For a long time, tech culture has focused too narrowly on technical skills; this has resulted in a tech community that too often puts companies and code over people. Greater Than Code is a podcast that invites the voices of people who are not heard from enough in tech: women, people of color, trans and/or queer folks, to talk about the human side of software development and technology. Greater Than Code is providing a vital platform for these conversations, and developing new ideas of what it means to be a technologist beyond just the code. Featuring an ongoing panel of racially and gender diverse tech panelists, the majority of podcast guests so far have been women in tech! We’ve covered topics including imposter syndrome, mental illness, sexuality, unconscious bias and social justice. We also have a major focus on skill sets that tech too often devalues, like team-building, hiring, community organizing, mentorship and empathy. Each episode also includes a transcript. We have an active Slack community that members can join by pledging as little as $1 per month via Patreon. (https://www.patreon.com/greaterthancode)
065: Radical Design with Marian Petre and André van der Hoek
01:39 – Marian’s Superpower: Picking Brains
Surfaces and Essences: Analogy as the Fuel and Fire of Thinking by Douglas Hofstadter
03:28 – André’s Superpower: Identifying Patterns
04:23 – Design Thinking Within Companies and The Error by Proxy Phenomenon
09:19 – The Notion that Design Has Gone Away
12:18 – Radical vs Normal Design: What drives the need for radical design? When does normal design stop being effective?
19:55 – The Democratization of Software Development
24:45 – Software Design Decoded: 66 Ways Experts Think
27:45 – The Disconnect Between Academic Research and Actual Practice
29:25 – Why “Decoded”?
32:59 – How People Deal with Systems That Are Too Big
39:19 – Problem Solving and Problem Solving in the Context of Complex Software Systems
44:29 – The Notion of the Toolbox and Breaking Down Big Problems Into Smaller Problems
Reflections:
Coraline: There are two types of gurus.
Rein: The democratization of software development and steering organizations.
Jessica: Studying the bug rather than squashing the bug and experts are in the room twice.
Jamey: Designers saying that, “My job IS hard!” and being kind to themselves.
André and Marian: Having these conversations and interacting with people in this industry.
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Special Guests: André van der Hoek and Marian Petre .