On sleep depravation, poop, podcasts, and design
The moment I first heard that piercing newborn shriek this past March, I knew I was in for a ride; another ride, to be accurate.
In a flash, my second child’s birth brought back all the hallmarks of baby life that were still lingering at the periphery from my first born’s arrival 5 years previous: unconditional love, the myriad of “firsts”, copious sleepless nights, and dirty diaper changing. So much poop… so much poop. *stares off in the distance*
You see, on the evangelism front, 2018 was a year full of dynamism: international travel for speaking engagements, my first opening keynote, new connections, new experiences. In fact, my wife was pregnant with the little fella when she sat in the audience at my Midwest UX opening keynote. I wonder if he took tiny sketch notes?
2019, however, was about fully focusing on family, and learning to co-parent two. In tandem with wrapping up a large personal project (which I’ll get to momentarily) and continuing to grow / manage / support my team and our human-centered design shared service at the office, there was little time left for anything else.
To that point, I had recorded an episode of The Creative Culture Podcast (in tandem with co-host Jason Ogle) featuring agency Primitive Spark just before March which I still haven’t released. Good grief 😞 Apologies to Wendy Nyx and Brooke Coe for the obnoxiously long delay on getting this amazing conversation out there.
Podcasts. Lots of podcasts.
On the topic of podcasting — since traveling for speaking engagements wasn’t in the cards this year — the perfect means by which to continue spreading the message of healthy, human-centered culture was the podcast circuit. That way, I could continue to speak about design from the comfort of my home office, usually spattered in some manner of baby…stuff. “An ensemble made for radio,” so to speak.
Over 2019 I had the opportunity to be a guest on 6 different podcasts, touching on different angles by which a healthy people-first culture impacts us, and impacts business: on the job hunt, in creative process, at the company brand level, during the sales process, and in overall product and design innovation.
All were tremendously engaging dialogues:
“Finding the Right Cultural Fit”
User Defenders Podcast
Justin Dauer implores us never settle in our important quest to find the right cultural fit. He reminds us that being human-centered doesn’t just affect our users, but especially the humans we interact with. He encourages us to think hard about where we choose to hang our hat, & understand what the ramifications of the wrong decision may be. He also reveals the maze of signals to watch out for in our search for the culture that will foster our creativity, & empower our passion to produce what could be our greatest work…yet.
“How to Design a Creative Culture at Work”
Creative Life Podcast with James Taylor
Justin’s passion is for creative workspaces and cultures, and he focuses on increasing creative productivity as well as workplace retention.
In “How to Design a Creative Culture at Work,” Justin and James Taylor talk about human beings being at the heart of it all.
“Cultivating a Creative Culture with Justin Dauer”
On Brand Podcast
“Culture internally seems like one of the most intuitive things to support. It’s a no brainer. And yet …” We miss it. Often. Thankfully there’s a new book to help us keep the connection between brand and culture top of mind — Cultivating a Creative Culture. The author Justin Dauer is my guest on this week’s episode of the On Brand podcast.
“How to cultivate a creative culture with Justin Dauer”
LifeSelfMastery podcast
Today I am happy to have Justin Dauer is a Chicago designer educated at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Vice President of User experience and Development at Bswift. His passion is creative workspaces and cultures, and he focuses on increasing creative productivity as well as workplace retention with his new book, Cultivating a Creative Culture
In this episode, Justin talks about how to build a creative work culture and encourage empathy in creative work environments.
“Building A Culture Of Empathy And Accountability”
$ales Evangelist Podcast
Every organization needs a culture of empathy and accountability no matter what it’s doing. Sometimes, we only have empathy and neglect accountability but it’s important to have both. Justin Dauer is with us in this episode to explain to us how to get both and give recommendations on the right way to do it.
“Cultivating a Creative Culture with Justin Dauer”
The Innovation Show
We create human-centred interactions and experiences in our field. Empathetic purpose drives our every decision. Mobile First? In reality, it’s humans first. This same mentality turned inward, forms the cornerstone of something amazing: a creative culture.
Justin and Aidan talk about how human-centered design drives innovation in tandem with a culture that supports the same people-first dynamic.
2020 Has Lots in Store
Throughout a year of sleepless nights, teething-based tantrums, and bi-weekly illness, I’ve also been working on something big.
Researching. Observing. Listening. Learning. And, yes: writing.
“Creative Culture: Human-Centered Interaction, Design, & Inspiration” is the follow-up to, and 2nd edition of, 2017’s “Cultivating a Creative Culture.”
A “human-centered mindset” means people are at the center of everything in a business: empathy and compassion guide our hand across personnel, process, and product.
Creating with compassion in an environment fueled by compassion means we never lose sight of what it’s all about: people. Beyond functioning in this manner because “it’s the right thing to do,” quality of design work, loyalty internally (team) and externally (users), and product innovation are all benefits to reap.
At around ~160 pages, I’m extremely proud of this 2nd edition (and first evolution) of the book, with a greater focus on the synergies between human-centered methodologies of design and culture: new interviews, case studies, tactics, and approaches. And, lots of new illustrations of everyone’s favorite hummingbird.
I’ll be talking about the book more over the coming months preceding its release in late Spring 2020.
