Best UX Architect Podcasts (2026)

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Episode 494: Am I interviewing all wrong and leaving old team chats 26:02

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18h ago26:02

26:02

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Dear Damison and Javison, I work at a very small startup (<10 engineers) and am trying to hire 2 engineers. I’m doing the intro/screener interview for these roles & am working with a recruiting firm to source candidates. My problem is that sometimes my intuition tells me that a candidate is …

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The Shift in Architectural Roles in Tech with AEC+Tech's Niknaz Aftahi 46:12

9d ago46:12

46:12

In this episode, Silvia chats with Niknaz Aftahi, entrepreneur and founder of AEC+Tech, a platform connecting architecture professionals with cutting-edge technology. Niknaz shares her journey from studying architecture in Iran to launching a startup that bridges the gap between the AEC industry and emerging tech. The conversation touches on the in…

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Episode 493: My boss one-ups my negativity and football engineering 21:01

8d ago21:01

21:01

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey Guys, long time listener, first time asker! At my BigCorp Co., whenever I talk to my skip level about my concerns, it seems we are playing the ‘Gloom Olympics’ every time we meet. I’ll mention I worked late, and he’ll counter with, ‘That’s nothing, I haven’t slept in three days!’ This re…

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Episode 492: Fresh grads and startups or the goog 33:30

15d ago33:30

33:30

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Listener AWS multi-region is not real multi-region, ask me how I know asks, We’ve recently acquired some bright-eyed and bushy-tailed new grads. What have you found to be the most effective way to onboard new grads into development roles? How has it changed (if at all) since the advent of LL…

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Episode 491: Re-arranging deck chairs on the Titantic and my boss leaks private info 36:48

22d ago36:48

36:48

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I handed in my resignation this past Monday. During the conversation, my manager confided in me that this coming Wednesday, 25% of the workforce is being laid off. For context, this is the second round of layoffs. The first round happened a year ago and was a disaster. It was announced via a…

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Serverless Craic Ep78 How the BBC Built a Serverless-First Architecture at Global Scale Case Study 11:31

26d ago11:31

11:31

Send us a text How the BBC Built a Serverless-First Architecture: In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave, Mark, and Michael explore one of the most compelling real-world examples of serverless at scale: the BBC’s serverless-first transformation. We break down how the BBC News engineering team delivers global, highly-spiky traffic, meets strict p…

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Episode 490: How do I break into software dev from QA automation and underselling 26:14

29d ago26:14

26:14

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Dave and Jamison, I’ve been in QA/QA automation for 13 years now with a CS degree, and I’ve been trying to change my role to a software developer for a while. My only issue is that every time I brought my career aspirations to my managers they seemed to “not care” or give vague answers to…

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Serverless Craic Ep77 Mapping the Emerging Value – Chapter 19 | The Value Flywheel Effect 22:50

1M ago22:50

22:50

Send us a text In this episode of The Serverless Craic, Dave, Mark, and Michael dive into Chapter 19: Mapping the Emerging Value from The Value Flywheel Effect. This chapter explores how leaders can use Wardley Mapping to uncover long-term strategic opportunities, align product thinking, and identify “land grab” moments that unlock future business …

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Episode 489: Ethical dilemma for a gambling app dev and ethical employers 34:57

1M ago34:57

34:57

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey Jamison and Dave, love your show! A question for you guys coming all the way from the Netherlands 🧀 I’ve started as a software engineer in a gambling company lately and the moral aspect of it bothers me a bit. And while listening to you talking about the importance of accessibility in th…

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Serverless Craic Ep76 Sustainability & Innovation in Modern Cloud: Value Flywheel Chapter 18 22:51

1M ago22:51

22:51

Send us a text Sustainability & Innovation in Modern Cloud: In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave, Mark, and Michael dive into Chapter 18 of The Value Flywheel Effect — Sustainability and Space for Innovation. We explore why sustainable architectures, well-designed domains, situational awareness, and the innovate–leverage–commoditise cycle are …

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Episode 488: How do I survive in a culture of optics and jira slacker 30:38

1M ago30:38

30:38

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey Dave and Jamison, Big fan of the show — listening from Portugal! (Proof that even across the Atlantic, software politics are universal.) I’m a tech lead, and lately I’ve noticed a culture where people seem to care way more about how things look than what actually gets done. It’s like the…

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Episode 487: My manager ignores me during 1:1's and I am required to work in an empty office 36:18

2M ago36:18

36:18

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: “My manager insists on a weekly 1:1 with me, but he rarely pays attention. He’s often on his laptop, texting, checking email — basically anything but listening. I’ve tried sending agendas, rescheduling, reducing frequency, waiting until he’s less busy — nothing helps. I’ve even started sitti…

