Schedule

Our work toward making our products and experiences more inclusive can’t just be considered at the end of the design process; it’s foundational. As designers, we’re well-positioned to push for positive change, but it’s not always easy. I’ll speak about my experience creating a non-binary persona for a Fortune 500 technology company, from initial ideation and development through high-stakes deliverables. When we build inclusive foundations, we empower ourselves and others to build inclusive experiences and products. Learning Objectives Inclusivity can’t be an afterthought, it has to come from the ground up As designers we’re well-placed to push for positive change,... Read More

The Japanese Wikipedia is the most visited language in Wikipedia after the English Wikipedia. Increasingly, it’s contributing to the rise of historical revisionism in the country. On the pages of particularly sensitive historical topics, Japanese Wikipedia tends to exclude important information inconvenient to the Japanese public and/or include inaccurate and biased information. In other words, many of the articles whitewash war crimes by spreading disinformation. A similar trend exists in other languages, such as Croatian Wikipedia. It has received attention from international media for promoting a fascist worldview and historical revisionism. Non-English Wikipedia communities such as a Japanese and Croatian... Read More

Asking “why” in design critiques invariably puts the designer into a defensive position: “Why did you do it this way?” or worse “Why _didn’t_ you do it that way?”. Rather than explaining their design, “why” questions force a designer to justify them. This can lead to tension and bruised egos, but rarely to better design. If designers are working closely with developers in an iterative Agile environment, hostile design reviews just create friction. Rather than finding the best solutions, daily scrum and/or design review sessions turn into a turf war over ideas. This workshop is a hands-on tutorial for designers... Read More

Human dignity, however you define it, should be a fundamental quality of any designer. Companies now recognize, great design involves far more than just meeting functional or business needs. It needs to engage the human experience in new, unexpected ways. We should design things so that people can use them without stress or friction. That goal is not mutually exclusive from the business goals; on the contrary, it will probably enhance them. Through this process, human dignity needs to be considered and supported. In this conversation, Branco Kuznar and DeWayne Esson will share ways on how to: Respect and advocate... Read More

Far too many of our nation’s best and brightest tech professionals work as hard as they can to advance their careers without really understanding how important it is to build their value and communicate their worth. It’s time to teach these professionals how to work smarter, not just harder, to become more effective and invaluable to the companies they work with. Lauren shares her personal story of going from zero network, zero skills, and zero job prospects to becoming a highly valued, top engineer with global connections in just two short years. You’ll come away with steps you can take... Read More

A deep understanding of your target market’s needs across all phases of the journey from non-customer to customer is the starting point for treating customers with dignity. This is also the most direct path to delivering positive business outcomes. However, current UX research focusing on product user interactions is often conducted in silos and disconnected from its business impact, which puts the value of research and the UX function at risk in the long term. Companies wanting to gain a competitive edge need high-quality insights from an integrated research plan in which market research and UX research provide different perspectives... Read More

Dan Berlin moderates a panel of authors from the O’REILLY book called 97 Things UX Practitioners Should Know. It is an Amazon bestseller in many different categories. The authors will discuss a variety of topics including user research, design, strategy, usability, design operations, and more. It is your chance to bring your burning questions to a panel of experts, who will share their experience and knowledge. The panel has worked with some of the biggest brands you can imagine.

We are more than our resumes. Each of us has a story to tell about where we started and how we got to where we are today. Our work, our friends, and our contribution tell us more about our “self” than our resumes and portfolios. Join Joe Meersman for some lessons learned in the first 20 years of a career spanning office furniture, wearables, police cars, waste disposal, artificial intelligence, insurance, IoT, and International Business Machinery. In this talk, you will learn: Common early career mistakes for practitioners to avoid Discuss mid-career patterns and anti-patterns Ways to improve our design... Read More