NN/G UX Podcast

Most UX practitioners have spent their careers fighting for the user — pushing back against dark patterns, advocating for quality, and insisting that making things better for people is also better for the business. Eric Ries would say that instinct is exactly right. And that it's not enough.
In this episode, host Laura Klein talks with Eric Ries — New York Times Best Selling Author of The Lean Startup and founder of the Long Term Stock Exchange — about his new book, Incorruptible: Why Good Companies Go Bad...and How Great Companies Stay Great. Eric makes the case that most of today's business best practices are actively value-destroying, and that the builders, designers, and makers who already believe product quality matters are more revolutionary than they realize — they just lack the tools to protect that belief inside their organizations.
They dig into the history of shareholder primacy, why corporate governance is something every practitioner should understand, and the very specific questions you can ask in a job interview to find out whether a company is genuinely mission-driven or just mission-hopeful.

About Eric Ries | Linkedin
The Eric Ries Show
Incorruptible (New Book) - Available Now!
The Lean Start Up (Book)

Related NN/G Articles & Videos
UX Stakeholder Engagement 101
Deceptive Patterns in UX: How to Recognize and Avoid Them
Four Factors in UX Maturity
UX Maturity Is a Living System, Not a Ladder
UXers Need to Think Like Product Leaders

Try One of Our Courses
→ Becoming a UX Strategist (Live Online)→ Successful Stakeholder Relationships (Live Online)→ Lean UX and Agile (Live Online)→ Demonstrating UX Value (Self-Paced)→ UX Maturity: Elevating Organizational UX Practices (Self-Paced)

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📹 Post-production by
Tiago Pedro (Design Assistant)
Megan Brown (Social Media Lead)

What does it actually mean to design conversationally? Not "add a chatbot" — but genuinely apply the principles of human conversation to the systems we build?
In this episode, host Laura Klein sits down with Erika Hall, author of Conversational Design and Just Enough Research, to re-visit a topic that's only gotten more relevant since her book came out in 2018. They dig into why language has always been an important part of any interface, what the cooperative principle of conversation can teach us about interaction design, and how the current AI moment is muddying what "conversational" even means.
Erika also makes a sharp distinction between AI that solves real problems and AI that performs work — and offers a theory about why so many people are reaching for answer machines right now. Plus: why the best consulting advice is often just "you have to talk to each other," the role of domain expertise in getting anything useful out of an LLM, and what painting chickens has to do with learning to see.
About Erika Hall | LinkedIn | Bluesky
Her Studio - Mule Design
Conversational Design
Just Enough Research
Related NN/G Articles:
AI Chatbots Discourage Error Checking
Designing AI Products and Features: Study Guide
Sycophancy in Generative-AI Chatbots
AI Features Must Solve Real User Problems
Try One of Our Courses
→ Designing AI Experiences (Live Online)
→ The Human Mind and Usability (Live Online)
→ Understanding LLMs (Self-Paced)
→ Informative Microcopy (Self-Paced)

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📹 Post-production by
Tiago Pedro (Design Assistant)
Megan Brown (Social Media Lead)

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Navigating the UX job market has always had its ups and downs, especially with AI reshaping the industry. In this episode, host Laura Klein sits down with Evan Sunwall, NN/G's Director of Self-Paced Training, to share candid advice for UX practitioners trying to actively job search or level up in today's competitive market. With nearly 19 years in the field as both a designer and a hiring manager, he has a lot to say about where the field is headed — no matter what stage you're at in your career.
That experience is also what shaped Evan's self-paced course on getting a job in UX, part of NN/G's new and growing library of practical, pre-recorded courses built around real skill gaps. Evan was one of the first to help develop the format — running experiments and prototypes to figure out what actually works for self-directed learners.
Evan also previews a companion course aimed at hiring managers and shares that he's looking for sharp instructors to help expand the library into new topics across research, design, and AI.
Check out our NEW Self-Paced Courses!

About Evan Sunwall | Bio | Linkedin
Successful UX Job Searching (Course)
Hiring UX Talent (Course)

Free NN/G Articles:
How to Apply and Secure a UX Job
Advice for Approaching a UX Job Search
Templates and Tools for UX Job Seekers
Preparation Tactics for a Tough UX Job Market
Growing in Your UX Career: Study Guide

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📹 Post-production by
Tiago Pedro (Design Assistant)
Megan Brown (Social Media Lead)

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If you work in UX, you’ve probably heard the terms lean, Agile, and MVP more times than you can count. But knowing the terms doesn’t mean knowing how to make them work.

In this episode, Laura Klein, Principal Experience Specialist at NN/G, joins Therese Fessenden to talk about what Lean UX was really meant to accomplish — and how teams today can apply its principles without falling into common traps.

Listen as they discuss how Lean UX came about, the skill of zooming between product vision and interaction details, and why growing companies struggle to balance speed and consistency. Whether you’re working at a startup or inside a large enterprise, this episode offers a grounded look at how to design thoughtfully in fast-moving environments.

We’re also excited to have Laura join as the newest co-host of the NN/G UX Podcast. And many congratulations to the Fessenden family as they welcome a new addition to their family.

About Laura Klein | Bio | Linkedin | Bluesky | Usersknow.com
What is Wrong With UX (Podcast)
Build Better Products (Book)
UX for Lean Startups (Book)

NN/G Live Online Courses Taught by Laura
Lean UX and Agile
Product & UX: Building Partnerships for Better Outcomes
All Our Live Courses

Free NN/G Articles & Videos
Lean UX & Agile: Study Guide
Lean UX & Agile Glossary
What is Lean UX?
Accounting for User Research in Agile
Why Organizations Don’t Do User Research and How to Change That
Why Most Product Teams Aren't Really Empowered

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📹 Post-production by
Tiago Pedro (Design Assistant)
Megan Brown (Social Media Lead)

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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