The Funsize Show

Brian Peterson is a former Funsize Associate Design Director with a passion for collaboration and intentional design. He's a close friend and talented designer whose career saw a lot of growth during his time with us. Brian is making the move back home to Chicago, but before he left, he graced us with a send-off podcast to discuss goal-setting — a subject he's particularly passionate about.In this episode, we discuss:The characteristics of a good goal.What it means to work with intent.Goal-setting for teams.The importance of clear communication with clients.Understanding different stakeholders in an organization.Visit the Funsize websiteSubscribe to The Funsize Digest

Joel Beukelman is a Senior Interaction Designer at Google where he works on Chrome. He's also a prolific content creator with a popular YouTube channel and vlog. In this episode, Anthony and Joel cover everything from family life and time prioritization, to health, jacuzzis and — of course – design. On this episode we discuss: Juggling family, travel, a high-level design job at Google and content creation Prioritizing for life satisfaction The importance of health for designers Joel's experience transitioning from startup life back to Google The need for support in your career and personal life The challenges of investing in personal time as a creative The consequences of too much hustling Chasing titles vs. doing work you love What it’s like to work on a product used by 1 billion people. Finding what’s next after you’ve reached your career goals Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

Jen Dary is the founder of Plucky, a company that specializes in creating healthy dynamics at work through coaching, consulting, workshops, and education. On this episode of the Hustle she chats with Anthony about how to know if management is right for you, what challenges new and established leaders face every day, and strategies to help along the way. On this episode we discuss: What questions to ask before accepting a management role The most common challenges facing both high-level and new leaders Understanding how management might fit in your career path How to create and communicate vision to your team Dealing with creator grief: not making things anymore The role of trust in management relationships How to gauge and improve employee experience Giving yourself permission to experiment, learn, and find new tools Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Read the article

Katie Dill is the VP of Design at Lyft. Her team includes about one hundred creatives who are part of everything Lyft makes for drivers, passengers, users, and in-house teams. Katie discusses the importance of believing in your mission, how diverse teams benefit companies in multiple ways, staying in touch with users, and how creating and empowering a great design team is, in itself, an amazing design task. On this episode we discuss: Making sure a team is happy, healthy, productive, and doing the best work of their lives Seeing beyond the pixels to the offline experience of users Managing a design team and being farther from the work, but closer to the people who make it happen Defining design beyond a product or object. We design teams, design strategies, we design the way we work Empowering diversity in hiring and beyond and the far-reaching benefits of a diverse team Lyft’s multidimensional goals to improve transportation, environmental issues, and accessibility to make every city more about the people who live there Empathy for users and how Lyft designs for drivers, passengers, and the unique attributes of every city that impacts their experience Advantages and disadvantages of working for an in-house team or an agency Making a positive impact, mentoring, and stepping forward to empower others Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Read the article

Banter is a brand new and exciting social podcast platform for sharing and discussing podcasts, and discovering amazing new content and shows with your friends. Banter's Co-Founders Steve Krenzel and James Reggio join me on this episode to discuss the product's recent launch, their origin story, what makes Banter great, and their vision of the podcasting space. Download Banter for iOS, or Android. “There are more Americans listening to podcasts than being on Twitter... It’s really about connecting people to stories, and connecting stories to people.” On this episode we discuss: The Banter origin story How James and Steve run the company and develop product from opposite sites of the United States How Banter helps people discover new podcast episodes and shows through their friends and social connections Banter's cool Recast feature for sharing awesome content with the community and on social networks The importance of being cross-platform Banter's experience working with Funsize to design the brand, product design, and design system The value of design in the early days, the present, and the future Advise for designers who work with startups, and advise for startups who work with designers Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

Eric Bollman is a Design Lead on the Facebook Groups team. Today he stopped by the Funsize studio to discuss his team's approach creating their missions, how they design and evolving the product, and methodologies they leverage to test and validating their design decisions. On this episode we discuss: Eric's experience running and growing a startup called Perkville in the bay area Creating a culture of mentorship Being a Chief Design Officer of one, and how running a startup helped Eric refine his focus and purpose Eric walks us through the Facebook Groups team, their mission and how they work The importance of "north star" concepts and their ability to help you sell an idea and a vision to your team Why shorter (3 day) sprints can be more effective than 5 day design sprints The "People/Problem" framework at Facebook and how Facebook designers drive the products and determine what to ship The value of diverse job experiences and how working in an agency can help you learn skills to create and sell ideas Having a diverse team of designers gives you awesome collaboration and outcomes. Testing incremental changes get you incremental results, but when you test big bold ideas you can see huge angle changes in your metrics Designers need to get out of their bubbles (most of your users are not like you) Tips on user testing when you don't have real user testing support or funding Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

