As the year draws to a close, so does season one of the Built Right podcast. In this podcast, we’ve covered a lot of ground – from the rise of generative AI to the importance of good user experience design.
We wanted to round off season one with a special episode that celebrates all the brilliant insights, breakthrough ideas, and shared wisdom from our guests. In this episode, we look back at our top ten moments from the podcast. While it certainly wasn’t easy to pick just ten, these are some of our standout insights from our guests.
We’ll be back next year with a brand new season, so stay tuned for updates. In the meantime, keep reading to see which moments were our favorite or listen to the episode in full below.
10. The creative element of generative AI
We had a great conversation with Jason Schlachter, Founder of AI Empowerment Group and Host of the We Wonder podcast, in episode 8 about the creative element of AI. Creativity has always been hard to define, and with the abilities of generative AI, it leads to questions like, “what is art?”
Jason explores how generative AI can be used in different ways in the product development world and how to vet winning use cases.
Check out episode 8 with Jason: Generative AI Playbook: How to Identify and Vet Winning Use Cases
9. Why you need a new approach to modernization
For our fourth episode of the podcast, we sat down with HatchWorks’ own Joseph Misemer, Director of Solutions Consulting, to discuss why the MVP approach doesn’t always work. When modernizing a solution rather than creating a new one, there’s no need to start with the MVP approach.
In this episode clip, Joseph gets into why starting from scratch to modernize a solution might upset users who already love your product.
Watch episode 4: The MVP Trap: Why You Need a New Approach to Modernization with Joseph Misemer
8. Evaluating the value of generative AI
With so many new AI tools on the market, it’s important to be picky when choosing what to use. So, remember to ask yourself, does this provide true value?
In episode 10 with HatchWorks’ Andy Silverstri, he and host Matt Paige discuss different ways generative AI could change how we think about UX and UI design. For this clip, Matt likens the AI wave to the dot-com boom, where the concept of value was sometimes ignored in favor of following the trend.
Listen to episode 10 in full: 5 Ways Generative AI Will Change the Way You Think About UX and UI Design
7. Carrying the weight of product development (and sparing your customers)
For our seventh pick, we revisited episode 9 with Arda Bulut, CTO and Co-Founder of HockeyStack. Arda shares his thoughts on how to build and scale a product while keeping the customer experience front of mind.
In this clip, he explains why it’s often either the developers or the users who shoulder the difficulties when building and using a product. But in Arda’s case, he always prioritizes the user’s experience, even if it makes his work harder. And we think that’s a great way to think about product development!
Listen to episode 9: Listen, Prioritize, and Scale to Build a Winning Product
6. Testing quality products
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “shift left” when it comes to testing digital products, you may find episode 7 an interesting listen. Erika Chestnut, Head of Quality at Realtor.com, explored what it takes to build a high- quality product, and why testing is such a crucial point in development.
In the clip we picked, she explains that when a product is deemed of low quality, it’s reflecting poor quality testing. But she believes phrases like “shift left” are often buzzwords, when instead, we really need to dig into the impact of what that means when testing.
Learn more about testing for quality in episode 7: Quality-Driven Product Development with Realtor.com’s Erika Chestnut.
5. Generative AI and its impact on UX design
Andy Silvestri, Director of Product Design at HatchWorks, explored how generative AI is impacting the world of UX design in episode 10.
We picked a clip with Andy explaining how generative AI is influencing design practices and why it could open more doors for developers to explore new concepts in the early ideation stages.
Check out episode 10: 5 Ways Generative AI Will Change the Way You Think About UX and UI Design
4. Software is a must, not a nice-to-have
In our very first Built Right episode, we welcomed HatchWorks’ own CEO to explore what a “built right mindset” is and how it should influence every stage of development. Brandon Powell breaks down the top three questions everyone should ask before building a product: is it valuable? Is it viable? And is it feasible?
In the clip we selected, Brandon explains how software has already shaped every industry and why digital tools aren’t just a nice-to-have. They’re a must in today’s world.
Look back at episode 1: The Built Right Mindset
3. Developers want to take ownership of the product they’re working on
A good leader needs to be able to manage change effectively and solve the adaptive challenges that come with it. To talk more about that, Ebenezer Ikonne, AVP Product & Engineering at Cox Automotive, joined the podcast for episode 14 to break down six adaptive leader behaviors to adopt and why.
For the clip we picked, Ebenezer says that we need to “give the work back to the people.” Leaders need to let those who are working on the product have greater ownership, and sometimes that means stepping back.
Catch episode 14: The 6 Adaptive Leader Behaviors with Ebenezer Ikonne
2. The human brain vs. AI: Which is more efficient?
With everyone sharing their thoughts on generative AI, we wanted to dive more into the science behind it in episode 17. We invited Nikolaos Vasiloglou, Vice President of Research ML at RelationalAI, to give us the PhD data scientist perspective.
Nikolaos explained why he disagrees with comparisons between the human brain and AI systems – and why the human brain is ultimately more efficient and effective in many ways.
Learn more from Nikolaos in episode 17: How Generative AI Works, as Told by a PhD Data Scientist
1. Could AI help us become “more human”?
For our top pick, we look back at episode 15 with Brennan McEachran, CEO and Co-Founder of Hypercontext. In this episode, Brennan spoke about the AI-EQ connection and how emotionally intelligent AI could help teams boost performance and create faster, more streamlined processes.
In our top clip, he explains why, despite the fears of AI, it could help us refocus on more human-centered tasks.
You can listen to episode 15 here: The AI-EQ Connection: How Emotionally Intelligent AI is Reshaping Management
After so many fantastic episodes, it was tough to pick just ten clips! If any of the above piqued your interest, you can revisit any of the episodes from season one on our website.
For our listeners, we want to share a big thanks from the HatchWorks team. We’ll be back after a short winter break for season two, with more great episodes and guests to talk about building products the right way.
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