The one where we discuss making a game about ethics, or something. We discuss the possibility of creating an ethics game where the classic conundrums in moral philosophy become the mechanics of the game itself. You have to make choices about trollies, organ transplants, whatever -- either way in this game, somebody’s gonna die!

... And the discussion from Design Volume 3 continues! Listen as we round out our conversation about design principles and challenges. We reach stunning final conclusions and settle the following matters once and for all, no need to ever think about them again: adapting to technology, being well rounded, keeping a holistic perspective, being multidisciplinary, understanding how much you don’t know, uniqueness, Tesla trucks, and butts. Thanks for listening!

Wherein Ned, Meg, and Chris discuss design challenges and guiding principles. Thrilling topics include the necessity for specificity—say that a few times fast—tight deadlines, moral and financial expediency, balancing thinking and doing, imposing and thriving within limits, and staying relevant. We had so much to talk about we had to split it into two episodes, so be sure to listen to Design Volume 4 next. Super Great!

Wherein we discuss having to deal with the unique nightmare of owning a lifetime supply of stuff you probably never even need once.

We have four folks crammed into this podcast about design, including three people who work in design and one who is just real opinionated about things! We talk about the evolving process of design, spaceships, profit motives in design, decision fatigue, and the Oregon Trail. Guests who are becoming regulars include Damon and Chris, plus Ned and Meg keep showing up cause they’re supposed to be steering this thing.

For once, it actually starts with a real live anticommunist conspiracy. Yeah, for real! And then Bill O’Reilly barges in. We have so many questions like, how do we reconcile this insanity, who do we support in the war, when are they excommunicating Starfucks? How do people who love Christmas and obsessively support troops of any kind reconcile this worldview? Happy Whatever, audience!

Classic games are mostly absurd! We talk about video games and how fun and weird they are. It’s insane, for example, how popular Pac Man became. Then there’s this Italian plumber, but wait, he doesn’t fix a thing, he just travels through pipes, and is super athletic and kills weird shit? Got it so far, plus Mario's got something about mushrooms and that reminds us of Psychonauts, the best game ever, probably.

The intrepid Ned and Meg explore words that we have to hate now. Highlights include the perennially creepy but formerly benign word ‘moist’, the recent torture inflicted upon the word ‘literally’, plus regional variations on architecture and what we call our houses.

BONUS EPISODE! Ned and Meg go to the Inaugural Space Health Conference (yay!) in San Francisco (boo!) and we have a great but exhausting time. This episode was recorded after we got home from a road trip over three days and back so forgive us if we sound a little subdued. We learned so much! Space is great!

For our first podcast, Ned and Meg talk shit about design and why we like (and hate) it. We talk about our favorite designers and what we’ve learned, plus feedback loop on product design, economies of scale, and cell phones! Ned and Meg are super interested in design that gets used in space, including revising existing design to be more conscious of human interactivity and the experience of using the object or process.