User Defenders – UX Design & Personal Growth

Welcome to this very special, quite literally out of this world episode with my father, G.A. "Jim" Ogle. You know how they say it doesn't take a rocket scientist? Well, my Dad is one. On a recent vacation to Florida to celebrate his 80th birthday, he spent nearly three hours telling me his compelling story. G.A. "Jim" Ogle fell in love with airplanes at the early age of 8 years old. The circumstances that presented this initial passion were far from ideal. He was recovering in a hospital bed following a 7-hour surgery to essentially re-attach his badly mangled right leg from a horrible school bus wreck. He awoke from the operation to see a model airplane hanging down from a wooden structure over his bed that was to be used as a traction device to slowly pull his left leg back into place. It was broken at the hip and rammed almost three inches into his lower torso. His injuries would prevent him from being a pilot in the Air Force. But this reality would not deter him from being in the air with airplanes because 12 years later he became involved in space with missiles and rockets on his first job at Cape Canaveral, Florida in 1958. This was the beginning of his 51-year career of being associated with every manned moon mission and all 135 Space Shuttle missions. He finally got his layoff notice along with 8,000 other space workers following the final Shuttle mission, STS-135, in July 2011. He likes to tell folks questioning his unusual longevity in this field that he was fortunate to be "in the right place at the right time and the right age." He considers himself blessed for having had the opportunity to be a part of this truly exciting time in America's beginnings in space. Fun fact: Jim requires 10 lemons and multiple servings of tartar sauce with every seafood meal. The last lemon squeeze after the meal is used to clean his hands! Tragic Beginnings (08:50) Missiles (21:58) Meeting Wernher von Braun (42:36) Apollo I Fire (48:36) Moon Missions (55:55) How in the World Was this Possible? (67:27) Space Shuttle (87:57) Challenger: What Went Wrong? (105:35) Columbia: What Went Wrong? (112:08) Next Chapter of Space Travel (118:50) Takeaways from Space Stories (132:32) What Drove You to Overcome Your Adversity? (136:15) Advice for Those in the Midst of Adversity (139:48) In Closing (144:11) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/rocketman

Joshua Oluwagbemiga motivates us to allow different inputs to influence our visual outputs. He shows us the effective power of determination when pursuing the craft of design. He also reminds us that inspiration is all around us...if we're looking for it. Secret Identity/Origin Story (7:05) Biggest Superhero (18:50) Biggest Failure (22:26) Awkward Testing Story (26:14) Design Superpower (29:59) Design Kryptonite (30:55) UX Superhero Name (33:37) Fights for Users (35:15) Habit of Success (38:21) Invincible Resource (40:55) Recommended Book (43:29) Listener Question (45:40) Best Advice (51:07) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/044 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

On this special episode, Eric Meyer, Jeffrey Zeldman and I discuss the premiere web and UX design conference they started over a decade ago. We talk about the game-changing innovations that have come out of An Event Apart, as well as what to expect at User Defenders' very first Denver appearance on December 11-13, 2017.

Rachel Nabors gives us a deep-dive into the art & science of web animation. She motivates us to sell animation as a UX enhancement, rather than a delight factor. She also exhorts us to animate ethically and responsibly. Animation Origin Story (5:44) Getting Animation Buy-off (14:01) Animation is Not About Delight (20:47) Do I Have to Draw to Animate? (33:42) Web Animation Resources (36:41) Future of Banner Ads (46:27) Listener Question (50:59) 24 Hour Comic (55:44) Check out the detailed show notes at userdefenders.com/aaw This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

Laura Klein shows us how User Experience happens whether we design it intentionally or not. She paints a picture of what the the future of UX Design looks like. She teaches us if we're too close to a project, we ought to step back and let others do the research. She also uses a really effective medical analogy to remind us of the value of specialization. Secret Identity (5:44) Origin Story (10:56) Where is Design Going? (16:04) Do Titles Matter? (24:50) It Just Works? (29:20) Is Everyone a Designer? (32:56) What Drew you to User Research? (39:16) Awkward Testing Story (44:44) Listener Question? (49:58) Habit of Success (55:42) Invincible Resource (59:24) Recommended Book (63:00) Best Advice (65:30) Contact Info (68:55) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/043 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

