Recorded – 4/18/2021
Published – 6/16/2021
Debbie Levitt (@Delta_CX) has been a CX and UX strategist, specialist, speaker, and corporate trainer since 1995. Back then, she was strategizing websites for The Miss America Organization, Schering-Plough, local businesses, and customizing large eCommerce sites before off-the-shelf systems were a thing. On the side, she taught schoolteachers to write HTML and stop stealing images off the web.
As a “serial contractor” who lived in the Bay Area for most of the 2010s, Debbie has influenced interfaces at Sony, Wells Fargo, Constant Contact, Macys.com, Oracle, and a variety of Silicon Valley startups. Clients have given her the nickname, “Mary Poppins,” because she flies in, solves problems, improves everything she can, and sings a few songs. One client nicknamed her, “Tenacious D.” for being a change agent and tireless advocate for the customer.
Delta CX is the side of Debbie’s business aimed at corporate education, training, consulting, and bringing her team of veteran CX and UX experts to projects of all sizes. The Ptype (short for “prototype”) side of her business targets smaller projects and clients, many of whom are still learning what CX or UX is. Same model and core principles, different budgets and strategies.
Debbie has presented at conferences including eBay’s Developer Conference, PayPal’s Developer Conference, UXPA, and WeAreDevelopers. Debbie also writes a regular column for CMSWire’s Digital Experience channel. She is an O’Reilly published author, one of few instructors on the planet recommended by Axure, and runs public and private courses for CX/UX and non-CX/UX roles. Trainees have included employees of Oracle, Salesforce, NBC Universal, Intuit, CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), Sephora, Newport News Shipbuilding, and consultancies including Razorfish, Fjord, Rauxa, and Slalom Consulting.
Outside of CX work, and sometimes during CX work, Debbie enjoys singing symphonic prog goth metal, opera, and New Wave. She now splits her time between the USA and rural Italy.
Recent articles:
2-Year Prediction for CX/UX Professions
UX and Evangelism: Undoing What’s Undoing UX
Debbie’s Books:
Show Notes
(all times are approximate)
Jeremy & Debbie on Lee Andrese’s show
UX vs. CX – :04
Aspirologies – :07
Accountability – :11
Trapped as a production designer :17
UX & HR – :19
Debbie’s HR Training
What we call ourselves – :24
Origin stories – :31
Breaking into UX – :35
Don Norman Article and Future of Design Education
Apprenticeship model
MVP – :41
Culture – :50
Phases of Proficiency Model
Evaluating a team when interviewing – :54
Evolving a team towards higher quality – :57
UX & Inclusion – 1:00
Acuity Scheduling (not sponsored)
Accountability II – 1:09
Four Horseman of UX – 1:11