Power of Ten: design at every level of zoom, from thoughtful detail to organisational and societal change, hosted by Andy Polaine.

In this episode, staff product designer, game maker and developer Catt Small, author of The Staff Designer: Grow, Influence, and Lead as an Individual Contributor, talks with Andy about what it takes to keep growing as a designer without moving into management. Drawing on sixteen years at companies including Asana, Etsy, SoundCloud, and Dropbox, Catt explains where the staff role came from, how it differs from senior, and why communication became the “final boss” of her care...

Power of Ten: design at every level of zoom, from thoughtful detail to organisational and societal change, hosted by Andy Polaine.

In this episode, journalist and author Lisa Bennett, Harvard Fellow, co-author of Ecoliterate, and author of the forthcoming Savor the World: Why Wonder, Not Worry, Will Save Us, talks with Andy about restoring human agency in an overwhelming world. Drawing on a career spent studying how people rise to crisis, Lisa unpacks the E.B. White line that underpins her book: the daily tension between wanting to save the world and choosing to savor it. The...

My guests in this episode are Josh Clark and Veronika Kindred, co-authors of the book, Sentient Design: Crafting Intelligent Interfaces with AI, published by Rosenfeld Media.

Our conversation ranged across the history of interaction design (Zork, MUDs, branching narratives), Josh and Veronika's "four postures" of AI systems (tools, chat, agents, co-pilots), the dangers of leaning too hard on physical metaphors, the idea of "casual intelligence" as a counter to AI maximalism, and the responsibilities designers have right now to shape how this technology gets implemented before money and Big Tech make all the decisions for us.

My guest in this episode is Martin Dowson, a design and transformation leader who’s passionate about elevating the role of design as a strategic force for business growth.

With over two decades of experience across Financial Services, Telcos, Media, and more. He’s built and led design teams, established Centres of Excellence, and guided organisations through complex transformations that align design with commercial outcomes.

Martin went from reading our service design book hoping to solve a logistics problem (you couldn’t order lobsters on a Wednesday at Sainsbury’s) to spending six years leading design s...

My guest in this episode is Joel Bailey, product and service director at Arwen.ai, a four-year-old marketing technology startup that uses AI to help brands to manage and moderate their social media comments at scale.

Joel brings 25 years of experience working in service design roles, leading change and building new stuff for a diverse range of organisations. We talked about his journey into Service Design, Service Design and AI, navigating AI and social media, the future of design and much more.

Note: Given the fast pace of developments in AI, I should point out...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

In this episode Andy Polaine speaks to design leader, Alan Colville, exploring the nuances of design leadership, the importance of embracing conflict, the dynamics of communication, and how small changes in how we communicate can lead to significant positive outcomes.

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- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alancolville/

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Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

In this episode Andy speaks with Dr. Chui Chui Tan a specialist in culturalisation strategies tailored for international growth. She leverages cultural insights to craft winning global business strategies, guiding clients to navigate international markets successfully. She is also the author of a new book, "Research for Global Growth: Strategies And Guidance For Cross-Cultural Insights".

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Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

In this episode Andy speaks to Carissa Carter, a designer, geoscientist, and the academic director at the Stanford d.school. She is the author of The Secret Language of Maps: How to Tell Visual Stories with Data, and the co-author of Assembling Tomorrow: A Guide to Designing a Thriving Future. Carissa teaches design courses on emerging technologies, climate change, and data visualization. Her work on designing wit...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

This episode's guest is Francesca Cortesi, a passionate product leader with over a decade of experience in scaling digital products that users love and that drive sustainable growth. She has worked with Europe’s fastest-growing companies, from startups to IPOs, delivering tangible results. Her most recent role was as Chief Product Officer at Sweden's leading property platform, Hemnet, and has just started her own consultancy.

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest in this episode is my friend Meltem Naz Kaso, a Barcelona-based UX Career Coach with a background in UX Research. Her last full-time position was at Glovo, where she served as a UX Research Manager and Staff UX Researcher. 

She works with Senior UX professionals to unblock their careers by boosting their leadership and communication skills.

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Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest in this episode is Lisa D. Dance, an experienced UX Researcher whose 10+ years of work has spans UX Research & Strategy to Interactive Prototyping & Usability Testing. She has created award-winning work for enterprise organizations and also helped ​small to mid-sized businesses improve their websites and apps so they do not frustrate or harm ​customers. 

