UXPA Boston Conference 2024: Full Schedule

8:00am EDT

Registration and Breakfast

Friday May 10, 2024 8:00am - 9:30am EDT
Constitution Ballroom

9:00am EDT

Welcome and Opening Chat

Speakers

Chris Hass

President, UXPA Boston

Chris Hass is the Executive Director of the User Experience Center. Chris brings more than 20 years of experience in UX research, design, strategy, and business development to his role leading the center. Chris has garnered global renown for his contributions to the UX research, accessibility... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 9:00am - 9:30am EDT
Grand Ballroom

Conference Remarks

9:30am EDT

3 Ways That Design Systems Can Help Accessibility Scale

Design systems and accessibility are often talked about together, and that's for a very good reason. Design systems can and should be built in such a way that the components in them have considered accessibility from the very beginning. When design system components are used, they should be free of accessibility issues, so replacing existing components with accessible design system components should improve the accessibility of a product. But did you know that providing accessible components isn't the only way a design system can help a team with accessibility? In this talk, I'll cover three ways that a design system can help a team not only improve the accessibility of their product but also improve the accessibility of that product at scale and help make accessibility part of the culture of those who work on it.

Speakers

Jon Farrell

Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant, Perkins School for the Blind

With a decade of experience in web development, I have hands-on experience in both building and guiding others to build accessible websites and applications at scale. I have helped create, adapt, and test a wide range of accessible web products in collaboration with developers, designers... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 9:30am - 9:45am EDT
Liberty B/C

Ten minute talk

9:30am EDT

Getting to Know You: Maximizing the UX Consultant and Client Working Relationship

It is very common for enterprise companies to use the services of external consultants, perhaps especially so in the field of user experience (UX). This is sometimes in the service of augmenting the company’s UX team who may not have the resources to complete all their desired projects. Consultants may also help companies who are newer to UX, where they introduce the client team to best practices and typical workflows. In either case, it’s critical to project success for both the consultant and client team to work in harmony. This presentation will provide generalizable best practices for collaborating with consultants from both the consultant and client viewpoints. Though the presentation focuses on the consultant/client relationship, all conference attendees will benefit from the provided communication and collaboration tips.

Speakers

Yina Turchetti

Principal UX Researcher, Autodesk

(I am not in person at the conference this year but please reach out via LinkedIn to connect!)Yina Li Turchetti is a seasoned User Experience (UX) professional with a diverse background spanning over 16 years in the field. Currently serving as the Principal User Researcher at Autodesk... Read More →

Dan Berlin

Founder & Principal, Watch City Research

Dan Berlin is the Founder and Principal at Watch City Research (WCR), a user experience research consultancy based in Waltham, MA. After spending ten years leading and building the research team at Mad*Pow, Dan struck out on his own and started the consultancy. Since 2021, he has... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Independence

Career Development

9:30am EDT

Using inclusive testing and tooling to create an accessible color system

At a high-level, I will walk through some of my learnings while revamping the color system at Cisco. I will dive into interesting tidbits around usability testing of colors, tools for color differentiation, charting colors, and things to consider when creating a color system.

From this talk users should expect to learn more about the following:

They will get insights into the in-depth process that myself and my team used to create an accessible combination of colors reflecting Status (good, fair, bad) as well colors used in data visualization.
They will become more empathetic to the experiences of those that have some form of color blindness, witnessing what common UIs look like to those with various forms of color blindness.
They will learn much more about tools (provided in a resource sheet) for creating color systems, for testing of accessibility, for understanding how to color differentiation works, and for testing how colors look to people who may have different forms of color vision.

Speakers

Kenji Kaneko

Friday May 10, 2024 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

9:30am EDT

Enabling UX Outcomes When You've Been Served the AI/GenAI/ML Mandate By Your CEO

One day, your CEO called a meeting, and said the company’s strategy was changing to “AI.” “We gotta have AI to maintain our market position or differentiate.” They don’t know how or what they want to do exactly, and nor does anyone else. You roll your eyes and play the “solution in search of a problem” track in your head, because it would probably fall on deaf ears anyways. The thing is, GenAI, ML and AI in general are not going away, and the data science and engineering teams are likely heads down building your data infrastructure. Your execs see a massive technology change on the horizon, and they want to lead—not follow. Your UX team is supposed to get involved somehow “to make sure it’s easy to use,” but the mandates are broad and vague; what is a UX leader supposed to do? Slap that textarea box on your GUI so you have “GenAI”? Write some prompt guides?

This session is for senior UX leaders who are tasked with a mandate to deal with AI in an environment where there is no clear strategy as to whether AI is the right solution, and there is a lot of ambiguity. You’ll leave with some useful context to approach discussions with your senior colleagues, and some ideas for getting on board with a train that is not going to stop.

Speakers

Brian O'Neill

Founder, Principal, & Advisor, Designing for Analytics

Brian T. O'Neill is the founder of Designing for Analytics and a consulting product designer who helps companies create innovative ML and analytics solutions. For over 20 years, he has worked with companies including DellEMC, Global Strategy Group, Tripadvisor, Fidelity, JP Morgan... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Commonwealth

Emerging Technology

9:30am EDT

Breaking Silos: Optimizing Customer Experience Through Aligned Metrics

Mapping quantitative and qualitative research onto the different stages of the customer journey yields vital insights to assess and optimize the overall experience. However, execution can be challenging, especially for mature organizations with existing fragmented efforts across many departments. This presentation explores best practices for consolidating and aligning metrics and research to map the journey and enable actionable insights. This is a challenge of change management, as well as obtaining the right data. Tactics covered include organizing research instruments, conducting targeted research to minimize customer burden, and analyzing for gaps and inconsistencies. A well-known, real world client example will demonstrate common challenges of mapping the journey in complex organizations and how to overcome them.

Speakers

Eric Karofsky

Founder and CEO, VectorHX

Eric is an award winning, industry veteran with over 20 years of digital consulting experience for top brands across industries. He has deep credentials formulating business strategies that open up new lines of revenue, defining customer experiences that can be quantifiably measured... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

9:30am EDT

Keeping User Experience Tight Across Systems

A lot of user research is focused on a single system, user interface, or user task. While these approaches are appropriate for some purposes, they can miss important user and information pains if a workflow spans multiple systems or interfaces (e.g., moving between an LLM chat bot and another system to complete a task). For this talk, we will bring our experience as UX researchers for software development, where multiple DevOps systems must be used by developers in the course of their work, and the benefits that can be gained from evaluating workflows that use 2 or more systems. It will be accompanied by examples from our own work of how the research was planned and executed, as well as the results and impacts of this approach. This talk will give a clear depiction of how looking at the cross-system workflow can benefit systems and stakeholders, as well as increasing productivity for users.

Speakers

Liz Marquis

Senior UX Researcher, MathWorks

With over 7 years of experience researching how work and technology impact one another, I specialize in user experience research for DevOps. I take a cross-system, mixed method approach to streamline developer workflows and improve developer experience across the development lifecycle. In... Read More →

Jacob Ratliff

Sr. UX Researcher, Mathworks

Friday May 10, 2024 9:30am - 10:15am EDT
Back Bay A/B

User Research

9:45am EDT

Design Now: The Agenda for Action

Obsessing over the perfect symbol, the right vibration, the silky sound makes a product… but we get stuck in the minutiae. Let’s trade in our magnifying glasses for telescopes, aiming our gaze, and more importantly our action, at designing policy and impact. Think of it as moving from adjusting the furniture in your house to actually designing your neighborhood and your city.

In a world where designers often find themselves shouting into the void, we're here to turn that shout into a roar that can't be ignored. It's about making design real, tangible, and impactful, where pixels meet policy.

We'll explore through local Boston-based project examples, specifically in healthcare and civic design, to focus your focus, amplify your impact, and maybe change the world one design decision at a time.

Speakers

Juhan Sonin

Creative Sandpaper, goinvo, MIT

Juhan designs the future of healthcare at GoInvo. His design infects local, state, and national healthcare systems from food stamps in Massachusetts to care planning for half of US residents. Our healthcare is too important to be closed, which is why he drives an open source agenda... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 9:45am - 10:00am EDT
Liberty B/C

Ten minute talk

10:00am EDT

Crafting Exquisite Experiences: Unveiling Beauty in 2024

In this bite-sized ten-minute talk, we’ll embark on a journey beyond the familiar territory of iDesign and Airspace, exploring novel dimensions of beauty in contemporary product design. We’ll challenge the status quo of mass design, emphasizing the draw of unique and captivating aesthetics that resonate with users on an elemental level. Rediscover the realms where creativity and memory converge, as we revisit the idea of beauty and the evolving landscape of design today.

Speakers

Karen Anderson

Independent Consultant

Karen Anderson is an product and design leader known for her transformative impact on Fortune 500 enterprises and innovative startups. With a career spanning over two decades, Karen has built a reputation for driving design excellence and fostering collaborative, cross-functional... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 10:00am - 10:15am EDT
Liberty B/C

Ten minute talk

10:30am EDT

Group Mentoring

Speakers

Brady Bonus

Mentorship Coordinator, UXPA Boston

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Liberty B/C

Career Development

10:30am EDT

UX Uncensored: A candid look at careers, credentials, and credibility in the C-suite

In this talk, we offer a straightforward exploration of the UX landscape and dissect the essentials of thriving in this field. We delve into the journey of becoming a top-notch UX professional, merging lessons from the past with the demands of the present. The discussion shines a light on how UX stands out compared to traditional professions, highlighting its unique fusion of theoretical grounding, creativity, and practical application. We conclude with a rallying cry for unity and an effective articulation of UX’s value, ensuring it's recognized not merely as a nice-to-have but as an integral part of how every business operates.

Speakers

Janelle Estes

Janelle has over 20 years of experience transforming organizations to align strategy and operations around a holistic, customer-centric approach. Currently, she is a Lecturer at Bentley University in the Human Factors in Information Design Program where she teaches the next generation... Read More →

Sarah Pagliaccio

Lecturer, Bentley University

Sarah is a full-time lecturer educating at the intersection of technology, design, and the humanities and an award-winning designer and principal/founder of Black Pepper, a design and strategy consultancy. Across her lecturing, writing, and consulting, Sarah has focused on cross-platform... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Independence

Career Development

10:30am EDT

Trauma-Informed Design

Most people will experience a traumatic event in their life, and as UX professionals, we are uniquely positioned to help users through these challenging times. What is trauma? How can it affect our users? How do we design to better help our users through traumatic situations and design in ways to avoid re-traumatization? The first part of this presentation will provide an introduction to trauma and discuss the effects of trauma on the brain and the body. Part two will cover trauma-informed design and content guidelines, including patterns and anti-patterns. We'll close by inviting participants to consider how they might apply these principles to their own work.

Note: During this conversation, panelists may discuss their personal traumatic experiences. The content of our discussion may be uncomfortable at times. Please do what you need to do to take care of yourself, even if that means joining late or leaving early.

Speakers

Chris Snyder

Kelly Vines

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

10:30am EDT

Can interactive and visually dynamic applications be more accessible?

In conventional applications, designers dictate layout and functionality. However, more and more modern applications empower users with a blank canvas or “artboard” and tools for content creation. This flexibility presents unique accessibility challenges. In this session, we’ll explore how to transform these challenges into opportunities for innovation.

We’ll delve into a case study of a hypothetical Kanban board application, focusing on four user personas. We’ll ensure each persona can add a task, move tasks, and zoom/pan the viewport. By addressing these personas’ needs, we’ll demonstrate how to leverage existing technologies and design principles to create a functional, visually appealing, and accessible application.

Creating equitable and accessible interactivity goes beyond adhering to guidelines. It’s about understanding our users’ diverse needs and designing inclusive, engaging experiences. Join us to learn how to make your applications accessible, enhancing user experience and broadening your audience reach.

Speakers

Jon Farrell

Senior Digital Accessibility Consultant, Perkins School for the Blind

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Commonwealth

Emerging Technology

10:30am EDT

Mind the (maturity) gap: Building and scaling a UX research practice

As you and your team start to think about increasing your ability to just “do UX,” there are a few things you must keep in mind, especially related to research and learning about your users. Depending on your organization's current UX maturity, this work requires a multi-disciplinary and systemic approach. And while it’s possible to get from zero buy-in to something greater than that, some executive willingness will be necessary to move all of this forward. But how do we even get to that point? In an extension of the “97 Things All UX Practitioners Should Know” chapter, learn more about how to build a research practice that broadens customer understanding and UX effectiveness in your organization.

Speakers

Matt DiGirolamo

Manager, UX Research, TextNow

Matt DiGirolamo is a UX researcher, designer, teacher, and community leader in the Boston, Massachusetts, area. He is currently the manager of the User Experience Research Team at TextNow, where he is growing the craft. He received his BS in engineering psychology and biomedical engineering... Read More →

MDiGirolamo MindTheMaturityGapBuildingScalingUXR pdf

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

10:30am EDT

Involving Users with Disabilities in UX Research

To evaluate the accessibility of complex single-page web applications such as MATLAB Online, it is imperative to involve users with disabilities in UX research. This talk describes our process for finding and working with users with disabilities, so they have a voice in our efforts to make MATLAB Online accessible.

Speakers

Mary Lanni

Consulting UX Researcher, MathWorks

Friday May 10, 2024 10:30am - 11:15am EDT
Back Bay A/B

User Research

11:30am EDT

Get to the Point! Writing Research Summaries that Inspire Action

Conducting great research is only half the battle. If we want our insights to have impact we have to help others see what we see, so that they are inspired to take action. "Get to the Point!" is an insightful talk on the power of brevity, and how to say more by saying less. You’ll leave with practical strategies for crafting concise summaries that have big impact, as well as a new mindset around sharing information with others. Topics include:

Clarity in, clarity out. Well-crafted research goals are the first step towards high-impact reports.
Knowing your audience. How to distinguish what’s interesting to you from what’s influencing for them.
The difference between simple and short. It’s not enough just to be brief. Your message has to quickly convey meaning.
Addition by subtraction. How to amplify your signal by removing the noise.

Speakers

David Marshall

Senior UX Researcher, MathWorks

Friday May 10, 2024 11:30am - 11:45am EDT
Liberty B/C

Ten minute talk

11:30am EDT

What can we learn about mental models from the field of Urban Design?

Walking is one of the everyday human experiences, where we apply the cognitive workings of the mind and our learned experiences to get from point A to point B. The field of urban design has attempted to understand how people orient themselves and make sense of their surroundings.

Many of the concepts urban designers deal with are relevant to UX designers who seek a deeper understanding of how mental models work. This talk will cover mental frameworks used in urban design that have direct correlations to mental models in navigating software. This talk references a seminal work in urban design, ‘The Image of the City’ by Kevin Lynch based on the study of Boston. It draws connections between well-designed cities and cognitive psychology.

Speakers

Vanita Verma

Vanita Verma is a User Experience Designer and Researcher currently working as a Senior Product Designer at Imprivata, where she designs healthcare products.Before transitioning to UX, she worked as an urban designer with a government of India think tank designing public spaces. Vanita... Read More →

Matthew Belge

Senior Product Designer, Imprivata

Matt Belge is a Senior Product Designer at Imprivata. Matt has been part of the UX scene in Boston almost from the beginning; his first real UX position was at Sun Microsystems in 1992. At Sun he was fortunate enough to work with some of the Macintosh pioneers from Apple who left... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

11:30am EDT

Improving Usability in Enterprise Healthcare Technology

When you enter a hospital, the first thing you may see are signs pointing to different departments. You have imaging, in-patient, emergency, and labs to name a few. Now consider how each department needs their own system for capturing data. A patient getting x-rays may be listed by First Name, Last Name in that system. Those x-rays need to be sent to their doctor’s system which records the patient by Last Name, First Name. That data needs to be told where to travel and how to convert from department to department. Behind every data conversion is a user trying to figure out how hundreds of thousands of pieces of data should be routed across these different departments.

Our team’s goal was to make it easier for that user to manage how data travels and converts. We’ll share our challenges and solutions for designing this healthcare enterprise software. Although our product has a niche user base, many of the concepts we’ll cover can be applied to any product–both enterprise and consumer level.

*NOTE: The previous session being held at this time has been replaced since the schedule was announced.

Speakers

Elle Marcus

UX Designer, InterSystems Corporation

Elle Marcus is a UX Designer at InterSystems with 8 years of experience in problem-solving as a designer and engineer across the healthcare and technology sectors. Elle is passionate about tackling complex issues and strategizing large-scale projects. With a Master's in Design Innovation... Read More →

Colin Shiner

Friday May 10, 2024 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Commonwealth

Emerging Technology

11:30am EDT

Inclusive Design in Complex Settings: Reflecting on challenges & opportunities in healthcare

Healthcare experiences result from the decisions made by those working within the system. Their decisions (both big and small) generate intended and unintended impacts and can perpetuate existing system biases. It is incumbent upon us as designers, researchers, content professionals and strategists to apply an intentional, critical lens. We can do nothing and continue to perpetuate harm, or we can work to create better systems and experiences.

One way of approaching this challenge is through the application of inclusive design practices to our work. But this can pose a challenge in a complex industry such as healthcare. Healthcare experiences are somewhat unique in that they are almost by definition shaped by multiple interacting entities, including an organization’s structures, the experience of its employees, and the actions and mindsets of the individuals participating in care. Inclusive design must ultimately contend with many different facets that make up a person’s experience.

This discussion will explore our collaboration with health and life sciences organizations to leverage inclusive design and start creating change from within. We'll discuss the challenges we faced and highlight opportunities we’ve seen in doing this work in complex settings.

Speakers

Amy Wicks

Kelsey Werner

Friday May 10, 2024 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

11:30am EDT

I Hear You: Moving Beyond Empathy in UXR

User research literature widely assumes that researchers should build empathy for their users, and that this will enable companies to design better experiences. Businesses point to UX research as the empathy in their company ethos. But when we talk about empathy in a business context, what do we really mean? Is it reasonable to expect researchers to empathize with every person they interview? Is it even productive?

In this presentation, I will discuss why empathy is not what drives business and makes researchers good advocates for our users. We will first look at the literal and theoretical definitions of empathy in user experience research, then draw from that definition what businesses are ultimately in search of—rightly or wrongly—when they bring UX research into the process. We will talk about how it may not only be impossible to achieve true empathy, but also that “being empathetic” may not make researchers better advocates for the user. I will argue that we should reframe our goal as compassion, an action-driven, thoughtful, and achievable north star that leverages core researcher talents and better communicates user needs.

Speakers

Megan Campos

Dir. User & Experience Insights, Fidelity Investments

Friday May 10, 2024 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Back Bay A/B

User Research

11:30am EDT

UX Futures: An Open Space Discussion

Our UX world is shifting. UXPA Boston is adding an Open Space session to the conference. During this freeform discussion attendees can discuss what’s top of mind for where the industry is going and how UXPA Boston could help its members rise to it. Attend the UX Futures Open Space Discussion at our annual conference.

*NOTE: The previous session being held at this time has been replaced since the schedule was announced.

Speakers

Margot Bloomstein

Principal, Brand & Content Strategist, Appropriate, Inc.

Margot Bloomstein is an internationally acclaimed speaker, consultant, and one of the most prominent voices in the content strategy industry. She is the author of Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap and the web industry mainstay Content Strategy... Read More →

Brady Bonus

Mentorship Coordinator, UXPA Boston

Friday May 10, 2024 11:30am - 12:15pm EDT
Independence

Workshop

11:45am EDT

Creative Call to Arms: It's time for visual problem solvers to shape the future!

Join us for a thought-provoking talk that challenges conventional perspectives on artificial intelligence, emboldening UX designers to take the lead in shaping our future. In a rapidly evolving technological landscape, the integration of AI as copilots, helpers, and creative tools presents a pivotal moment for the Maker Culture.

This presentation explores the transformative potential of AI, liberating creatives from the limitations of size and scale and accelerating evolution. Our talk aims to shift the discussion from the fear-inducing headlines we see daily to that of the new opportunities AI provides as a magnifier or designer creativity and expression.

Addressing historical trends where non-designers defined technological shifts, this talk emphasizes the crucial role of UX designers in shaping the narrative of AI. By recounting missed opportunities for a true creativity Renaissance, attendees are urged not to succumb to trepidation fueled by headlines but to seize the reins of AI's definition.

It is a creative call to arms for UX designers, inspiring them to become the architects of a creative revolution. By embracing AI as a catalyst for innovation, designers have the power to redefine the future, turning the challenges posed by AI into opportunities for limitless creative expression. Join us and explore how AI can be harnessed as a visionary force in design, propelling us toward a future of unprecedented possibilities.

Speakers

Greg Genrich

Friday May 10, 2024 11:45am - 12:00pm EDT
Liberty B/C

Ten minute talk

12:00pm EDT

Strategies in Agile Product Design

Working on a high velocity Agile team can be challenging for any UX Designer. In the Discovery phase of UX Design, we do research and exploration. We interview users, conduct competitive analysis and expert reviews. But injecting the insights we gain from this research into the Delivery phase can be challenging. There is always pressure to implement quickly. This 10 minute talk is about strategies that I have found are useful to ensure that our research driven UX vision is the foundation for the design work we do to support Product Management and Engineering as they work in rapid, continuous Sprints.

Speakers

D. Beau Morley

UX Designer, Red Hat

I'm a Principal UX Designer who works at Red Hat. I've been working in UX for over 20 years. I lead team of 4 designers who focus on the Developer Experience. I'm passionate about UX strategy and working with engineering and product management to create products that are technically... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 12:00pm - 12:15pm EDT
Liberty B/C

Ten minute talk

12:15pm EDT

Table Talks

Table Talk Topics:

Agile/Lean UX
Career Development
UX & Product Development
Design for Social Change
Enterprise UX
Artificial Intelligence
User Research
UX Managers
UX Strategy

Speakers

Brady Bonus

Mentorship Coordinator, UXPA Boston

Friday May 10, 2024 12:15pm - 1:00pm EDT
Grand Ballroom

Career Development

12:15pm EDT

Lunch

Friday May 10, 2024 12:15pm - 1:15pm EDT
Constitution Ballroom

1:15pm EDT

User Workload in the User Experience

If a user uses an app or product for more than a few minutes, the workload of the user becomes an issue. This is especially true for apps involving repetitive operations, such as Spellcheck in Word, a photo editing app, and a tax filing app. If each iteration of a task takes more time than necessary, the user’s time mounts up and becomes an irritant.

For example in Microsoft’s Spellcheck, a box shows alternative spellings for the misspelled word along with some text surrounding the misspelled word showing context. But the user cannot correct spelling in the text context box when the correct spelling is not listed among the alternatives. The user must visually locate the misspelled word in the document text, move the cursor to that word, and then correct the spelling. This is extra workload than if the spelling could be corrected in the text context box.

Time for user workload is particularly important for users of in industrial and operational contexts, such as Air Traffic Controllers and manufacturing operations. It can be tiresome and frustrating for the user when app operations require excess workload. And for some apps safety is an issue if recognizing something alarming on the screen and acting with a cursor or keyboard takes too much time.

The field of Human Factors (HF) can help design apps or other products to minimize user workload. A user’s workload includes cognitive (understanding what to do), visual (eye movement), auditory (understanding sounds), and mechanical (moving hands or body). Some applications, such as tax filing apps, require remembering past or future actions.

This session will enable attendees to:

Understand the aspects of user workload
Recognize how user workload affects user experience
Address ways to minimize frustrating user workload.

Speakers

James Poage

Owner, JLP Performance Consulting

Co-wrote book with my daughter called "Flair: Design Your Daily Work, Products, and Services to Energize Customers, Colleagues, and Audiences."Have monthly newsletter, "Be Heard!" with tips to get people to lean in, pay attention, and be inspired to act.

Friday May 10, 2024 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
Independence

Career Development

1:15pm EDT

Create and Automate with Design Tokens

Have you heard about the endless possibilities of design tokens, but aren’t sure where to start? This presentation lays out the basics of this new technology, and how a new or existing style library can be adapted to use design tokens. By establishing a shared language designers and developers can understand, it addresses how to rethink design styles as individual tokens and provides concrete examples of how to rename existing elements.

Applying these principles, we will explore how this tokenized approach expands out from basic styles like color, size, and type. Using the power of nesting tokens to define the patterns of styles that make up our design libraries, we will dive into the multi-tier naming system that allows our style definitions to expand as deep or wide as we need them to.

After examining what the multi-tier naming system looks like when mapped to an example component library and walking through a style library built out using design tokens, you will better understand how design tokens allow a single style library to quickly cover multiple brands and themes. We finish by addressing how to discuss adopting this new technology with your development partners.

Speakers

Steven Jencso

Founder, Principal Designer, Stormdog Design

Steven Jencso has been practicing UX design for over a decade and partnered with multinational organizations to solve problems at a global scale. He’s built teams, optimized workflows, and introduced human-centered design practices for software and hardware projects.

Design Tokens Stormdog Design pdf

Friday May 10, 2024 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

1:15pm EDT

Can Generative AI be Trustworthy by Design?

The release of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems has ignited a significant leap in awareness of the capabilities of AI. In parallel, there has been a recognition of AI system limitations and the bias inherent in systems created by humans. Expectations are rising for more trustworthy, human-centered, and responsible software connecting humans to powerful systems that augment their abilities. There are decades of practice designing systems that work with, and for humans that we can build upon to face the new challenges and opportunities brought by dynamic AI systems. As with any system, there are limitations – can we design them to be trustworthy?

Speakers

Carol J. Smith

AI Trust Lab Lead & Principal Research Scientist, HMI, Carnegie Mellon University SEI

Carol Smith has worked on improving interactions, and integrating ethics for humane experiences with artificially intelligent systems, autonomous vehicles, and other emerging technologies since 2015. She started her UX career over 20 years ago and now supports government and industry... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
Commonwealth

Emerging Technology

1:15pm EDT

Stronger Together: Developing an Organizational Strategy for Accessible Design

Embracing accessibility challenges our creativity, fosters responsibility, and drives innovation towards more inclusive designs and experiences. But to truly bring accessible design practices into our work, we need everyone on deck: from sales and product managers, to researchers and strategists, to designers and developers.

In this talk, we’ll discuss the importance of developing a cross-functional accessibility team and some suggestions for getting started. We’ll also walk-through our own journey to build the accessibility team at BORN XDS – from stakeholder interviews to roadmap development and cross-functional teamwork.

Speakers

Caitlin Gebhard

BORN Group

Leigh Ann Mesiti Caulfield

BORN Group

Friday May 10, 2024 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

1:15pm EDT

Remote UX research - is it good for absolutely everything?

Remote UX research is nothing new, but the pandemic forced us to conduct research online or not at all. Which begs the question: do we need in-person research any more? In this interactive session, we'll consider the pros and cons of meeting our users in real life vs. online, and which approach is best for accessing the right users, for testing prototypes, for convincing stakeholders, and even for getting the most honest answers from our participants.

Whether you’ve gotten a little too comfortable running user tests from your home office, or live for those days when you get to venture out into the field, come advocate for your favorite approach, and let the best method win!

Speakers

Eva Kaniasty

UX Consultant / UCD Program Chair, Slipper Studios

Eva Kaniasty is the founder of a user experience consultancy providing UX strategy, research and interaction design. Her areas of interest include startups, education, healthcare, and design for sustainability. She received her Master in Human Factors from Bentley University, served... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 1:15pm - 2:00pm EDT
Back Bay A/B

User Research

1:15pm EDT

Vision Crafting: The Elements and Practice of a Compelling Vision

Creating a vision of an ideal future state is the most important activity a UX designer can participate in. At every level of the practice, creating a vision with and for the team is essential to inspire, ensure alignment, and drive progress. During this workshop, participants will examine the persuasiveness of a vision. They will use a framework to create a low-fidelity vision on the spot as practice for more intentional work with their teams. Finally, participants will unpack the importance of storytelling for any visioning process, with the opportunity to practice vision storytelling themselves. Participants will leave the workshop with a solid foundation of the constituent parts of a vision along with experience putting those parts into practice.

Speakers

Ira Cummings

Founder & Principal, Ira Cummings Studio

Ira F. Cummings is a user experience leader with over twenty years of experience. His current practice is focused on creating better experiences in healthcare, especially genomics and genetic testing. He has worked in-house and in an agency setting, partnering with stakeholders at... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 1:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
Liberty B/C

Workshop

2:15pm EDT

From Self-Doubt to Self-Discovery: Transforming UX Job Searches with Your Unique Story

This presentation emerges from the observation of a recurring trend among mentees navigating the job search landscape, especially those transitioning into UX from other fields. These job seekers often find themselves entrenched in the pursuit of acquiring new skills and refining resumes, driven by a desperate need to counteract recruitment feedback criticizing their lack of a specific degree, industry experience, or the perceived level of experience. This relentless chase to conform to external expectations frequently leads to a diminished sense of self-worth.

This presentation proposes a shift in perspective and aims to empower job seekers to utilize storytelling to differentiate themselves in a competitive landscape. Attendees will be guided on how to construct compelling personal narratives that not only demonstrate the transferability of their past experiences but also highlight how these experiences uniquely position them as more effective UX professionals.

Join us to explore how integrating storytelling into your job search strategy can transform an intimidating and demoralizing process into an opportunity for self- affirmation, making your unique story your most significant strength in the job market.

Speakers

Jiaorui Jiang

Principal UX Researcher, Dell Technologies

Friday May 10, 2024 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
Independence

Career Development

2:15pm EDT

"It's like Rosie!"—Designing Home Robots with Older Adults: A Participatory Design Case Study

"It's like Rosie!" invites you on an insightful journey into the intersection of User Experience (UX) and Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) with a focus on the older adult demographic. Discover how participatory design catalyzes profound connections between humans and technology, creating interfaces that resonate with the diverse users they serve. The story begins by defining the values and methodologies that underpin work done at the crossroads of UX and HRI. This presentation focuses on the nuances of participatory design as a method to help us understand and address older adults' unique needs and challenges. Through the exploration of a cross- cultural robotics user study, learn how to leverage core UX principles of user empowerment, collaboration, and iterative feedback to craft meaningful experiences that resonate with older adults.