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Episode 486: No one on my team talks and skip level meetings 29:19

2M ago29:19

29:19

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I work at a big tech company on a remote team of about 10 people, and most of them have been here for 5+ years. I’m in the “newer” half of the team with 4 years here. My problem is, in group meetings, absolutely NO ONE talks. I mean zero small talk, they have trouble responding to simple yes…

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Episode 485: I'm terrible at hiring decisions and my coworker spams us with AI-generated memes 43:53

2M ago43:53

43:53

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: What signals do you look for when interviewing candidates? I’ve helped interview many people at this point and almost all of the engineers that I marked as “hire” that we brought on board ended up being low performers and were eventually managed out. I wasn’t the only one who approved them e…

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Episode 484: How to get a raise after slacking off for YEARS and my PM won't stop DM'ing me 29:27

2M ago29:27

29:27

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi! Love your show and how casually you talk and make fun of everything! I started my career as a freelancer and then joined a mid-size software development company to learn how the sausage is really made, salary wasn’t that important back then. A few kids and a lot more expensive lifestyle …

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Episode 483: My team hated me from day one and should I stack PTO before my resignation 38:22

3M ago38:22

38:22

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: How would you handle a situation where a team forms a negative opinion about you from day one — without any clear reason and without ever giving you a real chance to prove yourself? Even when you contribute technically, your suggestions are ignored… until someone else repeats the same thing …

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Serverless Craic Ep75 How to Build a Problem Prevention Culture (AWS Well-Architected Explained) 26:06

3M ago26:06

26:06

Send us a text How to Build a Problem Prevention Culture (AWS Well-Architected Explained) Stop firefighting — start preventing problems. In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore how engineering teams can create a problem prevention culture using the AWS Well-Architected Framework. They unpack les…

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Pursuing Growth Through One's Career with Meta's Libo Li 47:11

3M ago47:11

47:11

Join Libo Li, a data engineer at Meta, as he delves into his unconventional career journey from architecture to tech. Discover how his natural curiosity and drive for growth propelled him through various roles at companies like WeWork and AAC Resource. Libo shares insights on embracing fear as a signal for growth, the value of continuous learning, …

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Episode 482: I got a promotion, but a tiny raise and an imposter interviewed for my team 31:47

3M ago31:47

31:47

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: After a year of trying, I recently got promoted to staff engineer! It’s great to receive recognition for my work, but i’m not actually very happy, because I only got a 4% raise! I spoke with a former coworker about how much a staff engineer in my role should expect, and he said that he would…

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Episode 481: I'm bored and will I ever find out why I was fired? 29:03

3M ago29:03

29:03

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Serverless Craic Ep74 AWS Community Summit & Cloud Day 2025 | Serverless, AI & Bedrock AgentCore 22:31

3M ago22:31

22:31

Send us a text In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly share key takeaways from two major events — AWS Community Summit Manchester 2025 and AWS Cloud Day Dublin 2025. From psychological safety in engineering teams to serverless adoption patterns, event-driven architecture, and the rise of AI agents with…

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Episode 480: Do I just coast until I quit and going back to work after a long time 27:09

3M ago27:09

27:09

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: (follow-up from question 449) Hello. Return question asker here. You answered my question from episode 449 “my tech lead ignored my warnings”. I want to give a follow up. I sat by and did not say anything else, he shipped the broken feature, and it broke in production. Instead of fixing it h…

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Serverless Craic Ep73 Liberty Mutual’s Cloud Journey to Serverless 27:45

3M ago27:45

27:45

Send us a text In this episode Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly revisit their time at Liberty Mutual, exploring how one of the world’s largest insurers transformed from legacy systems and SOA to cloud-native architectures and serverless-first strategies. Discover how Wardley Mapping, empowered engineering teams, and a strong cultura…

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Episode 479: Contractors to the rescue and dinged for delay 34:57

4M ago34:57

34:57

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey skillet nation, long time skilletee first time skilleter here. I started at a scale up about 6 months ago and recently, I was asked to help with a project that was greatly behind schedule. The folks responsible for the original system are no longer at the company, and the team currently …

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Episode 478: Can you coach self-awareness and my boss is an llm 38:18

4M ago38:18

38:18

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Can you coach self-awareness? I manage someone who seems to believe their skill set is on par with their teammates, regardless of their constant PR feedback regarding the same issues over and over, the extra attention they are regularly given to help them overcome coding challenges, and the …

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Episode 477: Four months and I already hate my job and grumpy and fuzzy 37:51

