Bear Academy: Recent Episodes
Bear Liu
Welcome to Bear Academy podcast. Here, we talk things about design, productivity and technology with professionals who work in tech and design industries. Hosted by Bear Liu, a UX designer who lives in Auckland, New Zealand.
People want to be productive, and productivity is not only a common goal for professionals, but also a goal for almost everyone. I think I'm productive, but recently, I just found a tip that can fundamentally improve my productivity to a brand new level. What's that? Let's talk about this! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
There are a few things creative people need to do every day, actually, some things need to do for the whole life as a designer, programmer, writer, or any kind of creative people. I've joined an online session with legendary designer, Brian Collins, and he listed 3 things that every creative person needs to improve during his/her career. Can't wait to share with you! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
Productive remote meetings, everyone wants them, but it's not easy to be productive during all meetings, especially for remote workers. We need to know not all the meetings are the same, and we should divide them into different types, and cope with different strategies. Here's a tip that I'm using for keeping productive and good well-being when taking many meetings every work week. Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
I guess most of you guys already watched the Netflix show: Squid Game? As a product and UX designer, I found a few design principles in Squid Game. Sounds interested? Let's jump into the game and review them! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
Work could mean different thing for us. What does work mean to you? Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
A big tip that helps my well-being during lockdown is disconnecting. To be specific, disconnect from my devices while eat and sleep. Let's talk about the first one. Eating and scrolling was my default - I always need to find something to do. Checking social media, posting photos on social, watching videos, or listening to podcasts...so many things to do while eating! I noticed how my mobile shaped my behavior and thinking and decided to fight back. I've tried mindfulness eating, and it changed the way I used to eat. Eating becomes a way of recharging myself, both on body and soul. As there are three times per day to recharge, the benefits are continuous. It's easy - just eat when you are eating. Look at your food, smell them, taste them and eat them. Just connect to them, rather than connect to your device, news, or emails. Try it today, it's only 20-30 minutes. Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
Recently I ran a team session with 30+ designers in my team, and got some great tips and suggestions on coping with lockdown. Let's see how those top professionals cope with lockdown! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
New Zealand is currently in a level 4 lockdown, and many people from other places are experiencing the same challenge. In this podcast, I'm going to share a few wellbeing tips that I used and worked for me on coping with lockdown, hope they will helpful for you as well. Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
I consider producing content as a serious thing. Since this year, I've decided to make 2 videos per week. That was my goal, and it still is. But in last two months, I stopped doing it. Why? In this podcast, I'm going to share why and how I stopped making content on my channel in last 2 months, and use the time to write a book. Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
It's not easy to give a speech in front of 100 people as an introvert, with your second language. I'm happy that I did it, but even happier about the things I've learned. In this podcast, I'm sharing a few things I've learned from 4 public speeches I did recently: Sincere beats seriousity. Don't start from scratch. Reflection as a habit. Preparation is gold, and practice is diamond. Team work makes dream work. Enjoy the progress.
Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours.
You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
How many books you can read in a month? If can read 1 book per week, you can read 4 books in a month. I got 10 books done in April, with a full-time job, a four-year-old to take care of, a YouTube channel, and a podcast to take care of. How did I do it? Check this podcast for details! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
As a UX designer at Vodafone, things at work are challenging, complex, and exciting. My habit is to review things I learned at work regularly, and as I worked at Vodafone New Zealand for a couple of months already, here are a few things I learned at work. Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
One of the common questions from a self-taught designer is: what If I’m not good enough to learn design? What if I’m not good enough to become a designer? What if it was a wrong choice? I know it as I've been there, and it's totally ok. In this video, I'll share a few tips that helped me went through it, and finally became a confident designer. Hope these tips can help you as well! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
You borrowed a book from library or from your friend. When reading it, you found it was so good that you want to take notes. But how to take notes from borrowed books? You can't write or doodle on the book, it's not yours. Here's an easy, flexible and productive way to take notes from a book you borrowed, without damaging the book for sure! Bear Who? Hello, I'm Bear, a UX/UI designer who lives and works in Auckland. I make podcasts and YouTube videos about design, productivity, and tech between my work and family hours. You can find me here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BearTalkVideo Newsletter: https://email.beartalking.com/signup Blog: https://blog.beartalking.com/ Podcast: https://voice.beartalking.com/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/beartalking Twitter: https://twitter.com/bearbig Weibo: https://www.weibo.com/bearbig Website: https://beartalking.com
In the book Mindset, Dr. Carol Dweck shows the importance of a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. Why is a growth mindset essential for UX designers? As a UX designer, you should be bold enough to admit things you don't know and believe you can find the proper solution for the problem you are working at. In another way, the UX discovery stage for designers is a trial-and-fail process, which requires a growth mindset so you can reflect on what you've learned and adapted it to your design.
