Rosenfeld Review Podcast

Designing for Privacy in a Surveillance Age with Robert Stribley

Privacy concerns didn’t appear overnight—they’ve been building quietly alongside the technologies we rely on every day. Lou and Robert Stribley, author of Design for Privacy, explore how digital tracking, AI, and data sharing have reshaped the way personal information moves through the modern web.
Robert traces the growing privacy challenge from early internet tracking to today’s complex ecosystem of smartphones, online services, and AI systems. While many users understand that they’re trading data for convenience, few grasp how widely their information is distributed—or how easily supposedly anonymous data can be re-identified. As AI accelerates the ability to combine and analyze datasets, those risks are growing quickly.
Then the conversation turns to what designers can do about it. Robert outlines practical ways UX professionals can improve privacy outcomes, from collecting less data and avoiding deceptive patterns to improving language transparency and giving users meaningful control over their information. Despite the scale of the problem, Robert argues that designers have more agency and influence than they realize. Thoughtful design decisions can help protect users while also strengthening trust and long-term business success.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why privacy concerns have intensified with smartphones, AI, and online tracking
How “anonymous” data can often be re-identified through data aggregation
Why users have conflicting attitudes about personalization and data tracking
The role UX designers can play in improving privacy protections
How deceptive design patterns (including cookie banners) manipulate user consent
Why clearer language and better privacy tools can give users meaningful control over their data
Quick Reference Guide:0:15 - Meet Robert, Lou’s neighbor1:51 - How Robert got into the privacy field5:06 - Perceptions of privacy and the concessions we make8:01 - Terms of Service - we accept them blindly - and why that can be risky15:54 - 5 Reasons to use the Rosenverse18:39 - What designers can do about data privacy28:08 - Privacy tools and potential tools for users32:38 - Robert’s gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Design for Privacy: Keeping Personal Information Private by Robert Stribley https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/design-for-privacy/
Block Party app https://www.blockpartyapp.com/
404 Media https://www.404media.co/
The Capture https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8201186/
 
Quotes:
“We have created these patterns that make it very easy to get involved with those experiences, all the while you're surrendering your data.”
“I don't think most people understand the degree to which that information is spread around and with whom it's spread around.”
“Whenever you are utilizing people’s data, really think about what you’re doing with it and be able to justify it.”
“When you understand deceptive patterns as manipulative, you can’t stop seeing them everywhere.” 

Why OKRs, Agile, and Their Ilk Fail with Jeff Gothelf

AI is reshaping product development faster than most organizations can even rethink how they work—and that gap sits at the heart of this conversation with product design guru Jeff Gothelf. Lou and Jeff explore why proven methods like Agile and OKRs so often become “process theater” instead of real change, and what it actually takes to shift organizations from output-driven cultures to outcome-driven ones.
Jeff explains that most transformations fail because incentives still reward shipping outputs, not creating real value. Meaningful change tends to emerge only in pockets led by leaders willing to experiment and treat ways of working as something to test and evolve.
They also explore how AI is shifting risk upstream—from engineering to vision, validation, and decisionmaking—making design and research more critical than ever. Along the way, they reflect on consulting as organizational therapy, the need to prove design’s value in the AI era, and why companies that relentlessly embrace new technology are best positioned to endure.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why Agile, OKRs, and similar frameworks often fail to create real change
The critical shift from measuring output to measuring outcomes
The two traits shared by successful pockets of transformation in large companies
How to run small, time-boxed experiments to change ways of working at scale
Why AI makes design, research, and product thinking more valuable
How to explain and prove the value of “thinking before the prompt” in AI-driven organizations
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:10 - Meet Jeff Gothelf; Lou and Jeff discuss bridging the gap between ritual and cultural change
7:44 - Good ideas without a clear understanding of why
9:42 - What it takes for organizations to successfully communicate and incentivize 
15:21 - 5 reasons to use the Rosenverse
17:37 - Consultants validate insiders; AI shifts risk toward design clarity
24:20 - AI speeds output, but critical thinking, research, and testing prove designers’ value
27:50 - Jeff and Lou speculate on Amazon’s future
30:49 - Jeff’s gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Books by Jeff Gothelf https://jeffgothelf.com/books/ 
Ignorance by Milan Kundura https://www.amazon.com/Ignorance-Novel-Milan-Kundera/dp/0060002107 
 
