers is looking at doing this in a way that incorporates meaningful conversations, connections, food and wine. Creating a space for designers to safely share their challenges, be heard and learn to build a growth mindset and leadership capabilities as a group.

We'll be covering:  

• The origin, inspiration, and purpose behind the program
• Differentiating themselves from other career growth initiatives
• The connection to conversations, connections, and food
• Leadership styles within the facilitators
• Their learnings with "experiments" and scaling going forward

You can find the the audio transcript for this episode as well as any resources mentioned at ixdaysydney.org. 

In our ninth episode of the season, Vinita and Jess are having a chat with Amy Howard. Amy is the Lead Designer for IAG’s Design System, leading the creation and implementation of tools and resources that support designers using the design system. She works closely with designers and digital teams across the company to support its adoption and ensure it meets the needs of the organisation and its users.

We’ll be covering the following themes:

• The landscape of design systems and design ops

• How design systems reflect branding 

• Consumption of a design systems by different stakeholders

• Accessibility, scalability, and documentation within design systems

• The role design systems play in a designer’s career

You can find the the audio transcript for this episode as well as any resources mentioned at ixdaysydney.org. 

In this episode, Vinita is joined by Elise Margaritis, the Creative Director of TEM. Elise built the brand and marketing function for TEM which has grown to become Asia Pacific’s most trusted carbon offset provider.

In this session we dive into the following themes:

• Her philosophy and approach to helping organisations achieve net-zero emissions through carbon offsetting.
• How designers can take the initiative to investigate sustainable claims made by businesses and not to promote greenwashing.
• What designers can do to make an impact within the sustainable space.
• How Australian organisations can learn from Europe's stricter sustainability measures

If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's podcast show notes, resources, events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

In this episode, Jessica and Sam are joined by Kent Eisenhuth, a data visualisation thought leader at Google and author. As the leader of Google's data accessibility program, Kent has designed visualisations for various products, including Fitbit, Google Fit, Material Design, Workspaces, Google Cloud, and X.company. This episode is a deep dive into the world of data, covering topics such as accessibility, visualisation, and more!

We cover:

• The value of data visualisations in the UX world.
• How education played a pivotal role in building a data visualisation practice within Google.
• Data accessibility maturity in an organisation.
• Making sketching approachable for people who aren’t designers

Kent's work and ideas have been featured in several prominent publications, including Fast Company, Tech Crunch, The Guardian, and Smashing Magazine. He has presented talks and ideas at prestigious conferences such as IxDA's Interaction and SXSW, and he frequently guest lectures at universities across the United States. For more information about Kent and his book, "Drawing Product Ideas: Fast and Easy UX Drawing for Anyone," please visit https://www.kenteisenhuth.com/.




If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's podcast show notes, resources, events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

In this episode, Vinita and Sam speak with Rich Brophy, Head of Design at Blue Egg, a Behavioral Design Consultancy. As a former stand-up comedian, Rich shares his perspectives on the connection between comedy and design facilitation, as well as the significance of design principles and personal branding.

We cover the following themes:

• How Rich's experience in comedy and advertising has given him an unfair advantage in the design field.
• The importance of storytelling, empathy, and improvisation in design facilitation.
• How design principles guarantee a more predictable path to quality work.
• The significance of design research in shaping design decisions.

If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's podcast show notes, resources, events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

In this episode, Jessica and Vinita speak with Grishma about the importance of data science within product development. Grishma is a data scientist with the UX research operations team in IBM in San Francisco. In her team, she supports a design and research team of over 80 where she uses data to understand user struggles and opportunities to enhance user experiences. We cover the following themes: The value of data in storytelling and using successful case studies to demonstrate the impact of research on business metrics How to communicate the importance of research to organisations that may not have fully embraced it How data scientists can collaborate with researchers and designers The future of research in design and product development If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's podcast show notes, resources, events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

In this episode, Vinita and Sam talk to software engineer and SHE codes mentor, Nina Ajnira Karisik, to discuss how to break into the tech industry as a self-starter, dealing with unconscious bias, and how to overcome these barriers to achieve success.

