Synopsis
Join us for exciting conversations about UI/UX design, SaaS products, marketing, and so much more. My awesome guests are industry experts who share actionable knowledge so that you can apply it in your business today.
Episodes
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Episode 144: Product Integrations with Rob Walling
10/08/2019 Duration: 31minIntegrations are a fantastic way of growing your product while providing value to your customers. However, you need to approach them carefully and strategically. Our guest today is Rob Walling, co-founder of MicroConf, TinySeed, and Drip. You'll learn how to use integrations as a customer acquisition channel, and what goes into a successful integration — from making the initial decision to creating support docs and co-marketing opportunities. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes MicroConf, TinySeed, previously Drip — organisations co-founded by Rob Stripe, PayPal, Shopify, Zapier, Segment, Gumroad — some of the popular integrations The Power of Integrating Your SaaS With Other Apps — an episode with Ruben Gamez of Bidsketch Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product Startups For the Rest of Us — Rob's podcast together with Mike Taber Rob's website Follow Rob on Twitter: @robwalling Today's Sp
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Episode 143: Designing for Healthcare with Chris Kiess
27/07/2019 Duration: 39minHealthcare industry involves enormous resources, but has always been "playing catchup" when it comes to software. Our guest today is Chris Kiess, a user experience designer and author. You'll learn about his unique story within the industry, different areas of healthcare UX, typical use cases, professional challenges, and how to pave your own path in healthcare design. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond — a book by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville & Jorge Arango Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — a Wikipedia article Epic, Cerner — some of the popular out-of-the-box solutions for hospitals HL7 — standards for electronic health information Healthcare Design Is About More Than Aesthetics UX Ecosystems: Designing a Patient’s Path to Health Care Healthcare: The other UX design Healthcare UX: a journey just begun Desi
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Episode 142: Game Thinking with Amy Jo Kim
12/07/2019 Duration: 37minIsn't game theory all about points, levels, and badges? Definitely not. These are all just visible mechanics, the superficial icing on the cake. Our guest today is the amazing Amy Jo Kim — a startup coach, game designer, best-selling author, and the founder of Game Thinking. You'll learn how to use her method with early superfans, and fundamentally shape the entire customer journey: discovery, onboarding, habit building, and mastery. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Game Thinking (also available on Audible), Community Building on the Web — Amy's books The Lean Startup, Design Thinking — some of the popular product design methods Game Thinking TV — Amy's YouTube channel Find your ideal early customers with Job Stories — one of their videos on Job Stories GameThinking.io — Amy's website Innovator Quiz — a quiz to receive a free product/market fit cheatsheet Follow Amy Jo on Twitter
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Episode 141: Launch Best Practices with Keith Perhac
27/06/2019 Duration: 41min"Build it, and they will come" could not be a bigger lie: an effective launch is crucial to your product success. Our guest today is Keith Perhac, founder of SegMetrics. You'll learn how to turn a few random emails into a cohesive launch experience, "prime the pump" for your product, and measure the outcome — so that you can optimize and iterate. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes SegMetrics — Keith's product Launch — a book by Jeff Walker explaining the Product Launch Formula (PLF) CartHook — a well-known upsell tool How Sean D’Souza Changed Everything I Know About Pricing — Jane's article about pricing tiers Neil Patel's Digital Marketing Blog SegMetrics Blog Wirecutter — a recommendations website Patrick McKenzie — a famous software consultant we're talking about Episode 100: Leveling Up with Patrick McKenzie The Personal MBA — website & book by Josh Kaufm
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Episode 140: Sustainable UX with James Christie
14/06/2019 Duration: 35minEnvironmental impact of the software industry is unbelievable. Luckily, there are people and companies who want to make a practical difference against global warming (as well as educate others). Our guest today is James Christie, an experience designer and founder of SustainableUX. You'll learn how to make sustainable choices about the way you work, what service providers you choose, how you design & code, and much more. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes SustainableUX — event & community we're talking about MadPow — a design agency where James works #ClickClean — reports by Greenpeace stating which companies use renewable energy (and which don't) Sustainable Web Design — James's famous article on A List Apart Squoosh — an in-browser tool for optimizing images Code as Craft — a blog by Etsy's engineering team Susty — the lightest WP theme B Corporations — a certification sys
