Barriers to Entry

Kellan Shanahan, Lead Product Designer, Arktura

April 22, 2026·37 min
Episode Description from the Publisher

Good ScaffoldingThis 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 LinkedInFollow Kellan Shanahan on LinkedInReferences and resourcesArkturaGet in touch with us at bte@sandowdesign.comDiscover more shows from SURROUND at surroundpodcasts.comThis episode of Barriers to Entry was produced by Rob Schulte.This season of Barriers to Entry is sponsored by Arktura.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Podzilla Summary coming soon

Sign up to get notified when the full AI-powered summary is ready.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.

Listen to This Episode

Get summaries like this every morning.

Free AI-powered recaps of Barriers to Entry and your other favorite podcasts, delivered to your inbox.

Get Free Summaries →

Free forever for up to 3 podcasts. No credit card required.