Wendy Johansson - Effecting Change in a Messy World

10/02/23 • 71 min

Wendy Johansson shares some of her leadership learnings, speaks frankly about the challenge of changing the status quo, and what she’s observed in the best designers.

Highlights include:

How do you balance your personal views with what’s best for your business?
What can people ask themselves if they’re not able to effect change at work?
Why is it important to focus changing the minds of the people in the middle?
What can we do when we're asked to do something we strongly disagree with?
Why is it important for us to speak up when we see injustices happening?

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Who is Wendy Johansson?

Wendy is the Co-Founder and Chief Product Experience Officer at MiSalud, a company that’s on a mission to provide affordable, culturally-authentic, physical and mental healthcare for the Latinx community in the USA and Mexico.

Before starting MiSalud, Wendy worked at Amazon, where she launched the inaugural UX Design and Research Apprenticeship Programme; a programme that provided a pathway to UX careers for people from underrepresented communities and non-traditional backgrounds.

Wendy has also been the Global Vice President of User Experience at Publicis Sapient, where she led a team of over 1,000 designers and partnered with then CXO, Dr. John Maeda, to transform a largely traditional agency into an experience-led consultancy.

Back in 2013, Wendy co-founded Wizeline, a global product development company where she was also VP of UX, managing a global team of over 75 designers, and VP of Academy, where she led the global expansion of Wizeline Academy.

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Find Wendy here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyjohansson/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uxwendy
Website: https://www.wendyjohansson.com/

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Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/

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Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/
Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Wendy Johansson shares some of her leadership learnings, speaks frankly about the challenge of changing the status quo, and what she’s observed in the best designers.

Highlights include:

How do you balance your personal views with what’s best for your business?
What can people ask themselves if they’re not able to effect change at work?
Why is it important to focus changing the minds of the people in the middle?
What can we do when we're asked to do something we strongly disagree with?
Why is it important for us to speak up when we see injustices happening?

======

Who is Wendy Johansson?

======

Find Wendy here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendyjohansson/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/uxwendy
Website: https://www.wendyjohansson.com/

======

Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/

======

Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/
Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Previous Episode

Ronnie Battista - Strategically Designing for Goosebumps

Ronnie Battista shares why it’s important to be true to yourself, how designers can maintain their relevance, and what separates pretenders from innovators.

Highlights include:

How did you come to play in a British punk band?
Should more designers be taking on product management roles?
Is UX strategy as relevant today as it was five years ago?
What distinguishes those who innovate from those who don’t?
What is Shoshin and why should we embrace it, right now?

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Who is Ronnie Battista?

Ronnie is a Senior Director of Global Experience Design at Slalom, a global business and technology consulting company that helps organisations to dream bigger, move faster, and build better tomorrows for all.

At Slalom, Ronnie leads a team that supports the strategic experience design efforts of the company’s 40+ offices across North America, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Germany.

Ronnie is also the Program Director and Adjunct Professor of the Master of Business and Science programme at Rutgers University, an institution that he has had a longstanding and deep commitment to.

Between 2010 and 2013, Ronnie served as Treasurer on the Board of Directors of the User Experience Professionals Association, or UXPA as it’s more commonly known.

An experienced strategic designer and design leader, Ronnie’s has shared his perspectives across the globe, most notably at UX STRAT, on the Thinking & Doing podcast, as a former columnist for UXmatters, and - of course - at Rutgers University.

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Find Ronnie here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronniebattista/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RonnieBattista
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_space_barn/
Website: http://rutgersuxd.com/

The Big Orange Splot by Daniel Pinkwater:
https://a.co/d/1A8GpQy

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Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/

======

Hosted by Brendan Jarvis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/
Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Next Episode

Jane Portman - The Harsh Reality of Startup Design

Jane Portman shares the twists and turns of becoming a founder, how it has changed her view on design’s value, and the role of writing in career success.

Highlights include:

Why is it best not to know in advance how difficult something is?
What made you realise that UX is not a big part of startup success?
Why is a product’s marketing website more important than the product?
Why do designers need to understand their contribution to revenue?
Why is it important for designers to also be good writers?

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Who is Jane Portman?

Jane is the co-founder of Userlist, an email marketing and in-app messaging platform that’s built with B2B SaaS in mind: enabling companies to onboard, engage, and nurture customers and leads.

Before Userlist, Jane was the founder of Tiny Reminder, a SaaS product that helps busy creatives and consultants to send automated notifications to their clients about the things they need from them.

She is also the founder and host of UI Breakfast, one of the world’s longest running and most successful design podcasts. The show has been on-air since 2014 and boasts over 260 conversations with a wide-range of industry experts.

Given Jane’s talent and track record as a podcaster, it’s no surprise that she hosts another podcast. This one’s called “Better Done than Perfect” and it explores email automation, marketing, content and product strategy for founders and product people.

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Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen).