Finding Our Way

76: Embrace the Chaos—Design Operations in the age of AI (ft. Z)

Peter and Jesse are joined by Chengying "Z" Zheng, who shares her experience migrating a design team to be AI-first — off Figma and into code. She discusses how design leadership and operations divide...

2026-08-14

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75: The Steady State of Unsteadiness

Peter and Jesse compare notes from Config, Figma's AI study, Lenny's newsletter survey, and countless conversations to read the current state of design leadership. The signals: existential AI panic ha...

2026-07-25

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LIMINAL—4: You As A Service (ft. Dave Gray)

Dave Gray, author of Liminal Thinking and founder of School of the Possible, joins Peter and Jesse to examine what's actually getting in leaders' way right now: not the disruption itself, but the expe...

2026-05-25

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73: Charting an Adaptive Path toward AI Transformation

Peter and Jesse compare notes from their respective listening tours and client work on how AI is reshaping design teams. The conversation moves through the operational chaos of proliferating tools, th...

2026-05-16

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72: The Worst Technology Rollout in History (Ft. Paul Ford)

Journalist, technologist, and Aboard co-founder Paul Ford joins Peter and Jesse with the perspective of someone running a services firm in the middle of being remade by AI. The conversation covers the...

2026-05-09

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71: Finding Our Way Live! (ft John Gleason)

Design consultant John Gleason returns to explore the leadership skills design needs to claim greater strategic influence. The conversation covers vulnerability and psychological safety, translating d...

2026-04-19

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LIMINAL—3: The Waves within Waves

Jesse's surfing metaphor opens a conversation about discernment and collective action in the liminal moment. Peter and Jesse explore why not every wave is yours to catch, how to find fellow travelers ...

2026-04-10

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69: In a World of AI, What is the Work Really About? (ft. Jorge Arango)

Information architect and consultant Jorge Arango returns five years later with a pointed question at the center of his practice: when AI can handle the surface work, what is design actually for? The ...

2026-03-28

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68: AI and Design: Fundamentals and The Future (ft. Dan Saffer)

Show Notes About the episode: Dan Saffer—designer, author, and CMU professor—joins Peter and Jesse to take stock of design education at a moment when everything is in flux. What’s worth teaching...

2026-03-14

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LIMINAL—2: Liminal Mindset, Skillset, and Leadership

When the ground is shifting and the destination isn't clear, how do you lead? Peter and Jesse explore the mindset and skills required to navigate the liminal moment—when old ways have dissolved but ne...

2026-02-28

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LIMINAL—1: The Liminal Moment

When the old ways no longer hold and the new hasn't taken shape, you're in a liminal moment. Peter and Jesse explore what it means to lead through that in-between space—navigating uncertainty without ...

2026-02-22

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65: Design—Stuck in the Middle with AI (ft. Christina Wodtke)

Stanford professor Christina Wodtke joins Peter and Jesse in exploring the real contradictions of AI in design and product work: revolutionary prototyping speed versus the need for critical thinking, ...

2026-02-04

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64: The State of Design Orgs—Growth Paths, Quality Standards, and Empowerment Gaps

Peter and Jesse discuss findings from Peter's survey of 750 UX pracitioners on organizational health. Designers feel good about their work but struggle with quality standards, staffing, and career gro...

2026-01-24

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63: AI Means Product Needs UX More than Ever (ft. Christian Crumlish)

Product leader, author, and civic tech veteran Christian Crumlish joins Peter and Jesse to discuss his transition from UX to product management and his experimental AI product manager, Piper Morgan. T...

2025-11-02

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62: Design as Differentiator in a World of AI (ft. Andrew Hogan)

Figma's Head of Insights Andrew Hogan joins Peter and Jesse to explore emerging trends in design practice as AI transforms creative workflows. The conversation examines how role boundaries are blurrin...

2025-09-14

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61: The Paradoxes of Product Discovery (ft. Teresa Torres)

Product Discovery coach, teacher, and author Teresa Torres joins Peter and Jesse to explore the messy reality of organizational change and cross-functional collaboration. She discusses why external co...

2025-08-09

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60: Making the World– Design Education and Social Change (ft. Lesley-Ann Noel, PhD)

Dr. Lesley-Ann Noel, Dean of Design at OCAD, joins Jesse and Peter to discuss her global journey from Trinidad to Toronto, leading design education through relationships over craft, preparing students...

2025-06-29

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59: Design Isn’t Dead, But It’s Seen Better Days (ft. John Gleason)

Peter and Jesse are joined by design and business consultant John Gleason. Coming up through P&G's famous design initiative, we get his perspective on design beyond digital products, such as consu...

2025-06-06

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58: AI is a Stress Test for Your UX: What Cracks Will It Show?

Jesse and Peter explore how AI is revealing the true value proposition of design teams. They discuss why "whoever controls the prompt controls the product" and why design leaders must understand their...

2025-05-02

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57: On Being a Chief Experience Officer (ft. Amy Lokey)

Joining Peter and Jesse to talk about what's next for design is Amy Lokey, Chief Experience Officer for the enterprise software platform, ServiceNow. We'll be talking about building a team that unifie...

2025-04-13

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Finding Our Way

Episodes (76 episodes)

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