
Rerelease: No Great Design in Done Alone with Nicole Kahn
From Technical Difficulties by Liz Gerber
October 13, 2025 · 21 min · Season 4
About this episode
Nicole Kahn discusses her journey from chemical engineering to design and her insights on storytelling and leadership in tech.
Welcome back to the Technical Difficulties rerelease season, where we highlight some of our favorite episodes from previous seasons. Join Nicole Kahn, VP of Design at Carta, as she reflects on discovering design research, the secret to telling sticky stories, and transitioning into tech. She has led design at companies like IDEO and WeWork, and is now building out what good design looks like at Carta. Nicole coined the "Bar Test" for storytelling, and is dedicated to unlocking the creative potential in all. Tune in to hear Nicole's perspective on: Transitioning from chemical engineering to design research to tech, and the realities of grad school Learnings from WeWork: hypergrowth and authentic leadership UX debt The "lone designer type" The "Bar Test" for better stories Realizing your expertise as a designer
People in this episode
Host: Liz Gerber
Guest: Nicole Kahn
Topics covered
- design research
- storytelling
- transitioning to tech
- UX debt
- leadership
- creative potential
Keywords
- design
- storytelling
- UX
- leadership
- design research
- Bar Test
- WeWork
- Carta
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Carta, IDEO, WeWork
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