The Curiosity Department, sponsored by Wix Studio
264 episodes listed below
Design leaders from Figma, Google, and ServiceNow explain how AI is reshaping creative work.
Design Better treats design as a craft shaped by people, tools, constraints, and the occasional unexpected detour. Its conversations move from AI and design systems to coffee entrepreneurship, art, games, and music videos without losing the practical thread.
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Design Better is an interview-format podcast co-hosted by Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter, who speak with guests across design, technology, and adjacent creative fields. Most episodes are one-on-one conversations, though some are recorded live at industry events such as UserTesting's THiS Connect City Tour. Guests are frequently senior design and UX leaders at large technology companies — this sample includes Google's VP of UX for Search, ServiceNow's Chief Experience Officer, and Figma's VP of Design — discussing product launches, design system decisions, and how their teams are adapting to AI tools. A second recurring thread brings in figures from outside conventional tech design, such as Monty Python's John Cleese on the unconscious creative process, or authors like Tessa Forshaw and Rich Braden discussing innovation methodology and design thinking's limits. The hosts periodically produce 'Roundup' episodes that step back to synthesize a theme — most recently AI's effect on creative workflows — across several previous guest conversations, and occasionally reissue older video interviews as 'Video Rewind' audio episodes. Recurring subject matter includes generative and agentic AI in design practice, design thinking as a methodology (including critique of its overuse), enterprise versus consumer UX design, and the tension between structured process and creative intuition. Episodes run roughly 20 to 65 minutes and are sponsored by Wix Studio. The show suits working designers, UX researchers, and design managers trying to understand how design leadership functions inside large product organizations, particularly as AI reshapes workflows and role definitions. The tone throughout is professional and reflective, oriented around craft and career rather than industry gossip.
Made for: Working designers, UX researchers, and design leaders who want insight into how AI tools are changing creative practice inside major tech companies.
What sets it apart: Its guest roster leans on in-house design leadership at major tech platforms discussing shipped products rather than general design-advice practitioners, and it periodically synthesizes prior interviews into themed 'Roundup' episodes instead of running only standalone conversations.
Design Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with guests across many creative fields, helping you hone your craft, unlock your creativity, and learn the art of collaboration.Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.”
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Design Better makes the business of creative work legible through detailed conversations about leadership, collaboration, tools, pitching, and organizational judgment.
Design Better follows the decisions behind creative work, from building design teams to pitching investors and introducing AI-assisted tools. Eli Woolery and Aaron Walter favor substantial interviews and live AMAs, asking guests to explain how ideas move through organizations,…
Figma demos meet jazz improvisation, so your next design brainstorm has better company.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical case for treating innovation as a learnable team habit, not a moonshot culture reserved for specialists.
Rich Braden and Tessa Forshaw push innovation out of the Silicon Valley garage myth and back into the daily habits of teams. Their argument is useful because it lowers the barrier: innovation is not a credential, a special toolkit, or a moonshot reserved for a few visionaries.
Christopher Lyons argues that EQ, creative judgment, and lower barriers to creation are becoming serious business advantages.
Design Better uses Christopher Lyons' unusual career path to make a business case for emotional intelligence. Lyons went from producing music with Jermaine Dupri in Atlanta to Andreessen Horowitz, where he created the Cultural Leadership Fund and later became a general partner.
A practical case for building career range through small bets, real feedback, and curiosity across creative fields.
Design Better makes a clear career case for refusing the narrow lane, treating multidisciplinary work as a hedge against a labor market that keeps shifting underfoot.
A sharp conversation on AI search, provenance, and the business cost of making trust invisible.
Search is treated here as a product trust problem, not just a UX challenge. Rhiannon Bell, VP of User Experience for Google Search, talks through how a service people use dozens of times a day has to read intent, context, and credibility while generative AI changes what an…
A sharp, practical look at Medium's no-PM experiment and the design habits that help teams move faster.
Medium's move to eliminate product management gives this Design Better episode its business edge. Cassie McDaniel, Medium's head of design, frames the change around speed, craft, and the kind of product designer who can carry more of the work without waiting for a handoff.
