Beyond Users

One of the best ways to learn about business is to find a topic or product you love, and dive into the business side of it. Whether it’s your favourite footwear brand, sports team, hotel chain or streaming provider, we all have businesses we’re fascinated by, care about, or affiliate ourselves with.  And few disciplines make these connections with their favourite brands like designers! So, in this new d.MBA podcast format, we’re tearing down some designer favourites. From finances to strategies, and from brand-building to competitive areas; we’ll shine a light on the factors that make these businesses work. For this first episode we put luxury athleisure brand Lululemon under the microscope as Alen, Franz and Tom discuss... How Lululemon invented a whole new product category (and owned it!) Why timing and finding a niche are so critical to Lululemon’s success Challengers in the athleisure space… Who are the competition? Lululemon’s incredible growth, and how it outperforms more well known brands The

AI has rapidly evolved from science-fiction fantasy into a tangible tool that is already impacting our lives and work. But it’s just the beginning… Not just for end users, but for the businesses hoping to emerge victorious from this new industrial age. But who will come out on top in this race? And what are the business categories they’re competing in? In this episode of the d.MBA podcast, Alen and Franz delve into the strategies and business models shaping the AI business landscape. They discuss the emerging sectors in the AI industry, and the organisations best placed to win in each category, including… AI solution providers (like OpenAI) Data-rich organisations (like Google, Amazon… and governments) Hardware manufacturers (like the semiconductor industry) Tune in to hear Alen and Franz’s predictions… Some of them might surprise you!   www.d.mba

Curious how to make your money work for you as a designer or creative? Well, you've come to the right place! In this episode, Alen and his guest, Akshan Ish (a design manager at Spotify), have an insightful conversation about mastering the art of financial literacy. Join them as they cover topics like: Personal finance stories and lessons Investing in emerging markets Navigating financial systems across borders Alen and Akshan open up about their own journeys with money management, investing, and finding their way through different countries' financial systems. They stress the importance of education and awareness around personal finance, and how it can lead to long-term benefits for creatives. Akshan, who's not just an expert in design but also has a keen eye for investments, shares his thoughts on investing in India and offers some valuable resources for learning about personal finance. So, whether you're a designer, a creative, or just someone looking to brush up on financial literacy, this episode

Does the thought of negotiating make you break out in a cold sweat, fellow designer? Join Alen and our special guest Jo as they explore the ins and outs of negotiation in various contexts, from job offers to client negotiations. In this episode, Alen and Jo discuss: The power of empathy in understanding the other party's perspective and priorities Practical application of the framework using a job offer negotiation example Uncovering the intriguing similarities between negotiation and business design Tune in and level up your negotiation game today! www.d.mba

Are you a faced with a business-related question, but don’t know who to ask for help? Facing challenges at work as you build your business confidence, and need some expert advice? Well, the d.MBA’s very own Alen and Franz are here to help!  Welcome to the d.MBA Mailbag, our new podcast format where Alen and Franz turn Agony Uncles as they tackle anonymous questions from the d.MBA community.  In episode one our expert hosts offer sage advice on… How to influence business strategy as a design leader Ways to make business metrics more fun (no, really!) Methods to uncover business opportunities around your personal passions AI-proofing your career as a designer Do you need Alen and Franz’s help? Submit an anonymous question by dropping us an email at hello@d.mba!   