Quotes:
“The types of conversations that we're having about good design, about good information architecture, about good research, about agility and customer centricity and all of those types of things, for some reason, those continue to be difficult conversations in organizations today.”
“The risk of engineering is no longer a risk, not like it was not five years ago. It's going to get cheaper and cheaper and cheaper. Where's the risk? The risk is in definition, vision, clarity, validation. In other words, it's in design, discovery, research, product management.”
“The differentiation, the uniqueness, the creativity, the innovation is going to come from the critical thinking of the designers and the researchers who are actually doing the thinking before the prompt.”

Rethinking Design Careers in a Broken System with Jen van der Meer

Jen van der Meer’s career path is anything but linear—spanning comparative religion, working on Wall Street, internet startups, and design education. In this thoughtful and timely conversation, Jen shares how her liberal arts background shaped her global perspective, eventually leading her to leadership roles at Frog Design, startups, and now Parsons School of Design, where she co-directs the MFA in Transdisciplinary Design.
Jen challenges designers to go beyond the narrow scope of their titles or craft. Instead of trying to “convince” other industries of design’s value, she argues that designers must step outside their professional comfort zones, learn new languages—especially finance—and see themselves as co-conspirators in systemic change.
With today’s precarious job market and the erosion of traditional design roles, Jen offers a compelling vision for designers to build collective practices, join interdisciplinary communities, and find purpose in transforming complex systems like health, energy, and finance. Her advice to students and early-career professionals? Focus on a system that needs fixing and start connecting with others who care.
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why a degree in comparative religion gave Jen an edge in global finance
How working on Wall Street pushed her toward systems-level design work
Why design can’t change the world without engaging with business
The importance of shifting from a role-based professional identity to a personal design practice
How to build a resilient career by focusing on systems, not job titles
Why transdisciplinary design programs may offer a model for the future of education
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:15 - Meet Jen van der Meer 
3:17 - Escaping finance for design
7:35 - Why designers should learn finance
11:44 - The challenges of blurred roles and learning the language of your sector and practice
14:33 – Jen’s job advice for students
19:57 - 5 reasons to use the Rosenverse
22:18 - Transdisciplinary design trends 
29:11 - Possibilities within Jen’s Parsons program
32:33 - The realities of higher education today and scaling the transdisciplinary model of education
36:12 - Jen’s gift for listeners
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Parsons Studio https://www.newschool.edu/parsons/faculty/jen-van-der-meer/ 
Jen van der Meer’s website https://jenvandermeer.org 
Rosenverse https://rosenverse.rosenfeldmedia.com/ 
 
Quotes:
“Comparative religion is a fantastic entry point to navigating the world.”
“That’s what I’ve been working on for the last 10 years. How can I see finance as design territory?”
“We’re not here to convert people. We’re here to work together with other people to transform the systems that we’re in.” 
“I think design pedagogy, studio practice, surveys, all of it is the answer to university education.”

Why the Future Belongs to Research “Makers” with Kate Towsey

AI isn’t just changing research tools—it’s reshaping how research itself happens. Lou chats with ResearchOps pioneer (and co-host of the upcoming inaugural UXR Tools Summit) Kate Towsey about the shift from linear workflows toward interconnected research systems where recruiting, knowledge management, repositories, and insights all function as part of a single ecosystem. Kate argues that future organizations will rely on “insights lakes,” structured collections of knowledge that anyone can query through AI interfaces, making research continuously accessible rather than locked behind reports.
The discussion explores how tool vendors are evolving toward integrated platforms, why taxonomy and information architecture are even more essential in an AI-driven world, and how research operations professionals are becoming critical connectors across teams and technologies. Rather than replacing researchers, AI may free them to focus on identifying knowledge gaps and proactively generating insight. Kate ultimately offers an optimistic perspective: the future favors makers and experimenters—professionals willing to play, adapt, and help shape how AI is used responsibly within research practice.
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why research workflows are shifting from linear processes to interconnected systems
How AI is enabling “insights lakes” that make organizational knowledge searchable and reusable
The growing importance of taxonomy, metadata, and information architecture in AI-driven research
Why research ops roles become more critical—not less—in an AI future
How research tool ecosystems may evolve into both integrated platforms and specialized stacks
Why experimentation, play, and maker mindsets are key skills for researchers navigating rapid change
 
