UX design podcasts

We asked the Lyssna community which UX design podcasts they like. We received so many great recommendations that we’ll be adding to our regular listening rotation.

Whether you're seeking in-depth discussions on design, career insights from UX professionals, or just want to be exposed to new ideas or opinions, there are lots of great UX design podcasts out there. 

Here are the best ten UX design podcasts, as recommended by the Lyssna community, to check out that will get you motivated and inspired.

1. Design Better

“They have a great backlog of episodes with big hitters in design. They’re also doing cool things in expanding conversations beyond UX and product design into larger capital ‘D’ design things.”
– Erica Boyle, UX Strategist

There are many reasons why Design Better stands out as one of the best UX design podcasts. They feature guests from various professions, not limiting themselves to UX, and cover a diverse range of topics. 

They’ve spoken to Katrina Alcorn, General Manager of Design at IBM, about improving collaboration and communication, and also explored writer David Sedaris’ hilarious perspective on his own creative process. These insightful discussions offer valuable lessons that can be applied to UX design.

Recommended listening

Pinterest’s Naveen Gavini: Knitting Different Disciplines Together

Naveen Gavini, who at the time of this recording held the position of SVP of Products at Pinterest, shares his childhood passion for tech, where he created simple websites to showcase his favorite video games and music. He discusses his time studying engineering and how his career trajectory veered into design, and also talks about his work bringing Pinterest to mobile and the importance of design within the company. 

2. The NN/g UX Podcast

The Nielsen Norman Group has been helping companies build better digital apps based on research and strategy since 1998. The NN/g podcast, hosted by Senior User Experience Specialist Therese Fessenden, feels very much like an extension of their organization, covering areas of their expertise, including UX design, usability, interface design, and accessibility. 

Therese is a skilled host, sharing her own knowledge and experiences, as well as bringing in experts to further expound on an episode’s topic. If you’re looking for a UX podcast that covers current developments and goes deep with their discussions, you’ll want to check ‌this one out.

Recommended listening

Episode 20: What Makes a “Good” UX Professional?

This episode approaches this question from multiple angles, discussing why you should stay up-to-date on your skills, the importance of user-centered design, cultivating soft skills, and how to deal with the ever-evolving landscape of UX.

3. Design Thinking 101

The name Design Thinking 101 is a bit of a misnomer. While it certainly touches on the basics, it goes so much further in discussing its practical applications. Host Dawan Stanford interviews guests from a variety of industries like healthcare, tech, and academia, who all share what they’ve learned and how design thinking comes into play in their respective fields.

Listening to UX design podcasts like Design Thinking 101, which feature experts from different backgrounds and roles, will help you broaden your own understanding and knowledge about the practical applications of UX design.

Recommended listening

Episode 21: Making Your Visual Designs Work Harder for You Featuring Kelly Gordon

Kelly Gordon has a UX design origin story that anyone considering a career change will find inspiring. She started out in journalism, but learning HTML and building websites set her on the course to where she is today –  Digital Design Lead at NN/g. This conversation covers usability testing, UX design, as well as where Kelly finds inspiration. A great listen, whether you’re deep into your UX career or are considering making the leap. 

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4. Brave UX

Brave UX, hosted by Brendan Jarvis, hits all the right marks in covering design trends, talking to design experts, and having meaningful conversations about all that's interesting about UX.

Brendan is a lively and engaged host, with a natural curiosity and love of UX that shows in all of his interviews. Spending time with UX design podcasts like Brave UX exposes you to different viewpoints, which is so important in helping you grow as a designer.

Recommended listening

Episode 102: Hussain Almossawi - Unleashing Your Creative Mindset

Having held design and art direction roles at Apple, Ford, and Adidas, as well as authoring The Innovator's Handbook: A Short Guide to Unleashing Your Creative Mindset, Hussain shares lots of tips that you can apply to your creative pursuits and career development. 

5. Product Thinking

While Product Thinking sets its sights more on product management and development, Melissa Perri often covers topics and gets into discussions with guests that focus on UX design. 

Melissa is a fantastic host, who not only demonstrates her proficiency and expertise in product development but isn’t afraid to have some fun and crack jokes with her guests. Plus, listening to product-focused podcasts along with UX design podcasts can give you a more well-rounded understanding of the development process.

Recommended listening

Spotlighting UX Strategy with Jared Spool

Guest Jared Spool got his start in the early days of software development, working on the UX/UI of word processing software. This episode covers how to put together a UX strategy, the importance of communication, and why companies should put their efforts towards UX and usability.