Seen enough AI tool renderings of fantasy avatars, futuristic skyline designs, or unicorns playing tennis? Franz Blach certainly has. As tools like Chat GPT, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion continue to capture our imaginations and headlines, they’ve also prompted an existential crisis in our industry. Could AI make us redundant? Franz doesn’t think so. Strategic decisions still need our expertise, and the wicked problems AI can help us solve are orders of magnitude more ambitious than those tennis playing unicorns. In this interview Alen sits down with Creative Director at Pinterest Franz Blach to discuss the biggest opportunities for AI in the design industry, and the surprising business models that could emerge as these technologies mature. The conversation explores:  How designers can prepare for the AI revolution The ambitious, wicked problems AI can help us tackle How attribution business models can make AI profitable and equitable Why we should embrace the opportunity for creative chaos!   ww

Jim Barksdale, a former CEO of Netscape, once famously proclaimed there are “only two ways to make money in business: one is to bundle; the other is unbundle.” Bundling is the business of rolling up products or services into packages, usually at a lower cost than buying them individually. Think meal deals, all-inclusive holidays, and software suite subscriptions that throw in all manner of bonus products for “free”. Who can resist great deals like these? Well, sometimes bundling comes at a cost. Both customers and regulators might take issue with a strategy that on the surface offers great value, but can have major drawbacks for choice, competition, and quality. In this episode we unpick both bundling and unbundling, as Alen and Franz discuss: The benefits and drawbacks of each strategy for businesses and customers Famous examples of bundling and unbundling we can learn from How much impact design has in unbundled vs bundled scenarios   www.d.mba

For our latest episode we put our new business school quiz to the test, with our unsuspecting producer Tom Prior in the hot-seat. When it comes to understanding business terminology and concepts, it can regularly feel like our knowledge is under the spotlight.  What does that business terminology mean? Should I know what that stakeholder was referring to? I’ve heard that acronym before… what the hell is ROI? In these situations we might want to phone a friend or ask the audience. But what if you could go into your next stakeholder meeting and have the confidence of a bit more business knowledge? Well, to get your started we’ve put together 7 questions for designers who want to start their journey towards business confidence. Want to play along with Alen, Franz and Tom? Head to the multiple-choice quiz now and see how you get on!  

Sept 15th, 2022. The day Adobe announced its intention to acquire Figma for an eyewatering $20Bn was also a day of mourning for much of the design community. Our industry’s main tool was falling into the hands of a brand many have grown increasingly skeptical of. Sad times. But at a company retreat in rural Spain, the team at Penpot was rejoicing. Their nimble, open-source design tool is an alternative to the monopoly. An innovative upstart in the face of a seemingly greedy, toxic brand. But how does an open-source tool with a tiny market share face up to the might of Adobe? In this interview with Penpot's CEO Pablo Ruiz-Múzquiz, we uncover: How Penpot’s developer-inclusive product strategy can be an engine of growth Why a “Tax the controller” subscription model can make open source a profitable business model Using the ‘value created vs value captured’ ratio to create a compelling pricing proposition   www.d.mba  

Discounting and Tesla are two words you never hear together. Elon Musk famously wrote in an email to Tesla staff that “There can never – and I mean never – be a discount on a new car coming out of the factory in pristine condition… The acid test is that if you cannot explain to any customer who paid full price why other another customer didn’t without being embarrassed, then it is not right.” So Tesla’s recent decision to deeply discount across its product range has many scratching their heads. Why is Tesla doing this now? What could it indicate about the state of the business? Will it have a long-term effect on their brand and position in the market? These are questions we dive into as part of the latest Business Design Jam. In this episode we cover: Why a business like Tesla might choose to discount The pros and cons of discounting 5 considerations before choosing to cut prices Why price is so intrinsically linked to UX How designers can add value to the pricing process - it’s not all maths!

In this episode of the d.MBA podcast, we explore the exciting and rapidly-evolving field of artificial intelligence and its potential impacts on the design community and the future of business. We discuss: The latest advances in AI technology and how it is transforming the way we design products, services, and experiences. We also delve into the potential risks and opportunities that AI presents for businesses and designers, and offer insights on how to navigate this rapidly-changing landscape. Join us as we delve into the fascinating world of AI and its implications for the future of design and business. The episode’s description was written by an AI chatbot ChatGPT. Impressive, right?