Speakers

Bisi Chikwendu

Toyota Research Institute

Leticia Priebe Rocha

Toyota Research Institute

Friday May 10, 2024 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

2:15pm EDT

How should UX Evaluate AI

AI is the current “thing” in technology today; the latest buzz going back to the end of 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT. We not only hear the buzz in our circle of tech and business but also in the greater society. It seems every day there is an article in a leading news or business outlet discussing the pros and cons of AI. In general, it is hard to know what to think and believe. It is clear UX professionals are needed; according to the AI and Job Quality Insights from Frontline Workers by Stephanie Bell from the Partnership on AI, “Current implementations of AI in work are reducing workers’ opportunities for autonomy, judgment, empathy, and creativity” [1].

UX professionals are asking lots of questions. There is a lot of discussion on how UX professionals can use AI to help us become more efficient. Will UX designers or UX researchers be replaced by AI? What is the future of work both for UX professionals and society as a whole? These are interesting questions that I am not sure anyone knows the answers to as we cannot predict the future. Another interesting question that I believe the UX profession is thinking about today is what kind of role UX professionals should have in the design process of AI systems. However, for this UXPA Boston talk, I want to start with a more basic question: what does good UX in AI look like?

Speakers

Peter McNally

Senior Consultant, Bentley University User Experience Center

Peter McNally is a Senior UX Consultant at the User Experience Center. Pete has more than 20 years’ experience in usability, information architecture, accessibility, and software engineering. His current areas of interests include the intersection of user experience (UX) and customer... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
Commonwealth

Emerging Technology

2:15pm EDT

Don't call it "Freelancing!" Approaches for establishing yourself as an independent UX Consultant.

The decision to become a UX Consultant can be a difficult one to make. If you choose to leap, when is the best time to do so? Should you start with consulting on a part-time basis or jump right into full-time? Beyond these questions, you will need to look at establishing and building your business and brand, determining which clients and projects to pursue, pricing, and more!

With all these questions to consider, just where should you start?

Danielle Cooley recently celebrated 15 years as an Independent Consultant and has learned a lot of things in that time – usually the hard way. Come hear a bit of the who, what, when, where, how, and why of independent consulting and stay for the extended Q&A so she can address your specific questions about going out on your own.

Speakers

Danielle Cooley

Owner & Principal, DGCooley & Co.

Friday May 10, 2024 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

2:15pm EDT

Take the boxing gloves off! How Visual Thinking Strategies reshaped our approach to design feedback.

Dive into a transformative journey to reshape your approach to design feedback with this powerful method that encourages open-ended discussions, where designers and stakeholders are part of the process.

Receiving feedback on a design can elicit a range of emotions and opinions. As designers, our passion lies in improving user experiences, yet stakeholders often bring their preferences and opinions to the table. Have you ever heard "We need the button over there", "I would change that color", "I like it better if it were a graph and not a table".

This dynamic can sometimes resemble a boxing match, with feedback coming in left and right. You put on the boxing gloves and start defending your decisions. How can we transition from this competitive setting to one of collaboration and constructive feedback?

It is time to take off the gloves and start using Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS).

This presentation will illustrate real-life instances where Visual Thinking Strategies transformed design critiques, leading to a shift in the quality of feedback we received.

In this session, attendees will:

Gain insight into the basics of VTS
Discover how VTS was successfully implemented during design critiques, and overcoming skepticism
Receive a structured process and valuable tips for engaging stakeholders effectively through VTS

Speakers

Tammy Coutts

Lead Software Designer User Experience/Usability, MEDITECH

Tammy Coutts is a user experience professional who designs electronic health record (EHR) products at MEDITECH. Over her 30 year tenure at MEDITECH, she has seen shifts in the healthcare and EHR industry. The importance of usability, accessibility, and user research play a larger... Read More →

Susan Richardson

Lead Software Designer, User Experience, Usability, MEDITECH

Sue Richardson is a seasoned professional in User Experience with over 30 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She specializes in product design and implements user-centered design methodology for every project she takes on. Her dedication to innovation, continuous improvement... Read More →

Coutts Richardson Take the boxing gloves off! pdf

Friday May 10, 2024 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
Back Bay A/B

User Research

3:00pm EDT

Afternoon Break

Friday May 10, 2024 3:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Constitution Ballroom

3:30pm EDT

A Local History Audio Adventure; A Case Study in 360 degree Experience Design

Have you ever been overwhelmed on a historical walking tour led by a traditional tourguide? Have you ever been led on a whirlwind tour where all sorts of monuments, statues and “sites of significance” have been pointed out to you, but when you got home, you couldn’t remember what was what? This presentation explores a case study of designing a dual experience audio walking tour. The audio (podcast format) episodes alternate between “Fictional Narrative” episodes based on real people and events and “Historical Notes” episodes. They are meant to be heard in place, along a 2 mile route of a historically significant, complex and factually dense town center, (Concord, MA) in advance of the 250th Anniversary of the Shot Heard Round the World. How does one optimize learning, engagement and understanding of a sense of place to a wide range of audiences?

Speakers

Tammy Rose

Friday May 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

3:30pm EDT

From Desktop to Web: Crafting Seamless Transition for Complex Software

This talk will delve into the trend of migrating traditionally desktop-bound software onto online platforms and navigate the challenges and opportunities that this shift presents for UX designers. Attendees will gain insights into the distinctive personas of desktop and web apps and learn about the best practices exemplified by pioneer products. The discussion extends to the challenge faced by some complex softwares and the creative solutions, and illuminates the advantages brought by the nimble and flexible nature of the web apps, positioning them as ideal platforms for collaboration, innovation, and integration of advanced technologies. Attendees will discover how UX designers play a pivotal role in crafting a seamless transition that not only preserves the essence of complex software, but also introduces delightful surprises to elevate the overall user experience.

