Design Better cover art
Podcast · 66 episodes

Design Better, page 3

by The Curiosity Department, sponsored by Wix Studio · English

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.”

All episodes, page 3

The Brief: How our recent past should prepare us for the age of AIHow lessons from ~30 years of design—especially the early internet and social media—should guide design for the age of AI, emphasizing ethics, trust, and “slow design.”20 Oct 2025 · 15 min · 10 chapters
Fitz and the Tantrums: Finding your creative voice in your 40's and why success feels different than you thinkCreative voice and success in your 40s/50s; how Fitz and the Tantrums prototype live shows, use constraints, and create audience co-creation; parallels between songwriting and product design; finding…15 Oct 2025 · 29 min · 11 chapters
Bonus Episode: 30 years of design with Wert&Co, live in NYC featuring Paola Antonelli, Mark Wilson,Kate Aronowitz, Mike Davidson, and Meaghan ChoiThis bonus episode marks 30 years of Wert&Co/Wharton Company’s influence on design, with a live NYC panel at Design Better.10 Oct 2025 · 1 h 12 min · 32 chapters
Rewind: Paola Antonelli: How design shapes culturePaola Antonelli (MoMA) discusses how design shapes culture and human experience, using a “goals and means” framework to connect physical materials and code.1 Oct 2025 · 59 min · 27 chapters
Keith Sawyer: Become more creative by learning to seeCreativity as improvisation and “learning to see” through iterative, ambiguous studio-like processes; creativity emerges from engaging with your work, not from starting with a brilliant insight.24 Sep 2025 · 28 min · 10 chapters
Jae Park: Designing a new generation of vehicles at Ford, and why friction matters in the creative processJay Park (Ford VP Digital Product Design) discusses how AI changes design speed and interfaces, why “friction” and Socratic questioning matter, and how Ford is integrating software into EVs while…23 Sep 2025 · 47 min · 22 chapters
Astro Teller & Ivo Stivoric: Why moonshots require unlearning everything you knowHow Google X’s “moonshot factory” tackles world-scale problems by defining the right question, unlearning product-building assumptions, and testing hypotheses with tiny early teams and budgets.10 Sep 2025 · 27 min · 10 chapters
Henry Modisett: Perplexity’s VP of Design on embracing ambiguity and leading with curiosityHenry Modisette (Perplexity VP of Design) discusses designing AI-native products by embracing ambiguity and curiosity, earning trust through robust, sourced answers, and shifting from “AI as a…3 Sep 2025 · 47 min · 20 chapters
Elizabeth Lin: Rethinking design education in the age of AIElizabeth Lin discusses how AI tools—especially Cursor and Figma-connected “MCP servers”—can reshape design education and product prototyping, emphasizing faster iteration, vibe coding, and the…26 Aug 2025 · 20 min · 9 chapters
Nick Foster: Could, Should, Might, Don't—a new way to think about designing for the futureNick Foster explains how to think about designing for the future when outcomes are unknowable, dead ends are likely, and ethics matter.20 Aug 2025 · 59 min · 23 chapters
Tim Brown: Allbirds co-founder on mission-driven design and entrepreneurshipTim Brown (Allbirds co-founder) discusses mission-driven design, sustainable materials, and entrepreneurship—how to turn design thinking into real environmental impact, not “platitudes,” and how to…14 Aug 2025 · 22 min · 12 chapters
Matt Raw: Balancing legacy and innovation at The New York TimesMatt Raw, Interim VP of Design at The New York Times, discusses designing for a mission-driven organization while balancing tradition and innovation across NYT’s “bundle” of products, including how…6 Aug 2025 · 47 min · 19 chapters
The Brief: Microscopes and telescopesHow to integrate design with product/engineering (design as “telescope,” engineering as “microscope”), and how cross-functional teams learn each other’s “languages” to reduce friction.30 Jul 2025 · 10 min · 5 chapters
Rhiannon Bell: Designing the future of search at GoogleRhiannon Bell (Google VP UX for Search) discusses how Google is redesigning search for generative AI—shifting from keyword results to multimodal, intent- and trust-aware experiences (including AI…23 Jul 2025 · 20 min · 11 chapters
Bonus Episode: Inside Sonos's distributed research & design process for the Arc UltraSonos’ distributed R&D and design process behind Arc Ultra, including the MITE-based sound motion transducer, Dolby Atmos 9.1.4 soundbar tuning, and on-device AI speech enhancement for clearer…17 Jul 2025 · 31 min · 16 chapters
Noah Levin: AMA with Figma's VP of Design on their latest releasesNoah Levin (Figma VP of Design) gives an AMA-style overview of Figma’s latest Config releases and how Figma is evolving into a multi-product “creative operating system,” with emphasis on community…16 Jul 2025 · 1 h 4 min · 25 chapters
Design Better Live AMA at The New York TimesDesign Better’s live AMA at The New York Times with interim head of design Matt Raw, where hosts Eli Woolery and Aaron Walter discuss the podcast’s origin, how they find creative guests, audience…9 Jul 2025 · 47 min · 19 chapters
Video Rewind: Kamasi Washington: A jazz genius on collaborative lessons learned from Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Lauryn Hill, and moreKamasi Washington discusses his creative philosophy and collaboration—how early music education, love of feel over “simple” notes, and exploratory writing lead to major works like The Epic (2015) and…2 Jul 2025 · 1 h 1 min · 25 chapters