Delta CX Hive

We're rejected from job applications so often and we don't even know why. Sometimes they claim we just don't fit. In reality, we fit the job description... but maybe the work and workplace don't match the job description.We'll start with my article https://medium.com/r-before-d/im-a-culture-fit-if-743eccd74983, and discuss from there!You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com  That pages also links to my course on product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in research! Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Lots to cover today in the worlds of #AI #layoffs #startups and more! We're examining how the first wave of the AI bubble bursting (according to me) will affect companies trying to build AI into their products. Learn about what I'm calling the AI Squeeze. Then we'll look at my new economic theory that I'm calling The Levitt Loop. It's actually two loops. One starts with layoffs and causes more layoffs. The other forces consumers to shop more by quality, which should force companies to improve quality and compete based on it... but will it?"The First Wave of the AI Bubble Bursting: My Predictions" https://medium.com/r-before-d/the-first-wave-of-the-ai-bubble-bursting-my-predictions-a414259ed13d"The Levitt Loop: AI, Consumerism, and Quality" https://medium.com/r-before-d/the-levitt-loop-ai-consumerism-and-quality-814e8f374570You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com  That pages also links to my course on product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in research! Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

This was one of our weekly Ask Me Anything sessions. It started with such an interesting and important set of questions from someone who wrote in anonymously. During the session, they added more context (anonymously). I figured many people might hear themselves in these questions, so I wanted to share it to the podcast platforms.Initial question: I regret moving into UX and now I don't know what to do. On one hand, I'm glad I found a field that resonates with me and aligns with what I'm good at. On the other hand, I'm not happy about the people I've encountered in the larger community and how companies set people against each other. I'm sort of relieved that the industry as it exists now will collapse in on itself, but I'm also attached to it and not sure how to move out of it — how can I reframe my story so this makes sense and I can move forward with my life? I'm embarrassed by how UX has been treated. I find solace in the fact that AI will eat most people's jobs and they will have to justify their existence the same way UX people have. I'm angry, frustrated, and annoyed. I'm finding it hard to stay positive and I'm tired of rebranding. Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

In spring 2025, I started researching and writing a webinar in response to the predictions I saw that AI would cause a UX resurgence. AI would crash the plane and they'll rehire us! AI is all hype, and just show you can be strategic to keep your job. Learn more UI design. Employers will understand the importance of Design and good design education.Did those come true? We ​now have a whole year to look back on. We'll start last year's article disagreeing with common predictions, and then this year's article looking back on how incorrect those predictions were. https://medium.com/r-before-d/one-year-later-did-ai-cause-a-ux-resurgence-0fc6968e48f4You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com  That pages also links to my course on product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in research! Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Let's read and discuss my article at https://rbefored.com/fire-people-who-declare-their-industry-dead-55e1d168645fHoly cats, it's here! You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com Check out my free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! It's a preview of my new course. https://atomicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

There's a new feature in Claude, and it might help Anthropic eat the lunch of other tools... that already run the Claude API. It's an interesting cannibalization. Sorry that this one doesn't work as well as an audio-only podcast! I try to describe everything.Holy cats, it's here! You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com Check out my free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! https://atomicpmf.com/lightningSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

We'll read and discuss my new article about how the "human in the loop" isn't enough. https://medium.com/r-before-d/human-in-the-loop-vs-ai-running-wild-265cb3e38368  Holy cats, it's here! You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com Check out my upcoming free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! I'm also running a Life After Tech cohort to help you brainstorm next career moves or work areas. https://atomicpmf.com/coursesSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

We'll read my new article about ​how I tested an AI voice agent. https://rbefored.com/ai-user-research-conversation-cc06367c4efb  And since I opened up this AI agent to my community, we'll see what else it captured.Holy cats, it's here! You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com Check out my upcoming free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! https://atomicpmf.com/lightningSorry this posted out of order!Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