Ryan Wilson is a Product Designer on the Day of Travel Team at Alaska Airlines in Seattle Washington. Ryan stopped by the Funsize studio to talk about how Alaska gets people from point A to point B, designing a holistic experience, building trust in your design team, and why he's adamant about being a lifelong learner. On this episode we discuss: Design in the airline industry and at Alaska Airlines Complex service design, ecosystems and designing for consistency in digital and analog experiences User research and advocating for your customers in all you do How context should inform your product, design, and the user experience Why developing trust is critical for success, and how good trust leads to opportunities for your team Why process is more important than product, and why invalidating your ideas is as essential as validating them The role of passion in getting work done and doing it well The importance of lifelong learning, and choosing who you learn from Staying mindful of the people that helped you get to where you are now Visit the Funsize Website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

Esteban Marquez is a Product Designer on the Funsize team. He's also a very talented graphic designer and artist. Esteban and I discuss his experience in the various design fields that led to his recent transition to digital product design, the importance of personal branding and differentiating yourself, and much more. On this episode we discuss: Esteban's design career experience and journey Art direction vs. product design The value of both deep focus and variety Onboarding designers and what it feels like joining a new design team What it's like hustling when you're first getting started Creating a personal brand, a persona, and a story that differentiates yourself The value of working in a team setting Managing ego and empathy Designing your life Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

“Until designers can speak the language of business (and to some degree talk their talk), we’re just going to be the people that make things look good." An apology: I had some unknown issues with my gear during this recording so the quality suffered a bit. However, it was such a great conversation I just had to post it! Greg Storey is an Executive Director of Design at USAA, captain of industry, and an all around badass designer and leader of designers. It’s been a while since Greg and I caught up and so we covered a bunch of important design business topics in this extra long episode of Hustle. I hope you enjoy it. Also check out Greg's podcast Sprints and Milestones where he and Brett Harned share war stories, tips, tactics, and anecdotes on navigating the sometimes rough waters of getting digital projects done. On this episode, we discuss: The team that Greg leads at USAA, which focuses on investment products What it was like using Iomega zips and Jaz drives The biggest challenges that design organizations at large companies face Design has it’s seat at the table but we don’t realize that we have to push the campaign further Why designers should look to the IT industry for inspiration for communicating our value, how we impact business, and how to engage The impact of modeling your team and pace after the Bay Area “move fast” culture and failing cheap vs. failing fast Why designers needs to be good at business and be put on the hook and share responsibility for the performance of the things we make How agencies can be more involved in all of the hard design work that's needed after the initial design is delivered Why organizational empathy is just as important as user empathy Developing the skill of asking and understanding the “Why, What, and How” The book “Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win” Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

“Many designers don’t realize the challenges their leader faces.” Peter Merholz is the VP of Design at Snagajob and co-author of “Org Design for Design Orgs”. He previously co-founded Adaptive Path, which is now part of the Capital One Design. In between all of this, Peter was also Funsize’s first client during his time at Groupon. It’s been a couple of years since Peter’s been on the Hustle Podcast and we’re really excited to have him back. On this episode, Anthony and Peter chat about designing design teams, Peter’s new talk “The Four Archetypes of The Complete Design Leader”, design job titles, why Product Management is the new User Experience, and more. More on Peter’s Four Archetypes of Design Leadership: As designers become design leaders, they need to leave behind what made them successful and embrace new approaches to their work. And when they realize just how much there is to do, it can feel overwhelming. In this talk, Peter draws upon 20 years of leading design teams to provide a memorable framework for understanding all aspects of the role. As a Coach, you manage down to get the most out of your team. The Diplomat manages across, developing relationships with functional peers. The Advocate manages up, championing their team's work to executives and other stakeholders. And the Architect figures out the tools and frameworks necessary to support the design organization as it scales. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

Last year was a really big year for Funsize. Because the agency was growing, we focused 2017 towards designing our design team, hiring, developing employee growth plans, launching new cultural endeavors, developing new services, and investing in our future. Tony Sanchez joins Funsize’s Partners Anthony and Natalie Armendariz to talk about all of this and a recent interview on the InVision blog called “Designing a Design Team”. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest

The intersection of passions is at the center of this talk with designer Greyson. She discusses her journey to learn skills enough to shift from graphic design to product design. After finding employment and working in that field in the bay area for a while she's now pushing herself again. Striking out on her own, she’s established a freelance collective full of designers with varied skill sets called Wild and Grey. Greyson’s work in photography, and specifically portraiture, is a reflection of her passion for people-centered design. Considering her audience as individuals, rather than as generic users, enables Greyson to have deeper connection to the things she’s making. One of the keys to this is cognitive empathy, which relies on understanding, rather than absorbing, someone else’s experience. Greyson discusses her journey and the importance, and challenges, of both finding and facilitating mentorship. Whether looking to gain a new skill, navigating freelance life, or feeling comfortable speaking at conferences, Greyson’s philosophy is: say yes, grab any opportunity you have to learn, and, ultimately, just make shit. “Just make sh*t.” On this episode we discuss : Diversity on design teams Designing for real life Importance of mentorship Human-centered design Advantages and challenges of freelance work Role of empathy and psychology in design Responses to criticism and building relationships with clients You can see more of Greyson’s work, and learn about her freelance collective at her website: www.greysonmacalpine.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Many people lavish in immersive experiences when they hear VR, but companies like Facebook strive to push the boundaries of how people can and will interact with their social network, businesses around them and places around the globe. Gabriel Valdivia talks about his work exploring the possibilities of VR technology for Facebook and the importance of the tools to work in and on VR will be. Coming from a background of product design and visual storytelling, Gabe discusses making the leap to VR, a field that is still being defined. “I am wired this way. I’m excited by new problems that haven't been figured out yet and that’s kind of where I thrive. There’s a lot of people like that in VR today.” In the episode of Hustle, Gabriel Valdivia and Anthony Armendariz talk about his work exploring the possibilities of VR technology for Facebook and how they are seeing an opportunity to introduce the technology in media already familiar to their users. On this episode we discuss: The intersection of design and VR Spectrum of VR and AR technology Rapid growth of VR startups Business challenges of developing new technologies Resources for learning about VR technology Facebook offers resources for design and VR at http://facebook.design/vr You can learn more about Gabe Valdivia and his current projects and podcasts at http://www.gabrielvaldivia.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

We don't usually talk about business on the show, but the head of BASIC was willing to talk about how he runs his and we were happy to listen (and take notes). Matt Faulk is BASIC's CEO and executive creative director. He always knew he wanted to do something big and is not surprised he ended up leading a company that does award-winning work brands like Apple / Beats by Dre, Nixon Watches, and BB Dakota. "I had this idea of never settling... I just wanted to do good work — but I don’t mean good work as in creative work, I mean really solving client’s business issues, aligning ourselves as partners..." His career has taken him all over the place, from basketball and professional BMX riding to bartending and graphic design. He says his goal with BASIC was to build a company where everyone involved had a stake in it, a say in it, and helped decide its direction moving forward. Today, BASIC leads creative efforts across traditional and digital initiatives for some of the world's biggest lifestyle brands. Matt says they got there by engulfing themselves in their clients' businesses, becoming experts at doing small things well, and by putting people in the right spot. He also credits his network and the relationships he has built over the years. “I wish in my younger years I would’ve focused more time on networking, which is why I’m trying to do it now. Because your network is everything. You never know when opportunities are gonna come....Just help people out, it always comes back.” On this episode we discuss: Matt’s background and original vision for BASIC. Finding the ideal team size. Investing in growth and following your gut. Constant learning and networking. Finding your competitive edge. The commoditization of design. Focusing on production vs. ideation. Adapting to client needs. How to influence change and growth from within. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you've ever used the hashtag, you've used a Chris Messina creation. For over a decade, Chris Messina has worked to transform and reimagine the way we look at the world and the way we interact with technology. A self-proclaimed “master of none,” Chris focuses on improving behavioral technology and the social web. Chris has worked in large and small operations, from owning Citizen Agency to being a part of large-scale enterprise companies like Google and Uber where he's worked to expand, cultivate, and advocate for the developer community. Chris just parted ways with Uber, where he was the developer experience lead. He is currently focusing on conversational products and, specifically, how the use of artificial intelligence (IA) and bots can profoundly affect self-driving and automated vehicles. He believes that conversational technology is the new wave of contextual design and that speech-based user interface can provide a shift into simpler technologies. "Imagine an army of bots that are your friends, or are essentially extensions of your friends, that allow you to tap into their extensive contextual knowledge about the subjects that you need information about. The biggest question and task is devising a way to bring all this information together and in a form that gives us more power and control over that experience, and can make the most interesting and useful knowledge available to those people into the right times and moments." On this episode we discuss: The hashtag: the idea, the reception, and what it's like today. The early days of the Internet. The cyclical nature of design and how success sometimes comes from defeat. The power of the Internet. Open source and how the idea came about. The ethics of creating bots. Conversational UI Automated vehicles Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

