UX Camp Summer 2021

We'll open the doors a little early and let folks in. Sometimes, we have surprises, sometimes, we play music, sometimes it's a little quiet. Get there a little early to be ready for kick-off!

Starting the event!

We've told ourselves and each other for years that we should be happy with small victories—we worked with our teams to make the world a little more accessible. And yes, knowing that we made a difference is both motivating and professionally satisfying. But what happens when that isn&8217;t enough? How can we measure our work? How do we know we are getting better at practicing our craft? The answer lies in how we actually do the work, because how we do the work actually matters.

15 minute break.

“The long game is built on relationships.” — Russell Nohelty

There is strength in community. The careers within UX all require a degree of empathy which requires patience and care. It’s for this reason, a strong personal network doesn’t take shape overnight. It’s a long game and in 2021, there are new dynamics to consider both where you work and across the industry internationally.

During this visit, you’ll learn some different ways to think about networking. NOT in terms of what you’ll get from it but instead, what you put into it Find out what deliberate presence, kindness, and generosity as a foundation for building relationships will do what you can’t by collecting connections in LinkedIn.

This session won’t all be about theory or philosophy either. We’ll cover very specific do’s and don’ts and insights unique to UX that will more closely align you with others in the field. Whether you’re fresh out of school, transitioning-in from a different career, or you just want to extend yourself into the broader UX community, you will take away something you can use tomorrow to build a strong and fruitful matrix of interrelated people that will endure for decades… if you look after it.

The short game may earn some reward. The long game, if you play it well, is its own reward and it won’t be what you think.

…it’ll be even better.

15 minute break.

As a hiring manager at Amazon, I’ve seen a gazillion resumes and portfolios. I've also been part of review panels for portfolio presentations from intern level to management roles. I’ve seen the patterns in what works, what doesn’t work, and what sets a candidate apart from the rest. In this talk, I’ll walk you through what you need to make a solid portfolio, no matter how much of your design work you’re allowed to show.

If you’ve ever applied for a design job, you’ve probably had to make a portfolio. From all levels—entry to senior leadership—hiring managers are asking to see portfolios. What if you have nothing you’re allowed to show because of IP restrictions? What if you’re a voice designer or information architect? Or, heaven forbid, a design manager being asked to present a portfolio? Relax, I can tell you exactly what you need to do.

30 minute break.

When modernizing a legacy system, it’s easy to just recreate what exists—only a little better. This is an especially dangerous trap when the users equate what they need with what they already have. But what happens when your users don’t understand why they’re doing things a certain way? When their behavior is so ingrained that they can’t differentiate the what from the why?

When trying to understand current processes and uncover user needs for the new system, we encountered a wall of dogma separating our research team from the real problems users were trying to solve or the tasks they really needed to accomplish. It was nearly impossible for users to articulate why they were doing things — other than saying that was the way they had always done it. So how do you break habitual behaviors and get buy in from your users for changes that challenge their beliefs?

In this talk, we’ll share our experience uncovering user needs that are buried under layers of habit and complacencies. Participants will learn how to keep asking why until you get to the root of the need by using an outcomes-first approach to help users understand the difference between what they do (and why!) and what they truly need.

15 minuted break.

Although generally thought of as something only important to the “disabled”, considering accessibility for digital products improves everyones experience. This is true regardless of their particular abilities. Instead of treating accessibility as a checklist or afterthought, it’s important to build it into every decision being made in a technology project. Like many requirements that are commonly thought of as something included for a niche audience, accessibility is something that not only addresses the needs of the deaf or blind, it broadens the scope of how well all users interact with your product.

Accessibility is far more than just accommodating to a small audience of users with “special needs”. At its core, accessibility is about making sure that as wide an audience as possible can use the products you have worked so hard to create.

Although by no means the only myths that have built up around the limitations of making digital products accessible, these seven crop up most regularly. In this session, Jason will examine each myth individually, expose why they are not true, and talk about how to dispel them.

Myth: Accessibility only helps the “disabled”
Myth: Accessibility is just about the visual and auditory
Myth: If we are 508 Compliant, we are accessible
Myth: Accessibility compliance is a checklist
Myth: Accessibility is the designer’s job
Myth: Accessibility takes too much time & costs more
Myth: Making a product accessible limits design possibilities

15 minute break.

Join Ashleigh Axios for an insightful and information-packed talk on the big and small lessons of a designer who works to make positive social change during times when the world seems to be perpetually set on fire. Learn about some of the biggest global issues of our day and the various ways creatives, and anyone with heart, can adapt their thinking and practices to help enable change.

Wrapping up the day.