Have you ever thought about the similarities between art and science? Or about how math is the language of the universe? No? Welcome to a perspective shift. Ultimately this episode is about making things better, not just different. But how we get there is through a thoughtful and entertaining discussion with the witty and philosophical Erin Weigel.
Erin Weigel wants us to make things better, not just different. But how do we get there?
Lou had a thoughtful and entertaining discussion with Erin, always witty and philosophical—and often funny as hell. Join them on a perspective-shifting conversation that bridges disciplines and challenges conventional thinking, all in the pursuit of genuine improvement.
Erin is the author of the recently published Design for Impact: Your Guide to Designing Effective Product Experiments. She brings a fresh, accessible, and humor-filled take on what may seem like a dry topic: experimentation. Erin digs into the role of experimentation in design, advocating for always defaulting to experiments even if they’re the quick and dirty kind.
Erin and Lou also cover the following:
- Wonky stuff like normal distributions, the central limit theorem, and what can be learned from outliers
- The power of experiments to unite multidisciplinary teams by getting away from opinions and finding the truth
- How professionals can use the principles of experimentation to navigate uncertainties and drive meaningful improvements
- Discerning the impact of changes made
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
- How Erin, with a fine arts background, became the principal designer at Booking.com and the Senior Group Product Design Manager at Deliveroo
- The fundamental similarities between art and science
- Why you should never skip the experimental phase
- How experimentation unites people across disciplines
- The difference between making things different and making them better
Quick Reference Guide:
[0:32] – Introduction of Erin; similarities between art and science
[4:05] – Barriers between art and science
[5:58] – Statistics is fun!
[12:37] – Defaulting to experimentation
[18:06] – Break – 5 reasons to use the Rosenverse
[20:36] – Experimentation as a uniting force
[25:49] – Make things better, not just different
[28:32] – Erin’s gift for listeners