Speakers

Yuqiao Wang

UX Designer, MathWorks

Friday May 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT
Commonwealth

Emerging Technology

3:30pm EDT

Power Rangers to Nielsen Norman & Back Again: Looking to the Past to Design for Tomorrow

Learn about the approach that Unum’s Digital Experience (DX) Team took to bring an Enterprise wide Generative AI Chat strategy and a suite of chat assistants into existence.

With the new paradigm of conversational user interfaces becoming mainstream, we'll discuss their impact on user expectations and address genuine concerns about job security. As Nielsen Norman's design heuristics turn 30 this year, we’ll examine some other significant moments from 1994 to help explain how these principles are still relevant today.
With any new technology, it’s easy to get caught up in the hype or the promise of future possibilities. Our team kept focussed on the problem to be solved, remembered the fundamentals and used the new capabilities of Gen AI to assist along the way. This talk will deep dive on the approach that the team took, give practical examples and talk about our mis-steps as well as our successes along the way.

In this engaging session, we'll unravel some of the complexities of building productivity software for a large enterprise, share practical insights and real-world examples, and share the behind-the-scenes activities we used while crafting our digital assistants.
Attendees will leave with actionable takeaways, and practical tips to navigate the evolving world of designing for GenAI-powered UIs in their own work. Our talk will inspire designers to think of AI as a creative ally, ensuring the balance of human ingenuity and technological advancement in UX design.

We’ll use a dash of humour and little nostalgia to take attendees through our journey of delivering a suite of tools that has transformed internal productivity, and freed up our people to do more of the work that inspires them.

*NOTE: The previous session being held at this time has been replaced since the schedule was announced.

Speakers

Stephen Cummins

Senior User Experience Designer, Unum

Stephen is an award winning designer, with almost 20 years experience designing for start-ups, scale-ups, government agencies and national organisations in his home country of Ireland. His background is a unique mix of creative, business and technical skills and includes graphic design... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT
Independence

Emerging Technology

3:30pm EDT

Leveraging Design Ops to build and sustain UX maturity

The presentation will give a brief overview of Design Ops and the Neilsen Norman UX maturity scale. I will demonstrate how I was able to apply Design Ops to raise the UX Maturity of my team from a one to a five on the Neilsen Norman UX Maturity scale, with hints of a six.

I will give concrete examples of how I have leveraged Design Ops to achieve this success including hiring practices, consistent onboarding, design growth paths, consistent tools, designs systems and standardized design processes.

Speakers

Richard Beauregard

Sr UX Manager, NetApp

Richard Beauregard is a Senior UX Manager at NetApp. He built a UX practice at NetApp from the ground up to its current size of five in just under three years. Previously, he build an IA practice at Staples from a team of two to over ten. His background includes graphic design, art... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

3:30pm EDT

From Participant to Customer: A story of research driven co-creation and adoption

This session will use real-life examples from our experience setting up and running our highly successful Design Partner Program. By aligning with design sprints and conducting micro sessions on a planned cadence with customers, we’re able to inject continuous discovery into the product release cycle that everyone can buy into. Session attendees will leave with the knowledge of how rapid research can accelerate product success, customer adoption, and accolades for your researchers and design team. We'll also cover tips and tricks for getting started with your own program.

Our Design Partner Programs (DPP) gather feedback from potential customers as part of product ideation and development. This accelerates the design iteration process, identifies, and resolves friction points, ensures a full understanding of user needs, and validates product-market fit. Using this process, we have built positive relationships and high impact products that design partners want to adopt when they are released.

We bring our cross-disciplinary peers in Design, Product Management and Engineering into the Design Partner sessions. The patterns we have developed for session planning and analysis allow us to quickly deliver actionable insights to the full team. As a result, we have increased internal team collaboration and engagement as well as maintaining a laser focus on customer wants and needs. Adopting the DPP methodology is a remarkably effective way to drive product quality, usability and convincingly demonstrate the value of UX research to your organization.

Speakers

Kristina Beckley

Deeptha Subramanian

SmartBear

Friday May 10, 2024 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT
Back Bay A/B

User Research

3:30pm EDT

The Report is Dead, Long Live the Report! How to Communicate UX Research Findings for Maximum Impact

The best way to improve products is to have people use them, but researchers struggle to share what they’ve learned in a way that has immediate and long-lasting impact. How do we keep the design process moving while grounding it thoroughly in research?

This workshop will present evidence for and against reports, and explore characteristics of reports that make them more and less successful at effecting change. We will describe the role of organizational structure in sharing research findings, and illustrate where approaches like debriefs, co-design, and video have succeeded and have fallen short. Based on survey and interview data from UX practitioners and our own experiences in the field, we’ll address these questions: Is it worth it to write a report? Are there quicker, more engaging alternatives? What makes a compelling report? How do we make usability research usable? We’ll offer a framework for choosing the best reporting approach, and share best practices for determining what to communicate, and how.

Speakers

Kathi Kaiser

Co-Founder & COO, Centralis

Kathi Kaiser is co-founder and partner at Centralis, a Chicago-based UX consultancy. She leads a top-notch team in creating great user experiences for global clients, start-ups, and cultural institutions. When Kathi’s not at the whiteboard or in the lab, she may be found observing... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 3:30pm - 5:00pm EDT
Liberty B/C

Workshop

4:30pm EDT

Hiding in Plain Sight- Introducing HSPs, Neurodivergents you've never heard of (and they're 20% of the population)

Did you know that some people are so sensitive they can perceive minutia, physically feel your feelings, have deep insights daily, and are stirred to empathize with nearly everyone? They are 15- 20% of the world’s population, and they are often lost in the shuffle of a “go big or go home”, fast-paced society. Awareness of these people as product users, fellow employees, and citizens has implications for us UX Designers and Researchers. In this talk, I introduce Highly Sensitive People, who research has shown are temperamentally quite different from the other 80% of the population. Described as “sentinels”, they are alert and attentive by nature, and are easily overwhelmed in stimulating environments. As users of digital products, they pick up on subtle details that others might gloss over, a boon for designers who relish the opportunity to delight users with refined, inspired designs. They also need more control over user settings, fewer interruptions, and more time to process information than most other users. Yet if they are given the right digital tools, they stand to help society in unforeseen ways, as their strengths have been driven underground in an attempt to fit in with the majority. In supportive work environments, they stand to contribute high quality designs, leadership, and useful feedback.

