A76 | a design pod

Welcome to season 5 of A76 called Walk Your Dog. This season I'm exploring designer's cognitive habits and in the season opener, I chat with David Kazaryan, a Senior Manager leading the revenue product team at United Airlines about a core habit often underrated—an iteration mindset. David traces his roots for iterating back to how he was raised, discusses his design education and the move from agency life into product design teams. We chat about perfectionism and setting expectations as...

In the new season of A76, I go beyond the industry noise to explore the designer’s mindset and why the ways designers see, question and make sense of the world are their most valuable skills. Drawing on over thirty years of experience and conversations with working designers, this season digs into the cognitive habits within design—the ways of thinking that turn noticing into understanding, understanding into action and that action into meaningful change. In an industry wrestling with AI and ...

In the final episode of A76 Season 4, The Human Spark, friend and mentor Frank Grubich flips the script and interviews me using the same questions I’ve been asking guests all season with a few surprises along the way. We talk about my origin story as a designer, where ideas come from, why I design, and what I’d tell my 20-something self. Thanks FEEG, it was a lot of fun. ~ Noel A76 was created by Noel Childs And is executive produced & hosted by Noel Childs Season 5: Walk Your Dog is prod...

We’re in the back arc of A76’s season exploring The Human Spark and I was fortunate to sit down with Gavin Lew, Managing Partner at Bold Insight, to discuss how deep behavioral observation helps move ideas forward. Throughout the season I’ve challenged my guests to reflect on how they know when an idea is truly worth pursuing, and Gavin offers a thoughtful perspective on that question. We explore how actionable insights from real people, empathy, and courage are forces that can push ideas ahe...

Friend of the pod Casey Hudetz, Senior Manager of Product Design at DocuSign and co-host of A76’s season one comes back on the pod to talk with me about the moment an idea grabs you and won’t let go. He shares a powerful example from his grandparents that compelled a creative project, including a talk and film. And our conversation explores how ideas often emerge through convergence and the subconscious. If you’ve ever felt haunted by an idea you couldn’t shake, this is the episode for you. I...