327: Having to be creative on cue

Femke and Charli discuss how to be creative on demand and under time pressure. They cover getting into a creative headspace after hours of Zoom calls and building an environment where ideas can happen, because you can’t be creative from a to-do list. They also look at scheduling focus blocks, staying creative without a deadline, partnering up, and how creativity on cue will develop with AI.Timestamps: 0:41 Episode start5:52 How to get into a creative headspace after hours of Zoom calls9:14 How to fit creativity into a short time frame, and how to create an environment where it can happen17:52 Focus blocks in the calendar19:49 Staying creative when there is no deadline25:35 Partnering up with other people27:34 How being creative on cue will develop with AI Links: Femke's communityFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

Femke and Charli explore how AI is reshaping design and product roles, why experimentation and continuous learning are essential for staying relevant, and how designers are evolving from specialists into strategic conductors who orchestrate people, tools, and outcomes in an AI-enabled future.Timestamps:01:07 Setting the stage05:02 AI skepticism vs. career survival in tech08:20 Integrating AI into your workflow13:30 AI, productivity, and design workflow optimisation17:19 How roles are changing24:04 Current AI Workflows25:47 Is Figma still the center of the design process?29:52 Observations on gender imbalance in AILinks:Femke's communityFemke's Strategic influence auditShare your topic suggestions for the show with us at [email protected]

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected] 

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]