I have a new book and course! Learn more at AtomicPMF.com. I'm teaching my three-level model to product-market fit, which you'll need if you have products or services you want humans to buy. As part of the course, I'll be teaching how I use AI in my work. I've been refining my technique for over 1.5 years, and am excited to teach it to you! The course can be taken live, or watch the live sessions later, and take the course asynchronously.If you're under pressure to use AI more, or you're curious about how to do it thoughtfully and with high quality, my course is for you!The demo at the end of this live webinar got a bit funky. To see a better demo, see my Oct 2025 video at https://dcx.to/275, starting around 24 minutes in. I've refined by technique since then, but it's a better example than what happened here!This video was the 1-hr preview for the course, so I don't go into everything, but please check the course out! atomicpmf.com/coursesSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Join me and special guest Piermario Orecchioni as we discuss website topics you might not understand. Come ask your questions!Sorry for the slight echo for the first 38 min. I didn't realize that a second mic in the room was also on. OOPS!Holy cats, it's here! You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com Check out my upcoming free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! https://atomicpmf.com/lightningSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Holy cats, it's here! You can now buy my new book in most formats. https://AtomicPMF.com I'll read some excerpts, share the table or contents, take your questions, etc.! Quick note: I keep saying it's 266 pages since that's the length of the PDF. But the last numbered page in the print book is 258. :)Check out my upcoming free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! https://atomicpmf.com/lightning"Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Adding AI to internal processes OR the products and services you deliver to customers is more than a tech integration. You'll need to understand what users need, and then design/build for that. Well, if you want to be successful.https://customercentricity.com/service-design/ai-transformation/Check out my upcoming free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! https://atomicpmf.com/lightning"Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

My book will be published soon. Get to know it in this free preview!Check out my upcoming free webinar about better product-market fit and using AI thoughtfully in UX qual research! https://atomicpmf.com/lightning"Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Let's talk about a better way to document projects and product strategy! https://rbefored.com/evolving-prds-into-product-strategy-documents-04a6050fca38Temple at https://atomicpmf.com/psd"Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

"The ROI We Deliver" is an exercise you can run with your team. I hope you run it with stakeholders, leaders, and execs as well! It's part of my upcoming "Atomic PMF" book. Come get a preview!https://medium.com/r-before-d/the-roi-we-deliver-an-exercise-bbeda5ab1ec2https://cxcc.to/miro has the template"Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

In January 2025, we had Claude pretend to be a CX/UX Researcher. I saved all the docs and prompts we used last time. ​Using the same things a year later, let's see how it does.Jan 2025 version: AI-Powered UX Research: Can Claude Replace Human CX/UX Professionals? (Jan 2025) - Ep 257 https://youtube.com/live/zCVcUZmktEo"Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.comSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

In this session, I'll share my top secrets for using Claude better based on what I learned from heavy usage in 2025. They include instance rotation, personality summoning, and tear it apart. You might be able to use this outside of Claude, but I can assure you they work in Claude Sonnet 4.x."Atomic Product-Market Fit" new book coming in late Feb 2026! atompicpmf.com🔗 Community, books, articles, videos, and other links and resources at dcx.toSupport the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Psychologist Dr. Seth Finkle will join us for a discussion about having healthy boundaries with difficult family or friends. When is it OK to not go to that holiday dinner? When is it OK to cut someone off completely? Seth recommends the following books:"Set Boundaries, Find Peace" by Nedra Glover Tawwab"Where to Draw the Line" by Anne Katherine"Setting Boundaries to Find Peace with Narcissists & Codependents" by Robert Charles"Boundaries" by John Townsend and Henry Cloud (warning: it has a somewhat religious tone)Originally live streamed on 30 December 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

We keep hearing that AI will be a resurgence, a Renaissance, for UX jobs. There will be more for us to do, though it will be different... evolved... but not "shrinking." The claims are common, and they are full of hope. We press like because we want it to be true. But is it true?Detaching from reality can be fun for a while, but we shouldn't ignore realities when it comes to understanding our careers, the job market, and the likely short- and long-term future. This webinar will examine most of the claims that AI will be a boom to UX work and practitioners. Let's put on those critical thinking hats, and discuss this! There will be Q&A and time for discussion.Originally livestreamed on 24 June 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Since this episode starts with an article, you can jump to 24:05 (timestamp) for the UXR work with Claude #NotSponsoredI've been using Claude to help with qualitative research analysis, synthesis, and reporting through all of 2025. I'll show you how I do it so you can give it a try, and adjust it for your needs. I also tested Microsoft Copilot, which was unusably awful, and ChatGPT's paid version, which was good. But I'll stay with Claude.We'll start with my article https://rbefored.com/ai-incompetent-if-you-use-it-loser-dinosaur-if-you-dont-69ffae7b50f1 "AI: “Incompetent” If You Use It, “Loser Dinosaur” If You Don’t," and then jump into how I use AI in qual UX research.Originally livestreamed 14 October 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