4M ago37:51

37:51

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hey guys, I have been working for four months at my job and I already don’t like it. This is my first job out of college and I work as a C# backend engineer for a small B2B SaaS company. I really think this company is a dead end. There is a lot of technical debt and antipatterns and we have …

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Serverless Craic Ep72 Map Your Tech Stack | Evolutionary Architecture & The Value Flywheel Effect 19:03

4M ago19:03

19:03

Send us a text In this episode of Serverless Craic, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly explore Chapter 15 of The Value Flywheel Effect — Map Your Solution. They discuss how Wardley Mapping and tech stack mapping create situational awareness, reduce friction between teams, and guide better architectural decisions. If you’re a software …

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Episode 476: How much help is too much help and guarding against slop 37:36

4M ago37:36

37:36

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Two junior engineers recently joined my team, and I’ve been tasked with onboarding them. This is the first time I’ve been responsible for junior devs, and I’m struggling with how to coach them up. For context, we’re a small engineering team where self-sufficiency is highly valued; processes/…

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Serverless Craic Ep71 AI, DevOps & Serverless: Building Frictionless Developer Experience 29:31

4M ago29:31

29:31

Send us a text In this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly dive deep into The Value Flywheel Effect (Chapter 14) — discussing frictionless developer experience, sense checking, feedback culture, AI in software engineering, DevOps, platform engineering, and marginal gain. We explore how AI and LLMs are shaping engineering pract…

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Episode 475: Am I too loyal to my big tech job and politely preserving time 33:26

5M ago33:26

33:26

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi! I’m currently working for a big tech company and I’ve just accepted an internal transfer to another team. At the same time, an external company reached out, offering me a job for a role I’m interested in and twice my current compensation. I’m not sure what to do. The offer from the new c…

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Episode 474: I hate the idea of firing a low performer and cheaper context switching 38:04

5M ago38:04

38:04

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Dave & Jamison, Long time listener, first time google-form filler outer! I work in a hybrid role as a lead developer and manager of a small team (less than 5). I’m new to management and most of ny experience so far has been with smart, motivated engineers. . . UNTIL! My new recruit is dri…

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Serverless Craic Ep70 Frictionless Developer Experience in the Age of AI 31:19

5M ago31:19

31:19

Send us a text In this episode Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly continue their deep dive tackling Chapter 14: The Frictionless Developer Experience. The crew explore whether the principles of engineering excellence, developer enablement, and team topologies still stand strong in a world increasingly powered by AI and agentic systems…

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Episode 473: Mental health support and overcoming FOMO of taking a break from work 35:59

5M ago35:59

35:59

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Jamison and Dave! I am not a developer, but my question is hopefully transferable. I sit in between lawyers and developers. I advise on technology that can be applied to legal processes and I support our teams in using a range of platforms and AI tools to be more efficient across their wo…

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Serverless Craic Ep69 Serverless myths debunked for modern cloud teams 33:28

5M ago33:28

33:28

Send us a text Serverless myths debunked for modern cloud teams: In this episode, we dive into the second part of Chapter 13 The Serverless First Edge from The Value Flywheel Effect book. We explore common serverless myths, how relevant they still are in 2025, and what’s changed since the early days of serverless adoption. From cold starts and test…

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Episode 472: Should my junior dev use AI and thrown in to ETL 26:59

5M ago26:59

26:59

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’m the CTO of a small startup. We’re 3 devs including me and one of them is a junior developer. My current policy is to discourage the use of AI tools for the junior dev to make sure they build actual skills and don’t just prompt their way through tasks. However I’m more and more questionin…

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From Faceplant to Feature-Rich: A UX Designer's Journey Through Website Redesign 13:06

5M ago13:06

13:06

Design leader Paul shares the unvarnished truth about launching a podcast website that failed spectacularly, and how systematically addressing each failure point led to insights that transformed both the website and his entire approach to design accountability. Drawing from his experience of rushing through a redesign that prioritized speed over th…

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Creating Your Own Path with Atif Qadir 55:38

5M ago55:38

55:38

Atif Qadir joins Silvia on Tangents to explore his journey from architecture to real estate development and tech entrepreneurship. They discuss the evolving nature of careers in the AEC industry, the importance of adaptability, and the benefits of life coaching and mentorship. Atif shares insights on recognizing personal values and the significance…

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Episode 471: Why does my junior engineer do so little and I fell asleep in a Zoom meeting 28:34

5M ago28:34

28:34

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’m a senior developer on a small team, and I’m feeling frustrated with a junior developer I work with. They’re smart and perfectly capable, but they stick very strictly to the confines of their assigned work. They’ll finish their tickets, but unless they’re directly asked, they don’t offer …

