

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 24, 2022 • 60min
Andy Farnell 'Perils of e-waste and benefits of being a digital vegan'
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-managementAndy Farnell is a British computer scientist and author specialising in signals, systems and cybersecurity. His popular textbook "Designing Sound" (MIT) and pioneering research and development in audio DSP and synthesis defined the field of Procedural Audio. Consultant to leading technology companies, and visiting professor across Europe, Andy is a long-time advocate and prominent speaker on issues of digital rights, free open source software, good educational opportunities and access to enabling tools and knowledge for all.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 18, 2022 • 33min
Natalia Alessi 'English as a second language & finding your way into a career in 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-managementWelcome to a new episode of Getting Stareted in Design, I’m your host Ben Maclaren.In this episode, I talk to Natalia Alessi, a design lead at the University of Melbourne. Natalia reached out to us to help with some user research after this years Doing Design Festival.She shared her illustrations from the Festival and I was inspired by her journey to bring her on the show. We talk about some of her experiences and challenges moving to Australia to transition into her design career from another field and how her perspectives on language and culture have influences her journey. She shares her insights into making design more accessible and common challenges she has seen design students face.Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalia-alessi-b59b3a52Creators & 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 18, 2022 • 34min
Laura Yarrow 'Agitating organisations forward'
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 we chat about design agitation and enabling change within organisations. Laura recently shared a fantastic thread on twitter about many of the common designer statements that we probably all have heard a thousand times “no one is listening to me”.We chat about the challenges that many designers have - and how Laura approaches many of these problems in her role within Government.It’s a good one - let’s just straight in...Read the twitter thread that inspired this episode;https://twitter.com/laura_yarrow/status/1487369386981736450Creators & 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 5, 2022 • 39min
Emma Blomkamp 'The Evolution of Co-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-managementHello and welcome to Bringing Design Closer. Our goal is to have conversations that inspire and to help move the dial forward for organisations to become more human-centred in their approach to solving complex business and societal problems.My name is Gerry Scullion, I’m the Founder of the Human Centered Design Network and CEO of This is Doing - home to many of the worlds best design and change maker courses online.Today on the show we have Emma Blomkamp - a facilitator researcher and strategic designer based in Melbourne and leader within the co-design space. In this episode we speak about Emma’s past and how they go into Co-Design and Design generally.We speak about the evolution of Design and where Co-Design sits now and what that looks like potentially in the future.Let’s jump in.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 27, 2022 • 48min
Hannah Smith 'The hidden weight of code'
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-managementHannah is a freelance WordPress developer from Bristol with a background in Computer Science. Before freelance life, amongst other things, she honed her management skills at the Environment Agency, where she managed large business change projects. She’s co-founder of Green Tech South West and is on a mission to raise awareness about the environmental impact of digital tech - checkout #LetsGreenTheWeb on Twitter. She also likes dogs, plants and snow.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, 2022 • 47min
Sasja Nieukerk-Chomos 'Organisational Toxicity - Understanding and navigating trauma-inducing workplaces'
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-managementHello and welcome to Bringing Design Closer. Our goal is to have conversations that inspire and to help move the dial forward for organisations to become more human-centred in their approach to solving complex business and societal problems.My name is Gerry Scullion, I’m the Founder of the Human Centered Design Network and CEO of This is Doing - home to many of the worlds best design and change maker courses online.Today on the show we have Sasja Nieukerk-Chomos - President of Dynamic Achievement based in Canada. I recently stumbled on Sasja profile on LinkedIn after reading a remarkable post about her father, Nick. In this episode we hear more about Nick’s story and the impact it had on Sasja’s life.We speak about Leadership and learn more about toxicity within organisations, how we manage this from an executive perspective but also from someone who might find themselves working alongside people who play roles in compounding the behaviours associated to toxicity.It’s a brilliant conversation - and know you will love it.https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasjachomos/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 5, 2022 • 52min
Brigette Metzler 'Research Ops: What it is, and why it's so important'
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-managementHello and welcome to Bringing Design Closer, the podcast focussed on discussing Designs role in tackling complex societal issues. Our goal is to have conversations that inspire and to help move the dial forward for organisations to become more human-centred in their approach to solving complex business and societal problems.My name is Gerry Scullion, I’m the Founder of the Human Centered Design Network and CEO of This is Doing - home to many of the worlds best design and change maker courses online.Today on the show we have Brigette Metzler, Research Ops Lead at Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment. Brigette is Co-Chair of the ResearchOps community and is based in one of my favourite places on earth, Tasmania. 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-management We speak about Brigette’s recent neurodiverse diagnosis, and her journey to get to that point. I was curious to tap more into this and we cover off some interesting areas of symmetry whilst doing it.Before we jump in. Brigette wanted to mention the Research Ops conference that is happening on Jun 8 in New York and also remote. I will throw a link for this into the show notes, but it’s definitely something to get behind if you interested in the whole area of Research Ops.Let’s get into it..https://www.linkedin.com/in/brigette-metzler-874b6878/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 15, 2022 • 41min
Lola Oyelayo-Pearson 'Understanding Money & Shaping experiences to empower entrepreneurs at Shopify'
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 Lola Oyelayo-Pearson from Shopify. Lola of a Director of UX, Money and we chat about what this actually means. We speak about the mission at Shopify to remain independent, and supporting entrepreneurship globally by making it easier to sell and creating a support network for their merchants. What really interested me, was the points about how Shopify makes money, and also not they share the risk in opening up available funds to enable businesses to succeed. That's a huge statement right there - and I can't think of many businesses who can walk the walk - many as you know talk the talk very well. We chat about what money means - and it's not just a system to enable a transactional relationship - it's visceral. It's real. It can empower. It can destroy. I was keen to hear their thoughts on how the western driven perspective of money could translate to markets in say, Africa and what that might look like. 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________________________

Feb 15, 2022 • 40min
The Science of Less with Leidy Klotz
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-managementI’m your host KA McKercher, author of Beyond Sticky Notes: Doing Co-design for Real. Today I’m joined by Leidy Klotz, an engineer, behavioural scientist and author of the book Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less. We talk about subtraction as a critical capability for designers and design leaders, why we overlook subtractive change and about the importance of working in the open. 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________________________

Feb 4, 2022 • 41min
Markus Edgar Hormess 'Prototyping : Why you should burn requirements documents'
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 one of my colleagues at This is Doing, Markus Edgar Hormess. Markus’s name is one that many within the service design world will no doubt be familiar with, but nevertheless let me tell you a little bit about my guest today.Markus is based in Germany, is a trained physicist and partner at WorkPlayExperience. I look to Markus for many things within design, but I to his deep rooted passion with prototyping of services and just prototyping in general. The bits can so easily be trivialised or assumed are the moments that are missed and we chat at length about how to encourage prototyping generally within your organisation. We speak more around Play and what this means. What does the opposite of playfulness look like within organisations and again, how can we move the dial to become more likely to lean into the prototyping mindset.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________________________


