From Tech Geek to UX Innovator: Navigating the Path of Design and Research - Carmen Branje - S3 E5

Joining us today is Carmen Branje, the Director of Product Design at Maple. With over 15 years of experience and a wealth of academic achievements, including a Ph.D., Carmen is an exceptional designer, driven by a deep passion for serving others. Through his expertise in design, research, development, and teaching, he has consistently crafted innovative solutions that have a profound positive impact on those in need. Carmen's unwavering commitment to his craft and his dedication to helping others make him a true inspiration in the world of design.

Discussion Points 

• What inspired you to become a designer? How has the journey been so far? 2:13
• What are the challenges generally faced when designing for healthcare? 14:59
• Rapid fire round 20:43
• What is the current theme in academia about artificial intelligence and design? 27:35
• How is the field of product design and user experience evolving? How are you addressing the common confusion surrounding the definitions of product design and user experience design?  34:11
• You coach up-and-coming designers, what sort of coaching do you provide? 40:06

Show notes 

• I've always been a tech geek, as a young kid, when I was 10-ish, I ran something called a BBS. It was like a pre-internet server, people could call in through the phone.  
• A lot of the things I designed for are things that at least in theory should help people. 
• I'm taking a pretty optimistic approach to AI, for even the newest version. 
• The first version of Excel was called Lotus 123, when that first came out, a lot of accountants were very scared. But I think what happened is, instead of there being fewer accountants, there was way more accounting. 
• With chat GPT we're going to do more UX, and we are going to do more research. 
• I want to solve problems and just tell some AI “Hey, AI, fix all the padding”, shoot! it fixes it. That's what we want to focus on. 
• What they mistakenly believe is people want the cow, not the milk, right? But people want the milk. So, we just have to remember that and I think we're going to be fine, I'm optimistic (with reference to AI).
• We have to figure out a way to simulate and practice because I find that what's really missing in UX education is practice. Universities do theory, they're really good at theory like physical theory, and chemistry but design is a practice. 
• Getting a junior person started up in their career is super rewarding. So, we're gonna be doing more of that in the future.

Links -

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-branje-phd-5179358/

Website: http://www.carmenbranje.com/

Email: Cbranje@gmail.com