We cover the following themes:

• Finding her feet in tech as a self-starter
• How unconscious bias has affected her career
• The benefits and limitations of AI in programming
• The co-dependence between design and programming

Nina is a software engineer and a sustainable fashion enthusiast with a background in digital marketing, branding and journalism. She looks at code holistically, being equally interested in back-end and front-end development, as well as being very passionate about how said code makes a difference in people's lives.

If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's podcast show notes, resources, events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

Join hosts Jessica and Sam as they sit down with Kate Linton, the Global Design Lead at ThoughtWorks, to discuss the critical role of accessibility in designing successful customer experiences. Discover how Kate has used her experience to gain valuable insights into creating intuitive and accessible designs that cater to a diverse range of users.

We cover the following themes: 

• How incorporating accessibility after launching your product can be quite difficult.
• The challenges of working with stakeholders to ensure accessibility is top of mind
• Tips for incorporating neurodiversity into your design choices. 
• How small improvements can lead to a big impact on accessibility

By taking small steps to improve your digital accessibility, you can make a huge difference for people with disabilities and ensure your content is accessible for all. Let's make the digital world a more inclusive place for everyone!

If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's podcast show notes, resources, events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

In this episode Sam and Vinita speak with Mark Monfort, co-founder of NotCentralised and the Australian DeFi Association. We travel with Mark on the journey through the Web3 space - from tracing the history of blockchain, crypto and NFTs, to breaking down popular buzzwords. 

Whether you're just breaking into Web3, or a full-blown degen - this episode is not to be missed! 

We'll be covering the following themes:

• How Web3 is pushing the boundaries of innovation and pivoting to community feedback in order to find product market fit.
• WHY there needs to be a shift change in how we interact with services and products.
• Where Web3 is being used effectively
• Where Web3 needs to improve to be widely adopted from a user experience perspective.

If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

Hello, and welcome to a new season of the Sydney IxDA Podcast! Join us for a fascinating conversation with Felix Lee, Co-Founder and CEO of ADPList, the world's largest mentorship platform for the tech industry. In this episode, we'll hear Felix's story and how ADPList came to be and discuss the importance of mentorship and its impact on careers. 

We'll be covering the following themes: 

• Felix’s background and journey before ADPList The Singapore design scene and why design is integral to progressing organisations forward 
• The creation of ADPList and how the platform has evolved over time 
• ADPList’s journey to finding product-market fit 
• The importance of democratising mentorship in personal and professional growth 
• The future vision for ADPList and its continued impact on the tech industry. 

If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org

Hello and welcome to the final episode of this series, The Season Finale! Mentoring stories.  In this episode, Molly, Vinita and Sam are joined by a whole host of mentors to discuss their personal experiences during the IxDA mentoring program. We'll dig into what they found surprising, the differences of mentoring within the workplace to externally, and key resources they hang their hat on when mentoring. Segment 1: - 01:00 Vee Mercado: Lead Designer @ WooliesX Fabiana Eisenmann: Product Designer @ Playvox Segment 2: - 15:14 Vivid Savitri: Head of UX @ Breville Sam Dawson: UX Designer @ Macquarie Bank Ulf Sthamer: UX Lead @ SBS Segment 3: - 28:07 Kevin Wilkins: Practice Lead @ Sseavan Jessica Smith: UX Team Lead @ Servian Segment 4: - 39:07 Jessica Pang: Senior Product Designer @ Airwallex Luna Andreux: Product Designer @ Servian

In this episode, Vinita and Molly are talking to Meera Pankhania. Their conversation focuses around the government and civic design space.  Meera is a design leader with a career spanning over 17 years in the private, not-for-profit and public sectors across the UK and Australia. After several years in the Australian Public Service, Meera co-founded Propel Design; a strategic research, design and delivery consultancy that uses an evidence-based approach to help co-create strategies and solutions that are human-centred. With this breadth and depth of experience, Meera strives to deliver impactful, pragmatic outcomes while building capability and leading teams through growth and change. We dive into the following themes: The nuances of working within the public sector Why government isn't for every designer How Meera has seen design maturity within government significantly improve over the last 5 years. How she's found mentoring in government quite challenging If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring

You may have noticed that Wednesday has been and gone without a podcast release? Not to fear! We'll be back in a couple of weeks to finish off the first season of the IxDA MP Podcast. 

