Design Better

• Rewind: Paola Antonelli: How design shapes culture

  Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/rewind-paola-antonelli Design Better has been on the road recently, recording a live episode in Manhattan for design search firm Wert & Co’s 30th anniversary. Guests for the episode included Paola Antonelli (senior curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at MoMA) Mike Davidson (VP of Design and User Research at Microsoft AI), Kate Aronowitz (Design Partner at Google Ventures), Meaghan Choi (Product Designer at Anthropic), & Mark Wilson (Global Design Editor at Fast Company). While Aarron and I are catching up from travel, and as a lead-in to the live episode airing next week, we’re rewinding to our interview with Paola Antonelli. We hope you enjoy the episode. And if you haven’t checked it out yet, did you know you can save over $1600 on popular productivity tools and design and AI courses with the Design Better Toolkit? Just head over to dbtr.co/toolkit to learn more. *** The Museum of Modern Art brings to mind images of Van Gough’s Starry Night, Salvador Dali’s Persistence of Memory, and Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans. But thanks to Paola Antonelli, senior curator in the Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA exhibitions also encompass the role design has played in shaping culture and the human experience. We talk with Paola about how we can look at digital design through a historic lens, some of the most important design movements in the past 100 years, and how the creative process has evolved through these different movements. We also talk about the history of the @ symbol, why craftsmanship is necessary to experimentation, and some of the current challenges in design education. We hope you enjoy this episode which is a part of our series on design history, with upcoming episodes on typography with Jonathan Hoefler, and the history and philosophy of design with Professor Barry Katz. Paola Antonelli joined The Museum of Modern Art in 1994 and is the Museum’s Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design, as well as MoMA’s founding Director of Research and Development. Her work investigates design in all its forms, from architecture to video games, often expanding its reach to include overlooked objects and practices. An architect trained at the Polytechnic of Milan and a pasionaria of design, Antonelli has been named one of the 25 most incisive design visionaries in the world by TIME magazine, has earned the Design Mind Smithsonian Institution’s National Design Award, has been inducted in the US Art Directors Club Hall of Fame, and has received the AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Artists,) the London Design Medal, and the German Design Award, among other accolades.

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• Keith Sawyer: Become more creative by learning to see

  This is a preview of a premium episode on Design Better. To listen to the whole episode, head to our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/keith-sawyer The key to creativity isn’t about having brilliant ideas in isolation, but about cultivating our ability to observe the world around us, and make the intuitive leaps that connect disparate ideas. Keith Sawyer, a creativity researcher who spent over a decade interviewing hundreds of art and design professors and students to understand how creative professionals learn to see—and think—differently, writes about this in his new book, Learning to See. Keith brings a unique perspective to creativity research. A jazz pianist turned MIT computer science graduate, he designed video games in the early 1980s before pivoting to study the science of creativity under the legendary Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi at the University of Chicago. His latest book challenges common myths about the creative process and reveals why the most successful artists and designers don’t start with a vision—they discover it through an iterative dialogue with their work. In our conversation, Keith shares insights from his research on improvisational creativity, explains why ambiguity is essential to the creative process, and discusses how AI is reshaping—but not replacing—human creativity. Bio Dr. Keith Sawyer is the Morgan Distinguished Professor in Educational Innovations at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Sawyer is one of the world’s leading creativity researchers. He’s studied jazz ensembles, Chicago improv theater, children’s play, and creative classrooms. He’s published 20 books, including Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration and Zig Zag: The Surprising Path to Greater Creativity. Books & Links mentioned: The Science of Creativity, Keith Sawyer’s podcast (and his Substack). Flow and Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Creative Confidence by Tom Kelley and David Kelley The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron The Creative Act by Rick Rubin Premium Episodes on Design Better This is a premium episode on Design Better. We release two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to the documentary Design Disruptors and our growing library of books: You’ll also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, discounts and early access to workshops, and our monthly newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. And subscribers at the annual level now get access to the Design Better Toolkit, which gets you major discounts and free access to tools and courses that will help you unlock new skills, make your workflow more efficient, and take your creativity further. Upgrade to paid Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Saily: Saily solves the hassle of staying connected while traveling by offering affordable, data-only eSIM plans that activate seamlessly when you arrive—no physical SIM swap needed. Plus, it layers in built-in security features like ad blocking, web protection, and virtual location for safer browsing on the go.

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• Jae Park: Designing a new generation of vehicles at Ford, and why friction matters in the creative process

