Kellan Shanahan, Lead Product Designer, Arktura

Good Scaffolding

This week Andrew welcomes Kellan Shanahan, a public artist turned-Lead Product Designer at Arktura, for a conversation about how curiosity, experimentation, and iteration shape the development of products and systems.

A key player on the product design team, Kellan shares how his work helps drive Arktura's reputation for blending design, engineering, and manufacturing into a tightly integrated process.  Andrew and Kellan explore how interdisciplinary teams work together to create greater outcomes by building strong creative “scaffolding”, why proximity to fabrication changes the speed and quality of design decisions, and how a culture of experimentation helps new ideas move from concept to real-world product. 

They also discuss how emerging tools—including AI—are beginning to fit into these workflows, not as replacements for designers, but as ways to accelerate exploration while keeping human judgment and craft at the center.

Connect with our host, Andrew Lane, on LinkedIn

Follow Kellan Shanahan on LinkedIn

References and resources

Arktura

Get in touch with us at bte@sandowdesign.com

Discover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.com

This episode of Barriers to Entry was produced by Rob Schulte.

This season of Barriers to Entry is sponsored by Arktura.

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