Dan Brown inspires us to get great at asking questions because 'the question' is one of our most invincible resources. He reminds us to maintain a spirit of collaboration with the the team members we're struggling with since they care as much about the project as we do. He encourages us to always peer beneath the surface at the underlying structure of whatever we're working on. He also motivates us to never settle. Secret Identity (7:47) Origin Story (9:29) Biggest Failure (20:23) Awkward Testing Story (23:27) Design Superpower (28:04) Design Kryptonite (30:52) UX Superhero Name (33:50) Fights for Users (36:08) Habit of Success (40:54) Invincible Resource (43:27) Recommended Book (51:23) Practical Design Discovery (53:40) Overcoming Team Tension (57:00) Best Advice (69:04) Contact Info (71:48) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/042 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

Matt Griffin shows us how empathy and sensitivity to the world around us is the key to great design. He teaches us how as a leader, the worst decision is no decision. He explains how hands are his most invincible UX resource or tool. He also inspires us starting out to take 'every damn opportunity we can get'. Secret Identity (4:46) Origin Story (7:18) Bearded Closing its Doors (17:04) Biggest Failure (31:45) Awkward Testing Story (43:21) Design Superpower (45:44) Design Kryptonite (46:54) UX Superhero Name (50:07) Fights for Users (51:48) Habit of Success (63:25) Invincible Resource (65:22) Recommended Book (70:54) Best Advice (78:12) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/041 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

Laura Elizabeth believes developers can learn design. She articulates the importance of reflecting on our users' needs more than our personal tastes. She touches on how making a product makes us better designers. She also inspires us to always be genuine in our dealings with our customers if we want to build (and keep) trust. Secret Identity (4:05) Origin Story (9:55) Biggest Superhero (13:32) Biggest Failure (16:23) Design Superpower (20:54) Transition from Freelance to Product (23:04) Design Kryptonite (26:13) Design Superhero Name (29:34) Should Developers Design? (34:10) Habit Of Success (42:59) Invincible Resource (48:55) Book Recommendation (52:09) Listener Question (54:58) Best Advice (59:39) Connect & Keep Up (64:08) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/040 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

Joe Leech shows us how psychology helps frame what we're seeing in user research. He articulates why the superpower we need is understanding how business works. He inspires us get out of our seat and talk to executives in the organization more about the business. He also challenges us to not just always be shipping, but always be shipping the right things. Secret Identity/Origin Story (4:39) Biggest Superhero (14:50) Biggest Failure (22:37) Awkward Testing Story (30:03) Design Superpower (32:03) Design Kryptonite (33:34) Design Superhero Name (36:52) Fight For Users (42:03) Psychology & Design (43:05) Habit Of Success (49:48) Invincible Resource (51:26) Book Recommendation (54:40) Best Advice (57:49) Contact Info (59:46) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/039 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

"Do yourself a favor and show this to as many people as you possibly can, because this is going to be the world that we'll be living in. Being able to show this to somebody and see that click happen, and hear them say, 'Oh my God, my whole life just changed' is a really cool thing to witness." – Austin Knight Check out the detailed show notes at userdefenders.com/mr-2

"We are now in the midst of the largest technological revolution of our lifetime. Like that of the dawn of the PC or smartphone. It's not so much of a prediction as an observation we can make. We can see that it's actually happening before our eyes." – Austin Knight Check out the detailed show notes at userdefenders.com/mr-1

Femke encourages us to take pride in our process by being willing to show our crappy work. She shows us how every small step can lead to something big. She teaches us how we can achieve anything in life, if we're willing to take action. She also challenges us to wake up early to get the stuff done that we "never have time for". Secret Identity/Origin Story (2:26) Biggest Superhero (9:52) Biggest Failure (13:25) Design & Personal Growth (19:28) Crappy Work Article (23:36) Design Superpower (36:56) Book Recommendation (40:07) Design Kryptonite (43:47) Habit Of Success (47:05) Stay Inspired (53:26) Invincible Resource (55:09) Best Advice (57:56) Contact Info (60:32) Check out the detailed show notes and Eli Jorgensen's astonishing superhero artwork at userdefenders.com/038 This episode is brought to you by Adobe, makers of XD. Try it free at userdefenders.com/xd Get your FREE audiobook from Audible at userdefenders.com/freebook. No commitment. Cancel in 30 days, and you won't be charged. The book is still yours to keep.

