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Design Better

Design Better

Auteur(s): The Curiosity Department sponsored by Wix Studio
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Design Better co-hosts Eli Woolery and Aarron Walter explore the intersection of design, technology, and the creative process through conversations with guests across many creative fields, helping you hone your craft, unlock your creativity, and learn the art of collaboration. Whether you’re design curious or a design pro, Design Better is guaranteed to inspire and inform. Vanity Fair calls Design Better, “sharp, to the point, and full of incredibly valuable information for anyone looking to better understand how to build a more innovative world.”© The Curiosity Department, LLC 2025 Art Économie
Épisodes
  • Astro Teller & Ivo Stivoric: Why moonshots require unlearning everything you know
    Sep 10 2025
    This is a preview of a premium episode. To hear the full episode, head to our Substack: ⁠https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/astro-teller-and-ivo-stivoric-why⁠ When a company talks about taking a “moonshot,” it often ends up being something trivial: a new emoji keyboard, or delivering a pizza in less than 30 minutes. But at X, the Moonshot Factory, which is part of Google, they’re tackling some of the world’s thorniest problems: sustainably feeding the world’s population, climate change, education, and much more. Today we’re speaking with Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots, and Ivo Stivoric, Vice President at X. Astro has a PhD in artificial intelligence from Carnegie Mellon and wrote a prophetic 1997 novel about AI called Exegesis. He's the grandson of Edward Teller of Manhattan Project fame, but his own legacy is built on creating protected spaces where multidisciplinary teams can tackle humanity's biggest challenges—from self-driving cars to internet access delivered by balloons. Ivo leads a portfolio focused on climate, sustainability, and social justice. A designer by training who cut his teeth in the early days of wearable computing at Carnegie Mellon's Engineering Design Research Center, Ivo brings a unique perspective on bridging human needs with breakthrough technology. Together with Astro, he co-founded BodyMedia, one of the pioneering companies in wearable health monitors, which was later acquired by Jawbone. We chat with Astro and Ivo about how they've maintained one of tech's longest creative partnerships, why moonshots require unlearning everything you know about building products, and how they're using their "moonshot factory" push the boundaries of what's possible when you combine emerging technology with empathy for human needs. Links https://x.company/projects/tidal/ https://x.company/moonshotpodcast/ *** Premium Episodes on Design Better This is a premium episode on Design Better. We release two premium episodes per month, along with two free episodes for everyone. Premium subscribers also get access to the documentary Design Disruptors and our growing library of books: You’ll also get access to our monthly AMAs with former guests, ad-free episodes, discounts and early access to workshops, and our monthly newsletter The Brief that compiles salient insights, quotes, readings, and creative processes uncovered in the show. And subscribers at the annual level now get access to the Design Better Toolkit, which gets you major discounts and free access to tools and courses that will help you unlock new skills, make your workflow more efficient, and take your creativity further. Upgrade to paid *** Visiting the links below is one of the best ways to support our show: Saily: Saily solves the hassle of staying connected while traveling by offering affordable, data-only eSIM plans that activate seamlessly when you arrive—no physical SIM swap needed. Plus, it layers in built-in security features like ad blocking, web protection, and virtual location for safer browsing on the go. Download their app on your phone and you can buy an eSIM before you fly so you’re connected the minute you land. And if you’re traveling between countries, you only need one eSIM. You can get a global or a regional plan and travel with the same eSIM plan. Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. Download Saily app or go to ⁠https://saily.com/designbetter⁠
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    27 min
  • Henry Modisett: Perplexity’s VP of Design on embracing ambiguity and leading with curiosity
    Sep 3 2025
    Find bonus content and more on our Substack: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/henry-modisett AI isn’t just another layer in our digital toolkit—it’s reshaping the tools themselves, and in the process, transforming how we work, think, and solve problems. Henry Modisett, VP of Design at Perplexity, is in a unique position to challenge many of the norms that have shaped tech for some time now. Perplexity just released a beautiful new browser called Comet that puts AI at the heart of the user experience. We have been thoroughly impressed with it all ready. As a designer with a computer science background, Henry takes a unique approach to his work. Rather than designing in Figma like most of us mortals, he and his team design in React, building working versions of interfaces so they can use it while they shape it. Henry shares how his team approaches the design of AI-native products, and why traditional UX patterns often fall short in this new landscape. We explore the role of curiosity in AI interaction, how transparency and trust are earned (not assumed), and why embracing ambiguity might just be the most human-centered design move of all. By the way, you may have heard that we just launched the Design Better Toolkit, a collection of resources we love and use regularly. The Toolkit gets you major discounts and free access to tools and courses that will help you unlock new skills, make your workflow more efficient, and take your creativity further. Perplexity just happens to be a part of this bundle. You’ll get 6 months free of Perplexity Pro (an $180 value), as well as credits and discounts on tools like Airtable, Read AI, and other tools, and courses like Prototyping with Cursor and more. To get access you’ll need to be a Design Better Premium member at the annual subscription level. Visit dbtr.co/toolkit to learn more. Get an exclusive 15% discount on your first Saily data plans! Use code DESIGNBETTER at checkout. Download Saily app or go to https://saily.com/designbetter
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    47 min
  • Elizabeth Lin: Rethinking design education in the age of AI
    Aug 26 2025
    This is a preview of a premium episode on Design Better. Head to our Substack to get access to the full episode: https://designbetterpodcast.com/p/elizabeth-lin Have you played around with Cursor? If not, it’s time. Designers with no coding skills are passing Cursor Figma files and getting working apps out the other side. And if you have no design, you can just prompt this AI powered development environment to get a solid prototype of your idea. Elizabeth Lin, founder of Design is a Party, recognizes that Cursor is going to expand the capabilities of designers. She’s built a course that introduces designers to Cursor and challenges you to build while you design. We talk with Elizabeth about how she's using AI tools like Cursor to help designers prototype faster than ever before, why she thinks now might be the perfect time to try something new in your career, and what's missing from traditional design education. Elizabeth also shares what she's learned about "vibe coding," why debugging is the hardest skill for new students to master, and how she's building a business around the idea that learning should feel more like a party than work. By the way, you may have heard that we just launched the Design Better Toolkit, a collection of resources we love and use regularly. The Toolkit gets you major discounts and free access to tools and courses that will help you unlock new skills, make your workflow more efficient, and take your creativity further. One of Elizabeth’s courses, Prototyping with Cursor, just happens to be a part of this bundle. You’ll get $100 off her course, as well as a $500 credit towards Airtable, discounts on Read.ai, Perplexity, Miro, and other tools, and discounts on other courses from platforms like ShiftNudge. To get access you’ll need to be a Design Better Premium member at the annual subscription level. Visit dbtr.co/toolkit to learn more. Bio Elizabeth is a design educator with 10 years of experience whose love for design began in the early internet days of Neopets, creating playful graphics and websites with tools like MS Paint. She went on to study computer science at UC Berkeley, where she discovered a community of design enthusiasts and began teaching her first course on Illustrator and Photoshop as a sophomore. That experience sparked a lasting passion for teaching, which she continued to pursue through workshops and courses during her time at Berkeley. After graduating, Elizabeth worked as a product designer at education-focused companies like Khan Academy and Primer, designing tools for teachers and students while expanding her perspective on learning. In 2023, she founded Design is a Party, an alternative design school that reflects her playful yet rigorous approach to teaching. Since then, she has launched a two-course series on visual design, developed portfolio-building resources, and led workshops to help the next generation of designers grow their craft.
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    20 min
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