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Episode 139: Understanding Account-Level Engagement in SaaS with Derek Skaletsky
31/05/2019 Duration: 25minMany SaaS businesses track engagement for each user individually — pretending that companies don't exist. But this approach can be downright dangerous, because B2B software is all about company accounts. Our guest today is Derek Skaletsky, founder and CEO of Sherlock. We talk about best practices in tracking account-level engagement, and ways to make such data consumable and actionable. Podcast feed: subscribe to https://feeds.simplecast.com/4MvgQ73R in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Sherlock — Derek's product we're talking about Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product Clearbit — a tool for enriching customer data ProductLed — a resource by Wes Bush on product-led growth Notes from Baker St. — Sherlock's blog on product engagement Follow Derek on Medium Follow Derek on Twitter: @dskaletsky Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Airtable. What would you make if you had tools designed for the way you like to create? Airtable gives you the fr
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Episode 138: Blogging Strategy for SaaS with Kaleigh MooreTrends come and go, but content marketing — particularly blogging — remains one of the top marketing channels for SaaS companies. Our guest today is the awesome Kaleigh Moore, freelance content wri
24/05/2019 Duration: 35minTrends come and go, but content marketing — particularly blogging — remains one of the top marketing channels for SaaS companies. Our guest today is the awesome Kaleigh Moore, freelance content writer for SaaS and ecommerce. You'll learn how to produce top-performing blog posts, promote them, leverage different media types, and make your content as evergreen as possible. Show Notes Creative Class — Kaleigh's project for freelancers with Paul Jarvis Creative Class Podcast Episode 53: Trust Marketing with Paul Jarvis Kaleigh's website Kaleigh Moore, Yeah Write Club — Kaleigh's newsletters Follow Kaleigh on Twitter: @kaleighf Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by LayoutLab. This design tool lets you build product landing pages in minutes: select from dozens of layouts, customize them to fit your product, and download the code when finished. Try it free for your product at layoutlab.io. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they hel
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Episode 137: Lean, Agile & Design Thinking with Jeff Gothelf
03/05/2019 Duration: 34minThere are so many design methodologies available these days — lean, agile & design thinking being the most popular. Could you use them side-by-side? Our guest today is Jeff Gothelf, author of Lean UX and Sense & Respond, and co-founder of Sense & Respond Press. You'll learn how to make the most out of these frameworks, help teams talk to each other, and measure customer outcomes (instead of your effort) using the right behavior metrics. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Lean UX, Sense & Respond, Lean vs Agile vs Design Thinking — Jeff's books Sense & Respond Press — Jeff's publishing house together with Josh Seiden Making Progress, Hire Women — some of the latest books by Sense & Respond Press Agile vs Lean vs Design Thinking — Jeff's original article Episode 131: Design Sprint with Jonathan Courtney AARRR! Dave McClure’s “Pirate Metrics” And The Only Five
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Episode 136: Hidden Powers of Adobe Document Cloud with Liang-Cheng Lin
19/04/2019 Duration: 36minThe fist version of Adobe Acrobat was released in 1993, alongside the newly created PDF format. What has changed since then? Our guest today is Liang-Cheng Lin, senior design manager at Adobe. You'll learn about the philosophy behind their platform, how PDF has evolved into a powerful editable format, and UX challenges they face as one of the most popular tools in the world. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes PDF — a Wikipedia article Adobe Scan — Adobe's new mobile scanner app Perfection, Good Design, and the Art of Both — Liang-Cheng's article about designing Adobe Scan Document Cloud at Adobe Blog Follow Liang-Cheng on LinkedIn Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Abstract — design workflow management for product design teams using Sketch. Sign your team up for a free 30-day trial today by heading over to abstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @uibreakfa
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Episode 135: Multi-Product Portfolio Model for SaaS with JD Graffam
05/04/2019 Duration: 44minAcquiring more products as a growth strategy isn't new under the sun, but seems unusual for our SaaS ecosystem. Our guest today is JD Graffam, the owner of two agencies and a portfolio of SaaS businesses. We talk about his unconventional background story, how he handles multiple products, and the strategy behind new acquisitions. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Simple Focus, Clear Function — JD's agencies Pulse, Ballpark, Temper, Sifter, Curated — some of JD's products MetaLab — the company behind Ballpark Josh Pigford — the founder of Baremetrics and previously Temper Starting & Sustaining — a book by Garrett Dimon Hitenism — Hiten Shah's blog & newsletter Follow JD on Twitter: @jdgraffam Ask JD any questions at jdgraffam@gmail.com Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Abstract — design workflow management for product design teams using Sketch. With Abstrac
