This episode is going downhill fast, as Chela Giraldo joins us to talk about her love of extreme longboarding. She describes her journey from discovering longboarding while working at a skate shop in Bogota, to becoming a competitive downhill racer who reached the top eight women internationally. Chela talks about the unique feeling of downhill longboarding as "flying just inches off the ground" - a moving meditation that combines pure adrenaline with total calm, and requires complete presence. She shares the story of the serious accident where she broke her femur, leading her to retire from competitive racing, only to return to casual skating mere months later. Through longboarding, Chela discovered her competitive nature, learned to trust others, and found a community that shaped her entire social world.Guest BioChela Girlado (she/her) is a Colombian senior product designer based in Austin, Texas, who recently joined realtor.com to work with their design system team. She specializes in design systems and accessibility, and brings over 10 years of experience across visual, motion, UX, UI, and product design. She’s also a first-time mom to a wild little toddler who keeps her on her toes and when she’s not chasing her around or smothering her with a million kisses, you’ll probably find Chela bombing hills on her longboard — something she’s been doing since 2011.LinksChela’s website: https://chelagiraldo.com/Chela on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chela-giraldo/Chela on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chelagiraldoChela on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HellaChelaaaa/Chela’s skate videos: - https://youtu.be/Xnhqy7NVdz8?si=5WM55R76YZG3j3s_- https://youtu.be/o-alztDnEiQ?si=3yun_tUb9yDRuvKJ- https://youtu.be/SJX_rrU69jM?si=8sOw3fW64TL8OeOU- https://youtu.be/SJX_rrU69jM?si=XhQYlBaegxB-fh3tCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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31:54
Dan Brown Loves Board Games
In the first episode of season 4, Dan Brown joins us to share about his love of hobby board games. He talks about transitioning from games like Monopoly to discovering the more advanced Carcassonne, which became his gateway into modern board gaming. Dan explores the relationship between game themes and mechanisms, saying he’s drawn to games where these elements work together cohesively. He discusses his collection's evolution from simple games he could play with his family to more complex strategy titles, and touches on his fascination with observing how people interact with game systems. Dan emphasizes the tactile, screen-free nature of board gaming as an important escape from digital experiences, and offers advice for newcomers to the hobby on how to look for the right game for them.Guest BioAfter running boutique design firm EightShapes for 18 years, Dan Brown (he/him) struck out on his own, starting Curious Squid Design Lab to continue providing high quality information architecture and UX consulting to enterprise organizations. Through Curious Squid, Dan helps product teams build complex products to align with user needs while meeting business objectives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he produced the podcast A Lens A Day, conversations about information architecture, and currently co-hosts and produces the podcast Unchecked, the architecture of disinformation. Dan’s passion for information architecture is eclipsed only by his passion for board games.LinksDan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danmbrown/Dan’s podcast, Unchecked: https://unchecked.buzzsprout.com/The IA Conference: https://www.theiaconference.com/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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40:27
Erika Hall Loves Painting Portraits of Chickens
It’s the season 3 finale, and to celebrate, Erika Hall joins us to talk about her unique artistic journey of painting chicken portraits. What began as a creative sabbatical evolved into an unexpected obsession, when she recognized that most of us take chickens for granted despite their dinosaur-like nature, and committed to painting individual chicken portraits that treat them as more than mere objects. Erika has grown the project beyond personal art therapy into a digital presence with a website and an interactive game where visitors compare chickens using random adjectives like "pedantic" or "rambunctious." Her chicken portraits serve as both a meditation on seeing overlooked creatures as individuals with distinct personalities and a broader commentary on taking time to truly observe and appreciate what we often dismiss as mundane.Guest BioErika Hall (she/her) is the co-founder of Mule Design Studio and Mule Books, and the author of Just Enough Research and Conversational Design, as well as the forthcoming The Business Model is the Grid. Her primary professional interests are design and communication strategy, collaboration, and evidence-based decision making. She is based in San Francisco and used to fly around the world giving talks, but now she does everything remotely and really only travels as far as she can ride her bike. LinksErika’s chicken portraits website: https://www.chicken.pics/Clickens game: https://clickens.chicken.pics/Erika on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/erikahall.bsky.socialErika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikahallMule Design: https://www.muledesign.com/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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29:59
Dominika Noworolska Loves Tea
Put the kettle on and get ready to hear Dominika Noworolska talk to us about her love of tea. She describes her journey from discovering tea culture as a teenager in Krakow's atmospheric tea houses to becoming a dedicated tea enthusiast in the UK, and how those early experiences in dimly lit basement tea houses created lasting associations between tea and meaningful dialogue. She explains the difference between Western and Eastern brewing methods, discusses how different teas create distinct moods and effects, and shares her discovery of Scotland's tiny craft tea industry. Dominika emphasizes tea as both a sensory experience and a ritual for focus and relaxation, while offering practical advice for newcomers to move beyond tea bags—most importantly, investing in a temperature-controlled kettle!Guest BioDominika Noworolska (she/her) is a Polish (turned Scottish) monotropic researcher and facilitator driven by her desire to support meaningful change by making sense of complexity, in our social world and ourselves. She has worn many hats over the years: commercial semiotician, ethnographer, user researcher, and mediator. Through her company Cosense, she aspires to facilitate collective sensemaking and better dialogue across differences; with warm tea in hand.LinksDominika on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominika-noworolska/Dominika on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/dominikanow.bsky.socialScottish Tea Factory https://scottishteafactory.co.uk/Mei Leaf channel on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MeiLeafCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.
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Ryan Rumsey Loves The '80s
This episode is bursting with neon colours, coming-of-age movies, and acid-washed jeans, as Ryan Rumsey joins us to talk about his deep connection to the 1980s. He shares about moving across the country as a child, growing up as a "latchkey kid”, and how MTV, movies, and music became transformative influences during his youth. Ryan explores how the ‘80s represented a unique cultural moment with the advent of cable television, 24-hour news channels, and the transition of movies from art to commercial blockbusters during the Reagan era. While he appreciates modern ‘80s nostalgia in shows like Stranger Things, he notes how his children connect more with ‘80s music than films, bonding with him over classic tracks during car rides.Guest BioRyan Rumsey (he/him) is a former tech executive turned author, coach, consultant, and tiny business owner. He’s the CEO of Second Wave Dive, founder of Chief Design Officer School, and partner at Jump Ship!. Ryan has extensive hands-on product, management, and executive experience at companies like Apple, Electronic Arts, and USAA. He’s the author of the books Business Thinking for Designers and Play Up Your Impact.LinksRyan’s website: https://www.ryanrumsey.com/Second Wave Dive: https://www.secondwavedive.com/Chief Design Officer School: https://thecdo.school/Ryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanrumsey/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.
"Design Downtime" celebrates the joys of living a balanced creative life outside the pixels and wireframes. Join your host, Guy Segal, a design director, on this journey to redefine what it means to be a successful design professional, as each episode features a conversation with a talented design expert, delving into the world beyond their design screens and uncovering the passions that fuel their imagination. We invite you to break free from the shackles of hustle culture and embrace the full spectrum of human experience – because life is too precious to be spent only in pursuit of productivity.
México