Season 02, Episode 01

S.02 / E.01

Todd Diemer

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Todd Diemer is the User Research Lead at Khan Academy, the non-profit educational organization created in 2006 to provide free, world-class education for students nationally and internationally. He is a user researcher rooted in qualitative methods, which has rooted his career in mission-driven organizations, including the Peace Corps, Fitbit, and Khan Academy.

Todd's work focuses on user research efforts to help build empathy with and design for the students, teachers, district leaders, and parents who use Khan Academy.

He is passionate about education through new media, a part-time photographer, and a full-time Christmas enthusiast.In the inaugural episode of the second series of the Optimistic Design podcast, I talk to Todd about how he has taken the overarching vision of Khan Academy into account when leveraging his skills as a leader of user research. We discuss what differentiates Khan Academy as an education technology company, why Todd’s work itself is at the intersection of both education and technology, and his background in both spaces.

 
"I'm optimistic that the role of ethics within design is becoming more and more of a hot topic these days. Whether that be about data privacy, company intentions with their product lineups, or acknowledging dangers behind our work."
Todd Diemer : User Researcher / Khan Academy

Resources and Social

Additional Episodes

E.02

Michelle Lee

Managing Director, Play Lab at IDEO

Michelle Lee, Managing Director at IDEO, leads their Design for Play team. She has made it her mission to use the principles of play to create impactful products for a diverse range of industries, from healthcare to food and beverage. Michelle is an award-winning designer driven by a desire to bring thoughtful solutions to fruition through user-centered design.

E.03

Katie Silvers

Director of Design and UX, Salesforce

Katie Silvers is the Director of Design and UX at Salesforce and is an expert in aligning business needs and communication with core leadership. Before joining Salesforce, Katie was a manager of Corporate Strategy and Innovation at the Arielle X Group and LexisNexis. She specializes in Design Thinking tools and Agile methodologies and believes product and process innovation is an indispensable element in business growth.

E.04

Beth Kolko

Design Professor at UW, Co-Founder at Shift Labs, and Venture Partner at Pack VC

Beth is a humanities-turned-engineering academic turned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist who has worked at the forefront of multiple technology-driven cultural shifts.

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