The Samelogic Podcast

Jeff Appel is Founder and Lead Designer at Ghost Town Creative Services, a small design studio located in Denver, Colorado. At Ghost Town and in various FTE situations, Jeff has worked with high-velocity startups, rad UX agencies, global enterprise companies, and just about everybody in between. He's passionate about connecting human beings, ideas, and objects through good design and building healthy, cross-functional, and collaborative teams. When Jeff isn't designing, he's doing stereotypical Colorado things like skiing with his two daughters, rock climbing, cycling, or catching a yoga session. He loves to read and write and learn new things.

Jonathan is a Senior UX Designer at Appian with three years of experience, passionate about creating simple experiences for his users. In his free time, he provides tips to junior UX designers through his TikTok @johnathanyouruxmentor.

Mary is the Senior UX Manager at Acquia. At Acquia, their mission is to deliver the universal platform of the world’s greatest digital experiences. Her leadership within the UX space focuses on providing experiences that are accessible and usable and seek to exceed user expectations. Nine years of working in the technology space have taught me that collecting user data is the most vital element and necessary responsibility of being a UX professional. Mary coaches her team and organization on the value of human-centered design by asking hard questions and connecting people - building connections not just within the product & engineering space but across their organization to drive closer to a truly delightful experience for customers across every touchpoint of their journey. Outside of work at Acquia, she loves experimenting with cooking, traveling to nice places, and hiking around the Midwest.

Rochel is currently the Lead UX Designer at Chabad.org, the first and largest online hub for Jewish knowledge and lifestyle tools with 54 million annual unique users. She enjoys tackling diverse challenges and products with a proactive growth mindset and believes her role as a designer is simple: she does what it takes. Whether initiating and working on cross-functional collaborations, establishing UX as a strategic partner by facilitating communication and partnerships with different departments, or creating better processes for working and documentation, the bigger picture is woven into daily research and design. Outside of work, Rochel mentors and coaches designers and encourages meaningful work that goes deeper than hype and vanity metrics. She is always ready to learn and share practical lessons and ideas with others.

Sandesh is a highly skilled and passionate design leader at SAP, with a strong focus on developing ERP products that exceed customer expectations. With extensive experience in UX design spanning over 15 years across North America, Europe, and South Asia, Sandesh brings a wealth of knowledge to lead and execute end-to-end UX design projects. As a results-oriented design lead, he takes responsibility for defining UX strategies, conducting user research, creating design systems, and developing product roadmaps in close collaboration with business stakeholders. Sandesh is committed to institutionalizing design thinking within the organization and regularly facilitates collaborative design workshops to foster this approach. Through his customer-centric approach, he has driven business success and helped organizations transform their products and services.

Nipurn holds the position of Lead Product Designer at Sigma, with over seven years of experience designing user experiences for enterprise data analytics applications. Originally from India, he pursued his Master's degree in design at Indiana University, Bloomington. Apart from his professional commitments, Nipurn is a loving husband and a pup-dad to a Labradoodle. He enjoys perfecting his latte art skills every morning and is an avid gamer and table tennis player.

Tasneem is a Product Manager at Remo, a virtual events platform focused on humanizing the virtual event experience. It strives to help event hosts create engaging online experiences, just like in-person events, by helping guests build authentic connections. Before joining Product, Tasneem worked within Success and Community teams to build close customer relationships and identify how customers used the platform, where customers had problems, and any feedback they had to improve their experience. From there, she was able to pivot into Product and keep doing what she loves. She is passionate about solving problems through simplistic but thoughtful user experiences. Outside of work, you can typically find her playing a board game, watching a new show, or learning something new!

As a Lead UX designer at Edelman, James is known for his curiosity, motivation, and empathy. He has built his career by combining his love for design with his talent for devising uncomplicated solutions to complex challenges. James has dedicated more than two decades to graphic and web design. His transition to UX design has presented fresh and stimulating opportunities, enabling him to incorporate his experience and passion for enhancing his craft. By allowing research to steer his path and design choices, James has amplified his capacity to create immersive and captivating experiences for end users.

Kelby Hertanu, currently working on design systems, is a product designer at Asana - a work management solution dedicated to enabling seamless teamwork for global teams and promoting human advancement. Prior to joining Asana, Kelby honed his skills in end-to-end design while working on diverse products for various companies and platforms, including Varo Bank and Temenos. During his free time, you may find Kelby indulging in his hobbies, such as dancing, watching anime, or enjoying fine beverages.