Andy Vitale is using design to literally save lives. He shows us how empathy is the key to any product's success. He motivates us to stay driven, and bring our own seat to the table. He shows us how true leaders take the time to understand what drives their team. He inspires us to always […]

Buy the Book Buy Justin's great book through my Amazon affiliate link, and help User Defenders at no additional cost to you. Win/win! Buy Book "We create human-centered interactions and experiences in our field. Empathetic purpose drives our every decision. Mobile First? In reality, it's humans first. This same mentality, turned inward, forms the cornerstone […]

Nick Finck teaches us the value of being a connector, and mentoring other designers. He gives us a really compelling, dare I say accurate look into the future of UX. He inspires us to make sure we unplug every once in a while. He also motivates us to find the sweet spot between users, the […]

Samuel Hulick shows us how to build bridges for our users. He motivates us to make sure that the effort put into building the software is not wasted in the onboarding experience. He also inspires us to stay curious, and always be learning. Secret Identity/Origin Story (5:04) Onboarding Defined (9:30) Biggest Superhero (16:08) Biggest Failure (17:00) Weirdest Teardown (32:00) Design Superpower (39:20) Design Kryptonite (41:24) Design Superhero Name (42:40) Habit Of Success (48:30) Invincible Resource (50:23) How Much Is Too Much (52:00) Best Advice (64:20) LINKS Samuel's Personal Twitter Samuel's Professional Twitter Samuel's Website Product People, Mind the Gap! [ARTICLE] Never Mix Up Features with Benefits Ever Again [ARTICLE] The Art of Building (or Burning) Product Bridges [ARTICLE] Kathy Sierra (Business of Software 2009) [VIDEO] Extra Credits (YouTube) [VIDEO]

New Season Starts 6/12 If you're seeing this on your podcast player, you can also watch the video here. Greetings User Defenders! The new season is starting June 12th and I could not be more excited to share it with you. So much so that I put together a teaser reel. Oh, and I put […]

Jonathan teaches us how product managers are the glue between design and engineering. He reminds us that the most important role we can play in the success of a product is being a voice for the customer. He encourages us to never give up on our personal projects. He also motivates us as designers to […]

"I saw a study that said speaking in front of a crowd is considered the number one fear of the average person. I found that amazing. Number two, was death. Death is number two? This means, to the average person, if you have to be at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket […]

Andrea Picchi reminds us that the core of design is always about people. He dives deep into the importance of design thinking. He motivates us to embrace ambiguity, and to fail as often as possible without losing the job. He also inspires us to believe in design and to always defend the user's point of […]

Sarah Doody inspires us to break out of our comfort zones early & often if we want to achieve great things. She teaches us that our drawings should serve more as a communication tool than an art project. She encourages us to tap into our superpowers of using both sides of our brain. She also […]

Mat Marquis reminds us that web design is scrappy business. He inspires us to fight for what we truly believe in. He shows us how we can take our designs and skills further by learning a little code. He motivates us to continue to hone our communication skills by writing a lot. He also encourages […]

Aaron Gustafson inspires us to build a web for all people. He encourages us to keep an open mind about perspectives that are different than our own. He motivates us to keep focused on context when it comes to the users we're designing for. He also challenges us to plant seeds of growth in others […]

Ling Lim inspires us to be relentless in our pursuit of the person we want to become. She teaches us to create products that connect with our users and their lives by becoming them as much as possible. She challenges us to not sacrifice the sentimental quality of a product when we design for it […]

Chris Coyier teaches us that if we care about succeeding in something, we need to be willing to persist for a long time. He inspires us to grab hold of the joy that comes from building for ourselves, too. He encourages us to not just use a framework because we're "supposed to", but to use whatever tool is right for the job. He also enlightens us to the superpower of using SVG in practical ways. LINKS Chris' Twitter Chris' Website CSS-Tricks CodePen The Snowballing Of Practice Made By [VIDEO]

After nearly a year of consistent podcasting, it's time for me to hit pause… You can also read about this.

I have a listener survey and one of you suggested Nir Eyal as a superguest. Today (thanks to your suggestion) I got to interview the man himself. Nir is the author of the buzz-worthy book Hooked: How To Build Habit-Forming Products. Nir did not disappoint. The guy is a wealth of knowledge and you'll notice listening […]

Aarron Walter inspires us to always try and see the big picture. He challenges us to produce more grounded work by getting outside our bubbles, and feeling a bit more pain. He shows us how storytelling is central to the human experience and transcends our medium. He also inspires us to maintain plenty of inputs […]

Nikkel Blaase reminds us that we are not our users. He encourages us to make time for deep thinking. He teaches us that without failing, there's no learning. He guides us to not spend too much time figuring out a solution if we don't know what the problem is. He shows us how creating value […]

Ashley Karr teaches us that we can't be exceptional at generalizing. She encourages us to always work with the people for whom we are designing. She motivates us to always trust ourselves and our instincts. She shows us how planning and organization are key contributors to success. She also inspires us to give back by […]

Francisco Inchauste teaches us that the best design is invisible. He enlightens us to how we can learn something from anyone, and to appreciate the people who surround us. He reminds us of the importance of validating our work. He also inspires us to always add value to even the smallest things and to not […]