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Episode 134: UX Writing with Yuval Keshtcher
24/03/2019 Duration: 41minWith all technology available, words remain our #1 design tool for creating engaging experiences. How do you write an interface? Our guest today is Yuval Keshtcher, founder of UX Writing Hub. You'll learn about the craft of UX writing, how to define the voice and tone of your product, and how to capture it in a content style guide — like big brands do. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes UX Writing Hub — Yuval's website Shopify Content Style Guide Mailchimp Content Style Guide Episode 59: International UX with Joe Leech Episode 96: Building a Global Customer Base with Ed Freyfogle Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product The Three-Hour Brand Sprint — a framework by Jake Knapp John Saito — UX writer at Dropbox Writing guidelines for Material Design Microcopy & UX Writing — Yuval's Facebook community Follow Yuval on Twitter: @KeshYuval Ask Yuval any questions at yuval@uxwritinghub.com T
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Episode 133: SaaS Pricing with Patrick Campbell
09/03/2019 Duration: 29minPricing means so much for any product. But why are most SaaS companies shooting in the dark there? Our guest today is the famous Patrick Campbell, co-founder and CEO of ProfitWell (previously Price Intelligently). You'll learn why value-based pricing is so important, how to choose the right value metric, and how to create your subscription model based on research. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes ProfitWell — Patrick's company we're talking about Value Based Pricing — Patrick's talk recap from FemtoConf 2018 Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product Atlassian, Wistia, LinkedIn — some of the companies that do pricing well David Skok, Brad Coffey (HubSpot) — some of the recommended blogs on pricing ProfitWell, Price Intelligently — Patrick's websites Ask Patrick any questions at pc@profitwell.com Follow Patrick on Twitter: @Patticus Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Abstra
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Episode 132: Feature Audit with Brian Rhea
24/02/2019 Duration: 38minHow do you know what features in your product bring the most value? How can you "make your strengths stronger" and gracefully remove unpopular features? Today our guest is Brian Rhea, product strategist and the founder of Feature Audit. You'll learn the story behind his analytics tool, how to conduct your own feature audit, and how to apply the results in your product strategy and consulting work. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Feature Audit — Brian's tool we're talking about “hirebrianrhea.com”…One Year Later — Brian's article at Brad Feld's blog The best stats you've ever seen — a TED talk by Hans Rosling that inspired Brian's visualization Before you plan your product roadmap — an article by Des Traynor of Intercom about performing a feature audit Userlist.io — Jane's SaaS product Heap, Pendo — "heavy" analytics tools that collect all data to allow its r
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Episode 131: Design Sprint with Jonathan Courtney
10/02/2019 Duration: 39minDesign Sprint is an extremely productive five-day framework for solving design problems. Not only it returns immediate results, but it also gets everyone on the same page and brings the best ideas to the surface. Our guest today is Jonathan Courtney, CEO and founder of AJ&Smart. You'll learn what makes sprints so effective, what exactly happens during these five days, and how to get started with your next client. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes AJ&Smart — Jonathan's design agency Sprint — the original book by Jake Knapp Follow AJ&Smart on YouTube for hours of free instructional videos on the topic of Design Sprint RealtimeBoard — a tool for remote collaboration Episode 63: Enterprise UX for Distributed Teams with Brent Heckerman — our previous episode on RealtimeBoard Lightning Decision Jam — how to run a shorter design sprint workshop Follow Jonathan on Instagram: @
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Episode 130: Deep Work with Jonathan Anderstrom
25/01/2019 Duration: 30minThere are many creative methods to stay productive; this story is no exception! Our guest today is Jonathan Anderstrom, co-founder and president of Creed Interactive. We talk about the deep work culture in their agency, and their unique way of seamlessly blending onsite and remote collaboration. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Creed Interactive — Jonathan's agency Deep Work: Our Secret Sauce to an Effective Work Environment — an article by Jeremy Dean at their blog 37 Lessons on Productivity and Work from Basecamp’s Jason Fried — an article by Steve Glaveski Deep Work — a book by Cal Newport Episode 18: Staying in Flow with Anders Thue Pedersen — our past episode on TimeBlock method Creed Interactive Office Tour Follow Jonathan and Creed Interactive on Twitter: @anderstrom, @creed_all_in Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Abstract — design workflow management fo
