Podcasts about enterprise ux

Experience design for readers of online content gets a lot of attention. The authors who create the content and get it ready for publication aren't as well served. In his new book, Designing Content Authoring Experiences, Greg Dunlap addresses this situation, showing content-system creators how to design better interfaces, streamline workflows, and otherwise improve the lives of content authors and managers. https://ellessmedia.com/csi/greg-dunlap-2/

Greg Petroff discusses the practicalities of executive design leadership, why he believes in ‘make to think', and the ins-and-outs of working with product and engineering. Highlights include: How much advocacy for design is too much? Why do you prefer project-based teams over product-based teams? How do you align the engineering, product and design organisations? How have your recent experiences in the labour market changed you? What does effective compromise look like in enterprise software design? ====== Who is Greg Petroff? A 25 year veteran of the design field, for the past 10 years Greg has led significant design organisations at some of the world's largest and most recognisable companies.  Until recently, he was the vice president and chief design officer of Cisco Secure, where he led the design innovation and transformation of one of the world's largest cybersecurity solutions providers. His highlight reel also includes being the chief experience officer at GE Digital, managing director of Google Cloud, vice president and global head of design at ServiceNow, and senior vice president of design at Compass. One of the early members of our emerging field, Greg is a founding board member of the Interaction Design Association, where he also contributed as the treasurer and as an early conference chair.  A generous contributor to the field, Greg has shared his insights on stages across the world, including at TedX, the Interaction conference, UX Australia, Enterprise UX, and on the most-excellent Finding Our Way podcast. ====== Find Greg here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gpetroff/  X: https://twitter.com/gpetroff ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/ ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

Building products with GenAI brings powerful new capabilities but also a whole new set of uncertainties. Teams can't rely on best practices because the technology is changing so quickly and users are cautiously adopting change. Designing and shipping products can no longer be thought about as a linear process.Alexandra Holness, Senior Lead Product Designer at Klaviyo, joins to share lessons, cautions, and a path forward to help product teams build AI products that customers want. She sees that successful product teams will depend on designer, data scientists, engineers working more closely than ever because it is very hard to predict how customers will use models until you've shipped them.Topics discussed:* How she created her role leading AI design * Assumptions the team had about how to leverage AI * What works and doesn't from a design perspective* AI models being so nascent that its hard to design a UX* Designers-data-engineers working together in new ways* Building AI products is very different than traditional * Building effective AI products requires culture change* Why you need to test out potential futuresHave questions? Join the conversation https://www.linkedin.com/company/designofai/Subscribe to the Design of AI podcast for more in-depth resources for product teams. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit designofai.substack.com

Aylin Uysal shares her story of leading enterprise design, the reality of being an exec and a parent, and how patience and perseverance have served her well. Highlights include: Why is it important to have a good grasp of the details as a senior design leader? How do you know when you haven't got the work-parent balance quite right? What changed at Oracle to enable the culture to significantly support design? How do you work across Oracle to ensure that users' experience great design? Why can't business apps be as simple and delightful as consumer apps? ====== Who is Aylin Uysal? Currently the VP of User Experience for Cloud Applications at Oracle, Aylin is at the forefront of design at one of the tech industry's most established companies, helping its customers to see data in new ways, discover insights and unlock endless possibilities. During over two decades at Oracle Aylin has held several senior leadership roles, serving previously as a Senior Director of User Experience, a Director of Applications User Experience, and as a Senior Manager of HCM User Experience. Before her long-standing tenure at Oracle, Aylin was a valued member of the design team at SAP, where she was a lead designer. She also made her mark as a senior designer at Silicon Graphics, a legendary Silicon Valley icon. Originally from Turkey, Aylin graduated from Middle East Technical University with a Bachelor's in Industrial Design. She further honed her craft, obtaining a Master of Fine Arts from San Francisco's Academy of Art University. Aylin's influence is not just corporate; she's been celebrated as one of the top thirty influential Turkish-American women by Turk of Amerika, she is a board member of the TUSIAD Silicon Valley Network, and is credited on 8 US patents.  ====== Find Aylin here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aylinuysal/ X: https://twitter.com/aylinuysal ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/ ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

LEGO's Rebecca Nordstrom leads the team designing the software they use to produce those billions of little bricks. She joins us today to talk about bringing UX to the factory floor, measuring success when user adoption is mandatory, and the differences between leading design in North America and in Europe.

