UX Banter

In this episode, we sit down with Taylor Gurian, Director of User Experience at Nebo, to explore her journey across marketing, customer insights, and UX leadership. Taylor shares practical guidance on building a career in UX, why non-traditional backgrounds are an advantage, and how real-world experience shapes strong designers.    Discussion points -  Walk us through your journey from architecture to marketing to UX and how each chapter shaped where you are today. 1:56  How do you use your marketing background in your day-to-day UX work? 10:19  Rapid fire round 13:43  Do you think defining product requirements should be part of a UX designer’s role, or should a business analyst handle that before the design process begins? 17:57  How is AI changing the way UX designers work, and what is your approach to using it responsibly? 21:16  How is your team at Nebo currently adopting AI tools, and what has the experience been like so far? 23:23  What advice would you give to someone trying to break into UX today when entry level jobs are harder to find than ever? 32:33  Show notes -   Use your past experience as a superpower. Whether you were a nurse, a marketer or anything else, you can always find your differentiator in what you did before.  AI should do boring work for creative people, not creative things for boring people. Let it handle the grunt work, so you have more time and space for the creative stuff.  Think of AI as your eager intern. It wants to move fast, it has a few ideas for you, but you always need to adjust and modify its work because you are the expert, not it.  If you're trying to respond to human problems, try to stay away from AI. We, as humans helping other humans, must stay human no matter where efficiency takes us.  The traditional UX path doesn't really exist, and it doesn't need to. What makes you unique is your differentiator, and that is what stands out when everything else looks the same.  Get experience doing work with real people. Even if it never goes live, the interaction with a real human is what builds your portfolio and your instincts at the same time.   Taylor’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorgurian/  Company’s website: https://www.neboagency.com/  

In this episode, we are joined by Ranjithkumar Rajarethinam, Director of Design & Strategy at Esperia Studio. With over 20 years of experience, Ranjit has worked across industries from banking to manufacturing, blending empathy, process, and AI-driven tools to shape user experiences. He is also the founder of Learner at Large, a platform that mentors UX designers at every stage of their careers. Discussion Points ~ How did your design journey begin, and what were the turning points that shaped your career? ~ How do you see AI impacting design careers today, especially for junior designers entering the field?~ Rapid fire round ~ Can you walk us through your stakeholder management framework and why stakeholder buy-in is critical in enterprise UX? ~ How do you adapt your design approach across diverse industries like banking, manufacturing, and energy? ~ What’s one key piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting out?  Show Notes ~ Everything I learned so far has come full circle with AI—today I can scale my skills in ways I couldn’t before.~ When you build a portfolio, make sure it carries your stamp—don’t try to be another designer in the market.~ Resources are the same for juniors and seniors now; the difference lies in vision and the willingness to iterate.~ In enterprise UX, you’re not just designing screens—you’re designing alliances.~Time is money. To succeed, you must understand the customer’s business context, not just their users.~ The three skills that will define careers in the next decade are creative problem-solving, analytical thinking, and lifelong learning.Ranjith’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/learneratlarge/ 

In this episode, we are joined by Aysha Samrin, UX Design Architect at McAfee.Aysha’s journey is a testament to the power of creativity and resilience. From illustrating children’s books and building brands to leading UX strategy in global tech, her path has been shaped by cultural influences spanning India, Abu Dhabi, the UK, and Canada. Alongside her industry roles, she also mentors the next generation of designers as a Senior UX Instructor at the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts. Discussion Points -~ What was your journey like from illustration and branding to becoming a UX leader? 1:47~ What is PropTech? 12:58~ How have cultural influences from India, Abu Dhabi, the UK, and Canada shaped your design approach? 13:45~ Rapid Fire Round 20:48~ How are you experimenting with AI tools, and what opportunities or challenges do you see for designers? 26:54~ What has your experience been like teaching UX at VanArts and mentoring the next generation of designers? 29:57~ What advice do you have for young designers who are just beginning their careers in this field? 35:34Show notes -~ A lot of cultural influences show up in my design without me consciously putting them in—it’s what I’ve grown up with and observed.~ Illustration taught me storytelling, and that skill has been invaluable in UX.~  Understanding cultural context, like payment methods, colors, or patterns, can make or break a user experience.~ Exploring AI tools has been eye-opening, not to replace designers, but to see how they can support creativity.~ Teaching reminds me that design fundamentals never go out of style.~ Formal design education matters; it gives you a foundation to build a long-term career instead of realizing too late that you’re in the wrong field.~ Living and working across different countries taught me that even simple design choices, like colors or payment methods, carry deep cultural meaning.Aysha’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aysha-samrin/   