For over 20 years, Marc has been a designer. From working at startups like Designed by Humans, TeeFury to Co-Founding Flick where he worked to redesign Youtube in 2011 after being acquired by Google. When Marc was at Google, he was a very valuable asset and collaborator with teams across Google to design the Google X self-driving car project and Chromecast. After spending 4 years with Google Marc left and started North, then went on to become the CEO and Founder of Design, Inc. "We should all be finding out what is going to make you happy and how are you going to figure out what's going to make you happy. How are you going to figure out how to truly be happy? and be self-aware enough to change things in your life to be grateful and have gratitude.." A designer's work is a direct representation of how they think the world should look and feel and their work is a story of how they were raised, where they grew up, the music they listen to and every piece of who they are. Designers are passionate and emotional about what they do because of the type of person they. To a designer, design is more than just a business. On this episode we discuss: Transparency in client relationships. Self-awareness in the approach of a proposal to a client. Be willing to help people even if it seems shaky because being good to people will usually yield positive results for everyone involved. Be willing to take risks to get a project. Do good work with good people and you'll succeed. Make an agreement on the relationship and how it will work. If it feels fishy, get out! Look inside yourself for the answer. Stop judging each other and stop pattern matching each other. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Dan Mall lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the CEO of Superfriendly, a design collaborative that seeks to connect talented and passionate people with design and development projects all around the globe. Since 2012, he and his company have worked with companies like: Google, Apple New York Times, Carnegie Mellon, About.com, Oreilly, TechCrunch, Entertainment Weekly and many more to produce delightful products and user experiences. Before Superfriendly, Dan was at Big Spaceship, Happy Cog and a Technical Editor at A List Apart. Dan is dedicated to elevating our industry and training designers. Right now, Dan is pushing the needle in the way large organizations connect with their users and their devices. From Insurance transparency to understandable and usable weather data to diminishing the barrier to a new career, Superfriendly and Dan Mall are working to widen the perspective of what design means to real people and how real people can impact the future of design. "I think that my mission, at least when it comes to work, is connecting people to opportunities, they wouldn’t have had otherwise. I feel like that’s the thing I’m good at and that’s the thing I can do for people and so that’s kind of what’s been on my mind lately." Dan has a unique perspective on the design community and the industry as a whole and has made it his personal mission to make a difference to improve: diversity in technology, mentorship career transitions and the overall training and building of design team to name a few. As a personal belief, Dan created the Superfriendly Academy to create an apprenticeship program that helps people in the process of making a career transition. He works to not only provide the opportunity for someone to gain a new career skill but the professionalism that goes along with that skill for that person to greatly succeed. On this episode we discuss: The concept and success of a non-traditional design collaborative, Superfriendly. Superbooked and how this product could help him and users like you maintain your professional network. The idea of the human connection and that working together is a good way to get to know each other better. How finding the right project for the right person can produce great results. The lack of diversity in the tech industry. The Superfriendly Academy and their apprenticeship program. The differences between and apprenticeship and an internship. Career transitions and the value of mentorship. The success story of Greg the apprentice. Follow Dan here: @danmall www.superfriend.ly Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Mike Buzzard is a Design Manager on the UX Community and Culture team at Google where he works on shaping, resourcing, supporting, and guiding a range of programs and projects that are designed to ensure the health and success of UX at Google. He also recently helped design the first of its kind undergraduate degree in User Experience Design at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). He’s currently working with other design leaders to elevate the craft of design in emerging design cities and is an investor and advisor to many awesome companies. Previously, Mike co-founded the design agency Cuban Council with his friends and collaborators, Toke Nygaard and Michael Schmidt. They created a company that could focus on making great things the way they thought it should be made. In their 10 year run, they were able to design cutting edge digital product design solutions for companies like Facebook, Google, Zendesk, Rdio, Quora, Evernote, and Epitaph Records. "It's hugely important to understand what you're capable of contributing and being surprised with the outcome when you partner with someone that brings a different aspect to the work.... When you collaborate with people and get their input and perspective it can be extraordinary and that's what gets me out of bed every day." Back in day as a “Creative Developer”, he helped usher in early generations of web designers and digital product designers through his commitment and contributions to sites like k10k.net, newstoday.com, designiskinky.net, and many more. On this episode we discuss: How Mike helps evangelize, elevate, and grow design at Google by working with a wide array of design teams, design leadership, business units, partners, and agencies. What it was like doing web design back in the old school days when folks were hacking art and code to make unique web site and discovering the vast opportunities. Remember pixel fonts? The story of building Newstoday.com. His experience being hired by Brett Gurewitz from Bad Religion (one of his personal heros) to redesign Epitaph Record’s. How Cuban Council was started, how they grew, and why they eventually closed the doors. Why collaboration and a perspective of value is important to doing great work, and why it's important to always be sharing. Why designers needing to trust and believe that we’re “doing what’s right for people most of the time” and that before being able to deliver a argument that's convincing and compelling, you have to be confident. The story about a time when a young Mark Zuckerberg asked him to define design while they were working on the Facebook Logo. Follow Mike here: @mbuzzard www.zopilote.co Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Mae Reed is an interaction designer at Rackspace, part-time development instructor with Girl Code It and a pillar in the Austin design community. She has a talent for understanding the value of designing through open lines of communication due to her first-hand experiences with designing and developing and feels that both designers and developers should be working together from the onset of the project to consider affordances and constraints. Mae is also an active and organizational member of an Austin meetup group, Fresh2Design, where she seeks to make connections with new designers and help them find their place in the Austin design community. In this episode, Anthony sits down with Mae Reed to talk about how the way communication can not only be the champion of success in a smaller agency but also create a pathway for designers, developers, and clients to accomplish enterprise goals, together. Follow Mae here: Twitter: @maebees web: maekr.co [email protected] Rackspace: Twitter: @rackspace web: rackspace.com Fresh2Design: Twitter: @fresh2design web: fresh2design.com Girl Develop It @girldevelopit web: girldevelopit.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