In this episode, Sam and Vinita are talking to David Meier. Their conversation dives into how design IS Business and why understanding your subject matter inside out is the first step to getting a seat at the leadership table. David’s career foundations were established through graphic design and digital advertising. It wasn’t until working within the startup space when David got a deep understanding of the fundamentals of UX. In the last four years David has transitioned into design leadership positions at Real estate giant, Domain. And later at Fintech disrupters, Zip and now Finder. David is a passionate and experienced design leader focussed on finding the sweet spot between delivering strong business outcomes, while nailing the user needs. We dive into the following themes: How knowing your subject matter inside out is vital.  Inheriting an always learning approach, with the d.MBA program helping him land this latest role.  How leaning on your designer network is a great way to unblock your workflow. If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring

In this episode, Sam and Molly are talking to Marla Mitelman about how she has built and lead high performing design teams. Marla is a design leader and a hands on UX designer for over 20 years. She's passionate about the design of useful, usable and purposeful experiences for innovative products and services. Since 2020, she's been working both as a freelance design consultant through Mitelman Webb, and has been employed permanently by organisations such as BCG, digital ventures, and PwC, to lead their experience and strategic design teams. We dive into the following themes: Building out design teams and defining culture. How to grow designers with confidence and not arrogance. How to challenge the status quo, whether you're focusing on deliverables or managing stakeholders. How embracing failure is a good thing.  If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring

In this episode, Sam and Molly are talking to Michael Wong AKA Mizko, about how the strength of your portfolio can set you up for success within your design career. Mizko is a founder, educator and product/UX/UI Designer at heart. He has spent the last 15 years strategising and designing for high-growth companies that have raised a total of $500M. His passion lies at the intersection of business, design and technology and today runs an online educational platform, Designership with over 3,500 alumni.  We dive into the following themes: Learn Mizko's unconventional path into UX design and how his strong marketing skills shaped his success in his design career. Understand the value in learning the business side of design and the importance we add as designers within an organisation. The power in experimenting with objectives, constantly iterating and pushing yourself to be a better designer by looking at the glass half full. Hear Mizkos perspective on the power of portfolios and what elements of your portfolio you should focus your attention on. Practical tips and truths on interviewing, freelancing and when to make the jump to do your own thing. You can find out more about Mizko on his Youtube Channel, Mizko and at The Designership  If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring

In this episode, Molly, Sam & Vinita are taking your mentoring questions, where dive into the following themes:  How do I keep cadence with the mentor/mentee relationship? Learning about psychology within UX and how to implement it. What happens when the program comes to an end. If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring

In this episode, Molly and Vinita are talking to Erin Turner about the power of feedback, and when the right rituals are put in place, it can really drive the feedback culture of that organisation. Erin is a UX leader and organisational psychologist with over 15 years experience. Erin started her career consulting in UX research and design across a range of industries before moving client side to set up and lead various UX and service design teams. Erin passion is in delivering impactful and purposeful design for human centered and empathetic innovation, and helping practitioners build confidence and skill for our coaching and mentoring. We dive into the following themes: Ensue that you're creating a safe space in order to provide feedback. Setting the right context is key when giving feedback Have the mindset that treating any piece of feedback is a gift, good or bad.  If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring

In this episode, Sam and Vinita are talking to design leader and top-rated ADPlist mentor, Paul Blake. With over 25 years of industry experience, Paul is a journalist by training, in 1995 he put away his typewriter to embrace design. He has worked internationally in a range of corporate government and agency environments. He made it in strategic and service design and is an enthusiastic mentor for younger designers. And ever curious traveler music fan and craft beer nerd. We dive into the following themes: Why imposter syndrome is rife within the design industry. Ways to approach overcoming your own inner critic. Valuing frameworks over craft. How designers are pseudo change managers.   If you want to learn more about IxDA Sydney's events and mentorship programs, please visit: www.ixdasydney.org/mentoring