6. UI Breakfast

Jane Portman has all the characteristics that it takes to be a great interviewer. She’s not only a UI/UX expert but knows how to ask great follow-up questions. Her interviews always have a nice flow, and offer up plenty of practical advice, as well as insights about UI, UX, product development, and strategy.

Recommended listening

Episode 220: Best Practices in Design with Karl Gilis

This episode features Karl Gilis, co-founder of AGConsult, and covers topics like user research, usability testing, as well as other best practices in UX design. Karl has worked with some big brands as well as government agencies, and has plenty of helpful and interesting insights to share. 

7. Design Details

Since 2014, Design Details, hosted by Marshall Bock and Brian Lovin, has consistently released new episodes and is distinguished by its wide variety of guests and topics. With career-focused episodes like “Should I be a project manager?”, “Changing roles in a growing company”, and “Career progression for product designers”, to those that discuss the intricacies of the design process like “Building design systems”, “Follow the gifs”, and “Helvetica, Helvetica, Helvetica”, there’s no lack of informative episodes to check out. 

Recommended listening

Episode 314: Beauty, Vulnerability, and Doing Things That Matter (feat. Haraldur Thorleifsson)

In this episode, Marshall and Brian the featured guest Haraldur Thorleifsson, CEO and founder of Ueno. This interview gets into what went into creating Haraldur’s company, his thoughts on balancing practicality and artistry, as well as his approach to social media.

8. Beyond UX Design

Jeremy Miller, the host of Beyond UX Design, has a strong passion for design that’s evident in his ability to establish a rapport with his guests. This results in thought-provoking discussions that are sure to captivate anyone working in a creative industry. 

There are quite a few stories here about people coming from different backgrounds finding their way into UX design, which are so helpful for anyone thinking about switching careers. We’re fans of UX design podcasts that not only delve into the technical aspects of design but also give guests the opportunity to share personal stories about how they got to where they are.

Recommended listening

Episode 44: When Art Meets Science: Uncovering the Alchemy of UX Design with Anthony Conta

In this interview, Anthony Conta, the writer of the book The Art and Science of UX Design, discusses his experience in economics, the initial actions he took to become a board game designer, and his professional journey that led him to his current position as Senior Product Designer at Amazon Music. 

9. The CSS Podcast

The CSS Podcast is exactly what it sounds like – a deep dive into everything related to cascading style sheets. Hosts Una Kravets and Adam Argyle both hold roles at Google, with Una being a Developer Relations Engineer and Adam a Chrome CSS Developer Advocate. They've had a lot of success in their careers and have an expert level of understanding about design. We’re fans of UX design podcasts that take a very specific focus, and the CSS Podcast is a must-listen for anyone who works with CSS. 

The episodes cover a range of topics, including selectors, inheritance, gradients, and other specialized aspects of CSS. This podcast is ideal for those new to CSS or anyone looking to stay current with new developments. Una and Adam are design nerds of the best kind, and their podcast is a celebration of all that is CSS.

Recommended listening

Episode 49: Accessibility

Even the most visually appealing designs can miss the mark if they don’t consider individuals with visual impairments or other obstacles. This episode is all about accessibility, covering color contrasts, designing for screen readers, content organization, UI, and other important topics related to making the web a more inviting and open space. 

10. 99% Invisible

“The main design podcast I listen to is 99% Invisible. I recommend this podcast because it analyzes design from a very practical, real-world point of view, as well as having interesting stories and anecdotes about the daily application of design.”
– David Hutchinson, UX Designer 

Understanding design beyond the digital realm can enhance your work. The podcast 99% Invisible covers various narratives on product design, exploring their background, purpose, and creation process. There’s so much here that connects with what UX designers do to create user-centered designs. If you’re looking for something outside the regular UX design podcasts you listen to, we highly recommend checking out 99% Invisible.

Recommended listening

Episode 311: The Barney Design

Creating baseball uniforms used to involve embroidery and other embellishments that were expensive and took a lot of time. This episode talks about how the process of sublimation, which involves directly printing dye into fabric, was a huge innovation in how sports uniforms were made. It focuses on the infamous 1996 Toronto Raptors's “Barney Uniform”, which, yes, has everything to do with the terminally cheerful purple dinosaur. 

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Jeff Cardello is a freelance writer who loves all things tech and design. Outside of being a word nerd, he enjoys playing bass guitar, riding his bike long distances, and recently started learning about data science and how to code with Python.