Clara Kliman-Silver shares how she brings together humour, people and cognitive psychology for research impact, and how teams can make the most of their design ecosystems. Highlights include: How do you use cognitive psychology to support your findings? What is a design ecosystem and why is it a helpful framing for our work? How have you used humour when engaging with stakeholders? What is the right balance between AI and human agency within design tools? How much does research impact rely upon how it's orchestrated? ====== Who is Clara Kliman-Silver? Clara is a Staff UX Researcher at Google, where she manages a team of UX researchers, and leads company-wide strategic research projects

Join Matt Watson and Melvin Hogan, Principal at M.E.H.Consulting, as they talk about enterprise UX. Hear what Matt and Melvin think about enterprise UX and how important it is to the success of your business. They also discuss the difference between design and art, the importance of role-based functionality, and how you when it's time to hire an enterprise UX consultant.   Find Startup Hustle Everywhere: https://gigb.co/l/YEh5   This episode is sponsored by Full Scale: https://fullscale.io   Learn more about M.E.H.Consulting: https://www.meh-consulting.co  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Max is a UX/UI Designer from Richmond, CA. On paper, his background is in creative, with a bachelor's in Film/Television and a minor in Pop Music Studies. In practice, the shaping forces behind his work are asking questions, designing for emotion, and making everything he sees even better. He's created work in graphic design, film, live visual projection, web design, and both B2C and Enterprise UX. Over the weekends, you can usually find him exploring the California coast by motorcycle, reading about business strategy, or improving his lap times around the Karting track.

Dushyant Kunungo joins Timothy Keirnan for a discussion about enterprise UX.  * Duhsyant's professional background * The importance of user experience to employees working in an enterprise--both to their morale and their productivity. * Dushyant and Tim share eyebrow-raising anecdotes from enterprise user experience projects they have been on. Employees need effective, efficient, and enjoyable products/tools as much as external customers do. * Dushyant talks about his book, UX Decoded: Think and Implement User-Centered Research Methodologies, and Expert-Led UX Best Practices. You can reach Dushyant at his LinkedIn page. His book's publisher is at this link: https://bpbonline.com/products/ux-decoded?variant=41816075043016 Tim recommends everyone listen to this episode of Dushyant's excellent podcast, UX Banter, with Neal Ford discussing authenticity in branding: https://www.uxbanter.com/e/importance-of-authenticity-in-branding-neal-foard-s1-episode-7/  