Quick Reference Guide:
1:19 - Meet Kate Towsey
2:27 - About the UXR Tools Summit
3:56 - Participant recruitment is just one piece of research ops
9:01 - Research tooling shifting toward ecosystems, not single solutions
13:50 - Knowledge management evolves into AI-powered insights infrastructure
19:56 - 5 Reasons to use the Rosenverse
22:20 - AI sparks creative renewal for makers
28:13 - Kate’s gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Kate Towsey’s website https://katetowsey.com/
Research That Scales by Kate Towsey https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/research-that-scales/
Cha-Cha Club https://chacha.club/
Research Ops Review https://www.theresearchopsreview.com/
UXR Tools Summit https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research/program/#tab=day-3
A Work in Progress by René Redzepi https://www.amazon.com/Work-Progress-Journal-Ren%C3%A9-Redzepi/dp/0714877549
 
Quotes:
“Even with the power of AI, brilliance is going to be needed.” 
“People who are makers by nature are having a whale of a time. They’re seeing lots of space for opportunity, for building, for reinventing.”  
“It’s less about whether you’re a researcher or designer and more about whether you’re a maker and an experimenter.”
“There needs to be an element of play — making mistakes and building things that don’t work.”

Why Research Repositories Need Humans (and AI) with Maria Rosala

What happens when someone moves from government UX research to shaping research for the broader industry? Lou talks with Maria Rosala, Director of Research at Nielsen Norman Group, about her role, her career path, and the value of research repositories.
Maria shares what it means to lead research at NN/g and how her experience as a UX researcher in the UK Home Office shaped her perspective on research maturity and real-world practice. They explore how research repositories help organizations surface knowledge, avoid duplicate work, and support collaboration—and why people and culture remain just as important as the tools. Maria also discusses how AI could make repositories more powerful by surfacing connections and insights.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
What the Director of Research role at Nielsen Norman Group involves
How government UX work shaped Maria’s perspective on research maturity
Why research repositories help organizations reuse and share knowledge
Why research librarians and curators remain essential even with AI
Where AI could improve research repositories in the future
A book recommendation on qualitative research analysis
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:10 - Meet Maria Rosala and learn about the UXR Tool Summit
3:23 - What it’s like being the research director of Nielsen-Norman
7:58 - Gauging and comparing research quality
10:18 - How the volume of research at Nielsen Norman compares to the Home Office in the UK
15:54 - What’s special about the Rosenverse and the Rosenbot
18:10 - What research repositories do for organizations
22:08 - Why we need both tools and a culture that is curious and collaborative
27:07 - Thoughts on surfacing and utilizing AI in defined, constrained spaces but with a human architect
33:31 - Maria’s gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers by Johnny Saldana https://www.amazon.com/Coding-Manual-Qualitative-Researchers-Third/dp/1473902495 
Advancing Research 2026 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research/ 
 
Quotes:
“Because we're very small, we do have a lot of oversight of the research that we're doing.”
“People would go through and critique the design and say, ‘Why have you designed it like that?’ And you would need to have a good reason.”
“It's about ensuring that research can be consumed by not just the immediate team that are doing it to inform some of the key decisions that they're trying to make, but that it could potentially benefit others who might be thinking about that problem in a slightly different lens.”
“I think people are going to continue to play an important role, regardless of AI implementations in curating and drawing connections.”

