What it does
Design Better publishes design podcasts, interviews, newsletters and books. Public episodes are free with ads; paid membership adds ad-free listening and downloadable books, while the annual plan also includes a Slack community and Design Club sessions.
Use Listen, Watch or Read to choose a format. The podcast archive can be filtered by year and access level, then sorted by newest or oldest. Public episodes play without an account, so you can start with a guest or subject before deciding on membership.
Monthly membership includes ad-free podcasts, newsletters and the book library. The nine ebooks cover subjects such as design systems, DesignOps, leadership and design engineering, and downloaded books remain yours to keep. Annual membership adds the Slack community and Design Club, including regular Zoom discussions and critiques.
After joining annually, the welcome email contains a Slack invitation. The #designclub channel holds the session calendar, topics, Zoom links and recordings, which helps if you cannot attend live.
Subscriptions are handled through Substack, with monthly and annual billing choices. Check the amount and local currency at checkout. Cancelling stops the next renewal, while membership continues through the paid period.
Strengths
- Audio, video and written formats support different learning preferences.
- Downloaded membership ebooks can be kept.
- Annual membership includes discussions, critiques and session recordings.
Watch out for
- The Slack community and Design Club require annual membership.
- Free podcast episodes include advertising.
Best for
- Designers learning from interviews and practical books
- Designers seeking regular peer discussion through an annual membership
Sources
- Design Better · Podcast, newsletters, books, and community for designers (Oct 27, 2026)
- Join Design Better (Oct 27, 2026)
- Design Better Books (Oct 27, 2026)
- Listen | Design Better (Oct 27, 2026)