Best UX Podcasts: Learn the Modern Trends And Practices

User experience (UX) designers, whether new to the field or professionals, need to stay updated with the latest trends and new technologies. The field of UI/UX design is not static. It is one of those disciplines that are quite flexible, with a lot of room for innovation. It is one of the reasons that new tools emerge every now and then, helping designers with their projects. Whether you’re associated with a UX design services company or working on freelance projects, the learning process in the field of design never ends.

One of the best resources for constant updates and non-stop learning is that of UX design podcasts. The best thing about such podcasts is that you can gather valuable information while doing your day-to-day tasks. Whether you’re driving, cooking, or taking a lunch break, a podcast can always keep you company. There are a number of design professionals, scholars, and researchers creating valuable content in the form of UX podcasts. While some podcasts talk about new tools and techniques, others include interviews with designers, helping you learn from their experiences.

It can, however, be challenging to find the best content in the world of user design podcasts. With a lot of content being created every single day, there is not enough time to listen to each podcast and follow all the professionals. This article includes a list of the best UX design podcasts that can serve as an excellent resource for learning.

Read along as we share a carefully curated list of the best UX podcasts.

So, what user experience podcasts should you listen to? It is a good idea to have a variety on your list. This means that if you listen to different podcasts where you can learn about the new trends as well as get a chance to hear experts in the field, it’ll give you both the theoretical background as well as practical knowledge and application of the concepts. This article includes a list of the top podcasts for UX design and research.

Here are the 10 best UX design podcasts for beginners and professionals alike.

UX Podcast is a long-running series of remarkable content on user experience design. Hosted by James Royal-Lawson and Per Axbom, two experts in the field of design, this podcast includes information about recent trends and practices, along with discussions on some major issues in the field of design. The aim of this podcast is not just to focus on UX in silo. Instead, the goal here is much bigger. UX podcast focuses on an interdisciplinary approach, where concepts from the field of communication, media, and technology find a strong connection with design and designers.

In this podcast, you’ll come across different types of episodes such as a guest show, link show, and topic show. All of these are, basically, categories in which the episodes are classified. A guest show is one where James and Per talk to a UX design expert (check out an interesting conversation with Almira Osmanovic on VR in healthcare); a link show is a discussion around an article, a tweet, or any other such resource; and a topic show is focused on a specific theme in design.

Jane Portman, the co-founder of Userlist among other things, is the host of UI Breakfast. When we talk about the best UX podcast for beginners, UI Breakfast will indeed be on the list. This podcast is based on conversations with experts in the industry, including UX researchers, product designers, marketing experts, and a lot more. With over 250 episodes, one can imagine how many experts have already been on Jane’s show, and how many more are yet to come.

If you’re looking for a podcast where you don’t have to worry much about theoretical concepts or academic knowledge, UI Breakfast is an excellent resource. This podcast is all about insights from the real world with the experiences of successful designers in the industry. One episode that can be perfect for aspiring designers is a conversation with Tracy Osborn, titled Design for Non-Designers.

Design Matters is a UX podcast that has been running successfully for over 17 years. This long history of the podcast speaks for its credibility as well as its usefulness for beginners and professionals in the field. Hosted by Debbie Millman, this podcast has over 435 episodes, and there are many more to come. Each episode features an expert from a variety of disciplines. One of the best things about this podcast is the diversity of fields that the guests belong to. Debbie has had writers, podcast hosts, designers, artists, musicians, and many other professionals on her show.

Design Matters deals with the questions and problems of creativity in design and offers workable solutions to UI/UX professionals. Not only this but the podcast is also an excellent resource to learn other useful skills such as management, leadership, and marketing. The discussion with Simon Sinek, a famous author on the topics of management, leadership, and innovation, is one such example.

Design Better is one of the most credible UX research podcasts in the field of design. Presented by InVision, and hosted by Aarron Walter and Eli Woolery, this episode may have a limited number of episodes but the quality can never be questioned. So far, 6 seasons of Design Better have been released, along with some bonus episodes. Each episode is a conversation with leading designers, experts, and researchers in the field. The insights they bring from their real-world experiences are worth your time.

The latest season of Design Better went beyond the field of design, bringing voices from other fields and thus making the podcast interdisciplinary and interesting at the same time. There are several episodes that will help you shape your career and learn skills along with the knowledge required for you to become a successful designer. One of the recent episodes is a conversation with Vicky Tan, Associate Principal Designer at Spotify, where you get to learn from her experiences at different leading organizations along with some useful tips for creativity in UX design.