Not too long ago, Donna Lichaw, author of The User's Journey, was helping companies solve product problems by organizing the experience of a product or service into a narrative arc where the user is the hero. Then she ran into a question that she couldn't shake — a question that, once answered, would morph her business from product development to leadership development. The question unveiled a people problem rather than a product problem. “We don't have problems bringing products into the world. We have problems getting along with everyone, feeling good about our work, building team morale, dealing with internal fighting. We've been helping our customers be heroes. How can I be a hero?” Over seven years of researching how to help leaders be heroes, she found inspiration in a variety of places, including Gestalt therapy, narrative therapy, and executive and somatic coaching. Her conclusion can be found in her new book, The Leaders Journey: Transforming Your Leadership to Achieve the Extraordinary. Think of the book as a map for people to become the natural leaders they already are and can be through a process of radical acceptance that leads to real, lasting change. People grow into superhero leaders when they fully embrace themselves — strengths and weaknesses. Donna's approach to leadership is a refreshing departure from the typical advice of talk louder, take up more space, and listen more. This is a different — a journey that is unique to each individual. • Discover your superpowers. When you're not leveraging your superpowers at work, you're not as powerful as you could be. When you contain your superpowers, you'll feel sad, depressed, and restricted. • Know your kryptonite too. When you understand the “why” behind your weaknesses, you'll often find a superpower underneath. By embracing your quirks and appreciating how they serve you, you'll open yourself to insights about how to move forward. What you'll learn from this episode: • Why Donna felt compelled to transition her business into leadership coaching • About the two books Donna has written for Rosenfeld Media • Why one-size-fits-all leadership programs are a dead end • How appreciating your weaknesses can lead to self-discovery and growth Quick Reference Guide [0:00:51] Introduction of Donna Lichaw and a brief summary of her book The User's Journey [0:02:23] About the origins of The Leader's Journey: Transforming Your Leadership to Achieve the Extraordinary, Donna's new book [0:03:10] Donna recalls leading a workshop that raised an important question [0:07:44] Looking for inspiration and resources to answer the question, “How can I be a hero?” [0:11:24] Finding value in everything, yet recognizing what is less helpful [0:13:57] Dealing with leadership stereotypes and churn [0:19:10] Enterprise UX 2023 [0:21:15] All leaders have superpowers and kryptonite [0:26:06] Leaning into your personal kryptonite [0:30:25] How the adult film industry and literary smut fit into all of this [0:35:06] Donna's gift for listeners – access to her work! Resources and links from today's episode: • Enterprise UX 2023 https://rosenfeldmedia.com/enterprise-ux-2023/ • Donna's amazing toolkit https://www.donnalichaw.com/toolkit • The Leader's Journey: Transforming Your Leadership to Achieve the Extraordinary by Donna Lichaw https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/leaders-journey/ • The User's Journey: Storymapping Products that People Love by Donna Lichaw https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/storymapping/

Boon Yew Chew is senior principal UX designer at Elsevier and an IxDA local leader and board alumn. He will be a speaker at the upcoming 2023 Enterprise UX Conference on June 6th and 7th, delivering a session on “Making Sense of Systems – and Using Systems to Make Sense of the Enterprise.” Systems thinking can seem abstract and theoretical, but Boon reveals some unexpected ways that systems thinking can have a profound impact on individuals and relationships within organizations. Who knew that systems thinking could be an emotional intelligence tool? Lou and Boon begin today's episode by discussing the history of systems thinking and how it developed in the ‘40s and ‘50s, mostly within scientific communities, and grew into other fields and disciplines. It offered a new way of thinking about how things develop and change over time. Boon goes on to describe his path into systems thinking and how, with its holistic, big-picture perspective, there is little room for blaming individuals when problems are viewed through a systems thinking lens. A system can give context to the behavior or clashes within an organization and alleviate frustration. Believe it or not, systems thinking can be a relationally lubricating tool. Systems thinking can help us answer the following: • Where do I fit? • Where do the people I'm serving, working with, developing with, and creating for fit within the system? • How is the organization I'm part of itself part of a bigger system? A summary of Boon's insights: • Systems thinking helps us understand context, empathize, and understand other people and the context they work in • Systems thinking provides a visual language that other people can learn from • Language can help reveal not just problems, but how problems relate to each other even when they may not seem connected • Systems thinking is a tool that can help with prioritization What you'll learn from this episode The history of systems thinking, especially how it first developed within scientific communities The differences between systems and design thinking How systems thinking can reduce finger-pointing and relational conflict Why it's best to embrace messy differences as part of the process How to bring systems thinking into the workplace without confusing or alienating others Quick Reference Guide [0:00:12] Introduction of Boon Yew Chew [0:02:31] System thinking versus design thinking [0:04:44] The history of systems thinking [0:08:51] Being trained in one framework and finding it incomplete in the real world [0:10:32] Boon explains how he navigated towards systems thinking [0:16:12] When you feel like your goals are clashing with those of others in the organization [0:19:08] On labels, understanding, reducing friction, and acceptance [0:22:16] Enterprise UX 2023 is back! [0:24:19] Boon's Enterprise UX talk is titled “Making Sense of Systems and Using Systems to Make Sense of the Enterprise.” Applied aspects of how UX people are using systems thinking in enterprises [0:27:17] Boon “eats his own dog food” and does “double work” [0:27:52] An example of what success might look like [0:31:45] A summary of how Boon uses systems thinking [0:35:29] Boon's gift for listeners Resources and links from today's episode: • The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization by Peter Senge: https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Discipline-Practice-Learning-Organization/dp/0385517254 • Enterprise UX 2023: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/enterprise-ux-2023/ • Systems Innovation Network, a community of systems practitioners run by systems practitioners: https://www.systemsinnovation.network/