Be a closer, or be a loser? In my opinion, always closing the thing you plan to do, even in the way you are not satisfied or proud. If you are not a closer, you are a loser. That's why I recorded this video in my car on a rainy evening.
Philip Mills, the founder of Les Mills International, recommended me on my LinkedIn Profile. It was such an honor to have a recommendation from one of the top leaders in the global fitness industry. How did I get it? Check the video for details!
E-Myth is an excellent book about business, especially for helping small businesses grow without them burned out. I like the book's structure by telling a story about Sarah, a small pie Store owner struggling to survive on her own business. She worked 12 hours per day. She gets used to working as a technician rather than an entrepreneur. The author met Sarah as a mentor to help her to think about things from a different perspective and improve the shop business step by step. This is a great way to share some theories with the audience by telling a great story. Show characters struggle, and what are the specific actions that they can do? How they cope with the problems. Finally, what was the result? Also, the whole book is about building a system without involving personality, which means that even people change, your business won't be impacted. And another part of the book, which I found quite helpful, is an example of how two or three co-founders can run a business by defining each role and its responsibility for the business. It could be just the founders initially, but later, if they have better candidates, they don't have to spend all the time doing the technician work. They can hire someone who can do the job. And document all the steps with precise measurements so that anyone can pick them up.
Why do we need a UX portfolio? And how to prepare the portfolio that can get you hired? In this video, I'll share a few tips about portfolios for UX designers and product designers, so that you could know how to start to build your own portfolio to help you get the design job you want.
A few years ago, when I move to New Zealand from China, as a designer without local experience, references, and didn't even speak the language properly, I had a big question: how can I start? I think it's not only my question but probably the key question for all the people who would like to work somewhere else from his/her home country: yeah, how can I start? Because I've been experienced this struggle, I was impressed when I learned Michel Ferreira's story. Started from Brazil, Michel extended his design career to an international level: he previously worked in the US, then worked at Shopify in Canada and Booking.com in the Netherlands, and currently in Sydney as a Design Manager at Atlassian. Wow! How did he start? With curiosity in my mind, I invited Michel for this podcast interview and the result? Boom! I got this mind-blowing conversation. Let's jump into it! By the way, if you curious about the title - what about his four other hidden roles? Stay to the last, and you'll get it then :) Shownote Visual shownote michel-sketchnote https://i.imgur.com/1gDOoNo.jpg About the guest Michel Ferreira is a Brazilian designer living in Sydney, Australia where he works full-time as a Design Manager at Atlassian, building the future of world-class Enterprise products like Jira. Previously worked at Shopify in Canada and Booking.com (http://booking.com/) in the Netherlands. Michel is also the host of LatinXs Who Design podcast. As a writer and public speaker, Michel has delivered numerous presentations to audiences around the world to introduce new design ideas and examine best practices in A/B testing. He's also written articles for Net Magazine and company blogs such as: Would you like fries with that? For Booking.com (http://booking.com/) and 11 Lessons from the NBA Bubble for your newly remote team for Atlassian. Michel Ferreira's podcast https://anchor.fm/latinxswhodesign (https://anchor.fm/latinxswhodesign) Special Guest: Michel Ferreira.