What is Wrong with UX is, arguably, the most unique podcast in UI/UX design out there. The structure of each episode is such that Laura Klein and Kate Rutter, the passionate and energetic hosts, literally argue about bad UX and how it causes problems for users. The podcast is not too formal which makes it fun to listen to. This, however, does not mean that there is nothing to learn. While listening to any episode, you’ll realize how simple things matter so much in the field of design. From simplicity and consistency to the issues with the job market and complex product designs, this podcast touches on a lot of sensitive topics for designers.

There are several other issues discussed in this podcast, things that all designers face in their professional life. One such example is that of collaboration. In the episode titled Collaboration vs Design by Committee, Laura and Kate discuss whether collaboration is a good idea in design or not and how can it be made better.

ShopTalk is one of those UX podcasts that you need to be technically sound and to stay updated with the recent happenings in the world of design. Dave Rupert and Chris Coyier talk about current issues in design and technical topics such as CSS Resets for websites. They also invite experienced guests in certain episodes, giving the listeners a chance to learn from their experiences.

In addition to the regular episodes, ShopTalk also has themed episodes creating a series, such as Hello, World! and Javascript in 2021. Such episodes give you quality content on specific topics of interest. One of the recent, and really interesting, episodes to check out is on TikTok and issues of accessibility in the online world.

Ramblings of a Designer is another great UX design podcast where Laszlo Lazuer and Terri Rodriguez-Hong discuss recent happenings in the design world, news, and interesting insights from their own experiences. With a new episode coming out each week, this podcast can be your constant source of knowledge. Most of the episodes are short interviews with designers in the industry. The interviews are structured in a way that you not only learn about their experiences but actually get to see their value in the resolution of day-to-day design issues.

There are some episodes where Laszlo and Terri invite recruiters and managers to give you a good idea of the job market and how to seek a better opportunity in UX design. One of the episodes to check out is the interview with Tolu Garcia, the founder of UI Narrative. This episode will help you learn about startups in UI/UX design and product management.

UI/UX designers not only work on prototypes and wireframes but also need skills in content managing, online information design, and UX writing. This is the specific area where Writers in Tech can be of great help. This podcast is geared towards content strategists and UX writers, who deal with online information on a regular basis and devise ways to make things easier for end-users. Yuval Keshtcher, the host of this podcast, engages experts and researchers in interesting conversations, serving as a rich source of information for the listeners.

Some of the episodes in this podcast discuss very basic, but extremely important, issues. Such as the conversation with Hailey Reynolds on the issue of UX writers being designers. This episode clarifies a lot of things about the role of UX designers, researchers, and writers in the industry.

This is HCD is one of the most unique and interesting UX design podcasts out there. One of the reasons for the success and popularity of this podcast is that it is not restricted to a specific geographical region and is dominated by a single thought. The podcast team is truly global with chapters in multiple countries. This helps in bringing global voices in the world of design and also enhances the learning experience of the listeners.

Each episode is tagged and categorized based on the themes or the nature of the conversation. For example, Global Voices brings perspectives on HCD from different regions of the world and World Wide Waste talks about the online world and the role of designers. An interesting episode to check out from this podcast is titled Designing for Loneliness. As the name indicates, this episode deals with a very specific and human issue in design.

Nielsen-Norman Group (NN/g) is one of the most credible voices in the field of UI/UX design. NN/g, quite recently, launched its own podcast called The NN/g UX Podcast. This podcast may have fewer episodes at this point but it holds a lot of promise. NN/g group has a lot to offer for aspiring designers and professionals in the field. Each episode of this podcast deals with a modern trend in UI/UX design or a current issue that designers are facing.

One of the episodes to check out is on the business value of UX – an issue that designers often struggle with and something that organizations do not always understand well. One of the best aspects of this podcast is that it refers to a number of useful resources, such as courses and articles, by the Nielsen-Norman Group. So, while listening to the podcast, you can get acquainted with many other useful things as well.

UI/UX design is a field where learning never stops. Even if you’re an experienced designer with years of experience, you need to stay updated with the current trends in the field and be aware of the discussions going on in academia and industry to add value to your work. This is where podcasts can be of immense help.

Listening to these podcasts will not only give you valuable information but also inspire you to push your limits and do more. This is exactly what UX design is about: to be creative and innovative, thus making your products and services better than ever.