LINKS

Lisa

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guests in this episode are Johan Blomkvist and Stefan Holmlid who, along with Simon Clatworthy, wrote the book The Materials of Service Design, which discusses materials (broadly framed) as a means to explore what service design is and could be.

LINKS

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest in this episode is Marzia Aricò, an independent consultant for organisations seeking to integrate design strategically, and works as a design leadership coach for individuals aiming to advance in their design careers.

We talked about her journey to where she is now, service design and organisational change, the importance of diversity within organisations and how her guests on Design Voices Elevated have n...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

Andy's guest in this episode is Julian Simpson, a London-based writer and director who has worked in film, TV and audio for the past 25 years. He made his directorial debut annoyingly young in his mid-20s with The Criminal and more recently worked on Spooks, New Tricks, Doctor Who and more. He created the Lovecraft Investigations, the Aldrich Kemp audio series and the Pleasant Green Universe...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. 

My guest in this episode comes from a very different field to design. Dr Hansi Singh is a former Professor of physical climate science, University of Victoria.  A US Department of Energy Office of Science fellow and awardee. Specialist in Earth system modeling and high performance computing. Working group co-chair of the Community Earth System Model, funded by NSF. 

And she uses all those ama...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. 

Indi Young is a solution strategist who uses purpose-focused qualitative data science. She created her method over a 30-year span, and teaches that method in courses, coaching, workshops, books, talks, and through working with teams on research studies.

Indi discusses how people are complex and nuanced and their mental models and thinking styles are not fixed personas or personalities. They changed based on context a...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

While every app rushes to add an AI assistant, iA Writer's Oliver Reichenstein asks, "Why should I bother reading what you haven't written?" 

Here he talks tells about the deep thinking behind the latest version 7 of IA Writer and the new feature that dims the text you paste from AI tools, keeping track of what is yours and what isn’t.

...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

Has the product and design obsession with frameworks and process led to everyone working on autopilot, churning out a bland monoculture of design? When are they useful and when do they simply become a crutch? Have we hit "peak framework"?

My guest is Jaimes Nel, founder of Path, a consultancy that helps organisations play the long game through design-led strategy. Jaimes was Head of...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest in this episode is Peter Merholz. We talked about the state of the design nation, the burst bubble of the Cambrian explosion of design from the last 10-15 years, product, business and the issue of mediocrity.

Peter has worked at the intersection of design, technology, and humans for over 25 years. Currently, he’s an independent consultant focused on improving the effectiveness of de...

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. 

My guest in this episode is Linn Vizard, one of Canada’s leading advocates of service design who co-founded Service Design Toronto in 2013.

She’s the founder of, Made Manifest, a service design consultancy on a mission to make services better for Canadians, whether that’s getting a blood test done, visiting City Hall to pay your property tax bill or buying the perfect luxury...

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in the workplace should be driven by data and transparency. But, says Aparna Rae, it is not enough. The real work is deep structural change to the organisation if we are to make our systems more equitable, more fair, more just, and not take dignity and humanity away from people.

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine. 

My guest in this episode is Aparna Rae, an educator by t...

If you're a designer who has been told to “Prove your value.” “Justify your presence.” “Demonstrate impact.” only to find yourself throwing yourself against the wall of immutable organisational structure and culture, what do you do?" asks Sara Wachter-Boettcher

Power of Ten is a show about design operating at all levels of zoom, from thoughtful detail to changes in organisation, society and the world, hosted by design leadership coach, Andy Polaine.

My guest is author, strategist, facilitator, speaker and coach Sara Wacther-Boettcher recently wrote on Medium an insightful essay called "Hey designers, they’re gaslighting you". She explains w...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

This episode's guest is Alison Coward, a strategist, workshop facilitator, coach, and an author with 20 years' experience in leading creative teams. Alison speaks about her professional journey, her perspective on collaboration in the creative industries, and the importance of workshops in a business environment. We discuss her book, "Workshop Culture: A Guide to Building Teams that Thrive", and the five pillar system it presents...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Kate Tarling, a service leader and specialist who helps large organisations create successful services, by changing their working practices. She does this through consulting, training and writing, and regularly advises boards, executives and teams. She’s managing director of a services consultancy she founded in 2012 and previously held senior leadership roles in government and the private sector. She is...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Dr Pierce Otlhogile-Gordon, known as Doctor OG, an innovation catalyst, researcher, facilitator, and evaluator, based in Botswana. Pierce is impassioned by the space between transformation and liberation, and researches the complexity, evaluation, and emergence of design and innovation across the world.

