Archives

Design Leadership, a career path for brave souls When designers are presented with the opportunity to play a strategic role inside a corporation, a whole world of uncertainties lies ahead. Executive MBA programs for creative leaders are not very common. Lack of corporate training is almost the norm. Generic management principles are not quite applicable. […]

Surviving your UX Career A career in user experience is not for wimps. In this session, we’ll look at everyday challenges UXers face and how to overcome them – or live with them. Do you struggle with the critique process or deciding which feedback to incorporate? Do you conduct your own research? Do you lack […]

The Basics of Consulting, Freelancing and Moonlighting You may enjoy your UX day job but yearn for something more. Maybe you want to channel your UX skills into some extra money. Or maybe you are ready to quit your job to go off on your own, but are concerned about being able to get enough […]

Rethinking the Opportunities Presented by Industry-Academic Partnerships In User Experience, practitioner-academic divides sometimes exist for practical and/or logistical reasons. However, these divides represent missed opportunities to create pathways for student training and enhanced research capacity. This session illustrates relevant stories of formal and grassroots industry-academic partnerships and how they can be assembled and managed to […]

Diversity in High-Tech: Retaining Women Once Hired As widely reported, the lack of women in high tech is so striking that companies are actively working to “fill the pipeline.” But this alone won’t solve problems within the team and culture. Once hired, women leave at much higher rates than men. The challenges may be compounded […]

UX Yourself: A Moment for Personal Momentum In this highly introspective AND interactive workshop, we will dedicate time to designing for YOU in your UX career.

UX After Dark Three industry stalwarts will share funny, insane, unbelievable stories from their professional UX lives. Crazy clients, wacky test participants, grace under fire, the sacred and the (nominally) profane. We tell ourselves these stories after hours for our own amusement. Now we invite you to pull up a seat at the (metaphorical) campfire. […]

Get Out of the Rut and Back in Your Groove Using popular movie themes to illustrate real-life burnout factors, Danielle Cooley and Dixie Gillaspie walk the audience through a living case study of going from Stuck in a Rut to Back in the Groove. This lively presentation draws from the burnout experience of Danielle, a […]

Mentorship – Add Value to Your Career, Workplace, and UX Community Mentorship is a great way to add value to your career, not just for mentees, but for mentors as well. This talk will: Highlight the importance and value of mentorship (to you, others, and the greater community) Dispel any myths about being a mentor […]

Where Do I Go from Here? Moving Your UX Career to the Next Level Are you wondering how you can start your UX career or move your UX career to the next level? Based on my mentorship of nearly 100 UX professionals, at all stages of their career, I will share practical advice on how […]