Saving Survey Research from Itself with Caroline Jarrett

Survey research is in trouble—and Caroline Jarrett explains why. Returning to the podcast to preview the upcoming UXR Tools Summit, she and Lou Rosenfeld explore what’s really happening in the survey world and what researchers should be asking vendors right now.
They discuss collapsing response rates driven by constant, low-value feedback requests and the growing sense that many surveys are performative rather than useful. Caroline argues for fewer, smaller, more targeted surveys that respect people’s time and actually lead to change. The conversation also tackles AI in research tools, from synthetic users to automated analysis, and why human judgment still matters.
Caroline shares the key questions she plans to ask survey-tool vendors—especially around accessibility and panel management—and why researchers need better integration across tools and methods. She closes with a literacy-focused resource from the British Council tied to her passion for designing for people with low literacy.
 
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
Why survey response rates keep dropping—and how bad “always-on” feedback requests damage the whole method
How to make surveys feel less performative: smaller, targeted surveys and “question of the week” approaches
Why the best surveys are often the ones you never see (because they’re sent to the right small sample)
Caroline’s take on AI in research tools, including the risks of synthetic users and AI-only analysis of open ends
The top questions Caroline wants survey-tool vendors to answer, especially about accessibility for researchers and respondents; and panel management and integration
Why tool integration across methods (surveys + repositories + testing + recruitment + experimentation) matters—and what researchers should push vendors on
Quick Reference Guide:
0:13 – Meet Caroline and learn her role in the Advancing Research Conference
5:13 - Recent trends that have impacted how research should design and run surveys
8:15 - When surveys feel routine and performative
10:18 - Areas of improvement in uptake and responses 
13:58 - How AI is making a difference in designing surveys and analyzing data
18:55 - How vendors view the utilization of AI
23:58 - Why you need the Rosenverse
26:12 - Caroline’s questions for survey tool vendors
31:11 - Integration and triangulation
36:20 - Caroline’s gift for listeners
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Forms That Work - by Caroline Jarrett and Jerry Gaffney https://www.amazon.com/Forms-that-Work-Interactive-Technologies/dp/1558607102
Surveys That Work - by Caroline Jarrett https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/surveys-that-work/
Advancing Research and the UXR Tools Summit - March 10-12, 2026 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research/
British Council’s LearnEnglish’s restaurant menu page https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading/a1-reading/restaurant-menu
 
Quotes:
“This problem of being over-invited under usefulness of the survey experience is threatening the whole of survey research, and that trend has now started to affect national statistical agencies.”
“A really well-designed survey will go to the smallest sample that is appropriate for the effect that you're trying to achieve.”
“Do smaller surveys more often. Keep it small. Keep it frequent.” 
“If you’re selling to people, you’re going to have to actually engage with people.”

Dana Chisnell and Christian Crumlish on the DOGE-ification of Civic Design

Dana Chisnell and Christian Crumlish on the DOGE-ification of Civic Design
When Dana Chisnell and Christian Crumlish took roles in U.S. federal agencies, they knew the work wouldn’t be easy. But what unfolded during their time under the second Trump administration went far beyond bureaucratic resistance. In this gripping conversation, they recount the painful dismantling of teams like 18F and the Department of Homeland Security’s Customer Experience Office—takedowns that were less about efficiency and service, and more about ideology and erasure. From executive orders scrubbing DEI language to gutting digital service teams and exfiltrating government data, they describe what it felt like to navigate a coordinated unraveling of public-serving infrastructure.
Yet out of the ashes, a new civic design seeds are taking root. Christian and Dana reflect on what it means to build systems that endure, how to design for accountability, and where the next generation of mission-driven designers, researchers, and creators might focus their efforts. There’s urgency here, but also a throughline of resolve and resilience: the belief that better government is possible—and that good people are still fighting for it.
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
How design and research teams inside U.S. government agencies were dismantled under political pressure
The tactics used to erase DEI and disability-facing efforts and language from federal operations
Why civic tech and design teams need to plan for resilience—even under hostile leadership
What it looks like to “exfiltrate” ethical infrastructure during a transition of power
How former public servants are reshaping the civic tech ecosystem post–government
Why designing for accountability matters as much as designing for access
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:34 - Meet Christian and Dana
1:41 - A year ago, Dana resigns head of customer experience for DHS
3:03 - Christian’s experience with 18F and his firing by TTS
8:09 - Why Dana resigned from her position with the federal government
11:46 - Considering the motives of the current administration
17:31 - Why running public services like a business is a bad idea
26:06 - Advancing Research - March 10-11, 2026
27:07 - Stewart Brand’s pace layer model theory
30:09 - The future of product design in the public sector
39:30 - Dana’s and Christian’s gifts for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
University of Global Health Equity in Rwanda https://ughe.org/ 
https://www.linkedin.com/school/ughe/ 
Girl Scouts USA https://www.girlscouts.org/
Order Girl Scout cookies from trans girl scouts https://open.substack.com/pub/erininthemorn/p/2026-trans-girl-scouts-to-order-cookies?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web 
Advancing Research - March 10-11, 2026  https://rosenfeldmedia.com/advancing-research/ 
 
