Design Better

It’s that time of year again—our favorite episode to put together. A moment to look back at the objects, experiences, and ideas that sparked creativity for us this year. From books that moved us to tools that surprised...

Changing the culture of a 400,000-person company isn’t just hard—it’s the kind of transformation most leaders wouldn’t even attempt. But when Phil Gilbert joined IBM as General Manager of Design in 2010, that’s exactly...

We’ve talked to many design leaders who have burned out after a decade or more of corporate work. But after 17 years at Philips designing health innovations, Cecilia Brenner wasn’t burnt out…she loved it. And she wanted...

This is a preview of a premium episode. You can find a video version of the full episode on our YouTube channel: ⁠ We’ve been on the road this week, recording some in-person episodes in Portland Oregon, with Ryan...

As educators, we’ve grown wary of the term “safe spaces,” especially when what many students really need is a space to engage with “dangerous” ideas. But true dialogue doesn’t begin with risk—it starts with trust. Our...

Design is a problem solving discipline. We research user needs, explore solutions, make things, and ship them. But one important stakeholder is often missing from the conversation: the world we live in. What toll do the...

We’ve worked alongside people for years, only to realize that we know nothing about their personal life. And it probably affected our working relationship. Knowing your colleagues as humans reframes inevitable...

In this issue of The Brief, we’re reflecting on what we learned about the past and future of design from our conversation with Paola Antonelli (The Museum of Modern Art), Mark Wilson (Fast Company), Kate Aronowitz (GV)...

This is a preview of a premium Design Better episode. Visit our Substack to hear the whole interview, for bonus content, and more: ⁠ With the 150th official episode of Design Better, we’ve got something special for you...

Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: Today we celebrate 30 years of Wert&Co.—the quiet champions of design who have shaped our field by placing the brightest designers in roles of influence at brands that...

Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: Design Better has been on the road recently, recording a live episode in Manhattan for design search firm Wert & Co’s 30th anniversary. Guests for the episode included...

This is a preview of a premium episode on Design Better. To listen to the whole episode, head to our Substack: The key to creativity isn’t about having brilliant ideas in isolation, but about cultivating our ability to...

Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: As designers and creatives, many of us spent years of our career looking at blank canvases and attempting to find the best place to start solving the problems in front of...

This is a preview of a premium episode. To hear the full episode, head to our Substack: ⁠ When a company talks about taking a “moonshot,” it often ends up being something trivial: a new emoji keyboard, or delivering a...

Find bonus content and more on our Substack: AI isn’t just another layer in our digital toolkit—it’s reshaping the tools themselves, and in the process, transforming how we work, think, and solve problems. Henry...

This is a preview of a premium episode on Design Better. Head to our Substack to get access to the full episode: Have you played around with Cursor? If not, it’s time. Designers with no coding skills are passing Cursor...

Most designers are comfortable in the world of known problems—we talk to users, gather insights, iterate based on feedback. But what happens when you're designing for a future that doesn't exist yet? When you're...

This is a preview of a premium episode. Head to Design Better to hear the whole thing: Sometimes your career takes an unexpected turn—and that pivot can lead to something bigger than you imagined. Tim Brown, co-founder...

Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: Matt Raw, Interim VP of Design at The New York Times, and his team have a tough job. Their work is seen by millions every day who come to the Times website and apps for...

Microscopes and telescopes By Aarron Walter A friend and former colleague called me recently to catch up and get my perspective on an important question. He leads a product team at a major tech company and the design...

This is a preview of one of our premium Design Better episodes. To listen to the whole episode, head over to our Substack and subscribe: We all rely on search—sometimes dozens of times a day—to make sense of the world...

For many creative people, music is a central part of life. Count us in that camp. We’ve long admired Sonos products for their quality and easy integration into our homes, and everything they design is beautiful. The...

Figma is central to most designers' workflow these days (certainly is here at Design Better). So it's important to get familiar with all of the latest features. Who better to give us the back story of the releases...

We were recently invited to the The New York Times where we spoke with Matt Raw, the interim head of design at the Times. Eli and I are accustomed to interviewing, but this was a different experience for us as this time...

This is the second installment in our series of video rewind episodes, with an interview featuring jazz legend Kamasi Washington. Watch the full episode on our Substack: ⁠ Jazz is a constantly evolving art form...