#27 Maria Giudice (Former VP, Experience Design, Autodesk) - Designing to reinvent the future, and leading a cultural change in your organization

The Hacking UI Podcast - with Sagi Shrieber & David Tintner

Episode #27: Maria Giudice It is our pleasure to present to you Maria Giudice, Former VP, Experience Design at

Autodesk, founder of Hot studio and former Creative Director of product design at Facebook.

Maria was the founder of Hot studio for over 15 years and then acquired by Facebook, where she was working as a creative director of product design. Few years later, she joined Autodesk as a design leader, in times where the company was undergoing a massive transformation, from old software heavy tech company to be experienced-driven company, they needed a change agent to bring and elevate the awareness and strength of design focusing on connecting experiences, and Maria was the one to do so.

Maria also co-wrote a book, called 'Rise of the DEO', which is about leaders who understand the transformative power of design, they are change agents and these leaders called DEOs—Design Executive Officers—and they are our new heroes.

In this episode, Maria shared with us what makes creative DEO's the futures' new change agents, and how we can learn from that and empower others to lead this cultural change.

This is the second episode of the third season of the Hacking UI podcast, 'Scaling a Career'. In this season we have 10 amazing guests for you, who are leaders and influencers from a variety of different backgrounds. Design managers, development leaders, entrepreneurs and product geniuses that we admire.

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Links from the show

• Maria's Twitter (@mgiudice)
• Maria's Tedx Talk, The Rise of the DEO
• Maria Giudice's Book, Rise of the DEO
• Documentary on Linkedin, Design Leadership in Business

Recommendations for Books

• Daniel H. Pink - Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates us
• Ken Robinson - How Education Kills Creativity
• Tim Brown - Change By Design
• Chip Heath & Dan Heath - Switch: How To Change Things When It's Hard
• David Kelly - Creative Confidence

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Key points from this episode:

• Learn all about how Maria developed from running her own company (which was acquired by facebook), to leading a 'change agents' design team at Autodesk. [00:06:41]
• Learn how do the design team at Autodesk connect experiences, unionize and make the company the most customer-centric company in the world. [00:07:25]
• Learn how the team define quality and ship quality, and how they are focusing on fluid & intuitive experiences to their products. [00:11:22]
• Maria shares on how the DEO idea was sparked, and the idea that designers are 'change agents'. [00:13:06]
• Learn all about how different are the DEO's from the CEO's, and how designers thrive in risks and chaos. [00:15:40]
• Find out what GSD means, and how designers are great at making it happen and deliver. [00:17:50]
• Learn how the company design to lead cultural change, and helping their customers to unlock their creativity throughout their tools. [00:19:44]
• Get tips! For people who want to lead a cultural change. [00:21:35]
• Find out the secrets of a DEO, to mentor and empower others on achieving their goals. [00:26:15]
• Maria shares about fighting harder as a woman and personal setbacks of minorities in the industry. [00:28:04]
• Learn how to balance that guilt feeling with being a parent and managing a career, and how you can empower your kids. [00:31:00]
• Maria shares on how she made her successful personal branding, and tips for you to do so too. [00:38:20]
• Learn how much you should be investing for your personal brand. [00:41:05]
• Maria shares about the process of 'The Rise of the DEO', and how it turned from a ted talk into a written book. [00:46:00]
• Maria's recommendations for books (also check the show notes). [00:49:00]
• Maria is a master of to do lists. Learn quick tactics on how to get shit done and deliver. [00:50:35]

About The Hacking UI Podcast The Hacking UI podcast is hosted by Sagi Shrieber and David Tintner, a designer and developer who are also both entrepreneurs, bloggers, product...