On most objective measures, the design industry is thriving. Our skills are in high demand, our salaries are rising, and companies can’t fill roles fast enough (recent blip notwithstanding). Design leadership has come of age, we’re seeing companies invest in team development, and more and more designers are earning that hallowed “seat at the table”. So why, when I talk to designers, do so many of them feel burnt out and despondent; like all their hard work and effort has been for nothing. It’s as though the design industry is going through some sort of mid-life crisis. In this session design l ..read more

Information Architecture (IA) is foundational for great usability and user experience. But for IA to become embedded in the product development process, we must use the language of product: what user problems does IA solve and what are the commercial/ organisational benefits? In this talk I will share ideas and approaches on: - A better way to explain IA to product people/stakeholders - How to frame IA work in terms of stories, strategy and metrics ..read more

What we learnt about service design living in France ..read more

With the worldwide population of adults over the age of 65 growing faster than any other according to the United Nations, considering their voice in designing the 3D embodiment of the internet (the Metaverse) is necessary for moving away from the deficit model of ageing, especially coming out of the pandemic. This presentation advocates for an ethnographic, co-design approach with older adults for those looking to design in a fully immersive space ..read more

As a UXR I spend a lot of time note-taking and would love to share a note-taking strategy that saves my team and I a HEAP of time (and money). The new strategy is visual (which clients love) quick to synthesise (which researchers love) and easily translates findings into design recommendations (which designers love). You can thank me later ..read more

Going smaller, to go bigger: A design system evolution. Over the past 2 years the Atlassian Design System team have been reimagining how a design system needs to evolve to be a force multiplier for good - good for our own team, good for our designers and developers and good for our customers. They’ll share their journey towards unlocking a thriving design system which supports the past, the present and the future all at the same time and how they evolved it to drive both purpose and impact at scale. In a time of economic uncertainty, different design models of what good looks like not only bec ..read more

When were diamonds first used to describe the design process? When was the first 'how might we' question asked? What were the original steps of 'brainstorming'? Some answers to these questions can be found in a 30 year period in America after the end of World War 2, when parallel intellectual movements centred around creating scientific methodologies for creativity and design thrived. Many of the ideas, principles, and design processes of that age are still with us today. Other answers are much, much older. In this talk, we will do more than describe yet another design process model. Instead ..read more

The lack of a moral framework in the design disciple, let alone a set of ethical guidelines, put designers at great risk of doing more harm than good in the world ..read more

Regenerative design. What’s that mean and why should I care? How do I design for regeneration in my own life and design practice? Let's explore practical ways we can design regenerative business, product, and service ideas that customers love - and increase our wellbeing while we do it ..read more

Interested in how government + design + sustainability experts came together to co-design a "world-first" tool to tackle global warming? If so come along to this talk for an up-close look at how we managed to achieve the impossible —> getting agreement on a way forward when all of the experts told us this was NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN ..read more