As Interaction Design Lead for 3M's Health Care Business Group, Andy Vitale is excited about making an impact in the healthcare space and designing meaningful healthcare solutions at the enterprise level. Andy believes that being proactive in the enterprise environment is the best way to get the conversation started about designing successful solutions for enterprise problems. He also knows that it's important to always inform and educate people on what exactly it is that you do because it's more valuable when other people buy into and support what you do than simply speaking for yourself, especially on the enterprise level. In this episode, Andy sits down with Anthony to discuss his perspective on ways to measure the impact of user experience, UX processes with his team and 3M, and how to grow user experience competency within a large organization like 3M. Follow Andy here: Twitter: @andyvitale 3M: Twitter: @3mdesign Web: 3M Design & Careers Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Being able to juggle an overwhelming amount of tasks, responsibilities and day to day activities comes down to how well you're able to carve out enough time to do the things that matter most to you each and every day. Charlie Waite started his career with Focus Labs in Savannah, Georgia and learned the value of the hustle and how to make an impact in fast paced high demand, agile environment. After living and breathing the agency world Charlie sought to find a company, role, and environment that he identified with and work with disciplines that he hadn't had a lot of interaction with. Charlie found that opportunity with GoPro as their UX/UI Design Manger for their software team and was able to dig in and work with teams to design consumer facing products and be a part of creating a universal design language that spans the entire company In this episode, Charlie sits down with Anthony to discuss what it meant for Charlie to make the transition from client services to more product focused design, what it means for Charlie to work directly with people, and how what you do outside of work can make a huge impact on your productivity, success, and overall level of happiness. Follow Charlie here: Twitter: @charliecwaite Dribbble: charliewaite Web: charliewaite.me Gopro Twitter: @gopro Focus Lab Twitter: @focusLabLLC Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