A clear look at how Sonos framed dialogue clarity as both an accessibility problem and a product design opportunity.
Sonos's Arc Ultra makes a useful product strategy case: a premium hardware team finding a sharper customer problem inside everyday listening frustration.
A grounded AI-era design conversation on trust, user contact, and how IBM keeps product work tied to real needs.
Design Better uses IBM's AI moment to ask a management question that will sound familiar inside any large company: when the tools change, how do teams keep sight of the human problem they are supposed to solve?
John Cleese makes creativity sound less like inspiration and more like the discipline to sit with doubt, dead ends, and timing.
Design Better frames John Cleese's view of creativity as a practical operating habit, not a mystical gift. The conversation moves from his comic career into the less glamorous mechanics of original work: dealing with self-doubt, giving ideas room, accepting unproductive…
Long-form Apple talk with sharp product judgment and deep tech history.
Weekly film, music, and arts criticism from Monocle 24's Midori House studio in London.
Two product designers talk Figma workflows, button sizing, and AI design tools weekly.
Chris Coyier and Dave Rupert dissect CSS, CMS workflows, and AI coding agents weekly.
Stack Overflow's Ryan Donovan interviews founders and engineers on AI agents, protocols, and dev tools.
This episode explores how design should integrate with product teams in tech organizations, contrasting engineers as microscopes focused on immediate technical problems with designers as telescopes focused on user experience and product vision.
This episode features Bill Burnett discussing how to apply design thinking principles to find meaning in life through wonder, coherence, flow, and community, addressing modern challenges like loneliness and work dissatisfaction.
Mikon van Gastel, co-founder of Sibling Rivalry, discusses why presentation skills are more crucial than design skills for creatives, shares insights on modern experience design including work for The Sphere in Las Vegas, and explores the business challenges of running a creative agency.
Cognitive scientist George Newman discusses his research showing that creativity is a systematic process like archaeology rather than magical inspiration, covering stages of idea generation and challenging Silicon Valley beliefs about execution.
This episode features an interview with Academy Award-nominated production designer Fiona Crombie, exploring how production design creates physical environments that reflect characters' interior lives and shape storytelling in films.
This episode features Cecilia Brenner discussing how Design for Good mobilizes designers to create measurable impact on UN sustainable development goals through open-source projects while maintaining corporate careers.
This episode features a rewind interview with MoMA curator Paolo Antonelli exploring how design shapes culture through historical movements, digital design evolution, and the creative process.
This episode features an interview with pioneering game designer Jordan Mechner about creating classic games like Prince of Persia and Karateka, his development process, and his new graphic novel memoir.
This episode features sustainability professor Jeremy Faludi discussing why sustainable design often fails due to missing environmental considerations and explores practical solutions through systems thinking and biomaterial innovations.
Alison Rand discusses her concept of radical humanity as an alternative to radical candor, emphasizing heart-driven design operations and building meaningful workplace relationships.
This episode features author Austin Kleon discussing how to build a sustainable creative practice through consistent action, simple tools, and embracing constraints rather than waiting for inspiration.
This episode explores Leonardo Giusti's work at Archetype AI, focusing on building foundation models from real-world sensor data and his perspective on AI as a tool shaped by design metaphors rather than autonomous agents.
Grammy-nominated musician Sam Beam of Iron & Wine discusses his journey from visual art to music, his creative process, collaboration, and balancing work with family life.
This episode features Mark Wilson, Fast Company's Global Design Editor, reflecting on the transformative year of 2025 in design, discussing AI's impact, major industry events, and the resurgence of handcrafted work.
Aaron Draplin discusses his journey from skateboarding culture to becoming a prolific graphic designer, emphasizing work ethic, experimentation over perfection, and loving your work enough to show up daily.
This episode features an interview with creativity researcher Keith Sawyer, who discusses how creativity emerges through process and observation rather than initial insights, based on his book 'Learning to See'.
Epidemiologist Daisy Fancourt discusses how engaging with the arts has significant biological benefits comparable to exercise and diet, potentially extending lifespan through changes in gene expression.
