With a hello from her son, Austin—a forward-thinking teen on the verge of Gen Z and Gen Alpha—ThinkLab founder and president, Amanda Schneider, posits the future of work in a recent episode of the Design Nerds Anonymous podcast. “Think emotions don’t have a place at work? Well this episode will make you think again,” shares Schneider, noting the various ways work has shifted, from fresh approaches to physical spaces to innovative digital tools. “What’s often missing the most important question: Why do people choose to show up at all, what truly motivates them to engage, connect, and contribute when they have more choice than ever about where and how they work?”
For this episode of Design Nerds Anonymous, available on the SURROUND Podcast Network, Schneider is joined by workplace strategy expert Phil Kirshner and Microsoft’s Matthew Marzynski to explore corporate collaboration in the phygital era—where physical, digital, and emotional elements intersect. This conversation goes beyond hybrid work models and office design—it challenges assumptions about what drives human connection, the role of AI in shaping our workplaces, and why designing for experience, not just efficiency, is the real game-changer. Listen to the episode of Design Nerds Anonymous and read more on ThinkLab.