Therese Fessenden talks with design psychologist and product strategist Thomas Watkins (host of The Design Psychologist and Product-Led Growth Leaders) about why understanding the human mind is still a true superpower for designers, researchers, and product teams. They explore how products subtly shape our behavior and identity, why over-relying on templates and patterns can flatten experiences instead of differentiating them, the risks of personifying AI tools, and the practical ways practitioners can use psychology and AI together to automate the tedious parts of work while staying human-centered and creating products that truly fit into people’s lives.

About Thomas Watkins: Bio | LinkedIn

• The Design Psychologist Podcast
• Product-Led Growth Leaders Podcast
• 3Leaf Consulting (Thomas’ Design Team)

Related Live Online Training: The Human Mind & Usability

Free NN/g Study Guides & Articles:

• Psychology Study Guide
• Humanizing AI Is a Trap
• The ELIZA Effect: Why We Love AI
• The 4 Degrees of Anthropomorphism of Generative AI

As AI-powered tools flood the market promising quick evaluations and audits, the conversation zeroes in on a critical issue: the reliability of these tools. In this episode, co-hosts Therese Fessenden and NN/G VP Kate Moran sit down with Jamie Holst and Christian Holst, the co-founders of Baymard Institute, to examine the growing role of AI in UX analysis. The group discusses the risks of over-relying on AI—particularly for junior UX practitioners—and the deeper implications for professionalism in the field.

About the speakers:

• Christian Holst (Co-founder & Research Director, Baymard Institute)
• Jamie Holst (Co-founder & CTO, Baymard Institute)
• Kate Moran (VP, NN/G)

Links Referenced in the Episode:

• Try UX Ray for Free: https://baymard.com/product/ux-ray
• Read their article on AI accuracy: https://baymard.com/blog/ai-heuristic-evaluations

Related NN/G Courses:

• Accelerating Research with AI
• AI for Design Workflows
• Designing AI Experiences
• AI Product Strategy

Check out ALL of our courses at nngroup.com/learning

Related NN/G Articles:

• AI Hallucinations: What Designers Need to Know
• AI-Powered Tools for UX Research: Issues and Limitations
• AI as a UX Assistant
• AI Chatbots Discourage Error Checking

The interest in “customer insights” is higher than ever, and more people are interested in both research insights and carrying out research on their own. But, who’s making sure research is done well? Therese sits down with Ned Dwyer, CEO and co-founder of Great Question, to talk about the balance between access and rigor in UX research. They discuss the need for democratization charters, how AI is reshaping research roles, and why enabling good research at scale is as much a cultural challenge as it is a technical one.

Connect with Ned Dwyer: LinkedIn

• Learn more about Great Question
• Subscribe to Great Question’s Newsletter

Learn about UX: nngroup.com/learning

Related NN/g Courses & Articles:

• ResearchOps: Scaling User Research (UX Certification course)
• Democratize Research in 5 Steps (free article)
• Democratization of UX (13-min video)

In this episode, Therese interviews Jay Dutta—Global Head of UX at Deutsche Bank about how designing at scale isn’t just about reaching millions, but about preserving depth: of empathy, culture, and context. With a career spanning Adobe, Flipkart, and MakeMyTrip, Jay reflects on why he’s drawn to complex, broken systems and how those environments offer the richest opportunities for impact. He discusses the importance of designing for the individual within vast systems, and how storytelling, risk-taking, and honoring human experiences can lead to more meaningful and scalable design solutions.

About the speaker: JayDutta.com | LinkedIn

DesignUp Conference (Bangalore, India - Nov 3-5, 2025 ): https://designup.io/

Related NN/G Course: Global UX: Designing and Leading Across Cultures (full-day & half-day courses)

Related Free NN/G Articles:

• ‘Our Users Are Everyone’: Designing Mass-Market Products for Large User Audiences (free article)
• Modify Your Design for Global Audiences: Crosscultural UX Design (free article)
• Imagery Helps International Shoppers Navigate Ecommerce Sites (free article)

What does it really take to get hired in design today? In this episode, design recruiter and former product designer Hang Xu shares hard truths about what’s changed in hiring, why portfolios miss the mark, and how candidates can better align with what employers actually want. He also talks about his bold new project, OnlyFAANGs.design, where he documents his journey back into design from the recruiter’s seat.

About Hang Xu: LinkedIn | OnlyFAANGs.design

Level Up Your UX Career with UX Certification: nngroup.com/learning

Related Free NN/G Resources:

• Templates and Tools for UX Job Seekers (article)
• How to Apply & Secure a UX Job (article)
• The Return of the UX Generalist (article)
• How to Get UX Experience Without a Job (video)
• User Experience Careers Report (free report)
• More articles & videos about UX careers

Who do we really mean when we say “the user”? And who gets left out?

In this episode, Therese Fessenden chats with cultural anthropologists Mike Youngblood and Ben Chesluk, who are challenging overly narrow definitions of users in UX. They explore how systems thinking and anthropology can deepen our understanding of complex user ecosystems — and why rethinking “the user” is more important than ever.

About the speakers:

• Mike Youngblood (LinkedIn)
• Ben Chesluk (LinkedIn)

About Rethinking Users, including some helpful resources and a link to purchase the book:

https://www.rethinkingusers.com

Article about User Ecosystem Thinking:

https://www.epicpeople.org/toward-ethnography-of-friction-and-ease-in-complex-systems

Mike & Ben’s other books:

• The Routledge Companion to Practicing Anthropology and Design, which includes Mike & Ben’s chapter on systems thinking in design anthropology, as well as many other chapters/contributors exploring the role of anthropology in design:
• Ben’s book Money Jungle is an anthropological study of the redevelopment of New York City’s Times Square.
• Mike’s book Cultivating Community is an ethnographic study of a massive, grassroots social movement in rural India.

Related NN/g Articles & Videos:

• Personas vs. Archetypes (article)
• Why Personas Fail (article)
• Ethnography in UX (3-min video)
• Contextual Inquiry: Inspire Design by Observing and Interviewing Users in Their Context (article)

What does it mean to design experiences in a world where pixels are no longer the focus? In this episode, service design thought-leader and author Erika Flowers shares her thoughts on how designers must evolve as AI transforms the tools, processes, and expectations of our work. Erika shares lessons from her journey—spanning early web design, pioneering service blueprinting at Intuit, and orchestrating experiences at NASA—and offers a forward-looking take on why skills like facilitation, systems thinking, and storytelling will define the future of design.

About Erika Flowers: helloerikaflowers.com | LinkedIn

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Service Blueprinting

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AI for Design Workflows

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