Design Life

Hosted by Charli Prangley, Femke Van Schoonhoven

Business Entrepreneurship Technology Arts DesignInterviews guests

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Episodes

325

Latest episode

Feb 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Design Life is a podcast about design and side projects for motivated creators. It was born after your hosts, two serial side project addicts, saw a gap in the podcast market for a conversational show about design and the issues young creatives face, that was hosted by two females. This show aims to tackle the big issues designers face like getting paid, overcoming a creative block or managing time, to name a few. We want to open up discussion about things we wish we heard people talk about when we were studying, and we want to chat to you about the joys and the frustrations of working in the tech industry by day, and on our passion projects in the rest of our waking hours. We hope that by doing so, Design Life will give you a dose of motivation or inspiration when you need it.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

February 2, 202630 min

325: Goals and creative aspirations for 2026

Femke and Charli outline their goals for 2026 and the strategies they plan to implement to achieve them. Femke shares an update about her upcoming baby and how she plans to balance it with her business, while Charli discusses her approach to the book writing process.Timestamps: 01:11 Episode introduction01:59 Life updates04:05 Goal setting for 2026: Does Femke set combined business and parenting goals? How does she plan to approach balancing them?13:32 Femke and Charli’s plans for their business and projects this year21:57 How can AI help manage your workload and make tasks more efficient and achievable?23:23 Does Charli feel she has achieved work-life balance?24:52 Working with a remote team: how do different time zones impact Charli? Managing slack updates and staying in the loopLinks: Femke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

January 20, 202634 min

324: Collaborating with other design creators on a side project

Femke and Charli discuss how to collaborate effectively with other design creators on side projects. Femke shares her experience working with five other designers on the Design Creator's Bundle, including how the collaboration went, how they divided the revenue, and how audience size influenced their choice of collaborators and how Claud helped shape the overall strategy of the product.Timestamps:00:46 Episode start01:50 Catch-up06:33 Design Creator’s Bundle08:41 Why did Femke decide to do it?11:17 How does it feel to work on something like this with a group of people?14:34 Charli shares a story about her experience being part of a bundle15:50 How was the revenue split approached?17:37 Did you know the people involved in the bundle beforehand?20:01 How do you approach collaborations in terms of effort and contribution?23:49 How did audience size factor into the collaboration?28:11 Do you think you'll pursue more similar collaborations in the future?29:22 What about collaborating with design creators in other ways, such as creating a product together? Links: Design Creator's BundleFemke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

December 16, 202535 min

323: How to land a promotion

Charli and Femke discuss the common challenges people face when pursuing promotions, share strategies to prepare for performance reviews, and explore options for those who perform well but are unable to get promoted.Timestamps:0:57 Episode start01:50 Catch up07:25 What are the main challenged people that you mentored were having around promotions?10:37 Thinking about promotions as a manager16:01 Advice to people to whom it is not clear what needs to be done in order to get promoted22:17 How to set yourself up for success l for the performance review time28:32 What if you do a good job but you cannot get a promotion?Links:Femke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

November 10, 202537 min

322: Our approach to side projects in 2026

Charli and Femke discuss their evolving perspectives on side projects, preferred platforms and content formats, and how these have changed throughout their careers, while also sharing their current goals—Charli opening up about her book writing journey and Femke explaining how her approach to her course is continuously evolving.Timestamps: 01:26 - Episode start03:11 - How are you currently thinking about side projects? How do you describe what you do on the side when meeting new people?05:23 - Perspectives on different platforms and content formats08:38 - Charli’s main side project at the moment: writing a book09:42 - Updates on Charli’s YouTube channel16:00 - How Charli incorporates Claude into her creative process17:00 - Strategies behind choosing and developing content formats25:25 - Femke shares her vision for her business Links: Femke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

October 27, 202533 min

321: Knowledge-sharing in a design team (the wins and the failures)

Femke and Charli discuss how to foster a culture of knowledge sharing at a workplace. They explore how to structure language-sharing sessions, whether these should focus on work-related topics or personal expertise, how to encourage team members to participate, and what roles leaders and team members play in sharing knowledge.Timestamps:01:25 Episode start02:27 Catch up06:52 How did educational 'Lunch and Learn' sessions come about at Femke’s work?08:06 Are these sessions about work topics or personal expertise?11:26 Does Kit have a format for ICs to sign up or volunteer to share with the team? How is knowledge sharing structured at Charli’s and Femke’s jobs?21:03 Does sharing come from anyone on the team or mainly leaders? How much do leaders set an example, and how did you get that started?21:47 How do you protect team members’ time and set expectations for knowledge sharing beyond their regular responsibilities? Do you expect everyone to share knowledge at a certain level, and how much of it is built into their responsibilities?26:32 How often do you do knowledge sharing?26:52 Do you encourage your team to consume any of your content?Links: Femke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