Ren Pope has a passion for all things data, information, and knowledge, and he strives to make them more accessible, organized, and enduring. You may be surprised that this conversation about information architecture takes us back to classic Greek philosophy, specifically ontology, which is concerned with the nature of being—that is, what is real and not real. What is inside a computer cannot be seen, yet it is real in the sense that it has value and can impact reality. And as a modern ontologist, Ren wants to make information accessible and useful. That often starts with assigning names to things—nouns and verbs to label the functions of an organization so that things can be indexed, searched, retrieved, crosslinked, and so that relationships can be defined through metadata. It's a complicated process for small businesses and consultants, and the challenges rise exponentially for enterprises with multiple departments and silos. With 60 years of shared experience, Ren and Lou remember when companies were dependent on Excel Spreadsheets and PowerPoint to manage the complexities of a living and evolving organization (many still are!). Today there are multiple options for organizing both structured and unstructured data, and thanks to ontologists like Ren, the tools are getting better. Lou and Ren's discussion spans from the philosophical to the practical. Ren shares some concrete ways to use ontological thinking in your everyday work: • Find all the nouns and verbs your organization uses to describe its functions. • Define what you are trying to accomplish. • Focus your scope. The narrower the domain, or the more specific the task, the easier your task will be. If you don't have a narrow, well-defined scope, you will probably over-collect data. • Find how the nouns and verbs interact. • Have a method for maintaining your data. Ren will be presenting at the upcoming 2023 Enterprise UX conference June 6-7: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/enterprise-ux-2023/ What you'll learn from this episode: • About classic ontology and how it relates to the digital age • How information architecture has evolved over the last 30 years • What is ontological thinking and how to incorporate it into your work • The relationship between information architects, engineers, and the end user • About the upcoming Enterprise UX Conference in June: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/enterprise-ux-2023/ Quick Reference Guide • [0:00:58] Introduction of Ren Pope • [0:02:17] Ontologist vs information architect vs interactive designer vs knowledge manager • [0:06:00] Ontology within organizations and particular challenges for enterprises • [0:09:50] Metadata for structured and unstructured data • [0:14:01] LLM summaries, single metadata terms, abstracts, summaries – they all have their place and all can work together • [0:18:50] How normal people can benefit from ontology or better IA at an enterprise level • [0:23:28] Data needs to be captured, managed, and represented • [0:27:41] A glimpse of the back-in-the-day solutions, like Excel Spreadsheets and PowerPoint, and how far we've come • [0:29:40] The scale of volume and complexity of the enterprise environment keeps growing. Is technology keeping up? • [0:35:08] Ren's gift to the audience – Mettle Health: https://www.mettlehealth.com

