#9: Spotify VP Design, Rochelle King, on being data aware, debating your ideas, and being heard

Rochelle King is the Global VP of Product Design and Insights at Spotify.
In this episode, she discusses the difference between teams being data-informed, data-aware and data-driven, why our "data friends" are a designer's greatest ally, and how she taught her team how to debate each other. Bobby Ghoshal and Jared Erondu are the hosts of this series.
If you find our content helpful, please consider supporting High Resolution on Patreon / highresolution
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[@jeannotski]

This is really valuable. I wish you guys could make more videos. I've almost finished all the interviews!

[@mayanza]

Guys! Thanks a lot for doing these interviews. Being on other side of the world, it helps us learning new insights from top people. Keep them coming! Cheers!

[@HighResolution]

Hey! Let us know if you have any questions or feedback about this episode. We'll be as helpful as we can. Enjoy the show everyone, Rochelle was great :)

[@China-bizvalueinstories]

She's great! It's a hard topic and she goes deep in the theoretical discussion as interviewers are like already experts in the field. If she's asked this 'incredibly theoretical' question by amateurs or people who barely understands, maybe she can tell more stories that make her view understood. Rochelle Does sounds like a logical thinker instead of a storyteller. But hey, what happen to the subtitles? I can't turn them on for this episode. Anyway, thanks for all these productions!

[@ellen4078]

I really enjoy this session :) Thank you guys !

[@chusmediasphere4845]

31:27 Hey Bobby, here you speak about the importance of seeking for mentors. What would you recommend to someone that doesn't know in person any experienced designer and live in a small city where no design meetups happen?

[@HighResolution]

I've always found mentors in books, that's the first place I'd go to. I understand exactly what you mean. Being far away from people in the industry isn't easy but we live in a very connected world and the design community is renowned for being generous and helping each other.
The best thing you can do is reach out to people online, humble yourself and ask for help and you will see how often people will be willing to help. Build relationships with people you look up to. It might take some time but it is worth trying.
Finally, keep listening to and watching shows like this. Distant mentors have a lot to teach us. Mentorships don't need to happen in person.
We'd love to hear from others in the community here too! Anyone else have any ideas for Chus?

[@chusmediasphere4845]

Thanks for the answer! Yes, this kind of shows, podcasts and blogs has been my way to be up to date. I personally find yours specially helpful since you always focus a couple questions on small-company and solo-designer scenarios. Thanks again! :)

[@MohitYadav-er7bs]

by they way there are a lot of design slack channels that have mentors who provide guidance remotely and could be valuable in your case.

[@yanfengjin2812]

Hi Mohit! I'm wondering if you have any recommendations for the design slack channels you talked about.

[@chrisqdinh]

Love this! Especially since our department has changed up to model Spotify's organizational structure!

[@terrycabeen]

What mic setup did you use for the outdoor portion? That sound was terrific!

[@SearleVideo]

Hey Terry, we used the Sennheiser ew 100 ENG G3 System for everything. They're nice and compact and good for traveling. Only issue we ran into was intermittent frequency interference, so had to keep an ear out for that.
www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/618735-REG/Sennheiser_EW_100_ENG_G3_A_Evolution_G3_100_Series.html

[@masatosu7486]

Since I can't find the subtitles, some parts are hard to listen for me. For example, 51:42 What does he say? "As a quick ..........". I know this part doesn't matter so much but I just want to know.

[@petitflowr275]

"As a quick follow up to that..." - That's what he says :)

[@EricChagnon]

thanks, always enjoy your show. ;-)

[@ahmadalhadi6536]

Great episode!!

[@matthijsgoense]

Great show, i'm learning so much! Rochelle talked about TPD (Tech, Product, Design). I can understand the relationship between tech and design. But could sombody give me some more insight in the relationship between product and design? How would you define the role of the productmanager/owner in a design proces for example?

[@philbuckler]

Matthijs Goense I believe that the role of the product manager in the relationship is to help elevate the vision and strategy to the team and prioritise requirements at the right time in the right way.

[@HighResolution]

spot on!

[@HectorSanchez-or4hh]

Awesome!

[@MrWandiasilo]

19:00 .. thanks .

[@kxp1996]

So, in the opening shot, they were not in New York like dude said, To be precise, they were in Weehawken, NJ with Manhattan as the backdrop. Yeah, I know there is an area called West New York but it's in NJ and that's not where they were either. Seems like they were close to Port Imperial. Okay, now to get back these two minutes of my life.

[@HighResolution]

Bad news, you can never get back those two minutes :( :( :( but you're right.

[@allan2665]

data != information

[@user-ti9zc1xv2b]

Depends on how you frame the question.

[@Scaryphantasm]

Rochelle is wearing a pebble watch right?

[@supervised]

yep. peeble 2

[@arashlowni3428]

Ya but how many does Rochelle get paid?