8 Of My Favorite CX, Design Thinking, And UX Podcasts
If you want to tune into a UX podcast, you'll find there's plenty available—but finding the best can be somewhat overwhelming. Here are some that are known for great content and enjoyable listening.
As a UX designer, staying up to date with the newest innovations and ideas is important and listening to podcasts is a great way to help with that. The good thing about podcasts is that you can access them almost anywhere, whenever you want, listening to industry gurus share ideas to help you in your industry, be it product design, UX, CX, or design thinking.
8 Of My Favorite CX, Design Thinking and UX Podcasts
Podcasts that are engaging and informative are great because they are also portable and extremely easy to access. These are some of my favorite podcasts out there for those of us working in the customer experience field.
1. UX Podcast with hosts Per Axbom and James Royal-Lawson
We want to push the boundaries of how user experience is perceived and boost your confidence in the work you do.
This is one of the best UX podcasts around. It has four different formats that keep it fresh and interesting as they talk through a lot of different topics around UX. Their wide-ranging scope makes sure that the UX topic never gets stale.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #219 Facilitating structures with Stephen Anderson
Stephen Anderson is well known for his ability to teach UX design. This episode is all about our journeys as designers and where the future lies.
2. User Defender Podcast with host Jason Ogle
Jason’s podcast series is great in that it doesn’t just look at the UX industry but also the people and industry leaders that make it great. He offers lots of insight into some of the world's top UX designers and how they think and work.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #65 Yes, AI Will Replace Designers with Jasmine Oh
This is a great episode about adapting our career field as AI becomes more prominent in the industry. Oh’s focus is on making sure we don’t fear AI but learn to adapt and use it to our advantage.
3. UXpod with host Gerry Gaffney
This UX design podcast is one of the first in the field. It has depth, well-established guests, and lots of great content. The great thing about this design podcast is that while you can listen, you also have the option of reading because transcripts of the shows are posted as well.
Don’t Miss this Episode: Competence, Autonomy, Relatedness: Celia Hodent on Games Design
This is a really interesting episode on one of the more eclectic topics. Hodent is a psychologist that is heavily involved in game design and the interview looks at how to engage players and the psychology behind it.
4. UI Breakfast: UI/UX Design and Product Strategy with host Jane Portman
Portman offers a wide range of topics on her podcast with conversations from top industry experts around UX/UI design, marketing, and more. Talking about the customer journey and design methodologies are just a few of her highlights.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #142 Game Thinking with Amy Jo Kim
A cool discussion and interview with a start-up coach and game designer, this episode features Kim who is awesome at teaching about the customer journey and superfans. Habit building is a great thing to learn about when it comes to customers.
And podcast host Jane says…
“Don't miss the episode with Brian O'Neill on designing for analytics.”
Why?
“Because Brian shares a wealth of knowledge on making data meaningful. You'll learn why you shouldn’t go after fancy diagrams, and why ‘removing everything’ isn’t always your best strategy.”
5. Design Details with host Marshall Bock and Brian Lovin
A weekly conversation about design process and culture.
This a great design podcast that often is simply an engaging discussion between the two hosts. They answer listeners' questions and discuss their experience and any cool items they come across. Sometimes guests come on who have a special take on a particular question.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #253 Follow the Troll Flow
Focus on building diverse teams and looking at team building from the individual's viewpoint as well as the managers are the topic of this episode. It takes a further look at onboarding and encouraging diversity.
6. Shoptalk Show with host Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier
This web design podcast has been running for a long time with almost 400 episodes offering a wide range of insights. They have some great work with some of the best episodes looking at audience questions on the UX design experience with websites. They have lots of good guests that share expertise, especially on accessibility.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #389 The Bacon Method
This is a really interesting episode and great if you want to learn about bacon as well. (They really do talk about it and how to cook it). They discuss blogging, making money, and CX along with UX.
7. Beyond Users with host Alen Faljic
An interesting and instructional podcast that is easy and quick to listen to. It hits trends, non-trends, and everything in between. Lots of topics for UX, CX and design thinking.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #44 Why IKEA offers 99¢ Hot Dogs?
A great episode that discusses business design stories and the customer experience that goes with them. It specifically looks at IKEA, Soul Cycle, and designers working with lead users.
And podcast host Alen Faljic says…
”Don't miss the episode with Eric Quint, a Chief Brand and Design Officer at 3M.”
Why?
“Because Eric explains what it takes to become a CDO and why designers should stop measuring the value of design.”
8. 99% Invisible with host Roman Mars
This podcast has grown in leaps and bounds since it began in Mars’s bedroom. It looks at the elements of design in day to day life in a way that is engaging for designers and hits both the easy and hard topics of the industry.
Don’t Miss this Episode: #363 Invisible Women
A great introspective episode that looks at how women are still battling to be equal, especially in the CX and design world. It is about being aware so we stop seeing just half of the world's population. Missing that other half means the design is missing half its input.
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of good design podcasts to choose from, whether you want to focus on UX, CX, or design thinking. These podcasts along with The CX Lead Newsletter can help with further insight. Reading the newsletters and listening to the podcasts can broaden your customer experience knowledge. If you want to be the best at what you do, it is important to stay on top of the trends and information to keep you at the forefront of your profession.
Related Read: What Is Customer Experience Design And How Can You Approach It?
Related List of Tools: UI/UX Design Software To Build The Best Customer Experience
Worth Checking Out: What Is A Chief Experience Officer And Why Should You Hire One?