Design Table Podcast

Get a seat at the table and build the design career you want. This podcast is for designers looking to break in, level up, and take control of their careers—whether you're freelancing, climbing the corporate ladder, or just trying to get noticed. Every two weeks, we dive into career fundamentals, design best practices, and the hottest topics in the design community.

Design Table Podcast is a arts podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Design Table Podcast, a arts show with 0 episodes published.

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  Episode #58

  Is AI replacing designers? Not Really. There's A Bigger Danger

  Aug 12, 202633 min

  Someone on your team just built a landing page with Claude and skipped you entirely. It used to be a product designer's nightmare, but now... it is called 'Tuesday'. In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick get into the question lots of product designers are asking right now. Is AI actually coming for your job? Or is that all social media nonsense? They map out why the risk of losing your job has nothing to do with AI itself. Instead, it comes down to company size and UX maturity, and where you land on that grid decides whether you're a strategic partner or the first person cut when a non-designer thinks they can just 'do the UX in Claude.' They break down why junior designers need political skills that senior designers take for granted, why showing messy work early gets you better feedback than a polished reveal, and why an unmonitored session recording can prove design's value faster than a giant slide deck. Then they answer a listener's question from a medtech intern who was told to use AI to improve his workflow. They unpack what that feedback is really saying, and what it isn't. In this episode you'll learn: Why should I even go into design is the wrong question to be asking right now The two part test for reading how seriously your company actually takes design How junior and senior designers should handle pushback differently Why showing your messy, unfinished work gets better feedback than the polished version How session recordings can prove design's value faster than any deck What use more AI to improve your workflow really means when a manager says it Why design is still the moat, and why the craft can't be outsourced Chapters: 0:00 Is design still a safe career? Setting up the real question 2:16 The two lines that determine how seriously your company takes design 3:49 Junior vs senior designers, handling pushback and politics 6:45 Why showing messy work early gets you better feedback 9:20 The dangerous game of skipping design due diligence 14:18 Why world changing features usually belong in a dropdown 16:21 Why companies that ignore designer judgment are setting themselves up to fail 18:37 Session recordings, the fastest way to prove design work matters 19:57 A bank's accessibility wake up call, caught on video 23:12 Listener question, use more AI, a medtech intern's performance review 26:06 Why shadowing a senior designer beats guessing on your own 29:40 Doing manual design work on purpose to build real craft 34:17 Closing thoughts, design is still the moat Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe Resources to help you level up your design career: Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-audit Download the Product Design Blueprint https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprint Join our UX and product design community https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-community In need of support? Take a look at our resources https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learn More about Tyler and Nick Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld

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  Episode #57

  10 Things Companies Hiring Product Designers Want From You Right Now

  Aug 5, 202632 min

  Zero to one product design work. That's the main skill companies are hiring designers for right now. You'd expect Figma knowledge or being 'native' with the latest AI tools to be the main thing, but that's not the case. In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick react point-by-point to a breakdown of what companies currently want from product designers according to Tom Scott, recruiter and owner at Verified. The list includes communication skills for designers, ownership, design systems, AI-native skills, and why both the take-home task and the old-school work trial are creeping back into the product design hiring process. They also discuss why the "builder" mindset is better than pure execution as teams get leaner, why design systems are becoming a full-time discipline of their own, and why an app store flooded with AI-generated products is making branding and UI craft more and more important. Finally, Tyler and Nick cover the AI-native skill gap between senior and junior designers, why fractional and freelance design work is booming, and close on the reminder that your career is a vehicle for your life, not the whole thing. Tom Scott on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomscottt/ Tom Scott's newsletter - https://verifiedinsider.substack.com/p/design-hiring-observations In this episode you'll learn: Why communication matters more than craft when presenting your work The "builder" mindset companies are hiring for over pure execution Why design systems are becoming a full-time discipline again How the flood of AI-generated apps is making branding the real differentiator Why take-home tasks and work trials are both making a comeback The AI-native skill gap between senior and junior designers Why fractional and freelance design work is booming The closing reminder: your career is a vehicle, not your identity Chapters: 0:00 - What companies are actually looking for right now 2:24 - The "builder" mindset beating pure execution 4:54 - Design systems becoming a full-time discipline 9:17 - How vibe coding is reshaping the design process 12:43 - What junior portfolios need now vs. shipped work 15:47 - Why branding is the differentiator in an AI-flooded app store 20:54 - Interview processes changing: tasks and work trials return 24:11 - The AI-native skill gap between senior and junior designers 26:12 - The rise of fractional and freelance design work 30:52 - Closing reminder: your career is a vehicle, not your identity Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe Resources to help you level up your design career: Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-audit Download the Product Design Blueprint https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprint Join our UX and product design community https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-community In need of support? Take a look at our resources https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learn More about Tyler and Nick Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld

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  Episode #56

  Live Portfolio Review - Your Hero Section Is Costing You The Interview

  Jul 29, 202633 min

  Two seconds. That's how long you have before a hiring manager bounces off your portfolio. Most product design hero sections that time. In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick roast real, anonymized hero sections pulled straight from product design portfolios. Examples include the generic portfolio, one that looks like a resume-dump, and the rare ones that work. They break down why "I deliver thoughtful designs, seamless solutions, and creative experiences built for impact" tells a recruiter nothing, why your name doesn't need to be the headline, and how to turn a degree, a hobby, or even a personal reason into the differentiator that makes someone stop scrolling. They also get into productized service messaging, why "curious about X" reads weaker than "expert in X," and the two-line hero Tyler thinks is more than perfect. In this episode you'll learn: Why generic hero copy makes you disappear into the pile The "dream job" exercise that instantly sharpens a vague hero section How to turn your background, education, or a personal story into a real differentiator Why "curious about X" is weaker than "I'm an expert in X" How to signal scarcity without lying about your availability The two-line hero Tyler said needed zero notes Why a specific niche beats a generic "design partner" tagline Chapters: 0:00 - Roasting a generic hero section opener 2:00 - Why "thoughtful, seamless, creative" says nothing 3:39 - The dream-job exercise for sharpening your positioning 5:45 - Nick's pivot into music tech through a personal hook 9:31 - Communicating scarcity without overselling 12:20 - Why unlimited-design subscriptions can feel like a factory 14:11 - The hero section that read like an entire resume 15:18 - Turning a Master's in AI into a differentiator 21:54 - "Curious about X" vs. "I'm an expert in X" 25:19 - Cutting AI-sounding buzzwords like "facilitating transparent communication" 27:42 - The two-line hero that nailed it 29:43 - Roasting a personal brand hero section 33:36 - "Design partner for non-technical SMEs" — niching done right 35:52 - Why the hero section is still your most important real estate Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe Resources to help you level up your design career: Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-audit Download the Product Design Blueprint https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprint Join our UX and product design community https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-community In need of support? Take a look at our resources https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learn More about Tyler and Nick Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld

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  Episode #54

  Do you have to use AI to get a design job? (our listener asks)

  Jul 15, 202627 min

  One of our listeners wrote us while being stuck between two things: loving the product design craft and needing a job badly. He likes doing the actual product design work by hand, because that's how he learns and how he gets better. That's how he finds solutions. Yet, every job posting wants you to be "AI native" with a ton of "AI experience." So what do you do? Fake it? Give in? Hold the line and risk staying unemployed? Or something in between? In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick answer a real question from a listener: a recent grad, currently out of work, torn between using AI because "everyone else is" and sticking to the hands-on process he actually loves. They dig into where AI helps, where it doesn't, and why using it doesn't have to mean losing your craft. They talk through the difference between using AI in a way that touches your pixels and AI that just clears the annoying stuff out of the way. You know, things like meeting notes, research, and transcripts. Tyler shares how he feeds meeting transcripts straight into Claude to turn messy feedback into a task list. Nick shares how a Figma plugin took a redraw job from hours to minutes, while every design decision stayed within his control. The conversation gets personal, too. Both tell stories on early day jobs they had to do just to get started and why the early, unglamorous grind is not something to skip. In this episode you'll learn: 🔸 Where AI actually helps your job search, and where it doesn't 🔸 How to use AI without losing your craft or your taste 🔸 Why chasing every LinkedIn hot take wastes your time 🔸 How to turn meeting transcripts into a real task list with AI 🔸 Why the "grind" phase of your career isn't optional 🔸 How to find your own path instead of copying someone else's Chapters: 0:00 - A listener's dilemma: love the craft, need a job 1:07 - AI is a tool, not a threat to your craft 3:31 - LinkedIn isn't the job — stop treating it like gospel 6:44 - Why a minimum level of AI use is non-negotiable now 8:02 - Use AI for the boring stuff, not the pixels 8:48 - How a Figma plugin turned hours into seconds 14:05 - Feeding meeting transcripts into Claude for real output 15:44 - Are you actually having fun as a designer? 18:24 - Stop copying someone else's playbook 20:04 - Learn to eat shit for a while (Pepsi factory & mail route stories) 25:14 - The Darwin trick: fit in first, be yourself later 28:37 - Bottom line: use it. It's fine. Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe Resources to help you level up your design career: Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-audit Download the Product Design Blueprint https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprint Join our UX and product design community https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-community In need of support? Take a look at our resources https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learn More about Tyler and Nick Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld

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  Episode #53

  Is Everything You Design Already Copied?

  Jul 8, 202637 min

  Every product. designer has had this thought at some point: "Someone's already built this. Am I even doing anything original?" It creeps in during a login screen, an onboarding flow, a pricing page, and it makes you second guess whether you're actually adding value or just repeating and copying something else. In this episode of The Design Table Podcast, Tyler and Nick tackle a listener question: is it a problem if your designs look like things that already exist? They dig into why copying isn't the same as stealing, why juniors should absolutely study and replicate great work before they try to reinvent it, and why chasing "never been done before" is a fantasy that doesn't hold up in practice. From there the conversation gets very practical. Nick is deep in pricing page work for multiple clients right now, and the two of them break down the psychology behind free trials, forced plan selection, upsells, and smart business strategy becomes a dark pattern. They also get into why product design best practices exist for a reason, why users don't like unfamiliar patterns even when they're technically better, and how uniqueness in product design shows up underneath the surface, in the business logic, the user base, and the tiny decisions you can't see on a screenshot. The episode also covers Dribbble and pattern recognition, why copying UI without understanding UX gets you in trouble with engineers fast, and how prototyping is changing the feedback loop between designers and developers, including a story about a "faster horse" redesign that only became a real breakthrough once a developer challenged the whole premise. Tyler closes it out with a surprising story about connecting Claude, GitHub, and a Mixpanel AI agent to diagnose a UX problem in an afternoon instead of a multi sprint investigation, and how it completely changed the scope of what needed to be fixed. In this episode you'll learn: 🔸 Why copying is a normal and healthy part of learning design 🔸 Why "nothing new" isn't actually a problem worth panicking over 🔸 The psychology behind pricing pages, free trials, and forced choice 🔸 Where the line sits between a smart upsell and a dark pattern 🔸 Why best practices exist and when it's actually safe to break them 🔸 How to use Dribbble for inspiration without copying blind 🔸 Why prototyping is closing the gap between designers and developers 🔸 How connecting AI tools to real product data can shrink weeks of work into hours 🔸 Why the real uniqueness in design lives beneath the surface Chapters: 0:00 - Is it bad if your design looks like something else? 1:06 - Building a better mousetrap 2:47 - Does this apply to designers at every level? 4:02 - Why juniors should copy to learn 5:48 - Real example: designing pricing pages right now 8:00 - One button vs. forcing a plan choice 9:59 - Using forced choice to measure intent 11:34 - Giving full access during a free trial as an upsell 14:02 - Dark pattern or just smart business? 15:30 - Full circle: why pricing pages all look the same 16:55 - The iceberg model of design 17:50 - Why "200 high-converting templates" packs don't actually work 20:47 - A quick word from the Design Table community 21:39 - Explaining what you do for a living to non-designers 24:06 - Using Dribbble for pattern recognition, not one-to-one copying 25:33 - Prototyping and the designer-developer feedback loop 26:50 - The faster horse problem and the developer's breakthrough idea 28:53 - Killing main character syndrome in collaboration 31:16 - AI win of the week: Claude, GitHub, and Mixpanel solving a UX mystery 36:04 - Wrap up Subscribe to The Design Table Podcast https://www.designtablepodcast.com/subscribe Resources to help you level up your design career: Get your portfolio and career strategy reviewed with a Design Table Audit https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/design-table-audit Download the Product Design Blueprint https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/product-design-blueprint Join our UX and product design community https://www.designtablepodcast.com/products/ux-and-product-design-community In need of support? Take a look at our resources https://www.designtablepodcast.com/learn More about Tyler and Nick Tyler: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/tyler-white Nick: https://www.designtablepodcast.com/hosts/nick-groeneveld

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