

This is HCD – Human-Centered Design, UX & Service Design Thinking Podcast
Gerry Scullion
Welcome to This is HCD – Human-Centered Design, UX & Service Design Thinking Podcast, the global show for designers, innovators, and changemakers who want to create better products, services, and experiences.
Hosted by Gerry Scullion, with over 1-million downloads worldwide.
Each episode dives into conversations with leading voices in service design, UX design, interaction design, customer experience, and design strategy. Together, we explore the methods, mindsets, and real-world stories that bring human-centered design and design thinking to life.
Whether you’re a UX researcher, service design practitioner, product manager, or design leader, you’ll find actionable insights, practical tools, and inspiration to elevate your practice and drive meaningful change.
Tune in and join the global human-centered design community — learn how to design with purpose, create inclusive solutions, and shape a more thoughtful future.
Hosted by Gerry Scullion, with over 1-million downloads worldwide.
Each episode dives into conversations with leading voices in service design, UX design, interaction design, customer experience, and design strategy. Together, we explore the methods, mindsets, and real-world stories that bring human-centered design and design thinking to life.
Whether you’re a UX researcher, service design practitioner, product manager, or design leader, you’ll find actionable insights, practical tools, and inspiration to elevate your practice and drive meaningful change.
Tune in and join the global human-centered design community — learn how to design with purpose, create inclusive solutions, and shape a more thoughtful future.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 16, 2023 • 51min
Manuel Lima ‘The New Designer: Pioneering Perspectives’
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementOn Manuel Lima’s website, he mentions “a celebrated voice on UX design and data visualization who has spent the past 15 years leading design teams and building cutting-edge digital experiences at companies like Google, Codecademy, Microsoft, Nokia….”. His first three books were breathtakingly beautiful. If you like data and visualisations, then you are more than likely familiar with one or all of his books.A number of months ago, Manuel sent me an advance of his latest book, The New Designer and it instantly felt different. I could sense a sea change had occurred and in this conversation that you are about to hear, we discuss the reflective process that Manuel took in the creation of this book.It’s an awesome book - that is perfectly timed. Many of us are questioning our roles in the creation of service that perpetuate social structures and norms. This book is not just for you, but it’s for everyone you know who is on a journey of self-discovery and purpose.This was a lot of fun to record and hope you enjoy it!https://www.mslima.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/mslimaCreators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

May 11, 2023 • 40min
Frank Müeller ‘Revolutionising Work Spaces with Playmobil Pro: the Ultimate Tool for Creativity and Collaboration’
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementIn this conversation I caught up Frank Mueller, of Playmobil Pro. Frank is Managing Director of GBI Global Business Innovation in Munich. We speak the incredible kit that I recently bought for the new Makers & Doers School that I have launched, which is a design school for children aged 6-12. We speak about how Playmobil works in the professional organisational capacity to help unlock conversations and visualise complexity.Click here to watch a video of this episode.
Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

May 9, 2023 • 54min
Pietro Jarre ‘No such thing as sustainable mining’
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementPietro Jarre has a doctorate in geotechnical engineering. He’s a specialist in geotechnical and environmental issues on waste rock deposits, mining infrastructures, landfills and brownfields. Since 2015, his focus is on the environmental and social impact of digital technologies. He’s founder of Sloweb association, something I’d highly recommend checking out at slowweb.org. Pietro starts our chat by recounting his early years in mining, leading up to the Los Frailes tailings dam disaster.Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

May 3, 2023 • 33min
Steffi Kieffer 'Designing with AI: Exploring the Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Design'
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementHey folks, I’m delighted to bring you two exclusive interviews from a very special event that I attended recently in Nuremberg in Germany called Teaming with AI. A few weeks ago, as I was driving to Northern Ireland, I mentioned to my wife, about an event my friends Markus Hormess, Adam Lawrence and Florian Bailey were hosting. I didn’t expect to be given a free pass to attend from the family, but it came and I didn’t ask a second time.I’ve a bit of a love hate relationship with AI. I enjoy reading about, but can foresee some massive transformations that are likely to occur, not in the future, but right here and right now. I hadn’t really sat down and given the impact that much thought other than it was extremely likely. This event gave me the time to pause, connect, reflect and review the changes in macro level detail. But back to Design, well I was in a workshop led by our guest today, Steffi Keiffir. She is an independent practiioner and facilitates Design Thinking workshops, Design Sprints etc and has been using AI a lot more than most within their work, and we go deeper into this. Just how they are using, what AI pieces they are using, so if you listen to the entire episode, you’ll get an overview of just how much change is upon us. We used a basic 5-step design process and reviewed how, where and when AI can be applied and what the likely outcomes are.Quite simply, this is a must listen for anyone on the tools, or anyone within any strategic function in business today.Let’s get into it.https://www.linkedin.com/in/steffikieffer/Explore the Conference / https://www.teamingwith.ai/Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

