Design Life

Charli Prangley and Femke Van Schoonhoven started Design Life because they noticed something missing: a conversational design podcast hosted by two women tackling the real issues young creatives face. Charli is a Creative Director at ConvertKit and runs a popular YouTube channel. Femke is a Design Lead at Gusto who also teaches product design online. Together, they bring complementary perspectives from different corners of the tech design world. Episodes come out twice a month and run about 34 minutes, which is just the right length for a focused conversation without filler. The topics hit the things designers actually think about day to day: how to negotiate a promotion, transitioning from individual contributor to manager, keeping up with AI tools without losing your mind, fostering knowledge sharing on a team, and navigating the sometimes tricky relationship between designers and product managers. The format is genuinely conversational rather than scripted. Charli and Femke share their own experiences, disagree with each other sometimes, and talk through problems in real time. It feels like listening to two smart friends work through the challenges of building a design career in tech. They do not spend episodes talking about abstract design theory. Almost everything is grounded in practical, lived experience. The show particularly resonates with designers who are a few years into their career and trying to figure out what comes next -- whether that is leadership, specialization, or building something on the side.