Material Design Gets Expressive: Inside Google's Emotion-Driven UX Update

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1. 

   S3 · E11 · 25 Nov 2025 · 43 min

   The Era of the Generalist: Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group

   In this episode, Liam speaks with Rachel Been, SVP of Design for Expedia Group, about her journey from photography to design leadership and why she believes this is "the era of the generalist." The conversation unpacks the recent launch of Expedia's new app on ChatGPT and what it means to design for "non-deterministic flows" and "infinite inputs." Rachel explains how AI is breaking old, linear design paradigms and why, in an age of potential "design slop," deep curiosity and human-centered craft are more important than ever. Read a transcript and check out more from me at interfacecafe.com…

2. 

   S3 · E10 · 14 Oct 2025 · 38 min

   Other Than Expected: Fabian Bircher on Combining Art, Architecture, and Code

   In this episode, Liam speaks with Zürich-based architect and artist Fabian Bircher, whose work spans buildings, custom lighting, and interactive installations. Fabian discusses his unique creative process, where inspiration flows from both artistic concepts and the discovery of new technological possibilities. The conversation explores the materiality of light through his Buoy lamps and dichroic foil installations, the process of revealing hidden digital systems with his "Reporting Device," and the unexpected role of randomness in creating kinetic art. Find a full transcript and more at…

3. 

   S3 · E10 · 9 Sep 2025 · 45 min

   Design Can't Rely on Logic: Troy Leinster on Type Design and Human Perception

   In this episode, I reconnect with my former instructor, type designer and design coach Troy Leinster. Troy shares his journey from graphic design to type design, and explains why learning to make letters makes you a better designer. We also dig into the importance of trusting the human eye over geometry, the productive friction of sketching by hand, and how understanding calligraphy builds a stronger perspective on type design. Troy discusses why, in the age of AI, the most important thing a designer can do is put their personal touch on the work.

4. 

   S3 · E8 · 5 Aug 2025 · 43 min

   The User Brings the Confetti: Rob Giampietro on Scaling a Human-Centered Brand

   Rob Giampietro, Head of Creative at Notion and former Design Director at MoMA, returns to the show to unpack the story behind Notion Faces, the popular tool that allows users to create their own illustrated avatar. Rob details the project's journey from a beloved internal tradition to a major public launch, including the pivotal decision to scale with human illustrators instead of AI to maintain the brand's unique, handcrafted quality. The conversation explores how the team shifted its focus from "likeness" to "expression," the power of modularity in design systems, and the research process…

5. 

   S3 · E7 · 1 Jul 2025 · 45 min

   True is Better Than New: David Reinfurt on Evolving Graphic Design Education

   In this episode, designer, educator, and author David Reinfurt returns to the show to discuss his latest book, A *Co-* Program for Graphic Design. Born from a series of lectures delivered remotely, online, and together with collaborators and cooperators, the new book builds on his earlier "spoken" book, exploring some unexpected and intuitive overlaps between design and the rest of the world around us. In conversation, Liam and David cover the power of hands-on learning, the importance of going against expectations as a designer, and the positionality of design—its closeness to everyday…

6. 

   S3 · E5 · 14 Jan 2025 · 52 min

   Beauty Across the Board: Rich Fulcher on Making Beauty a UX Priority at Google

   This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design closes out with Rich Fulcher, former Google UX director and Material design lead. Fulcher remembers the career-defining journey of creating Material, what it was like to make beauty a UX priority, how to pressure test a system, and what he's learned about world-building across disciplines. Today, he's creating board games, continuing to apply the design-thinking and problem-solving skills developed during his time at Google. Leave us a rating, and subscribe so you don't miss new episodes with creative…

7. 

   S3 · E4 · 9 Dec 2024 · 54 min

   Breaking Silos (and Metaphors): A 'Roving Engineer' on Design & Engineering Collaboration

   This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design continues with Adrian Secord, who describes himself as a "roving engineer." Adrian has over a decade of experience building systems and tools that transform design into robust product engineering at scale. Plus, a PhD in Computer Graphics. Here, he reflects on the evolution of Material Design and the (potentially) exciting possibilities for AI-driven UI. He shares insights on the complexities of large-scale design systems and highlights the need for designers and engineers to find common ground.

8. 

   S3 · E3 · 21 Oct 2024 · 44 min

   Code, Creativity, Performance: Will Larche on Engineering as 'Creativity with Constraints'

   This season's special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design continues with Software Engineering Manager and Musical Theater Writer Will Larche, who talks about his path to become an engineering manager at Google. Larche, a self-proclaimed "design fan," describes engineering as "creativity with constraints." Here, he explains how the development of Material over the years has led to closer collaboration between design and engineering, and imagines how new AI experiments might open up a new era of "Star Trek design."

9. 

   S3 · E2 · 9 Sep 2024 · 45 min

   Fab Components: Bethany Fong on Designing Material's Signature Floating Action Button

   This episode is part of a special series celebrating ten years of Material Design. In the episode, Liam speaks with Bethany Fong, a Design Director at Meta who was a pivotal figure in the creation of Material Design. During her time at Google, Fong was responsible for designing the first set of Material components (including Material's signature Floating Action Button), and went on to become a design Lead on the team. In their conversation, Liam and Bethany talk about the tactile nature of design, the importance of keeping a notebook, and how the heady early days of Material unfolded. 👉 Read…

10. 

    S3 · E1 · 15 May 2024 · 45 min

    Facing Our Interfaces: Matías Duarte on the Future of Individualized Design

    This season begins with a special series celebrating ten years since the launch of Material Design, which will explore the inception, evolution, and future of Google's design approach. The first episode features the founder of Material Design and Design VP Matías Duarte, whose work on the system has pushed design forward at Google and across devices everywhere. In their conversation, Liam and Matías unpack how interfaces are made, used, and understood—and identify opportunities to move them further into the future via a highly crafted, individualized design approach. 👉 Read a full transcript…