This episode of "UX Leadership by Design," the podcast by and for UX leaders, is brought to you by Fuzzy Math, the award-winning user experience design consultancy. In this episode, our host Mark Baldino chats with Nate Felt, a Senior Product Designer at Amazon, about stakeholder communication and management. As a designer, it's easy to focus on creating great UI and deliverables, but when transitioning to a design leader, communication and selling design ideas become crucial skills. Join us to learn from Nate's experiences and find the right balance between design output and communication.Topics Covered:- Transitioning from a design practitioner to a lead role- Non-traditional paths into UX design- Importance of digital storytelling in UX design- Psychology & counseling skills in UX design- Sales skills in UX design- Collaborating with stakeholders in UX design- Design thinking and problem-solving skills in UX design- Importance of empathy in UX design- The role of UX in the internal partner ecosystem- Identifying champions for UX in different parts of the process- Tips for identifying advocates for UX- The importance of passion and decision-makers in UX advocacy.About our Guest:Nate Felt is a Senior Product Designer at Amazon where he measures human behavior and interaction. Nate's goal is to discern people's motives and goals and he uses this information to help improve the technology we use. In addition to 6 years studying psychology and 6 years studying communication technology, Nate has been in the Bay Area working in UX Design for the past 12 years.    Resources & Links:1. Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience by Tom Greever https://www.amazon.com/Articulating-Design-Decisions-Communicate-Stakeholders-ebook/dp/B08FVV7PDN?ref_=ast_author_dp2. Find & Connect with Nate on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanfelt/Fuzzy Math: fuzzymath.com Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbaldino/

On this episode of "UX Leadership by Design" join host Mark Baldino as he interviews Bryan Garvey, the Associate Director of User Experience and Insights at Radio Systems Corporation. Discover Bryan's multi-year journey in bringing UX design to the company, the crucial role of stakeholder management, and the power of fostering a growth mindset among his team. Hear about the challenges of balancing multiple focuses from E-commerce to marketing to physical product design. Learn why it's important to not get too caught up in titles and instead focus on growing the UX department within the organization. Bryan emphasizes the importance of empathizing with stakeholders and understanding the business. Enhance your UX leadership skills today.Topics covered:1. How to get initial buy-in from stakeholders2. Identifying the right people to back your plans3. Collaborative approach between design and development4. UX design for marketing, websites, apps, to physical product5. How to expand the role and function of your UX tea6. Encouraging a "push mindset" in your team7. Importance of small details to solving design challenges8. The value of evangelizing9. Empathizing with StakeholdersAbout our guest:Bryan first started obsessing over experience details by putting on Star Wars plays in neighborhood backyards. Today he pushes to make things better through research, UX, and industrial design in the world of pet products. In his spare time, he creates different kinds of experiences on live music stages and in the outdoors. Resources & Links:Connect with Bryan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryan-garvey-8a02a313/Book Recommendation: Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-Conversations-Tools-Talking-Stakes/dp/1260474216/Fuzzy Math: fuzzymath.com Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbaldino/

Jim Kalbach shares insights from jazz into collaboration, how experience maps help us navigate design, and why Jobs To Be Done deserves our attention. Highlights include: Why do we confuse ideas with innovation? What does it mean to have ‘big ears' and how is that useful? How do you manage challenges to your recommendations? What gets in the way of effective collaboration? How can Jobs To Be Done help to find the right problems to fix? ====== Who is Jim Kalbach? Jim is the Chief Evangelist and VP of Customer Experience at MURAL, the world's leading digital whiteboard.  Prior to joining MURAL, Jim was a Principal UX Consultant at Citrix Online, and he has also worked in numerous consulting roles for other large companies such, as eBay, SONY, LexisNexis and Razorfish Germany. Somehow, on top of all this, Jim found the time to write three critically acclaimed books: The first, Designing Web Navigation, was published in 2007, followed by Mapping Experiences in 2016 and, most recently, The Jobs To Be Done Playbook in 2020.   While working in Europe, where he spent the first 15 years of his career, Jim co-founded the popular European Information Architecture conferences as well as the leading UX event in Germany - the IA Konferenz.  He has also previously served on the advisory board of the Information Architecture Institute and as an editor for Boxes and Arrows, the popular online journal for user experience, and has graced the stage at TedX, UX Brighton, Enterprise UX, and UX STRAT. ====== Find Jim here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kalbach/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimkalbach Website: https://experiencinginformation.com/  Jim's books: The Jobs To Be Done Playbook: Align Your Markets, Organization, and Strategy Around Customer Needs -  https://amzn.to/3vwdoky Mapping Experiences: A Complete Guide to Creating Value through Journeys, Blueprints, and Diagrams - https://amzn.to/3G9lZ1s Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the User Experience -  https://amzn.to/3IfGah9  ====== Liked what you heard and want to hear more? Subscribe and support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/ ====== Hosted by Brendan Jarvis: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/ Website: https://thespaceinbetween.co.nz/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/brendanjarvis/

