Tentative

About the show

Tentative is a podcast about digital product design.
Hosted by thoughtbot's Chief Design Officer Kyle Fiedler & Boston Design Director Jaclyn Perrone.

Tentative on social media

Episodes

  • 98: Think About the Edge Cases (Hannah Yang)

    September 18th, 2020  |  37 mins 52 secs

    Hannah Yang, Product Manager of Provider Experience at Oscar Health Insurance, joins us to discuss feature prioritization during COVID, designing towards a KPI goal, customer relationships at small & large companies, qualitative vs quantitative data in health-tech, and the hurdles of working in a regulated industry.

  • 97: Park the Train-Car in Harvard Yard (Elaina Natario & Vendela Larsson)

    September 4th, 2020  |  32 mins 31 secs

    Elaina Natario and Vendela Larsson join us to discuss the research, procedure, and findings, that went into their Glides project for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

  • 96: Updating the UX

    August 21st, 2020  |  12 mins 6 secs

    Hey Tentative listeners, this week we're bringing you an announcement of upcoming changes to the format of Tentative. We'll be exploring more focused topics, bringing in guests from around the design community, and discussing the intersection of design and business; all while bringing our true and silly selves that make Tentative what it is today.

    So come join us on the ride, and tell a friend!

  • 95: My Clipboard-History History

    August 7th, 2020  |  17 mins 11 secs

    This week, Kyle updates case studies in our CMS and Jaclyn returns from PTO. Also, tips & tricks for Alfred, working in non-traditional design tools, and a design-team book club.

  • 94: Livin' in Google Docs

    July 24th, 2020  |  32 mins 15 secs

    This week, Jaclyn volunteers on a design sprint and prepares for PTO, while Kyle preps for a website redesign workshop. Also, collaboration vs customization in presentations, preparing a 2 day Pre-MVP workshop, approaches to editing, and balancing experimentation with expertise.

  • 93: Janice and the Vampires

    July 10th, 2020  |  16 mins 32 secs

    This week, Kyle works on documentation and updating pages in our CMS, while Jackie hosts an internal trivia game as well as troubleshoots her terminal setup. Also, avoiding burnout, extending Covid protections, and Zoom fatigue.

  • 92: Pay Attention to the Shade

    June 26th, 2020  |  28 mins 30 secs

    This week, Jaclyn conducted a remote design sprint and Kyle utilizes "no Slack" communication on a project. Also, cutting scope, the importance of the human element in product validation, and the varied usage of "It depends".

  • 91: Design Your Way Out of a Box

    June 19th, 2020  |  26 mins 38 secs

    This week Kyle discusses his iterative approach to everything, and Jaclyn discusses take-aways from her Lightning Design Jam. Also, a design-thinking escape room, life lessons learned from previous jobs, and human corn.

  • 90: Seeking Strengths (Gareth Burrowes)

    June 5th, 2020  |  40 mins 7 secs

    We are pushing back our normally scheduled podcast in support of the protests this week and the Black community as a whole. To give space for their words, their actions, and all of the grieving caused by the killing of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor.
    Too many members of the Black community have lost their lives through racial injustice.

    For those that are mourning and those that are fighting for equality: we see you, we love you, and we support you.
    Black culture matters. Black communities matter. Black lives matter.

    The systemic racism that plagues our nation NEEDS to come to an end. We've included a short list of resources in the show notes of ways each of us can take action. We ask everyone to research ways to get involved in a way they feel they can have the biggest impact.

    What follows is an episode from our sister podcast, Giant Robots Smashing into Other Giant Robots with Gareth Burrowes, focusing on removing unconscious bias from the hiring flow and the importance of diversity at every level of a company.

    Fighting for equality falls on each of us, regardless of race or position, to work together to fight racism and unequal treatment.

  • 89: Learning T-Rex Arms (the hard way)

    May 22nd, 2020  |  30 mins 4 secs

    This week we contemplate how people see their time, posture tips to reduce physical stress while working from home, and conducting a 'consulting skills' workshop.

  • 88: A Very Brady Standup

    May 8th, 2020  |  31 mins 11 secs

    Kyle serves as interim Design Director for London while Jaclyn prepares for a design workshop. Also, shifting locations to improve focus, the importance of ergonomics, content audits, and an impromptu live-feedback session.

  • 87: An Homage to Mean Girls

    April 24th, 2020  |  37 mins 39 secs

    Kyle gets stressed out by grocery shopping, and prepares for a workshop. Jaclyn finishes a draft on a case study and benefits from the value of time-boxing. Also, tricking Zoom, staying productive, the importance of routine, and little things to break up your days.

  • 86: Just a Square on a Screen

    March 27th, 2020  |  30 mins 29 secs

    As thoughtbot transitions to working remotely, we discuss the tools and tips we use when conducting remote design sprints.

  • 85: People Like Vegetables

    March 13th, 2020  |  28 mins 58 secs

    Kyle kicks off a new project, and Jaclyn plans a design sprint workshop. Also, remote camera etiquette, the labels of 'designer' & 'developer', and creating professional bios.

  • 84: Feedback, and Insight, and Learnings, Oh My!

    February 28th, 2020  |  33 mins 43 secs

    Jaclyn shares insights from running a large design-thinking workshop, Kyle discusses the methodology of the new thoughtbot.com redesign, and the highs & lows of the Frosty™.

  • 83: The Future is Beige

    January 31st, 2020  |  23 mins 11 secs

    Jaclyn plans an intimate design sprint exercise for developers as well as a large design-thinking workshop, discusses why you can't just start ideating, and getting a large group to converge on a problem-statement.