From designing things to designing educational training, Travis has a passion for project management and digital solutions. Partnering with his wife Rachel to create louderthanten to instruct a project management curriculum to help improve the way teams work together, streamline their creative design processes and allow insight into how project managers solidify the client relationship; Travis is passionate about creating a culture of education on the web. In this episode, Anthony and Travis get down to the details of dynamic thinking and what it means to Travis to find better ways for teams to work together and pull from different design methodologies to design better solutions to create lasting client relationships. Follow Travis here: @travisgertz @louderthanten travisgertz.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you've ever shopped online with Nike or booked a cruise with Norweigan Cruise lines you might have used a product that Ben Peck was part of Designing. Ben is a busy guy and he spends a lot of time working with Needle.com to design e-commerce chat interfaces and paradigms that help people feel confident in purchases they make. In addition to his full-time, job Ben has been pivotal in the creation and growth of Frontutah.com and a creator of The Product Design Association. Ben has a passion for elevating his local design ecosystem by providing networking opportunities, educational events and enabling ways for people to share what they're doing, how they're doing it and how they've become better doing what they do. In this, episode Ben and Anthony sit down to discuss a wide variety of topics ranging from the Utah design community to his role in the organization of the Front design conference to what Needle does and how they are designing better ways for conversations between humans and computers. Ben Peck @benpeck benpeck.com Needle @needleit needle.com Front @front frontutah.com vimeo.com/frontutah The Product Design Association @pdautah productdesignutah.org Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

From starting a company with his wife in the basement of his home to presenting his start-up company to a daunting crowd of Canadian angel investors, Mikael Cho of Crew and Unsplash, has been able to consciously push himself and the people around him to new levels of success. In this episode, Mikael and Anthony discuss the journey that Mikael's taken to find his professional path and how that path created his perspectives on growth, success and life as a whole. Mikael believes building trust into new business relationships and knowing that growth is organic and in his eyes, is the most successful way to be true to yourself, your client and your craft. Originating in design and development, Crew seeks to help freelancers and studios establish consistency and Companies in need of Creative talent find the best available to them . Holistically, Crew supports freelancers and studios in removing the troublesome aspects of business in order to focus on letting those people do what they do best, create. Be sure to check out crew.co and unsplash.com Twitter: @crewlabs and @mikaelcho Medium: https://medium.com/@crew Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Claudio Vallejo is a passionate Freelance Web-Designer and Front End Developer by way of Monterrey, Mexico. Beginning in the Baylor business school and through the Baylor Accelerated Ventures Project, there he discovered design and development and was given his first experience in product design. In this episode, Claudio and Anthony sit down to discuss everything from how a failed college project would ignite his creative passion to his perspective on turning ideas into reality to the challenges faced as a non-us citizen looking to land a design job. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you know anything about Funsize, you know we love to collaborate and Johnnie Hamn is no different. Through his 16 years of hands-on design experience and believing strongly in cooperative and collaborative design; Johnnie comes to the table with his perspective on what it means to be a design leader and client advocate at Funsize. In this episode, Anthony and Johnnie sit down and talk about his role at Funsize and the idea of selfless leadership, going the extra mile to build trust with the client, what it means to transition a client into a design partner. Anthony and Johnnie have been friends for a very long time so they discuss a wide range of topics in this episode but one topic they focus on is how investing in relationships can elevate client services, and more often than not, make them profitable. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

If you've played Monument Valley then you've seen a slice of the ustwo pie. Three years ago, ustwo explored the state and future of the digital consultancy industry, posing the question “How, When, and Where Will The First Truly Great Digital Design Studio Emerge?“. Now, three years later, Jules followed up with his essay "The State of the Digital Nation 2016" where he provided an in-depth, four-pronged approach to building the digital studio of the future. "The industry has experienced seismic shifts and a sweeping wave of consolidation. So let’s take another look at the state of the digital nation and why, for the bold, great opportunity lies ahead." On this episode, I get an opportunity to talk to Jules about this important piece of writing and what the future of agencies look like in order to remain relevant, build trust, and create meaningful impact. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Dann​ is a full-time freelancer and is known around the world for his skill and encouraging personality. If you've seen HBO's Silicon Valley, Google, Airbnb, Uber, Medium, Boosted Boards and Luxe Valet; then there's a chance you've seen his work. He's also the Founder and organizer of the Epicurrence and Montues events, which are life experience inspirational and adventure oriented events for designers. They're EPIC. Dann has been traveling around the United States interviewing designers for a movie he's making about freelance designers. Over the last couple of months, he's gained some new personal perspectives on work, life, balance, and the meaning of success. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Tony Sanchez, Product Designer at Funsize discusses the journey of his career path from textile design, to print, to screen printing, to digital product designer. Anthony and Tony talk about Funsize's Design Apprentice Program, and Tony sheds light on his experience at Funsize and shares a few tips for new designers. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

