In this episode, Peter Merholz—co-founder of Adaptive Path and co-author of Org Design for Design Orgs—joins us to talk about what it really takes to build and scale effective design teams. We explore the systems, structures, and leadership mindsets that shape successful organizations, the relationships between product and design teams, and how design leaders can foster clarity, consistency, and impact as their teams grow. Whether you’re managing a team or aspiring to, this conversation is packed with insights on navigating the evolving role of design in today’s organizations.

Learn More About Peter:

Website: https://petermerholz.com/

Newsletter: https://petermerholz.com/newsletter/

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/petermerholz

Podcast: https://findingourway.design/

Book: https://orgdesignfordesignorgs.com/

Full-Day Courses (also available in half-day formats):

DesignOps: Scaling UX Design: https://www.nngroup.com/courses/scaling-ux-design-and-user-research/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

Product and UX: Building Partnerships for Better Outcomes: https://www.nngroup.com/courses/product-and-ux/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

Leading Highly Effective UX Teams: https://www.nngroup.com/courses/leading-ux-teams/?lm=pm-ux-different-views-of-responsibilities&pt=article&utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

UX Leader: Essential Skills for Any UX Practitioner: https://www.nngroup.com/courses/ux-leadership-skills-for-all/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

New UX Managers: https://www.nngroup.com/courses/new-manager/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

Related Free NN/g Articles:

DesignOps: Study Guide: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-ops-study-guide/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

Product & UX: Study Guide: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/product-and-ux-study-guide/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

PM and UX Have Markedly Different Views of Their Job Responsibilities: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/pm-ux-different-views-of-responsibilities/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=ep50

UX practitioners often struggle with shifting requirements and increasing product complexity, making it difficult to design intuitive experiences. Object-Oriented UX (OOUX) offers a structured approach to simplify digital products by focusing on core objects rather than pages or screens. Sophia Prater explains how this method improves usability, reduces inconsistencies, and streamlines collaboration across teams.

About Sophia Prater: Bio (via RewiredUX.com) | LinkedIn | Instagram

Learn more about Object-Oriented UX:

Upcoming Free UX Level-Up Training

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OOUX Podcast

OOUX for AI & AI for OOUX (course)

Related NN/g Courses & Resources:

UX Basic Training (full-day or 2 half-day course)

What is Object-Oriented UX? (3-min video)

As AI continues to evolve, designers are increasingly finding themselves tasked with creating AI-powered experiences—often without prior experience in the space. In this episode, NN/g UX Specialist Caleb Sponheim discusses the current state of AI tools, what’s working (and what’s not), and how designers can position themselves to navigate this shift. We also explore what it really means to develop AI safely and how designers can play a role in ensuring ethical, user-friendly AI experiences.

About the speaker: Bio | LinkedIn

Full-Day Course: Designing AI Experiences(also available in half-day formats)

Related NN/g Articles:

• Artificial Intelligence Glossary
• How Do Generative AI Systems Work?
• Redefine Your Design Skills to Prepare for AI
• AI Features Must Solve Real Problems
• More Free Articles on AI

As tech layoffs and budget cuts dominate the start of the year, UX teams are navigating a critical challenge: proving the value of research while doing more with less. In this episode, NN/g Director of Research Maria Rosala sits down with ResearchOps pioneer Kate Towsey to explore how ResearchOps can help teams think strategically about the impact and efficiency of their research.

Learn more about Kate Towsey Kate’s Book: Research That Scales: The Research Operations Handbook Kate's Substack: Scaling and Systematising Research Kate’s Masterclasses in Australia and Europe: Defining a ResearchOps Strategy, 2025 Kate's ChaCha Club - a member's club for ResearchOps professionals: https://chacha.club/

NN/g Courses and Content on ResearchOps Full-Day Course: ResearchOps Free Article: Research Ops 101 4-min Video: Strategic vs Reactionary Research 4-min Video: Research Repositories 101 3-min Video: Research Participant Database

Most experienced professionals in the industry will tell you that the best designs don't operate in a vacuum. Yet, most of our measurement approaches do. How do you know you're actually making a measurable impact toward users' long-term goals? Connor Joyce, author of the book, Bridging Intention to Impact, shares his thoughts on how to create and evaluate products that center on meaningful user outcomes.

Connect with Connor Joyce

Order the book

Related NN/g Resources & Courses:

• Free Articles on Analytics & Metrics
• Report on UX Metrics & ROI
• Full-Day or 2 Half-Day Course on Measuring UX and ROI

To explore how is AI shaping UX research and analysis, host Therese Fessenden shares two interviews on the topic; one with Savina Hawkins, Co-founder of Altis, and one with Caleb Sponheim, UX Specialist at NN/g. In this episode we explore the opportunities AI presents for enhancing productivity and innovation in UX work, alongside the risks and challenges it brings. Savina & Caleb offer practical advice on how UX professionals can leverage AI tools effectively and remain competitive in their field. Learn more about Altis Learn more about Caleb Sponheim, PhD Get trained on using AI for UX work: Practical AI for UX Professionals Course NN/g Articles on Artificial Intelligence Caleb’s Favorite Resources: Optimistic Perspective: Ethan Mollick’s One Useful Thing. Skeptical Perspective: Ed Zitron’s Where’s Your Ed At. Weekly Newsletter

Product-centric design can be an efficient way to design interfaces, but it can often lead to disjointed and poorly optimized customer journey experiences. Kim Flaherty shares her recent research into journey-centric design, and insights on how a journey-centric design practice can help organizations overcome product-centric challenges.

Report: Architecting a Journey Management Practice

Learn more about Kim:

⁠Bio⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠

NN/g Resources about Journey Management:

⁠The 3 Competencies of Journey Management (5-min video)⁠

⁠Journey Management vs. Service Design (4-min video)⁠

⁠The Practice of Customer-Journey Management (free article)⁠

⁠Customer Journeys and Omnichannel UX (free article)⁠

⁠Journey Mapping to Understand Customer Needs (UX Certification course)⁠

⁠Customer-Journey Management (UX Certification course)⁠

With AI developing rapidly, and AI policy often lagging behind, calls for responsible tech design and development are louder and more public than ever. In this episode, Paige Lord offers some insight into ways UX professionals can play a role in creating ethical AI products and services.

Learn more about Paige Lord:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thepaigelord/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@aiethicswithpaige

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aiethicswithpaige

Substack: https://thepaigelord.substack.com/

Other related content:

• Design Risk Assessment (free article)
• NN/g Articles & Videos about AI
• Practical AI for UX Professionals Course
• Emerging Patterns in Interface Design Course

Responsible AI Institute: https://www.responsible.ai/