What gets you out of bed every morning? Are you excited about making healthcare safer and more secure? Maybe you're passionate about democratizing investment opportunities for the masses. The post 12. Have You Considered Enterprise UX Design? appeared first on Beyond UX Design.

What gets you out of bed every morning? Are you excited about making healthcare safer and more secure? Maybe you're passionate about democratizing investment opportunities for the masses. The post 12. Have You Considered Enterprise UX Design? appeared first on Beyond UX Design.

Joe Preston is currently Vice President of Design for Intuit. Joe leads teams by being hopelessly in love with design and gets energy through helping others through coaching and inspiration.  Prior to Intuit, Joe co-founded a UX design agency, Momentum Design Lab, and worked with companies such as Facebook, Microsoft, AT&T, Mastercard and Verifone. In addition, as a design community leader, Joe organized and led the Enterprise UX meetup group for 6 years across 3 cities. Joe is a proud husband and father of twin daughters and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.  

In this edition of Thoughtcast by Onething, Co-Founder & Design Director Manik is joined by UX Lead Venky, as they sit down to discuss one of the sleeper-gems of the design industry, enterprise UX design. The conversation opens with defining enterprise UX, and its unique space nestled somewhere between the worlds of B2B and B2C. The pair also clarify its differences from platforms such as Slack, and other tools merely utilized by enterprises, rather than being enterprise products.The discussion then shifts to illustrating the importance of enterprise UX through an example; Crisil! Venky breaks down how unifying Crisil's 14 internal platforms was a unique experience, and gave a brilliant window into the vast world of enterprise UX. Furthermore, it illustrated the importance of the vertical, in that even the tech teams launching the product would only have to code 1 product, instead of 14, making it critical to the smooth operations of the business internally.Discussing further, Manik goes on to the importance of enterprises to build custom solutions that are tailored to the needs of all operations, even considering building a product to be used by Team Onething internally, a fascinating prospect.Don't miss out on one of the cornerstones of UX design in enterprise UX, on the latest episode of Thoughtcast by Onething!---​​Join our design communityInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/onething.design/LinkedIn: https://in.linkedin.com/company/onething-designDribbble: https://dribbble.com/onething-design

In episode 31 of The Product Design Podcast, Seth Coelen interviews Jeremy Miller, Senior Staff Experience Architect at GE Aviation! He is also a mentor and a Retro Time Podcast host where they talk about software, from product design to software development, and the soft skills needed to make it in our industry.Jeremy has worked in agency, startup, and large corporate environments throughout his career. During our chat, he let us know what led him to enterprise UX for a large corporation. Jeremy also shares the skills that have helped him climb the ranks and tips for working in a large corporate environment.During our interview with Jeremy you will learn:

SPECIAL MESSAGE: I will match every dollar donated by Brave UX listeners to Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières and their work in Ukraine

From CEOs to entry-level employees, people rely on digital tools at work — tools that are mostly inadequate or even terrible in terms of user experience (UX).  These enterprise UX problems cause their companies to waste time, undermine vital transformations, underserve customers, and risk dangerous mistakes. In this episode, we're joined by Principal Analyst Andrew Hogan […] The post 251: Design For Work — Boost Productivity And Satisfaction By Transforming Enterprise UX (R) appeared first on The CX Cast ® by Forrester.

