Humans First: Reimagine Business Thinking
by Visual Logic
Humans First is a podcast for business leaders that places a human-centric lens on your business strategy. Join us as we discuss topics such as embracing human-focused design as an organization, scoping a UX project, and hiring the right team to shift your company toward a "humans-first" culture.
Episodes
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Your AI Strategy Needs More Than a Chatbot: Three Levers to Guide Your AI Strategy
Most product teams feel pressure to “add AI,” and the fastest way to show progress is a chatbot. But chat is a UI choice — not a strategy. In this episode of Humans First, we break down what actually matters when building AI into your product: how it behaves. We introduce a simple framework built...
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Most Teams Make Personas. Few Build Worlds.
Personas, journey maps, and architecture diagrams were never the goal. They’re props in a bigger story. In this episode, we explore what it really means to move beyond UX deliverables and start building the modeled worlds that make design decisions clear, believable, and scalable. We talk about…
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The Tradeoff Every Product Team Faces: Global vs Local Optimization
Every roadmap hides a tough dilemma: do you slow down to align with global systems that scale, or move fast with local solutions that solve the problem today? Push too hard in either direction and you risk rigid platforms that can’t adapt—or fragmented experiences that collapse under growth. In...
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The Fingerprint of a Project: Why Great UX Looks Different on Every Project
What if your biggest frustration on a project isn’t the timeline, the tools, or the team, but a mismatch between what’s possible and what you’re expecting? Designers often walk in hoping to “do it right”: full research, deep modeling, layered design. But most projects aren’t built for 100%. And...
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How Much Does UX Cost? A Real-World Guide to Strategic UX Investment
Everyone wants better UX. But when it’s time to invest, the questions start: “Why does it cost so much?” “Can’t we just hire one designer?” “Isn’t this just a UI refresh?” In this episode of Humans First, we pull back the curtain on what good design really costs—and why most teams underestimate…
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From Surface to Strategy: Why UX Belongs at the Leadership Table
Thinking your product needs a “redesign?” Don’t miss the deeper layers of UX design. In this episode, we break down Jesse James Garrett's "Elements of UX" and explain why focusing only on surface-level design can lead to strategic failure. Discover why neglecting the deeper layers—skeleton...
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Overcoming Fear in Consulting: Lessons from Getting Naked
Why is radical transparency the secret weapon of the best consultants? In this episode of Humans First, Andy Van Fleet, Kurt Vander Wiel, and Kayla Byington discuss Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni—a book that has shaped how Visual Logic approaches client relationships. They break down the three...
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Domain Deep Dive: Designing for Defense & UX Challenges in Military Tech
Why is UX in the military and defense industry lagging behind commercial tech? Designers in this space face massive hurdles—from bureaucratic layers and security constraints to an engineering-first culture that prioritizes capability over usability. In this episode of Humans First, Nick Bray…
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The Creative Tug-of-War: Generators & Synthesizers
Does your team struggle to balance big ideas with practical execution? Do brainstorming sessions feel endless, or do rigid processes stifle innovation? In this episode of Humans First, Visual Logic’s Andrew Sladky, Kayla Byington, and Nick Bray explore how understanding the roles of generators…
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Your Roadmap Is Lying to You—Why Features Won’t Fix Your Product
Why do so many companies feel stuck in an endless cycle of feature requests and customer demands? Often it’s because they’re trapped in a pattern of reacting to their customers instead of leading their customers. In this episode, we break down the three phases companies go…
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The Three Models That Shape Every Product (And How to Use Them)
Why do some of the best products—built by amazing teams—still struggle? Even when they are building exactly what the customer asks for? The answer lies in understanding three key models that shape product success: The engineering model (how it actually works) The user model (how people think it...
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Domain Deep Dive: UX is the Secret Weapon in Financial Services
Are banks and fintechs fighting for your financial data? A new data regulation is changing the way consumers control their money—and it’s creating a high-stakes environment between banks, fintechs, and regulators. In this episode of Humans First, we talk with Lee Wetherington, Senior Director of...
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How Long Does UX Design Take? Demystifying the UX Timeline
How long should UX take? Many executives set arbitrary deadlines for design work, expecting fast results without understanding the risks. But UX isn’t just about making screens look good—it’s about deeply understanding users, their workflows, and the business itself. In this episode, Andy Van...
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4 Must-Have Qualities in a UX Hire
Are you struggling to find the right UX talent for your team? In this episode of Humans First, UX experts Andy and Kayla Byington share their secrets for hiring top-notch UX professionals. They discuss the four essential qualities you should look for when interviewing candidates: empathy,...
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How IKEA Retail (Ingka Group) Built their Global Design Team: Timothy Embretson, Global VP of Experience Design
How do you go from leading a design team of 10 to a global group of 300 in just a few years? In this episode, we talk with Timothy Embretson, VP of Experience Design at Inca Group, IKEA’s largest franchisee. Timothy shares his journey of scaling a design team across multiple continents and...
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Why Trust Matters for Your Organization: Stacy Van Gorp, Ph.D., co-founder of See What I Mean
In this episode of Humans First, Dr. Stacy Van Gorp—co-founder at See What I Mean, a consulting agency who specialize in facilitating organizational change—shares her groundbreaking research on the role of trust in fostering innovation and managing change within organizations. Stacy explains…
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Design Maturity: Improving Your Organization’s Design Influence
Is your company struggling with low user engagement, inefficient product development, or lack of innovation? These problems often stem from a lack of organizational design maturity. In this episode of Humans First, we dive into the seven levels of design maturity with Nick Bray, UX Design…
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Defining “Design”: Discovering the Underlying Human Problem
Why do some digital products fail to gain traction, even after countless redesigns? In this episode of Humans First, Andy Van Fleet and Kurt Vander Wiel break down what design really is—and what it isn’t. They explore the story of a company that spent 20 years refining its digital experience…
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Introducing “Humans First”: Getting to Simple is Hard
In our debut episode, we explore the hidden complexities of UX work: from asking uncomfortable questions to uncovering the real problems, to navigating business constraints and designing solutions that actually work. User Experience (UX)–and all other adjacent Experience disciplines (i.e., CX…
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Humans First: Preview
In then first few episodes of Humans First, we're introducing the idea of human-centered design, how it should be embraced by more than just your design team, and how it can impact both your product and your organization. Topics will include: Defining "design" Improving your organization’s design...
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Trailer – Humans First: Reimagine Business Thinking
Humans First is a podcast for business leaders that places a human-centric lens on your business strategy. Join us as we discuss topics such as embracing human-focused design as an organization, scoping a UX project, and hiring the right team to shift your company toward a "humans-first" culture....
About this show
Humans First is a podcast for business leaders that places a human-centric lens on your business strategy. Join us as we discuss topics such as embracing human-focused design as an organization, scoping a UX project, and hiring the right team to shift your company toward a "humans-first" culture.
Hosted by
Visual Logic
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