  Visit our Substack for bonus content and more: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/jae-park As designers and creatives, many of us spent years of our career looking at blank canvases and attempting to find the best place to start solving the problems in front of us. Now that AI can churn out designs and imagery, not to mention writing, video, and even music in seconds, what are we losing from the friction that is being removed from the creative process? Our guest today, Jae Park, VP of Digital Product Design at Ford's Electric Vehicle Digital Design division, posed this question to us. Jae previously led design teams at Microsoft, Amazon, and Google—companies that epitomize the "move fast and break things" mentality of Silicon Valley. But he questions whether our obsession with speed is actually how we want to live. We talk with Jae about the "valley" between disruptions, why Ford's pivot to affordable EVs matters for American manufacturing, how Gen Alpha will reshape our expectations of vehicles, and why the Socratic method might be more important than any design tool in the age of AI. Jae also discusses what might be his most complex challenge yet: helping a 120-year-old automotive icon compete in an era where, as he puts it, "the phone and the car are becoming the same thing"—at least in rapidly evolving markets like China. Bio Jae Park is a design leader with a track record of building teams and driving innovation at the intersection of business, technology, and human needs. At Ford’s EVDD group, he leads cross-functional designers shaping the company’s digital product strategy to make mobility a fundamental right while advancing sustainability. His career includes inspiring new ways of working at Google, creating the award-winning Metro design system at Microsoft, and leading the invention of Amazon’s Echo Show, which defined a new multimodal product category. Guided by a belief that innovation begins with people, Jae’s leadership style emphasizes curiosity, collaboration, and empowerment. He nurtures diverse teams of designers and technologists, ensuring they have the perspective and support to create products that serve humanity and improve the world at scale. *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Saily: Saily solves the hassle of staying connected while traveling by offering affordable, data-only eSIM plans that activate seamlessly when you arrive—no physical SIM swap needed. Plus, it layers in built-in security features like ad blocking, web protection, and virtual location for safer browsing on the go. Download their app on your phone and you can buy an eSIM before you fly so you’re connected the minute you land. And if you’re traveling between countries, you only need one eSIM. You can get a global or a regional plan and travel with the same eSIM plan. Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. Download Saily app or go to ⁠https://saily.com/designbetter⁠

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• Astro Teller & Ivo Stivoric: Why moonshots require unlearning everything you know

  This is a preview of a premium episode. To hear the full episode, head to our Substack: ⁠https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/astro-teller-and-ivo-stivoric-why⁠ When a company talks about taking a “moonshot,” it often ends up being something trivial: a new emoji keyboard, or delivering a pizza in less than 30 minutes. But at X, the Moonshot Factory, which is part of Google, they’re tackling some of the world’s thorniest problems: sustainably feeding the world’s population, climate change, education, and much more. Today we’re speaking with Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, and Ivo Stivoric, Vice President at X. Astro has a PhD in artificial intelligence from Carnegie Mellon and wrote a prophetic 1997 novel about AI called Exegesis. He's the grandson of Edward Teller of Manhattan Project fame, but his own legacy is built on creating protected spaces where multidisciplinary teams can tackle humanity's biggest challenges—from self-driving cars to internet access delivered by balloons. Ivo leads a portfolio focused on climate, sustainability, and social justice. A designer by training who cut his teeth in the early days of wearable computing at Carnegie Mellon's Engineering Design Research Center, Ivo brings a unique perspective on bridging human needs with breakthrough technology. Together with Astro, he co-founded BodyMedia, one of the pioneering companies in wearable health monitors, which was later acquired by Jawbone. We chat with Astro and Ivo about how they've maintained one of tech's longest creative partnerships, why moonshots require unlearning everything you know about building products, and how they're using their "moonshot factory" push the boundaries of what's possible when you combine emerging technology with empathy for human needs. Links https://x.company/projects/tidal/ https://x.company/moonshotpodcast/ *** Premium Episodes on Design Better This is a premium episode on Design Better. We release two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to the documentary Design Disruptors and our growing library of books: You’ll also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, discounts and early access to workshops, and our monthly newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. And subscribers at the annual level now get access to the Design Better Toolkit, which gets you major discounts and free access to tools and courses that will help you unlock new skills, make your workflow more efficient, and take your creativity further. Upgrade to paid *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Saily: Saily solves the hassle of staying connected while traveling by offering affordable, data-only eSIM plans that activate seamlessly when you arrive—no physical SIM swap needed. Plus, it layers in built-in security features like ad blocking, web protection, and virtual location for safer browsing on the go. Download their app on your phone and you can buy an eSIM before you fly so you’re connected the minute you land. And if you’re traveling between countries, you only need one eSIM. You can get a global or a regional plan and travel with the same eSIM plan. Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. Download Saily app or go to ⁠https://saily.com/designbetter⁠

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• Henry Modisett: Perplexity’s VP of Design on embracing ambiguity and leading with curiosity

  Find bonus content and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/henry-modisett AI isn’t just another layer in our digital toolkit—it’s reshaping the tools themselves, and in the process, transforming how we work, think, and solve problems. Henry Modisett, VP of Design at Perplexity, is in a unique position to challenge many of the norms that have shaped tech for some time now. Perplexity just released a beautiful new browser called Comet that puts AI at the heart of the user experience. We have been thoroughly impressed with it all ready. As a designer with a computer science background, Henry takes a unique approach to his work. Rather than designing in Figma like most of us mortals, he and his team design in React, building working versions of interfaces so they can use it while they shape it. Henry shares how his team approaches the design of AI-native products, and why traditional UX patterns often fall short in this new landscape. We explore the role of curiosity in AI interaction, how transparency and trust are earned (not assumed), and why embracing ambiguity might just be the most human-centered design move of all. By the way, you may have heard that we just launched the Design Better Toolkit, a collection of resources we love and use regularly. The Toolkit gets you major discounts and free access to tools and courses that will help you unlock new skills, make your workflow more efficient, and take your creativity further. Perplexity just happens to be a part of this bundle. You’ll get 6 months free of Perplexity Pro (an $180 value), as well as credits and discounts on tools like Airtable, Read AI, and other tools, and courses like Prototyping with Cursor and more. To get access you’ll need to be a Design Better Premium member at the annual subscription level. Visit dbtr.co/toolkit to learn more. Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. Download Saily app or go  to https://saily.com/designbetter

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