A few months ago, Andre, one of Funsize's product designers decided he wanted to move on to greener pastures in Bend, Oregon. But he still wanted to work with Funsize and we didn't want to lose him either. As he's gone out to live in a tiny house on some beautiful mountain land in Oregon, he's learned a whole new curve to working entirely remote. Rick and Anthony chat with him about how the adjustment has been going. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Victor is a user experience (UX) researcher with a passion for representing the voice of the end user in product design decisions. He writes and speaks on the application of psychology to design. He's written for A List Apart, Smashing Magazine, UX Booth, User Experience Magazine, and more. He's the author Design for the Mind, a book from Manning Publications on the application of principles of psychology to design. about the book: Design for the Mind: includes 7 Psychological Principles of Persuasive Design teaches you to recognize how websites and applications can benefit from an awareness of our innate, natural responses as humans, and how to apply the principles to your own designs. listener discount: bit.ly/yocco1 https://www.manning.com Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Rick & Anthony discuss a recent article entitled State of the Digital Nation 2016 by Jules Ehrhardt. http://blog.marvelapp.com/state-of-the-digital-nation-2016/ Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Rachel Gertz, Partner, Systems Consultant & Trainer at Louder than ten discusses some philosophies around project management. And roles and disciplines as teams grow and projects evolve over time. Discussion points Emotional intelligence: empathy is taught. Be a champion for your team, they are dealing with a lot Should designers PM? Designers need to have empathy too When building teams hire less for fit, and more for the ability to make decisions based on business goals. PM's role needs to be unique because they need to be held accountable for project success/failure. Strategy focus Creative has the load of creativity, is it fair to have the role of asking the hard questions like scope, goals, body language. Links Soap conference (Travis speaks about Design Machines) Collaboration workshop - http://soapconf.com/edu-summit/ (workshop with Travis and Rachel) Design & content conference, Vancouver Fall workshop in Calgary, Canada TBA Article by Mike Davidson, former Design Director at Twitter Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Companies are looking for a partner these days, not just a design agency to throw a marketing budget at. When working with people and trying to establish trust, it takes a little time. There is also another side of the coin, in that It's possible to deteriorate trust. Finding out how to gain trust and not deteriorate it is step one. Listen in as Aaron O'Hearn discusses his path to Funsize, and also the nature of selling design work to product companies. We discuss some philosophies, as well as some practical aspects of business development. Resources mentioned in this episode: Breaking The Time Barrier [Invest in Lines, Not Dots][2] Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram [2]: https://bothsidesofthetable.com/invest-in-lines-not-dots-611f36491d73#.qgppg1l4p

Engineering has made leaps and bounds towards a more efficient process of building software since the early waterfall days. Agile methodologies have helped guide the way. As design has become more important to a product's success, designers have earned a seat at the table. Now design too has adapted to similar approaches to building software. What has helped us get to where we are and how we build? What has taken design so long to catch up with engineering? Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Now that we've had a chance to get back to real life, we are left with a few memories at Epicurrence Montues. There we're some fantastic experiences. In this episode Rick sits down with fellow Funsizers Natalie Armendariz, Phi Hoang and Edgar Briseño to discuss our experience at Epicurrence Montues. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

We briefly met Ben, Owner and Creative Director of Elegant Seagulls at Epicurrence. These guys do some killer work. We wanted to hear how they were able to inject personality into each and every design they create and keep up with such a high-level of clients and projects. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

While in the midst of escaping a the sxsw madness, we set up in Anthony's home to record a couple of episodes! In this one, we are excited to have Nick Robalik, Creative Director and Johnnie Hamn (who recently joined the Funsize team!🎉 ) share their experience as they both have worked at agencies in NYC and done work in the video game industry. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Steven Ray and Anthony Armendariz go way back. They had a company together prior to Funsize and in addition to hearing Steve's experience at Dialexa, they also tell the story of starting up a distributed mobile design boutique years ago. Since the Funsize office was taken over by sxsw, we decided to hang out in Anthony's kitchen and lay down some thoughts about our experiences together. Including how Rick first met Anthony which was the same time he met Steven Ray. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

What do you love about being a designer? How does geography affect your career? What do you want to be doing in 5 years? What's your least-favorite design trend? Interviewees Mae Reed - Freelance @maebees Mike Townson - Project 202 @miketownson Mike Blakesley - Project 202 @mikeblakesley Joshua Bullock - vauto @blisster138 Dan Benjamin - 5by5 @danbenjamin Haddie Cooke - 5by5 @haddiebird Chris Meeks - Hatbox @chrismeeks Clark Wimberly - Invision @clarklab Brian Peterson - Daily Fantasy Sports @ironcobratv Ryan Weaver - Creative Market @ryantheweave Danh Hoang - Adonit @danhhoang Nick Robalik - Creative Director @nickrobalik Jonathan Howell - Microsoft @ItsJonHowell Steven Ray - Dialexa @stevenray Ethan Leon - Thoughtbot @ethangl Amanda Donaldson - Spreadfast @AMDesignlovin Carlos Arellano - vauto @carlosarellano Bryan Smith - vauto Riley Spiller - Atlassian @RileySpiller Jonathan Haver - Rocksauce @jhTHUNDERmaker Jim Jordan - Funsize @JimJJordan Rachael LaCoss - Media General @RachelLaCoss Anthony Sanchez - Freelance Bryan Butler - Freelance @whatbryan Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

It's great to push the boundaries of design to make interesting work, but is it ok to break normal design patterns to do so? How do we convince clients that something outside of the typical design trends is the right choice? Lovably Dylan's latest Album Claye Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

How much research do you need before you can make some design decisions? Surely, this is different for each product, but at what point has their been enough research done for design to get started? Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

We invited Sam Kapila, Director of Instruction at The Iron Yard to discuss the approach to the unique challenges involved in her role. The Iron Yard is the world’s largest code school with full-time immersive courses in 20 cities. Taking a non-traditional approach to education on subject matter that is both complex and volatile. Sam has a unique position and perspective on where design solutions are applied to more than just screens. We we're also joined by Jim Jordan, Product Designer at Funsize and one of Sam's former students. Some subjects discussed in this episode: Thoughts on today’s product design processes Design principles, design assumptions, user thinking and design approach instead of "design thinking" When is the right time to get research in? When is it too much? Applying Design to non-design things Learning What doesn’t work "Pixel Perfect Design Thinking" - ha Designing for the imperfect scenario What's behind the design decisions we make? Books mentioned in this episode: A fine line, by Hartmut Esslinger http://www.amazon.com/Fine-Line-Strategies-Shaping-Business/dp/0470451025 Drive, by Daniel H. Pink http://www.danpink.com/drive/ Design Unbound, by Ann M. Pendleton-Jullian, John Seely Brown https://books.google.com/books/about/Design_Unbound.html?id=bFeMZwEACAAJ Just Enough Research, by Erika Hall https://abookapart.com/products/just-enough-research Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Design often needs a voice to communicate its intention. Tom Greever has recently published a book called "Articulating Design Decisions". Rick and Anthony sit down with Tom to talk through a critical skill that many designers lack. Tom Greever's book, published by O'Reilly: Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

How important is motion in a product? At what stage should you start thinking about motion in the design process? Is it better to spend time on the the pixel details or on the subtle motion details? Ben Cline, Founder and designer at renown agency Rally Interactive, talks with Anthony and Rick from Funsize about the importance of motion design in modern digital products and Rally's unique approach to designing meaningful motion. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Funsize is growing, and growing up. In this episode are some sincere thoughts around what's been going on in our little agency and what we want to do next. Here's a few topics we chat over: Getting new office space, designing for new platforms and for the input form of voice, interacting with robots, why we want to work with engineers, we want to do some UI for bowling alleys. What does it mean to be a design director? It's important to still design when you're working in a design leadership role. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Rick and Anthony continue their conversation from the previous episode as the conversation shifts from how we work on projects with our clients to how those projects end. The project is over, but the relationship is not. Funsize has been evolving offboarding and come up with a few ideas that help soften the landing. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Rick and Anthony discuss Funsize process. Keep project SOW's broad so it's easy to pivot. Track effort with velocity using pivotal tracker rather than fixed deliverable pricing. Price and design with complete transparency. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Funsize has a unique process and there's no one-size-fits-all. Clients coming in have unique backgrounds and context so there's a lot of custom fitting. Rick and Anthony discuss Funsize's process of onboarding clients and compare it with the experiences we design for onboarding users. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram

Hustle is back with season 2. Anthony recaps his experience at Epicurrence, Rick shares about speaking at Adobe MAX. Online streaming music services such as Spotify, Apple Music, and Google Play Music are compared in light of Rdio's recent announcement that they are shutting their service down after being acquired by Pandora. Visit the Funsize website Subscribe to The Funsize Digest Check out Funsize on Instagram