October 13, 202530 min

320: The struggle with staying up-to-date with new design tools

Femke and Charli discuss the challenges of staying up-to-date with AI tools, the importance of developing horizontal skills rather than just tool-specific knowledge, integrating AI into your workflow, the financial and environmental impacts of AI and strategies for keeping up with rapid advancements in the tech field.01:11 Episode introduction01:53 Catch-up05:16 How the episode came about: Charli shares a story from her workplace about integrating AI into their processes10:17 Challenges in staying up-to-date with AI and design tools14:01 Is tool-specific knowledge important? The value of learning horizontal skills versus tool-specific skills16:00 Building AI workflows and exploring what’s possible with AI17:51 Financial costs of using AI23:23 Environmental impact of AI24:58 Goals for keeping up with the rapid pace of AI developmentLinks: Femke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

September 29, 202539 min

319: Balancing speed and quality in design work

Femke and Charli discuss how to balance product quality with commitments, deadlines, and the pressure to ship quickly. They explore the best approaches to building MVPs and new features, and consider whether AI is influencing the expected pace of work in design.Timestamps:01:14 Episode start02:25 Catch up07:56 The background of the issue at Femke’s work10:42 Did Charli experience anything similar?12:56 Has the rebrand and the new systems in place helped your team unlock more velocity, allowing you to work more quickly?17:19 What does your team think about MVP?24:45 As a design manager, what’s your role in solving this?26:07 Any ideas of solutions Femke can share?32:15 Is AI influencing leadership’s push for speed? Do you think it’s making teams move faster?Links: Femke's new communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

September 15, 202536 min

318: Revealing our performance reviews as design leaders

Thank you to our sponsor, Framer. Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Start free today at framer.link/femkeCharli and Femke talk about the challenges of discussing performance reviews and share the actual feedback they received. They discuss how performance reviews work at their companies, including how often they occur, the structure, and the tools used. They also share how AI tools are integrated into the process, explain how promotions are linked to reviews, and highlight key points to keep in mind for the next review cycle.Timestamps:0:51 Episode start.01:39 Framer sponsorship.03:14 What is the structure of the performance review at Femke’s company?06:39 What tools are used during the performance review? How are performance reviews conducted at Charli’s company?09:25 How long is your review period?11:56 How have you incorporated AI into the review process?14:58 Charli and Femke share the feedback they received during their performance reviews.18:20 Femke and Charli go into more detail about their feedback.21:08 How detailed do you prefer your feedback to be?25:29 Charli and Femke share the feedback they received as managers from direct reports.29:28 How does your company handle promotions? Are performance reviews and promotions separate processes?32:20 What key points are you keeping in mind for the next review cycle??Links: A huge shoutout to our sponsor for this episode, Framer. Make sure to check them outFemke's new communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

September 1, 202529 min

317: What it's like to take part in a hackathon

Thank you to our sponsor, Framer. Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Start free today at framer.link/femkeFemke and Charli discuss various aspects of hackathons, including team organization and timelines, the motivations behind creating dedicated create weeks, whether projects should go live afterward, the competitive dynamics of hackathons, and provide valuable advice for companies interested in hosting their own hackathons.Timestamps:0:47 Episode start01:27 Framer Sponsorship02:43 Have you been part of hackathons before?07:38 How can non-technical team members add value during a hackathon?10:11 Are hackathons competitive?11:10 Do hackathon projects typically go live? What are the next steps afterward?12:03 Do teams intentionally save work for hackathons? Is it part of your roadmap process?15:17 Have you seen projects die after a hackathon?18:12 What motivated you to start these hackathons?22:18 What advice would you give to those wanting to organise a hackathon at their company?Links: A huge shoutout to our sponsor for this episode, Framer. Make sure to check them outFemke's new communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

August 11, 202531 min

316: The art of giving useful feedback

Thank you to our sponsor, Framer. Ready to build a site that looks hand-coded—without hiring a developer? Start free today at framer.link/femkeFemke and Charli discuss their perspectives on giving feedback, how their approaches have evolved, the importance of mindful communication, and strategies for providing effective and focused feedback.01:05 Episode start02:01 Framer Sponsorship04:06 How do you feel about giving feedback? How has your approach evolved throughout your career?11:24 How do you develop your ability to give effective feedback? Do you choose your words carefully when framing your feedback?13:45 Femke and Charli’s approaches to giving feedback18:50 Should you already know the correct approach and solution before providing feedback?20:38 Methods and strategies for giving feedback23:08 How do you decide what to focus on when giving feedback?Links: A huge shoutout to our sponsor for this episode, Framer. Make sure to check them outFemke's new communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

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