The NZ COVID Tracer app took an essential part during the whole COVID-fighting process - more than half of the people in New Zealand using the app to help save people's lives. The app was developed and delivered by RUSH, an Auckland based digital agency, which only took six weeks from concept to launch. It's a once-of-a-lifetime opportunity for a designer. What are the stories behind the scene? Who are the people doing the design of the app? In this episode of Bear Academy, I have the pleasure of talking to Stephen Horner - Chief Design Officer, and Chloe Fong - Product Lead about the story of designing and delivering the NZ COVID Tracer app. As a reminder, please turn on Bluetooth tracing in the app. Shownote: Latest stats of the app since the app launched… (as at 27 January 2021) There are 2,496,000 registered users This is 61% of the adult population of NZ (*aged 15+) There have been 160,466,530 total QR poster scans And 6,555,858 manual diary entries The highest peak of scans so far is 2,509,166 in a single day Since Bluetooth launched on 17 December 2020, 859,369 devices have activated this function Official website: https://tracing.covid19.govt.nz/ (https://tracing.covid19.govt.nz/) https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-resources-and-tools/nz-covid-tracer-app (https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus/covid-19-resources-and-tools/nz-covid-tracer-app) Case study (RUSH): https://rush.co.nz/work/nz-covid-tracer-app/ (https://rush.co.nz/work/nz-covid-tracer-app/) Guests: Stephen Horner - Chief Design Officer at RUSH https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevehornernz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevehornernz/) Chloe Fong - Product Lead at RUSH - teacher at EF (UK) https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloefong/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloefong/) Special Guests: Chloe Fong and Stephen Horner.
We all received emails like this: "Thank you for applying this role, we really appreciate your time and effort putting on this. Unfortunately, you will not go to the next stage. All the best and good luck to your job searching." It's a bad reply, isn't it? Actually, no. And, there're no bad replies at all. In this short podcast, I'll share a tip that you can always get some useful information from the reject replies.
Onboarding a new job could be overwhelming - you might look calm on your face, but totally freak out inside. I have some experience of onboarding new jobs, new projects in different countries, and I found there are things in common, no matter where and when. Basically, you need to be clear about 3 things: information, resource and expectation. In this video, I'm going to share a few tips to help you do better when you get a new job. YouTube: https://youtu.be/_DJ9raUIywY
I read 54 books in 2020, which is the sixth year that I keep reading one book per week. What are the books I read and what are the recommendations? How did I do it? And why? Check the video to find the answer to these questions. Here are ten books from my 2020 list that I recommended to read: Digital minimalism - this book helps me to regain control of my attention and time from something doesn't deserve. Siddhartha - A fable about our life and universe, and so good! Amusing Ourselves to Death - This book was written in a few decades ago, but precisely predicted our lives in 21 century. The Urban Sketcher - This book gave me the confidence, skill and roadmap to learn sketch in my late 30's. Guns, Germs and Steel - It's such a great book about history, geographic and culture, which open a brand new perspective for me to see the world. Educated - deeply touched by the story of Tara, about her uses knowledge to find out how the world looks like, and who she is. "There's a world out there, and it's different from dad's whisper into your ears. " Surely you're joking, Mr Feynman! - Richard Feynman is my idol, in many ways. This book is the best way to learn his thinking process, and it quite enjoyable to read his remarkable story. The Design of Everyday Things - this is the classic book if you want to know anything related to design. Forever Employable - this new book by Jeff Gothelf, the influencer of the design industry, shares tips and strategy of building a future proof career. The timing for reading this book is never better - I mean, 2020, right? You got it. The Tartar steppe - "Time has slipped by so quickly, that his heart has not had a chance to grow old. " this is the best story about the time I read this year, highly recommended!
When I planned to change my career to UX a few years ago without local working experience and academic background, I created a strategy with 4 pillars and succeed. If your career goal of 2021 is to land a job in the design-related industry, this strategy might work for you as well.
This might be an unpopular opinion: designers should learn how to draw, and it's even more important in the digital age. I have three reasons: ✅ Better communication - using sketch or doodle to communicate is a great way. Architecture designer uses this approach for decades. ✅ Better observation - by learning and practising drawing, you will learn how to observe, which is very helpful for your user research and discovery. ✅ Understanding UI fundamentals - UI trends are changing, but the basic of the basic, e.g. colour palette, composition and perspective, these aren't changed for decades. So, I think a designer should learn drawing. It's a transferable/timeless skill, and it's really fun! But how? Here are a few tips in this one. Check it out! Watch the video version on YouTube (https://youtu.be/O1XR7EawNUA)
"In New Zealand we have so much potential, but we still have this belief in number 8 wire innovation. It’s a total myth and seriously limiting, especially when it comes to achieving future prosperity. We need to start taking ourselves and how we approach design more seriously, if we’ve got a hope of remaining competitive in such a rapidly evolving world." Brendan Jarvis As a new immigrant designer, I feel so resonate of the quote above, and can't help to think about how we can cope with the new norm, especial on an individual level. After talking with Brendan Jarvis, the founder of Space in Between, I think I found the answer on how to deal with the uncertainties, and create your personal best practice as a designer. Shownote Space In Between (https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/) Brave UX Podcast (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdOejeOwirOOzRIv55nDryg) AGENCYFOUNDERS interview - Float (https://www.float.com/agency-founders/brendan-jarvis/) Meet our friends… Brendan Jarvis - Design Assembly interview (https://designassembly.org.nz/2020/09/04/meet-our-friends-brendan-jarvis-the-space-inbetween/) Special Guest: Brendan Jarvis.