Austin Knight motivates us to just start making things. He encourages us to keep designing, even if it isn't our job yet. He teaches us how the future of UX is all about expansion and that there's never been a better time to be a designer. He also inspires us to not only fight for […]

Jordan Dobson inspires us to never stop learning and be generous in sharing knowledge with others. He encourages us to craft prototypes in order to gain valuable insight early and often. He challenges designers to gain empathy for their developers by learning a bit about code. He also shows us how the little details can make […]

Drew Lepp encourages us to learn the business side of technology in order to achieve greater success with our designs. She encourages us to always know why we're doing what we're doing, and to be able to clearly articulate why every element on the page is there. She inspires us to fight on in our […]

Don't miss Part I of this unforgettable interview. Jeffrey Zeldman inspires us to not underestimate our users by always testing our assumptions–because we're often wrong. He reminds us of the tremendous value of writing and synthesizing our thoughts. He teaches us to never underrate our gut instincts. He also encourages us to stay enchanted in […]

Don't miss Part II of this unforgettable interview. Jeffrey Zeldman dives deep into his origin story to enlighten us on how he got started on the Web. He inspires us to not get caught up in the buzzwords, but to keep it simple and clear. He also gets vulnerable to reveal how overcoming his biggest […]

Design for Real Life is a profound and inspiring book. The more things become automated and robotic, the more evident the need to remain human becomes. This book compels us to strive to stay human especially in our approach to how we design for other humans. It deeply challenges the long-held status-quo of resistance to […]

Pek Pongpaet teaches us that the key to successful UX is in pattern recognition and application. He reminds us of the power of visual hierarchy in that if something's important, it should never be buried. He reminds us of the power of observation and in testing our product with users. He also inspires us to […]

David Demaree reminds us of the value of simplicity, brevity, and editing. He encourages us to know who are users are and where they're coming from. He inspires us not to get too wrapped up into the closeness of our own material and not take the criticism of our work too personally. He also teaches […]

Victor Yocco teaches us that standing out in our work involves identifying human needs, and always being willing to address them. He enlightens us that failure leads to greater things, but our motivation should be not to fail. He shows us how practicing perseverance is a great habit to get into because it always pays […]

Alexa Leigh Herasimchuk inspires us to go find our why and to not fear reaching out to people who inspire us. She teaches us that the future of UX should be integrated into our education system. She reminds us that we can't make people care, but we can build things people care about. She also […]

Rachel Andrew inspires us to understand people who are not like us because most often the products we design are not for us. She motivates us with her successful habit of GTD (Getting Things Done). She teaches us that solid attention to detail and ability to execute can be more important than specific technical skills. […]

Khoi Vinh teaches us that designers can do their best work by drawing on many different sources and working on different challenges simultaneously. A big fan of breaking large problems up into actionable chunks and making lists of all those things that need to get done, Vinh enjoys articulating the value of the design process […]

Dan Mall inspires us to get really good at what we do by constantly practicing it. He reminds us of the importance of work/life balance and setting the right priorities. He also reminds us that there's a big difference between being a leader and being a boss, and how great leaders are always looking for […]

KaL MichaeL teaches us that empathy is less of something we practice and more of a result of patience and perseverance. He challenges us to remain humble enough to know that we do not know everything, and what we don't know will always far surpass what we do know. He also encourages us to own […]

Golden Krishna teaches us that it's possible to reduce our amount of screen time and still solve people's problems elegantly in the background. He enlightens us to how much we're all drowning in screens. He also shares with us that our stuff isn't good enough, and it never will be because as designers we're always […]

In lieu of our normal episode, I wanted to do a quick Year End Review to offer a retrospective of 2015 and a glimpse into 2016 by addressing these three things: Things Accomplished Top 3 Learnings From Guests This Year What to expect from UX/UD in 2016 I can't thank you enough for your enthusiastic […]

Jeff Barnaby inspires us to pay attention to the unseen and always keep it simple. He shares with us that organization is the most important factor to success. He also encourages us to keep ourselves and our clients educated and that ours and our clients personal preferences should come last and our users' should come […]

Josh Clark inspires us to not forget to splash in puddles and give ourselves permission to play in our work. He encourages us to not just tell our story, but to find out our users' story and craft our experience and technology around that. He also shares with us that the things we make are […]

Ben Callahan inspires us to be passionate about the interfaces we design and put ourselves in the shoes of the people who are using them to do amazing things. He shares a really interesting parallel from Jazz music to the work we do. He reminds us to make every day count by first thinking about […]