Quotes:
“ By firing us all at once, they inadvertently preserved our unity really well.”
“There was a shared belief that we could still have the shared goal of making stuff work better and put politics aside and make some actual advantages.”
“They thought..affirmative action..advantaged everybody except for white males. So nobody’s credentials are legitimate except white males. Everybody else has been boosted, and you have to discount them. It’s a bizarre thing that it’s the opposite of reality in many ways.”
“It was a data heist. They exfiltrated private government data – public data but private information. It was theft of the sovereign data of the United States.”
“I would argue that the government should not be run like a business. It is fundamentally a different thing.”
“Government exists because there are things that humans need that cannot be provided by the private sector.”

Designing Assistant Technology with Chris Noessel

Can AI really make us smarter, or is it just making us lazy thinkers? Lou reunites with the brilliant Chris Noessel to explore the nuanced world of AI assistants. As Chris gears up to release his third Rosenfeld book, Designing Assistant Technology: AI That Makes Us Smarter, he explains the critical differences between assistants (tools that help you do things) and agents (tools that do things for you). They discuss the implications of these models, from smart maps to inventory systems, and why most AI use cases today are assistive, not agentive. 
Chris also shares how over-reliance on AI tools can lead to "cognitive debt" and de-skilling — both for individuals and entire organizations. Drawing from philosophy, pop culture (yes, even Doctor Strange), and practical design methods, Chris offers a compelling case for why designers are crucial in shaping responsible AI, and how a well-designed assistant can help without dumbing us down. It’s a smart, witty, and insightful conversation that makes a strong case for the enduring relevance of design in an AI-driven world.
What You'll Learn from this Episode:
The key distinction between assistant and agent technologies—and why it matters
How everyday tools like predictive text shift between assistant and agent modes
Why assistive AI is more widespread (and safer) than fully agentive systems—for now
How designers can mitigate cognitive dependency and “de-skilling” in users
The risks of organizational over-reliance on AI, especially without design input
How pop culture (like Doctor Strange’s cloak) offers helpful metaphors for AI design
 
Quick Reference Guide:
0:11 - Meet Chris Noessel
1:44 - Agentive vs assistive (assistant)
8:36 - Real-world examples of technology assistants
11:55 - Agents and assistants in publishing
15:44 - Break: Advancing Research - March 10-11, 2026
17:10 - The risks of dependence and de-skilling 
20:43 - Studies on the effects of ChatGPT on the brain
21:57 - Over-reliance at scale
23:34 - How designers can prepare to navigate the AI maze
26:46 - On writing and publishing on AI
33:13 - Chris’ gift for listeners
 
Resources and Links from Today's Episode:
Designing Agentive Technology: AI that Works for People by Chris Noessel https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/designing-agentive-technology/
Designing Assistant Technology: AI that Makes Us Smarter by Chris Noesselhttps://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/designing-assistant-technology/
Chris’ sci-fi blog https://scifiinterfaces.com/
Your Brain on ChatGPT https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/your-brain-on-chatgpt/overview/
Cloak of Levitation  https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/Cloak_of_Levitation
Doctor Strange  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837/?ref_=fn_t_1
 
Quotes:
“An assistant helps a user do something. An agent does that thing for them.”
“Whenever you have an assistant that helps you do something, there runs a risk of dependence.”
“When we talk about stupidity, we’re really talking about over-reliance and dependence and evn de-skilling.” 
“Dependence and over-reliance is a major risk when any assistant, but AI makes it more significant and troubling.”