In this episode, I sit down with Eli Woolery, a product design educator at Stanford University and host of the 'Design Better' podcast, to explore the profound impact of design thinking and human-centered design.

Eli shares his journey from aspiring to be a dinosaur dentist to educating the next generation of product designers. We discuss the intricacies of design thinking, its origins at Stanford, and its critical role in addressing ambiguous challenges.

Eli also provides insights into how generative AI is transforming the design process and highlights the importance of maintaining creativity in the face of advancing technology.

At the end of the episode, we touch on a range of useful resources and books for budding product designers.

00:00 Introduction

01:01 Curiosity as a Superpower

01:29 Eli's Background and Career

03:54 The Journey into Product Design

07:26 Understanding Human-Centered Design

09:20 Design Thinking in Action: Case Studies

14:52 The Role of AI in Design Thinking

30:21 Books and Resources for Aspiring Designers

33:02 Final Thoughts

About Eli Woolery

Elijah trained in the Product Design program at Stanford University, where he now teaches as a lecturer. He has a background in photography and filmmaking, as well as product and industrial design. He is formerly the Director of Design Education at InVision, a software design and collaboration platform.After working as a lead design engineer with Light & Motion, a vertically integrated manufacturer of consumer underwater video and photography equipment, he pursued graduate studies in marine biology at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and co-founded the print magazine Wetpixel Quarterly in 2007. He was a founder in the second class of Innovation Endeavor's Runway Program, a venture-backed startup accelerator backed by Eric Schmidt's fund.He also founded Out of the Deep Blue, a design consultancy, where he worked on web and mobile applications for clients like Genentech and Kaiser Permanente. As a life-long worshiper of the ocean, he loves to surf, dive, and kayak.

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⚡️ In each episode, Paddy Dhanda deep dives into a new human Superpower to help you thrive in the age of AI.

Paddy Dhanda (Host)

Paddy works at the largest Tech training organisation in the UK and is passionate about helping tech professionals build human skills to thrive in the age of AI.

Contact Paddy: paddy@superpowers.school

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