This episode, I talked with my coworker Megan Kasselberg, whose work as a senior UX writer and content designer touches billions of users through the Material Design system.

In our conversation, Megan and I dug into the storytelling and strategy that goes into a design system as vast as Material, including the language of guidelines assets, the effect of earnest expression, and how UX writing is changing in an age of AI.

Read a full transcript at interfacecafe.com.

In the episode, Megan mentions psychologist and behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman, plus a shoutout to our colleagues Rux and Andrew whose work on color has reshaped how software at Google feels.

• (00:00) - Introduction
• (01:52) - UX Writing and Behavioral Science
• (02:57) - Documenting Material Design
• (06:45) - Internal vs. External System Guidance
• (09:59) - Tooling and Constraints in Figma
• (11:15) - Collaborating with Designers
• (13:00) - Illustrations and Expressive Design
• (17:18) - The Controversial Baseline Color
• (22:48) - Voice, Tone, and AI in UX Writing
• (35:56) - Advice for Designers
• (36:50) - Outro

This episode, I got to sit down with my friend, podcast cohost on Away from Keyboard, and former coworker Louise Macfadyen as she prepares to launch her new book Designing AI Interfaces with Oreilly this Spring.

We had a lot to talk about, from managing the conceptual distance between what AI actually does and what people imagine it can do, to the new skills designers, engineers, and PMs need to work with models, the potential harms of new technology, and some of the patterns designers can use to keep ethics and safety in the loop.

Designing AI Interfaces is available from O'Reilly Media April 21st, 2026.

In this episode, Liam speaks with Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group, about her journey from photography to design leadership and why she believes this is "the era of the generalist." The conversation unpacks the recent launch of Expedia's new app on ChatGPT and what it means to design for "non-deterministic flows" and "infinite inputs." Rachel explains how AI is breaking old, linear design paradigms and why, in an age of potential "design slop," deep curiosity and human-centered craft are more important than ever.

Read a transcript and check out more from me at interfacecafe.com

Episode Chapters:

00:00 Introduction 01:34 The Generalist Designer 11:22 Launching the Expedia App for ChatGPT 16:00 Beyond the Search Bar 25:44 Designing for Infinity 34:03 The Sandwich Theory 39:41 Avoiding Design Slop: Advice on Craft