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Episode 129: UX Research Tools with Andrew Mayfield
18/01/2019 Duration: 29minWhat tools and methods should you use in your next UX project? Our guest today is Andrew Mayfield, CEO of Optimal Workshop. We talk about their amazing collection of UX research tools, and dive into some of the methods — card sorting, tree testing, and others. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Optimal Workshop — Andrew's company Treejack, OptimalSort, Chalkmark, Questions, Reframer — UX research tools we're talking about Card Sorting 101 — a guide at Optimal Workshop blog Card Sorting — a book by Donna Spencer Tree Testing for Websites — a free book-length guide by Dave O'Brien, inventor of Treejack Follow Andrew on Twitter: @andrewfantastic, @optimalworkshop Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Balsamiq, the super-simple wireframing tool that can help you focus your design on what really matters to your customers. Try it free for 30 days at balsamiq.cloud. Interest
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Episode 128: Writing Great Product Specs with Janna Bastow
02/01/2019 Duration: 35minWhat kind of product specs are the best to work with? How do you document your vision? Our guest today is Janna Bastow — co-founder and CEO of ProdPad, co-founder of Mind the Product, and product person at heart. You'll learn why product specs are always a work in progress, how to deal with deadlines, document your goals and tasks, and iterate based on customer feedback. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes ProdPad — Janna's product management software Mind the Product — Janna's community (and series of events) for product managers User Onboarding: The UX Behind Our Magically Extending Free Trial — Janna's article about gamified trials How to Write Great Product Specs — Janna's article Product requirements document (PRD) — a Wikipedia article How To Build A Product Roadmap Everyone Understands — an article by Andrea Saez at ProdPad Blog Why Your Roadmap Is Not A Release Plan — anothe
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Episode 127: Content Strategy with Chris Huylebroeck
15/12/2018 Duration: 38minHow do you structure website content based on user needs? How do you make the most important things easy to find? Our guest today is Chris Huylebroeck, a famous information architect and content strategist. We dive into the four steps of creating a content strategy: figuring out what information is needed (and why), auditing existing materials, structuring content, and presenting it to your audience. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Episode 118: Customer Top Tasks with Gerry McGovern Content Modelling: A Master Skill — an article by Rachel Lovinger Wine, Content, and Domain Models — an article by Michael Andrews Tree testing — a Wikipedia article Internet Architects — a company where Chris currently works Follow Chris on LinkedIn Follow Chris on Twitter: @cHuylebroeck Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Balsamiq. Dare to try new ideas and discover the best solution
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Episode 126: Company Values Done Right with Haraldur Thorleifsson
30/11/2018 Duration: 35minHow do you stay true to yourself when your company grows and changes? How do you document the principles for your communication and decision-making? Our guest today is Haraldur Thorleifsson, the founder & CEO of Ueno — an award-winning digital agency. We talk about his unique personal story and how it translates into their company values, tying together people in four offices around the world. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Ueno — Haraldur's company Ueno’s Culture Values — Haraldur's article describing their company values Radical Candor — a book by Kim Scott Follow Haraldur on Ueno's blog, Lorem Ipsum Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Frontify. Frontify provides cloud-based brand management software for increased brand consistency, efficiency, and design collaboration. It's the single source of truth for all your digital assets, enriched with guidelines. S
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Episode 125: Defining & Building New Features with Emily Tate
17/11/2018 Duration: 40minWhat features should you build next? Will your product be ever "done"? How to avoid "building yourself into the corner"? Our guest today is the awesome Emily Tate, US General Manager at Mind the Product. You'll learn how to prioritize new features, create roadmaps based on user research, and ignore "squeaky wheals" while focusing on truly important product work. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes Mind the Product — the world's largest community of product people Pivotal Labs — Emily's previous place of work Episode 121: Managing Customer Feedback with Sofia Quintero Critical Thinking for Product Teams — a talk by Teresa Torres sharing her opportunity solution tree Before You Plan Your Product Roadmap — a post by Des Traynor about feature audits The Five Whys for Start-Ups — an article by Eric Ries Taming the Squeaky Wheel — Emily's article Mind the P