This episode features an interview with Jae Park, VP of Digital Product Design at Ford's Electric Vehicle Digital Design Division, discussing the impact of AI on creativity, the importance of friction in design processes, and Ford's transition to affordable EVs.
Jessica Hische and Chris Shiflett discuss their journey from StudioMates to creating StudioWorks, a business platform for independent creatives that focuses on essential but unglamorous aspects like invoicing and project management.
Elizabeth Lin discusses how AI tools like Cursor are transforming design education by enabling faster prototyping and addressing gaps in traditional learning approaches.
Noah Levin, VP of Design at Figma with nearly eight years at the company, joins Design Better hosts Eli Woolery and Aaron Walter for an AMA recorded at Figma's San Francisco headquarters following Config 2024, where Figma doubled its product line with four new releases.
Sonos starts with dialogue, literally and practically.
Amy Lokey, Chief Experience Officer at ServiceNow, joins Design Better host Eli Woolery for a live interview recorded at UserTesting's THiS Connect City Tour in San Francisco on May 1st, covering her career from LinkedIn and Google Workspace to leading a nearly 1,000-person global UX team.
John Cleese, Monty Python co-creator and author of 'Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide,' is interviewed on the Design Better podcast about his framework for accessing the unconscious mind through play, structured time, and comfort with ambiguity.
AI wants to be liked.
At the New York Times, the tables turn.
Design Better host Eli Woolery presents a newsletter essay turned audio piece arguing that the most innovative creators of the current era share one trait: refusing to specialize.
Cassie McDaniel opens with craft over ego.
Trust moves into the middle of the design conversation.
Design Better hosts Aarron Walter and Eli Woolery synthesise AI-related interviews from the previous year, drawing on conversations with Scott Belsky (Adobe), Marcus Bell (Snoop Dogg producer), Matthias Hollwich (Hawken architecture), and Amy Loki (ServiceNow) to map how AI is reshaping creative roles, workflows, ethics, and tools.
Capsule comes in as relief from tool overload.
This episode features Cassie McDaniel, Medium's Head of Design, discussing how eliminating the product management function helped the company move faster while balancing thoughtful design and innovation.
Kamasi Washington treats a good song as connection.
Matt carries a tricky design brief.
Rhiannon Bell, VP of UX for Google Search, tells Design Better hosts Eli Woolery and Aaron Walter that generative AI is giving designers a 'blank slate' to rethink a product that has been defined for 27 years.
Chris Lyons discusses his transition from music production to venture capital, emphasizing how emotional intelligence (EQ) surpasses IQ in building successful careers and relationships.
This episode features Phil Gilbert discussing his successful transformation of IBM's 400,000-person company culture to prioritize design through opt-in change, design thinking frameworks, and winning over entrenched engineers.
This episode features author Ben Swire discussing his book 'Safe Danger' and exploring how to create psychological safety in teams to foster risk-taking, learning from failure, and productive collaboration.
This bonus episode celebrates 30 years of Wert&Co's impact on design, featuring a live panel discussion in NYC with industry leaders exploring how design has shaped the world and its future role amid technological advancements.
This episode features Astro Teller and Ivo Stivoric discussing how moonshot projects at Google's X require unlearning traditional approaches to tackle humanity's biggest challenges like climate change and sustainability.
Henry Modisett, VP of Design at Perplexity, discusses how AI is transforming design and user experience, emphasizing curiosity, transparency, and embracing ambiguity in AI-native product development.
Raffaela Panie discusses designing the brand and visual identity for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, balancing tradition, innovation, and Italian design heritage.
This episode features an interview with Nick Foster about his book on designing for the future, discussing challenges like ambiguous specs, ethical considerations, and moving beyond predictable thinking patterns.
YouTube's UX Director and Director of Product Management discuss their four-year effort to redesign the platform, balancing metrics-driven culture with modern design while exploring user perception, algorithm challenges, and features like comment threading and natural language feed tuning.
This episode features an interview with Tim Brown, co-founder of Allbirds, discussing how design thinking and mission-driven principles shaped the creation of sustainable fashion and business strategy.
This episode reflects on 30 years of design evolution, from early internet experiences to current AI challenges, drawing insights from interviews with creative leaders.