Here we explore what that space between transformation and liberation actually is, the issues of...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Sheryl Cababa, author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers. Sheryl is a design researcher and strategist, and is the chief strategy officer at Substantial, a research insights and development studio based in Seattle. Her practice is focused on systems thinking and equity center design, and she’s worked with a diverse base of clients, including the Ga...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Alex Schmidt, author of Deliberate Intervention: Using Policy and Design to Blunt the Harms of New Technology.

Alex has pursued interests in public service and design through different avenues over her career. As an award-winning reporter and producer for NPR and others, she covered arts, business, technology, and urban development. Alex has published work in The...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is the wonderful Abby Covert, an author, teacher and community leader in the field of information architecture who aims to make information architecture and sensemaking skills accessible to everyone.

Abby’s first book, How to Make Sense of Any Mess, demystified information architecture into a practical skillset that anyone can apply to any context where sense might ne...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Natalie Dunbar, UX-focused content strategist with a unique blend of skills as a journalist, content writer, and user experience researcher. Natalie excels in balancing the creation of delightful user experiences with strategic content that supports the needs of a business or organization. She is author of the newly released Rosenfeld Media book, From Solo to Scaled: Building a...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Jason Mesut who many know from IXDA conferences and his writing on Medium, particularly Shaping Design. Here we talk about design's role in helping cope with the complex wicked problems facing us, design leadership, design teams and how they self-reflect, direct their future and develop others.

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Jason...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is my friend and ex-colleague, Joff Outlaw, Managing Director of DesignIt for Australia and New Zealand, having taken over from Katja Forbes who was on the show a few months ago.

Joff has led design and consulting teams across the UK and Australia, with project work spanning across all industry verticals. He has a passion for Design...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is KA McKercher, a designer and writer living on Aboriginal land in Australia. They have over 10 years experience leading social innovation and co-design approaches across Australia and New Zealand, previously working as Principal at The Australian Centre of Social Innovation, the Innovation Unit and the NSW government. Most recently KA has gone independent offering service design and co-design training...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Seb Chan, Chief Experience Officer at ACMI - the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne - championing human centred design approaches across the museum. Prior to ACMI, Seb led the digital renewal and transformation of the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York (2011–15) and the Powerhouse Museum’s pioneering work in open access, mass collaboration and...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.
My guest in this episode is Thejus Chakravarthy, an operational consultant that focuses on people, process, and technology, in that order. Currently, he says he has his hands full as the full-time COO of one company and a C-suite consultant for another. His primary focus is on how we can make work suck less. To that end, he spent 15 years designing instructional systems, the last 5...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Teresa Torres, an internationally acclaimed author, speaker, and coach. She teaches a structured and sustainable approach to continuous discovery that helps product teams infuse their daily product decisions with customer input. She’s coached hundreds of teams at companies of all sizes, from early-stage start-ups to global enterprises, in a variety of industries and is the author of th...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Jorge Arango, a consultant, author, speaker, and educator and host of The Informed Life, a podcast that explores how people organize information to get things done on which I was a guest.

Jorge is the co-author of the famous “polar bear book”, Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond, that he wrote with Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morv...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest this week is Tutti Taygerly, returning to the show for a second time. Tutti is an executive leadership coach and professional speaker. She supports CEOs and tech leaders to embrace their unique leadership style to achieve professional impact. She works closely with women, people of color, and immigrants and has a particular love for “difficult” people. Previously she was a design leader at d...

Power of Ten is a podcast hosted by Andy Polaine about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

In this episode my guest Nir Hindi, Founder of The Artian and host of The Artian podcast, speaks of the power of art to drive originality and novelty in business and why he believes it is necessary for the future of organizations. 

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Nir

Power of Ten is a podcast about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Donna Spencer, an independent design consultant with 20-plus years of experience across the entire design spectrum. Donna is recognised internationally as a leading UX practitioner, is a regular conference speaker and has written five books, including A Practical Guide To Information Architecture, Card Sorting and Presenting Design Work.  Many listeners will know her for co-creating the UX Australia conference, which she ran f...

Power of Ten is a podcast about design operating at many levels, zooming out from thoughtful detail through to organisational transformation and on to changes in society and the world.

My guest in this episode is Alla Weinberg, the CEO of Spoke & Wheel, a learning, leadership and people development company. She is a workplace relationship expert helping companies build loving leaders, trusting teams, and cultures of safety through training, coaching, and facilitation.

Alla talks about the important topics in her book, A Culture of Safety: Building an Environment for People to Think, Collaborate, and Innovate published...