In this episode, we are joined by Ryan Brink, Senior Product Designer at Michigan Software Labs. With a background that spans business, sports, and marketing, Ryan’s journey into UX is anything but traditional. His experience coaching soccer shaped his collaborative, people-first design mindset, while his early work in marketing and analytics honed his ability to combine creativity with data. Today, Ryan designs enterprise platforms, compliance tools, and AI-powered workflows—all with a focus on clarity, collaboration, and user-centered thinking. Discussion Points ~ How did your journey into UX design begin? 2:15  ~Since sports are data-heavy, do you see a connection between that and digital design dashboards? 6:36 ~ Do you think people from non-design backgrounds challenge or enrich your perspective in UX? 8:40 ~ Rapid Fire Round 10:16 ~ What unique challenges do you face when designing for enterprise software and compliance-heavy products? 15:25 ~ How are you leveraging AI in your design process, and what opportunities or risks does it bring? 20:31 ~ What inspired your book, Phony Confessions of a Designer, and how does humor play a role in your approach to design? 24:54 ~ What advice do you have for young designers starting their careers today? 26:57Show notes  ~ UX is all about creating alignment; it’s not about who has the best idea, but about what’s best for the end user. ~ Coaching soccer taught me leadership and teamwork—skills I bring into every design project. ~ Metrics bridge the gap between creativity and strategy; they tell us what’s working and where we need to improve. ~ AI can’t replace the UX process. If you put in garbage, garbage will come out. ~ Creativity was the missing piece in my career. Once I found design, tinkering with problems stopped feeling like work. ~ Enterprise UX isn’t just about usability; it’s about navigating red tape, earning stakeholder buy-in, and still keeping the user at the center. ~ Humor helps us stay honest about our flaws as designers; sometimes laughing at our “confessions” makes us better at what we do. Ryan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-brink/ Ryan’s Website: https://brinkryan.com/ 

In this episode, we are joined by Paige Maguire, Director of UX & Research at Fueled. With a background in philosophy and law, Paige’s journey into UX has been shaped by her deep curiosity about human behavior and communication. Over the years, she has blended strategic thinking with user empathy to design digital products that are both intuitive and impactful. Her leadership brings clarity to complexity, helping teams create smarter, human-centered solutions.Discussion Points ~ How did your journey evolve from studying philosophy and law to becoming a UX leader? 1:34~ How do you apply advocacy and negotiation skills from your legal background to UX practice? 3:19~ Rapid fire round 8:35~ How is your team navigating the rise of AI in tools and user experience design? 12:10~ How do you keep your team creatively inspired while experimenting with new tools and technologies? 19:50~ What advice do you have for young designers who are just beginning their careers in this field? 21:24 Show Notes ~ We do a little bit of advocacy every day, balancing technical feasibility, stakeholder needs, and usability while fighting for our users. ~ Data can tell us what happened in the past, but we must always leave space for the irrationality of human behavior. ~ Start slow, but start now. That’s our mantra at Fueled when integrating AI into design processes. ~ We put our foot down - at Fueled, we do not use synthetic users for research. Nothing replaces talking to real people. ~ Design is more than putting pixels together; it's about leaving space for the creative act, the magic that brings ideas to life. ~ Don’t be afraid of AI replacing you. Let it assist your creative act, not inhibit it. Paige’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paigemaguire/