This is HCD – Human-Centered Design, UX & Service Design Thinking Podcast
Welcome to This is HCD – Human-Centered Design, UX & Service Design Thinking Podcast, the global show for designers, innovators, and changemakers who want to create better products, services, and experiences. Hosted by Gerry Scullion, with over 1-million downloads worldwide. Each episode dives into conversations with leading voices in service design, UX design, interaction design, customer experience, and design strategy. Together, we explore the methods, mindsets, and real-world stories that bring human-centered design and design thinking to life. Whether you’re a UX researcher, service design practitioner, product manager, or design leader, you’ll find actionable insights, practical tools, and inspiration to elevat...
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Avoid These 3 Mistakes When Pitching Design to Leadership
<p></p><p>We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. <br>Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup<br>________________________<br>Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion <br>→ https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-management</p><br>You've done the research. You have the insights. You walk in confident — and it falls flat. In this episode, Gerry unpacks three mistakes designers make when pitching to leadership, including why leading with your methods kills buy-in before you've even started, and what to do instea...
'AI Won't Replace Designers — But It Will Replace the Ones Who Ignore It' Behrad Mirafshar
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>AI and design — not the hype, not the doom, but the practical reality. Behrad Mirafshar is the founder of Bonanza Design and host of the UX for AI podcast. He's been deep in the weeds using AI in real client projects — from research and data sense-making through to agents, automation and building modern applications. In this...
Why People Leave People, Not Organisations — with Louise Dennison O'Shaughnessy
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>What does psychological safety actually feel like when it's present? And what quietly erodes it? In this episode, Louise Dennison O'Shaughnessy — Director of Mental Health and Wellbeing at EHS International — joins Gerry to unpack the behaviours that damage teams: unclear roles, poor communication, and toxic high performers who get a pass because of their output. They...
The Psychology of Not Belonging: A Conversation with Dr. Rami Kaminski
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>It's 2026! We are BACK and so bloody excited to kick off this year with one of my favourite conversations from the end of last year. Quite simply, this conversation and connection has changed my life.<p>About this episode<br>Dr. Rami Kaminski, psychiatrist and author of "The Gift of Not Belonging," explores why some...
Marc Stickdorn on Journey Management, AI & Leading Change in Chaotic Times
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>In this episode of This is HCD, Gerry Scullion is joined (again!) by service design pioneer Marc Stickdorn – recorded right after they both spoke at SD in Gov in Edinburgh.<p><br></p><p>We walk (literally) through the current state of service design, why so many teams feel stuck, and how journey management can hel...
HCD News Roundup - AI Reshapes UX Careers plus Canva acquires Affinity and more
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>[00:00] How AI is changing search behaviours - users still defaulting to Google<br>[02:15] The return of the UX generalist - broad skills becoming more valuable<br>[03:45] New tools spotlight: Affinity Suite now free, Ordinary site builder<br>[05:30] Designer exposure and effectiveness connection<br>[06:45] Systems thinking and leadership responsibilities<br>[07:30] Interface patterns: Hamburger menu recognition study<b...
Public Design, Power & the Future of Services — with Lucy Kimbell
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><p>We’re on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh for a walking conversation with Lucy Kimbell — engineer-turned-artist-turned-academic, and one of the sharpest observers of how design actually lands in government.</p><p><br></p><p>Lucy has spent over 20 years moving between design, art, academia, and public administration. She’s worked with the UK Government’s Policy La...
Design Meets Democracy 🇺🇸 with Chelsea Mauldin
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>When Chelsea Mauldin began bringing design thinking into the U.S. government, she was met with scepticism — design was still seen as “throw pillows and pretty fonts.”<p><br></p><p>In this deep and fascinating episode, Chelsea — Executive Director of the Public Policy Lab in New York — joins Gerry Scullion to share her journey from urban...
Designing Safely: Safeguarding + Trauma-Informed Practice with Ali Fawkes (Humanly)
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>Design isn’t just creativity — it’s care. In this episode, Gerry sits down with Ali Fawkes, Head of Social Innovation at Humanly (founded by Jenni Parker) to unpack practical safeguarding and trauma-informed practice in design research. We trace Ali’s unconventional route from fine art and special education into service design, talk honestly about imposter...
What Dying Teaches Us About Living — Lessons from a Hospice Nurse & Designer (with Johanna Lundqvist)
<p></p><p>If you like our content, be sure to sign up to our weekly The Design Compass Newsletter. Design Smarter. Lead Better.</p><p>Interested in training for your organisation with This is HCD? Let's speak by booking a 15-minute call.</p><br>Gerry Scullion talks with Johanna Lundqvist, a former hospice nurse turned designer, about the wisdom gathered from years of palliative care. They discuss the Swedish memento mori mindset, why Western culture hides death, and how acknowledging mortality helps us live more intentionally. Johanna shares bedside insights on non-verbal care, the power of simple touch, and t...