How can we best align the goals of employees and owners? It’s an age-old problem of a principal-agent relationship. But there is a promising trend that could really align incentives between employees and owners. It’s by making employees owners! We decided to invite two d.MBA alumni, Sandra Fernandez and Chris How to share how employee ownership works in their companies. We talked about: what even are employee-owned companies, what are the benefits and drawbacks for employees and companies, and the advice Sandra and Chris would give to others who are in the position to suggest or adopt the employee ownership program.   www.d.mba

In the latest Designer in Nature Talking Business, we are hosting Elisabeth Graf, a service designer, innovation coach, and facilitator. And a d.MBA alumna! Lilly shared how she got into design and learned about the importance of a business concept called opportunity costs. Along the way, we also discussed how she negotiated her salary and got a 50% raise only 3 months after being hired, and why her most hated business buzzword is MVP.

According to the Oxford dictionary, a moat is “a deep, wide ditch surrounding a castle, fort, or town, typically filled with water and intended as a defence against attack”. Ok, basically some kind of defense around the castle. So, how does this concept translate to business? And design work? Martyn Reding, chief design officer at Upzelo and former head of design at Virgin Atlantic, shared how he learned about economic moats and how he uses the concept in designing digital products.

Let’s take a moment of silence. Adobe is acquiring Figma. Judging by Adobe’s previous acquisitions this is surely the end of Figma’s best days, right? But Adobe is promising to keep Figma independent! Should we believe Adobe? But let’s also celebrate. The founder of Patagonia is giving away his company to fight the climate crisis. He is setting a beautiful example of how companies can shift their main stakeholder from stockholders to the society and planet. But it also sets a dangerous precedent that other billionaires could exploit. In this episode, we cover: why is Adobe really acquiring Figma, is Adobe likely to keep Figma independent, and how Patagonia’s news is a beautiful and dangerous precedent for other billionaires.   www.d.mba/mini-mba

Most of us have already tried to offset the carbon footprint of our consumption. Maybe you’ve paid to offset your flight, a parcel delivery, or even production of a product you bought. And it made you feel good, right? Well, this episode will make you feel a bit worse. Sorry. But if you are ready to take the red pill listen in and we’ll share: how governments try to force certain industries and companies into decreasing pollution, why do some companies voluntarily offset their carbon footprint, and why, unfortunately, neither of these two paths is currently effective.

When you hire a designer to help you on a project, you don't expect them to say: "What if we don't focus on users here?".  Franz shared his story of working on a client project that benefitted from designing for suppliers, not customers. To make his point for focusing on suppliers he used a tool called a value chain. Tune in to Designers in Nature Talking Business, our new podcast format where designers (in nature) share their stories of how they learned or used their favorite business tools. And learn what is a value chain and how you can use it too!

Recently, you may have heard that money is getting more expensive. But how can the money be more expensive? Money is, well, just money. To clarify this business lingo, Alen and Franz break down the current business environment and share what sets the price of money. We talked about: what cheap and expensive capital even means, why is money now getting more expensive, and what implications this has on the business world.

It’s usually a bad sign when currencies take over news. It was no different this July 13th when the news broke that one euro is worth exactly one dollar for the first time in twenty years. The US dollar has been gaining strength against other currencies over the last six months due to various reasons, which we cover in detail in this episode. But the question is: Who benefits from a strong dollar. A strong dollar is good for US companies, right? Well… It is not that simple. Listen in to learn what are the most common factors why currencies fluctuate, who benefits from a strong US dollar, and which companies and individuals will be harmed by it?

Working as a freelancer comes with opportunities and challenges. One of these challenges is how you position yourself to get the clients you love working with. And secondly, how do you price your services so you can survive and thrive. We invited two d.MBA alumni and design freelancers (well, they prefer the term contractors - more about that in the show), Tom Prior and James Bickerton to share their experience. We talked about: how James charges $7,500 for a 90-minute workshop when being a specialist makes more sense than being a generalist and how the future of freelance work could be equity pay.