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The Data Driven Design Advocate 10:45

6M ago10:45

10:45

Design leader Paul demonstrates how to transform skeptical executives into design champions by speaking the language of business impact rather than design principles. Through a powerful case study of quantifying a $4.2 million "Poor Design Tax," this episode reveals how conducting design debt audits, running strategic pilot projects, and connecting…

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Episode 470: I said something stupid in a meeting and just want to code 30:12

6M ago30:12

30:12

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I was on a meeting with a team generally regarded to be pretty annoying to deal with and not particularly useful. The meeting was pretty annoying and not particularly useful. I audibly said to myself after leaving “holy crap what a waste of time.” Turns out I hadn’t left and may not have bee…

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Rapid Prototyping at Enterprise Scale: Speed Without Sacrificing Quality 9:33

6M ago9:33

9:33

Design leader Paul reveals how to overcome enterprise barriers to rapid prototyping by transforming organizational belief systems rather than just processes. Through a compelling case study of reducing project timelines from six months to six weeks, this episode demonstrates how redefining quality as learning velocity, democratizing prototyping cap…

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Episode 469: Passed over for lead role and perhaps I'm the jerk 35:53

6M ago35:53

35:53

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I’m a long time listener to the podcast. Thanks for reading and answering my question! I have over 20+ yrs experience as a manual QA and 6+ yrs experience as a SDET. I’m in a new role as a hybrid manual QA / SDET for a company that hasn’t had QA for a few years. After a couple of months a ne…

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Serverless Craic Ep68 The Serverless First Edge 23:02

6M ago23:02

23:02

Send us a text Serverless First: Focus, Not Functionality In this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann and Michael O’Reilly dive into Chapter 13 of the Value Flywheel Effect—focusing on the concept of “Serverless First” and what it really means for engineering teams and product leaders today. 🔍 Topics include: Why code is a liability and how to iden…

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Designing for Multimodal Experiences: Unifying Fragmented User Journeys 11:23

6M ago11:23

11:23

This season premiere reveals how design leaders can transform fragmented user experiences into unified journeys that fundamentally improve human performance. Paul shares the powerful shift from system-first to journey-first thinking through a real-world logistics redesign project, demonstrating how questioning fundamental assumptions about system o…

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Episode 468: Should I take a mini-retirement and doubling down on anachronisms 31:12

6M ago31:12

31:12

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: Hi Dave and Jamison, Long-time listener, first-time question asker. Thank you both for the wisdom, perspective, and jokes you bring to the podcast. I recently received an inheritance of around $500,000. It’s not “quit your job and buy a yacht” money, but it is enough to reshape my life. I’m …

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Serverless Craic Ep67 Workgrid Case Study 20:30

6M ago20:30

20:30

Send us a text 🎙️ Serverless Craic: Chapter 12 – The Workgrid Case Study In this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly dive deep into Chapter 12 of The Value Flywheel Effect — the Workgrid case study. This episode explores the early days of Workgrid, a startup founded in 2017 with Gillian McCann. As one of the first companies to…

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Episode 467: I can't get promoted if I do my job and should I get a degree to get a job in this economy 40:52

6M ago40:52

40:52

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I am a data scientist and was recently passed over for promotion to senior because my projects weren’t “senior level” enough, and I do too many ad hoc requests that delay delivery of my bigger projects. I am a go to for VP and C suite level execs in my company and am commonly asked to help w…

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Serverless Craic Ep66 Map your Org Capability 15:09

6M ago15:09

15:09

Send us a text Mapping Your Org Capability | Chapter 11 Breakdown of The Value Flywheel Effect In this episode, Dave Anderson, Mark McCann, and Michael O’Reilly dive into Chapter 11 of The Value Flywheel Effect — "Map Your Organisational Capability". We unpack how to use mapping techniques, such as Wardley Mapping, to assess and visualise your orga…

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Episode 466: Bad performance review and moving in to the caves 29:56

7M ago29:56

29:56

In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions: I had my performance review two months ago where I scored a “Does not meet expectations”, which I definitely understand, and my manager told me that some of my coworkers had been complaining about me. I’ve been working hard on improving ever since and my manager told me that they were really…

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Serverless Craic Ep65 SocialTechnical System for Change 21:30

7M ago21:30

21:30

Send us a text 🎙️ Serverless Craic: Exploring Socio-Technical Systems for Change Welcome back to Serverless Craic! In this episode, the team dives into Chapter 10: Challenge – A Socio-Technical System for Change from the book, The Value Flywheel Effect. This thought-provoking conversation unpacks how organisations can effectively bridge the gap bet…