Practical UX: Methods, Research, and Design Thinking

In this episode of Practical UX , we explore how systems thinking can help designers solve complex problems and create more sustainable, impactful solutions.Our guest is Sheryl Cababa, author of Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers — a must-read guide for anyone who wants to connect design thinking with real-world systems.We discuss:How systems thinking can improve UX design, service design, and innovation.Why designers need to look beyond screens and touchpoints to understand the bigger picture.Practical ways to apply systems thinking in your design process, research, and team collaboration.How to design for long-term impact, sustainability, and organisational change.If you’re a UX designer, product designer, researcher, or design strategist, this episode will help you think more holistically and 'close the loop' between design and systems.

In this episode of Practical UX Methods: Research and Design Thinking, host Dr Chris Parker sits down with Douglas Ferguson — entrepreneur, human-centered technologist, and president of Voltage Control, an Austin-based agency known for its Design Sprints and innovation workshops.Douglas shares actionable insights from his book Beyond The Prototype, revealing six practical steps to move from idea discovery to product launch. We explore the most powerful life lessons in design, the mindset behind lasting innovation, and how design thinking can drive change in today’s rapidly evolving world — from the challenges of COVID-19 to the cultural impact of the Black Lives Matter movement.Whether you’re a UX designer, product leader, or creative strategist, this episode is packed with inspiration and methods to help you design with purpose, empathy, and real-world impact.Connect With Douglas:⁠Voltage Control⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠Douglas’s Books⁠Beyond the Prototype⁠⁠Start Within

Host: Dr Chris ParkerEmail: [email protected] this episode of Practical UX, we go beyond buttons and screens to explore what’s next for user experience: trustworthy AI, physiological synchrony in social VR, foldable device ergonomics, designing for the moments after a crash, and a bold provocation to design for human connection, not screen time.Why explainable AI changes user behaviour by improving trust calibration (and why “AI literacy” talks aren’t enough).How people’s heart rate and skin responses can sync in VR, offering a powerful new metric for co-experience.What a foldable phone’s hinge teaches us about emotional ergonomics and multi-state interface design.How post-crash UX should prioritise clarity, calm, and familiarity when fear overwhelms cognition.A provocative case for Relation Artefact Design (RAD): tools that help us look at people rather than screens.Explainable AI & Trust (mushroom task) — journal articleLeichtmann, B., Humer, C., Hinterreiter, A., Streit, M., & Mara, M. (2023). Effects of Explainable Artificial Intelligence on Trust and Human Behavior in a High-Risk Decision Task. Computers in Human Behavior, 139, 107539.Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563222003594 (ScienceDirect)Physiological synchrony in Social VR — preprintKloft, A. M., Fabinc, J. M., Hirsch, L., Slezas, A., Hachmann, H., Cunneen, M., Brandt, S. S., Sams, M., & Welsch, R. (2025). It’s Always Better When We’re Together: Physiological Synchrony and Shared Experiences in Social VR. (Preprint).Link: https://sciety-labs.elifesciences.org/articles/by?article_doi=10.21203%2Frs.3.rs-7134151%2Fv1 (Sciety)Foldable smartphones UX framework — journal articleLiu, Y., Dong, L., & Rau, P.-L. P. (2025). Unfolding the User Experience: A Comprehensive UX Framework for Foldable Smartphones. International Journal of Industrial Engineering, 32(5), 1396–1412.Abstract page: https://journals.sfu.ca/ijietap/index.php/ijie/article/view/10935Direct PDF: https://journals.sfu.ca/ijietap/index.php/ijie/article/download/10935/1871/65113 (Public Knowledge Project)Post-Crash UX (multi-modal guidance) — conference paperCho, Y., Kim, H., Ku, M., Yu, S., & Lee, J. (2025). Post-Crash UX: An Empirical Study on Multi-modal Interfaces for Immediate Driver Response. In AutomotiveUI Adjunct ’25 (ACM).Link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3744335.3758486 (ACM Digital Library)Provocation: Relation Artefact Design — journal articleClemmensen, T. (2025). Stop Doing User Experience Design, Start Doing Relation Artefact Design. Interacting with Computers (Oxford University Press).Link: https://academic.oup.com/iwc/advance-article/doi/10.1093/iwc/iwaf044/8283768 (OUP Academic)If this episode sparked ideas for your project, class, or lab, please follow/subscribe on your favourite podcast app and share with a colleague. The next great design conversation might start here.Do you have questions for the show, or want to suggest a paper? Email Dr Chris Parker at [email protected].

Practical UX kicks off with Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users (2nd ed.). We dig into why solid research sometimes says “don’t ship,” how the practice has matured (ops, leadership, insourcing), and why there’s no one “right way”—just better questions, synthesis, and confidence. Plus, Steve’s take on the future of research and a reminder to listen to ourselves. Follow and subscribe for more practitioner-level UX insights.Buy Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights (second edition): https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/interviewing-users-second-edition/Formally: The UX Usability Podcast

The UX Usability podcast returns after a prolonged hiatus. Dr Chris Parker talks about the show, its future, UX's role in the world around us, and life as an academic.