May 3, 2023 • 39min
Emily Hamilton ‘Designing Second Chances: Breaking the Cycle’
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementIn this conversation I caught up Emily Hamilton, Senior Strategic Designer at Paper Giant in Australia. We speak about a project that Emily worked on recently that was related to recidivism and working with people who recently left a Justice facility. We speak about the project in detail, the methods used and outcomes achieved. Emily’s awesome, I know you will love this conversation.Learn more: https://www.papergiant.net/workConnect with Emily: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-hamilton-7a669094/?originalSubdomain=auCreators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

Apr 27, 2023 • 32min
Scott Jenson ‘Part 2 of 2: Open Source Design Movement: How Designers can help change the game’
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementIn this conversation I caught up with the second part to my conversation with Scott Jenson to explore how Designer can actively get more involved with the free and open source software movement. We speak more about why this is of such an interest to Scott, and he gives his awesome advice to others on how they can get involved.Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

Apr 25, 2023 • 43min
Darjan Hil ‘The Art of Visualising Complexity’
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementA number of months ago, I was researching for my keynote in Scotland in June this year, and I stumbled across the work of Superdot studio in Switzerland. I was blown away by all the amazing work that they had done and was thrilled to see that they were in the process of publishing their book, Visualising Complexity - A Modular Information Handbook. I purchased it and from the moment it arrived on my desk, it has not been too far away. I show it to people on Zoom calls and any of the trainings that I have been doing. I have recommended it to many of my peers. I feel so lucky to have this podcast, as it allows me to reach out to people I truly respect and connect with them over a conversation, and I did just that with this book.Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

Apr 20, 2023 • 40min
Steven Russell 'The Rise of the Autonomous Bus: A Look into the Future of Transit'
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementIn this episode I speak with Steven Russell, a service designer and now Innovation Manager at Stagecoach bus in the UK. We chat about autonomous buses - a project that Steven has been working on for quite some time. Now, no longer in the realms of movies like Back to the Future 2, it’s not too far away. How far I hear you ask? Well at some point this year, Edinburgh will hopefully become one of the first cities in the world to start rolling the service out in a R and D capacity.We chat about all the ins and outs about the process, and discuss what the service might look like, potential service failures and other industry dependencies like insurance (who is responsible in the case of accidents) and also how to prepare society for visual of seeing a bus with people driving down the road, with no human driver at the wheel.Note: Since recording the launch date for the autonomous bus service has been announced. It will open to the public on Monday, the 15th of May.Connect with Steven: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenjrussell/Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

Apr 18, 2023 • 48min
Dee Seaver 'The Broken Promise of Design Academia: A Call to Action'
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementIn this episode I chat with Dee Seaver from Philips about the role of the Service Design function within organisations and the interconnectedness towards how academia prepares designers towards either agency or in-house practice. It may seem like a small nuance, but it’s a really interesting conversation to have and reflect.Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________

Mar 28, 2023 • 46min
Oliver Weidlich 'Creating Immersive Experiences with Spatial Computing'
We are building a global network of people doing human-centred work. Create an account, learn, listen, connect and network - for free → https://www.thisishcd.com/signup________________________Take the FREE Introduction to Journey Management course with Marc Stickdorn & Gerry Scullion → https://www.thisishcd.com/learning/introduction-to-journey-managementIn this episode I caught up with Oliver Weidlich, of Contxtu.al Sydney, formerly known as Mobile Experience.I’ve met Oliver several times over the years whilst living in Sydney, always in passing, and never in detail, but was always hugely impressed when I saw him speak about Design, and here is no different.We focus our conversation on spatial computing, and get straight into the nitty gritty of what this is, and how it will radically change how we design services and experiences. We chat about the complexity of data ownership, and build on the conversation threads that myself and Scott Jenson spoke several months ago.Creators & Guests
Gerry Scullion - Host
Stef Murphy - Producer
________________________Discover & Connect → https://www.thisishcd.com/directoryTrain my organisation → https://www.thisishcd.com/trainingClaim partner discounts → https://www.thisishcd.com/partnersPublish an Article → https://www.thisishcd.com/blogCourses → https://www.thisishcd.com/courses________________________


