Elisa is the co-founder of Memoket.ai, building AI wearables to make it frictionless to capture important moments. I was joined by Ali, founding engineer at Focal.ai (AI for financial advisors), and it was fascinating to hear their different perspectives.

Chapters

00:00 The Journey of Founders in AI

00:52 Childhood Aspirations and Career Paths

04:13 The Role of AI in Daily Life

06:59 Building AI Products: Challenges and Insights

09:59 User Experience and Customization in AI Tools

13:07 Hypothesis-Driven Development in AI

15:53 Market Feedback and Product Iteration

19:07 Specialization vs. Generalization in AI Solutions

22:01 Balancing Customization and Simplicity

25:10 Future Directions and User Experience Challenges

35:45 Understanding User Needs and Problem Solving

38:52 Simplifying Features Through User Feedback

41:13 The Role of AI in Enhancing Human Connection

43:39 Product Development and User Experience

50:25 The Journey of Building a Hardware Product

I spoke with Greg about why so many AI projects fail and what good UX has to do with it. We talked about the real role of research, why empathy beats aesthetics, and how designers can work better with data scientists. Whether you’re building with AI or just trying to make sense of it, this one’s full of hard-earned wisdom.

Over the years, Greg Nudelman has contributed to the world through:

* 24 design patents
* 6 Featured Mobile apps
* 6 design books in 3 languages including UX for AI: A Framework for Designing AI-Driven Products (April 2025)
* Hundreds of millions in design ROI
Greg loves leading UX teams that create the "When can I buy this?" experience for their customers, then nurturing innovative AI/ML-based products to market through creative four-in-a-box collaboration between PM, Data Science, Dev, and UX. As an "Ombudsman of Innovation", Greg's work revolves around twin obsessions: UX for AI and Practical DesignOps to bring customer-empowering ideas to market. Greg is a thought leader on UX for AI, Lean Product Design, Rapid Prototyping, and fast shipping of industry-defining digital products that exceed business goals and blow away customer expectations. Sought-after executive-level keynote speaker, with 100+ keynotes and workshops in 18 countries. Greg's specialty is leading UX teams designing products for Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, IoT, Analytics, Mobile, Biotech, Finance, and creating Design Systems for Enterprise Software.

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If you, or someone you know, would like to be a guest on the podcast send an email to podcast@userexperience.org.

Nick helps design teams stay ahead of the curve with their AI transformation. He has been curating self-assessments for UX & Design Teams at retrain.gauge.io, helping analyze industry trends and any barriers to adoption. Nick founded Gauge in 2001 in the San Francisco Bay Area to help organizations with evidence-based strategy and product decisions. Clients have grown to include Electronic Arts, Genentech, Airbnb, Adobe and many others. Nick is a professor in Data Literacy and Visualization in the Design Strategy MBA program at his alma mater, California College of the Arts.

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I sat down with Nick Cawthon and Casandra Cain to talk about how AI is reshaping UX design, and what that means for mentorship, emotional intelligence, and the future of our field. We explored trust, tooling, education, and why staying adaptable is more important than ever.

Parts

00:00 Introduction to UX and AI

07:32 The Evolution of User Experience

14:53 Trust in AI and User Experience

18:26 Projects and Practical Applications of UX

29:20 The Future of Design and Technology

30:15 AI and UX Patterns: Current Trends and Future Directions

35:47 Mentorship in the Age of AI: Guiding New Designers

41:18 Personal Philosophy: Balancing Anxiety and Optimism

45:34 The Importance of UX: Advocating for User-Centric Design

49:30 Gage.io: Services and Target Audience Insights

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If you, or someone you know, would like to be a guest on the podcast send an email to podcast@userexperience.org.