Design Downtime

• Shelby Corbella Loves Escape Rooms

  You have 30 minutes to find the code to the exit, as Shelby Corbella joins us to talk about her love of escape rooms. Shelby, who has completed over 220 escape rooms worldwide, tells us how her first immersive experience of a well-designed escape room helped her "escape" everyday life. She explains that escape rooms fulfill a unique need for her, as they engage multiple aspects of her brain simultaneously, and outlines the key elements that make an escape room memorable. As an experienced escape room player, Shelby describes her role as an "escape room sherpa," helping to identify team members' strengths and ensuring everyone has a positive experience. She also shares stories about her most memorable escape rooms, as well as those that are on her "bucket list".Guest BioShelby Corbella (she/her) is a Senior Product Designer specializing in design systems and diving into the emerging field of designing for AI. Her work balances functionality with innovation, aiming to elevate digital experiences while setting high standards for design consistency. Currently based in Colorado, Shelby spends her free time exploring scenic hiking trails before the chill of winter arrives. When not immersed in the great outdoors, she’s dedicated to achieving a perfect score on Astro Bot and is in the early stages of launching an escape room-themed blog and podcast, merging her love for puzzles with storytelling.LinksShelby’s escape rooms website: https://www.gtfoescapes.com/Shelby’s podcast, GTFO Escapes: https://rss.com/podcasts/gtfo-escapes/CreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

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• Katie Langerman Loves Rock Climbing

  We’re reaching new heights, as Katie Langerman joins us to talk about her adventures in indoor rock climbing. She introduces the different types of climbing (bouldering, top rope, and lead climbing), and talks about how climbing has become a way for her to confront her fear of heights. Katie discusses a serious ankle injury she sustained in 2023 while bouldering, and explains how returning to climbing after the injury was challenging yet therapeutic. She explores the problem-solving nature of climbing, and how that helps her achieve a near-meditative state. Katie also shares advice for people afraid of heights (like the host of this podcast), who are interested in giving rock climbing a try.Guest BioKatie Langerman (she/her) is an interface designer specializing in design systems, currently contributing to GitHub’s Primer. She focuses on creating flexible, scalable systems that help bridge the gap between design and code. Katie is also passionate about fostering collaboration across teams, sharing insights on leadership as an individual contributor, and tackling challenges like design tokens and asynchronous teamwork.LinksKatie’s podcast, Complementary: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/complementaryKatie’s website: https://www.langermank.com/Katie on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/langermankKatie on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/katielangerman.bsky.socialKatie on Twitter/X: https://x.com/KatieLangermanCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

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• Amy Hupe Loves Watercolour Painting

  Get your brush and easel ready as Amy Hupe joins us to share her newfound passion for watercolour painting. She talks about reconnecting with the hobby as an adult when a friend suggested painting together as a distraction, and how she discovered watercolour painting uniquely silenced her normally busy mind. Despite not considering herself naturally artistic or visually creative, Amy appreciates watercolour's forgiving nature - it allows for mistakes and corrections in a way that complements her otherwise perfectionist tendencies, and has become a rare exception where she embraces imperfection and enjoys the process over the result.Guest BioAmy Hupe (she/her) is a UK based design systems and content design consultant. Over the past 8 years, she's worked on design systems for some of the biggest names around, including GOV.UK, BT, Springer Nature, the BBC and the Wellcome Trust. Whether she’s leading systems work or designing content, Amy works to champion simplicity and inclusion in the face of increasing complexity.LinksAmy’s website: https://amyhupe.co.uk/Amy on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/amyhupe.bsky.socialAmy on Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@[email protected] design by Raquel Breternitz.

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• Asia Hoe Loves Video Games

  Grab your controller and get ready to double jump, as Asia Hoe joins us to talk about her love of video games, starting with memories of playing Mario and Donkey Kong between her parents as a child. She discusses how her relationship with gaming evolved from pure childhood immersion to a more analytical adult perspective, and explains how her love for collection-based games matches her perfectionism. Asia highlights her appreciation for indie games, explores her experience developing games at game jams, and touches on the artistic value of video games, arguing that indie games tend to be more artful due to their personal, specific nature.Guest BioAsia Hoe (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary, award-winning product design leader with over 15 years of expertise in user experience design and strategy, front-end development, and design systems. She has worked with startups, agencies, Fortune 500 companies, and small business owners to develop user-centric experiences in education, healthcare, and finance. She recently joined the team at Jasper to explore the intersection of marketing and AI.LinksAsia on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/asia.bsky.socialAsia’s gaming account on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gynesys.bsky.socialCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

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• Karen VanHouten Loves '80s New Wave

  In the first episode of season 3, Karen VanHouten joins us to share her love of ’80s new wave music, a love that began in high school in the mid-1980s. She talks about discovering the music through friends, noting how it was "accessible enough, but different enough to make you feel a little special”. That juxtaposition of the dark and the beautiful in new wave music resonated with her, and made her a fan for life. Karen talks about music sharing in a pre-internet era, her time as a college radio DJ, and how the music scene fostered a sense of community. She ends with a list of essential new wave albums, recommended for new and curious listeners.Guest BioKaren VanHouten (she/her) is an expert generalist and a curious skeptic who is committed to designing better ways for teams to work together. She loves messes of both the digital and human kind. She’s been working as a UX leader, a researcher, and a strategist in both the private and public sector, both in-house and as a consultant, for over 25 years. She uses the foundations of human-centered design (with a dash of scrappiness) to create healthy digital strategies and help teams safely operate in the space between opportunity and risk. LinksKaren’s website: https://www.designinginward.com/Karen on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/designinginward.bsky.socialCreditsCover design by Raquel Breternitz.

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