This episode features a roundtable discussion at Sequoia Capital with design experts Irene Au, Kevin Bethune, and James Buckhouse, focusing on how startups can use design to transform customers and improve collaboration.
Michael Fitzpatrick of Fitz and the Tantrums discusses achieving pop success in his 40s, the parallels between songwriting and product design, and finding fulfillment beyond creative dreams.
This episode features Brooke Hopper, Adobe's machine intelligence design lead, discussing how AI serves as a creative collaborator in design, the evolution of tools like Photoshop, and the importance of teaching taste over tools in design education.
Innovation is not a locked room.
This episode explores how Spanish-born illustrator Luis Mendo transitioned from design to illustration, emphasizing the value of human touch, craftsmanship, and creating authentic work in an increasingly automated world.
This episode features David Shim of Read AI and Rachana Rele of Adobe discussing how AI can amplify rather than replace creative work by removing drudgery and serving as a collaborative partner.
This episode features an interview with Marco Suarez, who transitioned from a successful design career in tech to founding Methodical Coffee, discussing how he applied design skills to entrepreneurship.
This episode features Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross discussing their book 'Your Brain on Art', exploring how art affects the brain, improves health and longevity, and enhances creativity in work and life.
An interview with the band OK Go about their creative process and elaborate music videos.
Interview with Jordan Mechner about creating Karateka and Prince of Persia, exploring game design, creativity, and the artistic process.
Brad Frost discusses the philosophy and tactics of building design systems, emphasizing collaboration and the role of AI.
An interview with Heidi Trost about designing secure and usable systems, discussing metrics for security experience and broken login/password recovery systems.
The hosts discuss how designers can become irreplaceable by expanding skills into coding and AI, using a personal example of building a Next.js app with ChatGPT.
Kevin Bethune discusses his book Non-Linear, emphasizing non-linear thinking and embracing ambiguity for innovation in design.
Idris Brewster discusses using augmented reality to create interactive memorials and fill gaps in historical memory.
Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter discuss design sprints and Jake Knapp's new book on foundation sprints for startups.
The hosts introduce a new show about navigating life's changes and share an interview with an expert on mastering change.
This episode is a holiday gift guide for designers and design enthusiasts, featuring curated product recommendations across various price points, starting with a Solo Stove pizza attachment for outdoor cooking.
This live episode at Savannah College of Art and Design features four design leaders discussing their non-linear career paths and lessons learned in the intersection of design and technology.
Exploring how AI is transforming creative workflows in design and architecture, featuring architect Matthias Holwitsch.
Interview with Enrique Allen of Designer Fund about how design strategy drives venture capital investment and startup success.
This episode explores the art of costume design in film, featuring interviews with a costume house owner and an Oscar-nominated designer.
An interview with product designer Vicki Tan about her career at Lyft, Headspace, and Spotify, and lessons in design and research.
An interview with sound designer Connor Moore about how sound shapes brand and user experience in technology.
A podcast episode recommending past interviews on management and leadership, featuring Julie Zhu discussing her book on becoming a better manager.
Exploring how design and technology can drive adoption of climate change mitigation technologies through a conversation with the team behind Quilt.
This episode discusses the art of interviewing users with Steve Portigal, focusing on avoiding bias and getting authentic responses to improve UX research.
An interview with astrophysicist Sarah Seeger about discovering exoplanets and the collaborative, creative process behind her work.
Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter interview Carissa Carter and Scott Dorley about their book Assembling Tomorrow, discussing how to design a thriving future amid rapid technological change and AI.
This episode features an interview with Cal Newport discussing how modern work practices contribute to burnout and offering solutions like quitting social media to improve productivity and well-being.
The hosts celebrate their 100th episode by reminiscing about favorite interviews with creative figures like John Cleese and David Sedaris.
A live panel discussion at Adobe on the role of design strategy and leadership in generative AI, exploring ethical AI development and its impact on creative careers.
This episode features an interview with Natsai Audrey Chieza, founder of Faber Futures, discussing how she combines architecture, biology, and design to create sustainable products using living systems like bacteria and fungi to address climate challenges.