Power of Ten with Andy Polaine

Power of Ten with Andy Polaine

In the Power of Ten podcast, Andy Polaine talks to guests from a broad range of disciplines about the intersection of design, technology, psychology, organisations, culture and society. The show looks at how design operates at many levels and in many forms, from thoughtful detail through organisational transformation to the changes in society and the world. 

  1. Martin Dowson – Service Design & Lobsters

    6D AGO

    Martin Dowson – Service Design & Lobsters

    My guest in this episode is Martin Dowson, a design and transformation leader who’s passionate about elevating the role of design as a strategic force for business growth. With over two decades of experience across Financial Services, Telcos, Media, and more. He’s built and led design teams, established Centres of Excellence, and guided organisations through complex transformations that align design with commercial outcomes. Martin went from reading our service design book hoping to solve a logistics problem (you couldn’t order lobsters on a Wednesday at Sainsbury’s) to spending six years leading design strategy at Lloyd's Banking Group. We talk about what happens when consultants go in-house, why experienced internal voices often get heard less than external ones saying the same thing, and whether AI has the same fundamental scaling problem as the car. Timestamps00:00 Intro — Martin's background across financial services, telecoms and media01:00 How Martin and Andy first met at RBS in 2015, and reading Service Design to solve a lobster logistics problem at Sainsbury's04:30 Going in-house after consulting — why your voice gets heard less the moment you cross the threshold07:30 The question organisations never ask: why isn't this happening spontaneously already?14:00 What it actually takes to embed design capability in a large organisation versus leaving behind blueprints and concepts28:00 Measuring design's contribution to business outcomes — the gap between outputs and impact45:00 Design leadership in the AI era — what changes and what doesn't55:00 Why organisations mistake motion for progress, and how incentive structures block transformation01:05:50 AI has the same fundamental problem as the car — it doesn't scale cleanly, and success makes the resource problem worse not better01:10:30 The one small thing with outsized impact: our definition of success in education Show Links Martin- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/designled- Web: https://liminaldesignoffice.com- Podcast https://beingliminal.com Andy- Website: https://www.polaine.com- Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws- Podcast: https://pln.me/p10- Design Leadership Coaching: https://polaine.com/coaching- Courses: https://courses.polaine.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/- Bluesky: https://andypolaine.bsky.social- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

    1h 13m
  2. Joel Bailey – The Role of AI in Social Media Management

    MAR 25

    Joel Bailey – The Role of AI in Social Media Management

    My guest in this episode is Joel Bailey, product and service director at Arwen.ai, a four-year-old marketing technology startup that uses AI to help brands to manage and moderate their social media comments at scale. Joel brings 25 years of experience working in service design roles, leading change and building new stuff for a diverse range of organisations. We talked about his journey into Service Design, Service Design and AI, navigating AI and social media, the future of design and much more. Note: Given the fast pace of developments in AI, I should point out that we recorded this in June 2025. I had a big backlog... Timestamps00:00 Introduction to Service Design and AI  04:50 The Journey to Service Design  10:00 Understanding Service as an Outcome  15:08 The Role of AI in Social Media Management  20:11 Challenges of Moderation on Social Media  25:32 The Evolution of Business Models  26:36 The Role of AI in Startups  29:13 Navigating AI and Content Moderation  30:20 Understanding AI Bias and Ethics  31:43 Engaging with AI in Social Media  35:11 The Future of Design and AI  40:21 Creativity in a Fast-Paced Environment  44:56 The Importance of Service in Design Links Joel====- Arwen: https://arwen.ai- Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelbaileyuk/Andy====- Website: https://www.polaine.com- Newsletter: https://pln.me/nws- Podcast: https://pln.me/p10- Design Leadership Coaching: https://polaine.com/coaching- Courses: https://courses.polaine.com- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/apolaine/- Bluesky: https://andypolaine.bsky.social- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@apolaine

    52 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

In the Power of Ten podcast, Andy Polaine talks to guests from a broad range of disciplines about the intersection of design, technology, psychology, organisations, culture and society. The show looks at how design operates at many levels and in many forms, from thoughtful detail through organisational transformation to the changes in society and the world. 

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