As people are increasingly struggling to find jobs, there are more and more people and programs popping up. Some are quite expensive! Some don't sound worth it. Let's turn our critical thinking towards these so we can assess them.We'll start with my article https://medium.com/r-before-d/warning-paid-peer-career-coaching-cohorts-f588daba4c13 and then open it up for questions and discussion.Originally livestreamed 2 December 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

People love to tell you that you need a personal brand. And they often have something to sell you that they claim will help you build one. And in turn, this will help you stand out among job candidates and get that job! That's a lot of 'maybes' linked together. And is any of this true?In this live stream, we'll start with Debbie's article on the topic. https://medium.com/r-before-d/can-a-personal-brand-help-you-stand-out-as-a-job-candidate-de6bf8eea0e8 We'll open it up for questions and comments.Originally livestreamed 22 July 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

By request from our Delta CX Hive Discord! I've been helping people start and improve small businesses for over 30 years. In this episode, I'll show you how I create spreadsheets to plan businesses and check if they are likely to be economically viable. I'll also read my new "Inexpensive Experiments" article to give you some ideas on how to test a business idea before spending too much. https://rbefored.com/exploring-new-work-paths-with-inexpensive-experiments-8748e4fc7a3ePlus a special preview of my Atomic Product-Market Fit model, coming in September!Originally livestreamed 15 July 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Join special guest Alan Underwood as we discuss and take questions about Open Source AI. Open Source AI is perfect for anyone who wants the benefits of AI without the corporate strings attached. Discover how to install open source LLMs for free and get the same AI capabilities without the costs or privacy concerns.* Keep sensitive user data private and secure on your own systems,* Replace expensive AI subscriptions with free alternatives,* Set up document search and RAG pipelines in minutes,* Build AI features directly into products without feesOriginally livestreamed 1 July 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

We'll ​read and discuss Debbie's recent article on this topic. https://rbefored.com/if-ai-builds-the-product-do-we-still-need-discovery-research-368b9e85e9b9Do we still need to do discovery, generative, or exploratory research if we’re going to have AI design our interfaces or build our prototype? The answer to that depends upon your commitment to your customers and your commitment to quality.Originally live streamed 17 June 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

We'll ​read and discuss Debbie's recent article on this topic. https://medium.com/r-before-d/identifying-fake-linkedin-recruiter-accounts-0e4edb7499d9  Note that since this livestream, some fake accounts have changed their tactics. Instead of pretending to be recruiters, they now pretend to be tech workers or leaders at famous companies. Same scam, new disguise.Why be wary of these fake accounts? What's the harm in connecting with them or giving them a chance? Shouldn't we be open to trying anything to get us a job? Let's discuss.Originally live streamed on 20 May 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Let's dive deeply into mostly crappy questions, and how to ask better questions. This is important for discovery, generative, exploratory, and evaluative research. You don't want to go into product processes, design thinking, design sprints, or solutions with bad research data thanks to bad questions!Originally live streamed on 15 April 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

A fresh-for-2025 livestream about starting your own business. We'll include discussions around freelancing and contracting, plus having a good contract. Originally live streamed on 4 March 2025.See my old video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vd_MCdeuQE&pp=ygUSZGVsdGEgY3ggcHJvcG9zYWxz about how I create proposals.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Take Action Tuesday! Let's talk about your "authentic self." Lots of media tell you to be more authentic at work, be more vulnerable, and share more of yourself. But is that safe? And if not, can you protect yourself and still be your authentic self?Originally live streamed 18 Feb 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words. 

Reading and discussing my article predicting who will be the last key tech worker to remain employed. https://medium.com/life-after-tech/who-will-be-the-last-tech-worker-with-a-job-the-multicorn-0542f0879a5aOriginally live streamed on 13 Jan 2025.Support the showJoin our free community. All links at https://dcx.toAll episodes are marked "explicit" since sometimes we use swear words.