Ishmael Interactive's CX Pod explores the way human-centered professionals get their work done. Tuned to folks working across business silos, Ishmael Interactive's CX Pod will keep you informed and optimistic about how we can all help build a better future.
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Laetitia Wolff, founder of BESIGN School in France, discusses place-based regenerative design—an approach that prioritizes understanding specific community contexts and existing social infrastructure before proposing solutions, rather than imposing top-down institutional fixes. Through projects ranging from rebuilding police-community trust in Brownsville to empowering invisible small business owners in East New York, she demonstrates how designers can facilitate reciprocal relationships between institutions and communities by first listening, then curating resources and stakeholders to address actual needs rather than assumed ones.
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18 Nov 2025
When the Forest Meets the Market
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CX Research—Documented
Rebecca’s Reconnecting Nature School got to know its customers by showing up and relentlessly serving the community. If, like her, you need to get to know your customers, get Ishmael Interactive’s HCD Discovery Guide, and get the step-by-step manual for customer research that’s rigorous, replicable, and sustainable.
The Discovery Guide was developed alongside thousands of professionals working in healthcare, veteran support, education, and operations. When you open this Guide, you’ll see:
* The Why and How of customer research.
* Step-by-step, modular instruction that you can dip in and out of easily.
* Plain language for working professionals.
Buy the book at Barnes and Noble (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hcd-discovery-guides-ana-monroe/1148189861;jsessionid=3F81114FCF59E20B2263D349960726F8.prodny_store01-atgap18?ean=9798999575920), Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/HCD-Discovery-Guides-Concepts-Operations/dp/B0FTNNKJXV/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&dib_tag=se&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7T-FoFh_RowdJIxr3XILu35UaA-56cdsm3YnAcd1Suw.lzwLZHQOcRDo13fbgtRBP1ASB2eygDeo4B_Hhe9jNzs&qid=1761853144&sr=1-1), or at Ishmael Interactive (https://ishmaelinteractive.com/products/hcd-discovery-guide). (Psst: when you buy at Ishmael Interactive, you get the ebook version included!)
You don’t need a full UX or CX team to get to know your customers: you need the HCD Discovery Guide.
Show notes:
Rebecca Westbrook Toker co-founded Reconnecting Nature School, a nature-based micro-school in Chattanooga that grew from 4 students to 25 in just over a year by focusing in on students in need of high-touch educational support. In this episode, she discusses how forest school methodology creates the right learning environments and how the micro-school movement is finding its customers and establishing financial sustainability.
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15 Nov 2025
The Synthetic Data Paradox
Aaron Meyers and Ana Monroe explore synthetic data—AI-generated customer information that alleviates privacy concerns, accelerates product development, and can prove highly effective for organizations. They also examine the challenges of this approach, including how synthetic data can reinforce organizational dead ends, encourage individual silos over collaboration, and create an overwhelming volume of information that requires additional AI systems to interpret. We ultimately advocate for a balanced strategy that combines synthetic data with traditional human research.
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