Jakob Nielsen addresses some of the criticism he’s faced, calls on UXers to urgently adopt AI, and shares why he believes the commoditisation of UX is a good thing.

Highlights include:

• Are you surprised by how much you’ve offended some people?
• Why do UXers need a greater sense of urgency about adopting AI?
• Were the hiring practices at your previous company elitist?
• What is the state of UX today and where is the growth potential?
• Will AI impede our ability to develop our professional judgement?

======

Who is Jakob Nielsen, PhD?

Jakob is the founder of UX Tigers, the website and associated substack he uses to bring his 41 years of UX knowledge and experience to the world, in what he has described as a plainspoken, hard-hitting and not bowing to orthodoxy kind-of-way.

Before founding UX Tigers, Jakob was the co-founder and principal - for 25 years - of a rather well known UX consultancy, the Nielsen Norman Group.

His other notable roles include being a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems, and a member of the research staff at Bell Communications Research - one of the world’s top three HCI labs in the 1990s.

Jakob is known for many other things, among which are being the founder of the discount usability movement, the foundational 10 usability heuristics for user interface design, and the eponymously named Jakob’s Law of Internet User Experience.

He is the holder of no less than 79 United States patents and the author of 8 books, including the best-selling “Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity”, “Usability Engineering”, and the pioneering “Hypertext and Hypermedia”.

In 2013, Jakob received the Lifetime Achievement Award for HCI Practice from ACM SIGCHI and in 2024 he was named a “Titan of Human Factors” by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

======

Find Jakob here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakobnielsenphd/ Website: https://www.uxtigers.com/

======

Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).

Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content!

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/

======

Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/
• Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Justin Dauer shares how he conquered his ego to become a better designer, why he’s left executive design leadership, and how unfulfilled designers make bad products.

Highlights include:

• Has digital visual design become a little bit boring?
• Why is humility the most important trait for a designer?
• What made you realise you were done with in-house design leadership?
• Why is it unacceptable for design leaders to ‘coast’ in their careers?
• How have you’ve been able to reach a high level of professional fulfilment?

======

Who is Justin Dauer?

Justin is the Founder of Anomali by Design, a consultancy specialising in design strategy, product design, and engagement. Through Anomali, Justin helps organisations to develop their design leaders, so that they in turn foster healthier processes, methods, and cultures.

Before founding Anomali, Justin was the Vice President of Human-Centred Design and Development at bswift, a tech company owned by CVS Health, that transforms the way millions of employees perceive and engage with their benefits.

Justin also spent a number of years as Design Director of Nansen, a Swedish-American design firm. In this role, he established the Chicago office and managed a multi-disciplinary team of designers, front-end developers, and UX architects.

He is the author of two celebrated books on design. His first, the beautifully illustrated “Cultivating a Creative Culture” was published in 2017, with a second-edition released in 2020. His latest book, “In Fulfillment: The Designer’s Journey” was released is early 2022.

======

Find Justin here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pseudoroom/ Website: https://anomalibydesign.com/ X: https://twitter.com/pseudoroom

Books:

In Fulfillment: The Designer’s Journey - https://www.in-fulfillment.com/

Createive Culture: Human-Centered Interaction Design & Inspiration - https://www.the-culturebook.com/

======

Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).

Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content!

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/

======

Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/
• Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Rob Hamblen shares his insights on effective sprint facilitation, why he asks clients if they’re designing for today or tomorrow, and why design sprints have a PR problem.

Highlights include:

• What do you do when senior leaders aren’t willing to be wrong?
• What types of business challenges are most suited to a design sprint?
• What have you learned from facilitating sprints with tricky team dynamics?
• Does dot voting to enable effective group decisions to be made?
• Does it matter if design sprints are performative if alignment is the result?

======

Who is Rob Hamblen?

Rob is the Founder of Be the Leap, a company specialising in the combination of rapid innovation frameworks, like the Design Sprint and Design Thinking, with leadership accelerators. Why? To help product teams launch more successful products!

With over three decades of experience working in and leading teams that make digital products, Rob has worked with clients like AMEX, Adidas, HSBC Bank, McKinsey and ‘that company formerly known as Twitter’.

Before founding Be the Leap, Rob served as a Product Design Director at AJ&Smart in Berlin. In this role, he honed his facilitation expertise, leading the B2B sprint team and overseeing both the client experience and the development of the product offering.

Prior to that, Rob spent some time in sunny Dubai as the Creative Director of UX for IBM iX, where he helped to establish IBM Studios and managed a cross-functional team that supported clients as they sought to transform their businesses.

======

Find Rob here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robhamblen/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betheleap/ Website: https://www.betheleap.com/ X: https://twitter.com/bamberlingling

======

Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).

Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content!

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/

======

Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/
• Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/