Imagine you and family went to a tropical island for a three-night trip, and you were trapped on the island because of the pandemic, not a few days, not a few weeks, but nearly nine months. How about that? A few months ago, I read a post from a designer I followed on LinkedIn. That was his true story. Peter Atcheson is a Digital Product Designer from South Africa. After accidentally stayed in Fiji for eight months, he founded a design studio and dealt with the uncertainties in the best possible way. In this episode of Bear Academy Podcast, I invited Peter to share his story - when life gives you lemons, make lemonade, remotely on a tropical island. Shownote Peter's website: shineupstudio (https://shineupstudio.com/main) Peter's LinkedIn Page (https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteratcheson/) Special Guest: Peter-Atcheson.
"As a guy who dreams of becoming a great designer, I got a design job and worked as a designer every day. I got myself in the party, and now what? How could I become a senior designer? What are the pitfalls that I need to avoid? What is the roadmap for my career? And, back to the basic, how to define a senior designer?" These are some common questions from the designers who want to improve, and I have those questions too. Only other senior designers could answer these questions, I mean, real senior designers. Jeff Gothelf is the co-author of Lean UX and Sense & Respond, as well as a speaker and organizational designer. He was most recently nominated for a Thinkers50 award for innovation. Over his 20 years in technology, Jeff has worked to bring a customer-centric, evidence-based approach to product strategy, design, and leadership at a wide range of companies, like Neo Innovation, TheLadders, Webtrends, and AOL. He is one of those senior senior designers, and definitely has heaps of experience to provide guidance for intermediate and senior designers. I asked Jeff these questions and got lots of insightful answers. If you work in tech or creative industries and would like to become a senior designer, this episode of Bear Academy Podcast is the right one for you. Shownote Jeff Gothelf website (https://jeffgothelf.com/) Lean UX (https://jeffgothelf.com/books/#lean-ux) Forever Employable (https://jeffgothelf.com/foreveremployable/) Special Guest: Jeff Gothelf.
Xero, is a company with 3000+ employees, 2 million users, in 2014 and 2015, Xero was identified by Forbes as World’s Most Innovative Growth Company. Their design team is an army of 57 product designers, 13 researchers, 2 content strategists works from Australia, New Zealand and other part of the world when I published this podcast. Today, I'm going to talk to Zac Sanderson Harris, Product Design Manager - Design Manager (Systems) at Xero. The topic of the chat, will be Design System. You will learn these questions in this podcast: What is the design system? How does it work? How does a designer at Xero know if a design successful or not? What the competencies do a design system builder need to have? how to learn those skills? zac-standing https://i.imgur.com/fygaTbQ.jpg Xero specific by Zac: We're growing our design team globally and looking for people in product design, design research, and design systems. There are roles across Australia, New Zealand and North America. Just go to Xero's LinkedIn page, under jobs. Our design team has published a number of articles on what it's like to work at Xero and the kind of work we do. You can find them over on Medium, in our publication called 'Humans of Xero (https://medium.com/humans-of-xero)'. Design Systems resources: Atomic Design | Brad Frost (https://atomicdesign.bradfrost.com/) Design Systems | Alla Khomatova (https://www.smashingmagazine.com/design-systems-book/) Design Systems | Eight shapes (Medium) (https://medium.com/eightshapes-llc/tagged/design-systems) Design Systems Handbook | Invision (https://www.designbetter.co/design-systems-handbook) Practical UI Patterns for Design Systems | Diana MacDonald (https://didoesdigital.com/project/book-practical-ui-patterns-for-design-systems/)