Speakers

Lisa R Valentine

Independent UX Consultant, formerly AFL, iRobot

Lisa is an independent consultant in UX Strategy, Design & Research, most recently spending over four years at AFL, a Telecommunications company in Westford, designing apps for engineering applications. This year she is happy to be a conference speaker, presenting: "Hiding in Plain... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Back Bay C/D

Design in Society

4:30pm EDT

Building Bridges: Designing for Trust in AI Enterprise Features

In this talk we will delve into the pivotal role of user trust and change management in the design of AI enterprise features, critical aspects often overlooked in the fast-evolving landscape of technology. As businesses increasingly develop internal AI-driven features and solutions, establishing and maintaining user trust is paramount for successful product adoption and long-term success. We will introduce the concept of operational change management in the context of AI adoption, the role UX plays in this space, and discuss the organizational shifts necessary to integrate AI enterprise features successfully.

Speakers

Karen Anderson

Independent Consultant

Friday May 10, 2024 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Back Bay A/B

Emerging Technology

4:30pm EDT

Designing Interfaces for AI

This is not a talk about conversing with chatbots. It is not a talk about using AI to make design mockups.

Still interested? This is a talk about designing interfaces that support human-AI collaboration on complex, technical problems that require insight and decision making. We’ll discuss some of the unique advantages, opportunities and challenges presented by AI technology, and some of the design considerations that come along with creating human-machine interfaces that enable this kind of enhanced collaboration. Ultimately, designing for these new technologies comes back to fundamental UX principles: understand your user and their task, and provide the information they need to get the job done. The specifics of what that looks like are a little more complicated with an AI in the mix, but these are problems that designers are well-equipped to solve.

Speakers

Erica Gunn

Senior Lead Data Visualization Designer, Medidata

Erica Gunn is a data visualization designer at Medidata/Dassault Systemes, where she creates systems to connect pharmaceutical databases to client tasks in generalized and reusable ways. She received her MFA in information design from Northeastern University in 2017. In a previous... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Independence

Emerging Technology

4:30pm EDT

Case Study in User-Centered Product Planning & Facilitation: An opportunity to influence strategy

Some of us are lucky enough to work with product and engineering who are always aligned, always focused on the right problems, and do a great job communicating. But the rest of us? We’re working with imperfect processes.

In this talk, you will hear a case study of how UX heavily influenced a yearly product planning cycle in a critical time. Our UX team accelerated the plan of a face-to-face meeting of 30+ stakeholders from different groups (engineering, product, marketing, documentation, & upper leadership), and centered the user in product planning using UX activities and facilitation skills. We then followed up in the weeks that followed, and over the course of the following year to continue to put the user at the center of our product strategy.

Finally, we will recap what has happened on this team and product in the year since the face- to-face meeting. Did UX succeed in centering the user in our processes? Did we build the right things for the right users? How has UX’s role on the team changed? (Spoiler alert: It’s complicated!).

You’ll leave this talk with an example of user-centered planning, along with evaluations of what worked well and not-so-well to align product, engineering, and every stakeholder together.

Speakers

Katie Riker

UX Manager, Red Hat

Katie leads the Core Platforms UX Team at Red Hat, with a focus on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) product. She lives in Westford, MA with her husband and toddler, and is surrounded by fur from her two fluffy animals.

UXPA May 2024 pdf

Friday May 10, 2024 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Republic A/B

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

4:30pm EDT

The evolution of a UX consultancy: from start to still at it.

Do you ever wonder what it would be like to work for yourself? Maybe you already do and want to grow beyond an army of one? Better yet, are you running a consultancy and want to share insights? Join Yes Yes Know Founder, Jen Bullard, for an intimate fireside style chat with her friend and mentor Amy Heymans, co-founder Mad*Pow.
Yes Yes Know began life as a UX consultancy five years ago, just before the pandemic hit and changed life as we know it. Amy will interview Jen, to share the Yes Yes Know story. We’ve learned a lot and made lots of mistakes: some funny, some expensive. Five years old and we’re still in business — that feels pretty good. Come hear our story and take some time to share your own. We’ll laugh, we’ll cry, and never stop learning.

Speakers

Amy Heymans

Founder & CEO, Beneficent

Amy is a strategist who believes outcomes focused, human-centered and participatory design methods can guide us to envision and enact transformational change. As the founder and CEO of Beneficent, she focuses her passion for whole health, financial wellbeing, social impact, and sustainability... Read More →

Jennifer Bullard

Founder, Yes Yes Know

Yes Yes Know Founder, Jen Bullard, has over 20 years of UX experience. Jen’s industry experience includes high-tech, b2b, SaaS software startups in cyber security, data management, and fin-tech. She has a Master's in Human Computer Interaction from Rensselaer Polytechnic (RPI... Read More →

Friday May 10, 2024 4:30pm - 5:15pm EDT
Commonwealth

Strategy & UX Entrepreneurship

5:30pm EDT

Keynote Address

Diana Hubbard has a 27 year career in technology spanning many different areas including hardware support, graphic design (electronic pre-press), front-end development (with a dash of DBA and Server Administration), information architecture, user experience design, research, design consulting in edge technologies (Blockchain, IoT, ML etc), and more.

She is now the Head of Design for Battle.net (a gaming platform) at Blizzard Entertainment where she runs a team of designers that span the design gamut from systems design and information architecture to purely aesthetic visual design and branding.

She is also a mom of 3 (including twins), wife of a veteran (spent nearly a decade as a military spouse), and a consummate gamer.

Come listen to her spin her tale on how she ended up as the head of design at a gaming company, her dream job, and how it took her 20 years to get there.

Speakers

Diana Hubbard

Head of Design, Battle.net at Blizzard Entertainment

Friday May 10, 2024 5:30pm - 6:00pm EDT
Grand Ballroom

Conference Remarks

6:00pm EDT

Cocktail Hour and Networking

Friday May 10, 2024 6:00pm - 7:00pm EDT
Constitution Ballroom