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The Agentic Design Stack  |  UX is the future of AI
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Season 7—Spring 2026  ·  12 episodes  ·  Through-line: the human architecture of institutional change
Contributing Author

Nicole Gallardo

UX Magazine Fellow
Nicole Gallardo

I help founders create successful and equitable digital products with UX. I improve the way design is applied within new organizations in order to make companies grow and communities soar. I've spent the last decade building Gallardo Labs, a digital product design agency that is known for its user experience and design system expertise. I've pioneered a culture here where different is better, mistakes are opportunities, and the design process is rooted in compassion. Prior to co-founding Gallardo Labs, I gained experience as an accomplished creative director, UX/UI designer, e-commerce entrepreneur, and team builder for industry icons including Publicis Sapient, Quicken Loans, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Throughout my career, I've designed over 80 digital products for Fortune 500s and industry leaders.

Contributions to UXM

2 pieces
1
Book Excerpt  ·  Crisis Engineering

The Crisis Worth Using

The five indicators of a genuinely useful crisis—and the difference between the kind that opens a window for transformational change and the kind that merely accelerates collapse. Excerpted from Crisis Engineering.

7 min read April 2025 ◆ The Useful Crisis
2
Guest Article

When the Window Opens: A Field Guide to Crisis Seizing

Written for UXM as a companion to the episode. Not theory—what Marina actually does when she walks into a failing system with a 90-day mandate and no authority to hire. Practical, specific, and unsettling in the best way.

11 min read April 2025 ◆ The Useful Crisis

Ideations

1 cluster
The Useful Crisis
S7 Ep. 4  ·  7 pieces  ·  April 2025