In this episode, we celebrate our fifth podcast milestone, reflecting on our journey and the challenges of balancing work and podcasting. We discuss our ongoing projects, including Cleeve and our user testing experiences, and delve into design hot takes.

Our conversation shifts to the significance of iteration in design, navigating dark patterns in user experience, and strategies for building a portfolio with unlaunched projects. We spotlight Mande, a tool for documenting professional growth, emphasizing its benefits for designers.

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Chapters

00:00 Celebrating Milestones and Gratitude

02:46 Cleave: Progress and Challenges

05:45 User Research and Testing Insights

08:26 Design Hot Takes: Mobile vs. Desktop

10:30 The Importance of Prototyping

13:28 Designing for User Needs

15:55 Stakeholder Influence in Design

18:27 Community Feedback and Hot Takes

21:21 The Reality of Design Work

24:11 Generalists vs. Specialists in Design

26:44 Navigating Design Challenges

29:23 Final Thoughts and Reflections

31:22 Understanding Dark Patterns in User Experience

33:43 Common Dark Patterns and Their Impact

39:44 The Ethics of Default Selections

42:19 The Role of Designers in Combatting Dark Patterns

49:30 Building a Portfolio Without Live Projects

57:29 Spotlight on Mandi: A Tool for Documentation

Keywords

podcast, design, user experience, mobile design, dark patterns, portfolio, project management, milestones, user testing, design hot takes