Lada Gorlenko speaks about researching in high-stress environments, how to effectively engage wth senior executives, and where great enterprise UXers come from. Highlights include: - How do you help your team to let go of perfectionism? - Is enterprise UX boring compared to consumer UX? - What did you learn studying murderers and drug offenders? - How do you involve executives effectively in research?  - What are we not talking enough about in UX Research? ====== Who is Lada Gorlenko? Lada is a Senior Director of Research at MURAL, the digital workspace for visual collaboration that's experienced some crazy growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining MURAL, Lada was the Director of Experience Research at Smartsheet, where she architected and enabled an organisation-wide customer-obsessed culture, while managing a team of UX researchers that supported 15 product pillars and multiple business units.  An organisational psychologist by training, Lada's research career began by working on programmes for the European Commission and European Union, before moving into Enterprise UX, where she started out as a VR Designer for British Telecom in the very-early 2000s.  It was during this time that Lada also co-founded the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), which grew to over 120,000 members. ====== Find Lada here: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ladagorlenko/ ====== Thank you for tuning in! If you liked what you heard and want to support the show, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts (or wherever you listen). Follow us on our other social channels for more great Brave UX content! YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/TheSpaceInBetween/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-space-in-between/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespaceinbetw__n/  ====== Host: Brendan Jarvis https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanjarvis/

Join guest Stephanie Walter to learn about working in Enterprise UX!   Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cvwI-SSXTjY

From CEOs to entry-level employees, people rely on digital tools at work — tools that are mostly inadequate or even terrible in terms of user experience (UX).  These enterprise UX problems cause their companies to waste time, undermine vital transformations, underserve customers, and risk dangerous mistakes. In this episode, we're joined by Principal Analyst Andrew Hogan […] The post 251: Design For Work — Boost Productivity And Satisfaction By Transforming Enterprise UX appeared first on The CX Cast ® by Forrester.

Enterprise UX is the design of holistic working experiences to empower employees in being successful and developing a genuine sense of belonging towards the organization they work for. - It does include software and service design, but it's bigger than that- It's all about workplace design and workforce culture- It's grounded in inclusive design- Functionally, sits at the intersection of IT, HR, corporate strategy and internal commsThis episode will shed some light on what makes enterprise UX different from the well-known, almost-infamous digital experience design applied to end-users. Plus, we'll share with you why you should consider it for your career.TWEET US @design-ers_audio

My guest today is my friend Lou Rosenfeld. Besides publishing books — including my own Living in Information — Lou and his team at Rosenfeld Media organize and manage industry conferences. In this episode, we talk about how they transitioned the recent Advancing Research conference from an in-person to a fully virtual event. Listen to the full conversation   Show notes Louis Rosenfeld Rosenfeld Media @louisrosenfeld on Twitter The Informed Life Episode 1: Louis Rosenfeld on Managing Advancing Research 2020 Conference Some lessons learned from producing a virtual conference by Louis Rosenfeld Zoom Video Webinars Vimeo Cheryl Platz Abby Covert Steve Portigal Natalie Hanson Mailchimp Mural Slack The Brady Bunch title screen Living in Information: Responsible Design for Digital Places by Jorge Arango Hopin IxDA Berlin The User's Journey: Storymapping Products That People Love by Donna Lichaw Meld Studios Enterprise Experience Conference 2020 DesignOps Summit Doctor's Note (Andy Polaine's newsletter) Power of Ten (Andy Polaine's podcast) Informa(c)tion (Jorge Arango's newsletter) Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commission for purchases made through these links. Read the full transcript Jorge: Lou, welcome to the show. Lou: Thanks, Jorge. Glad to be here – again. Jorge: Yeah. Usually I start episodes by asking guests to introduce themselves, but you not only have the distinction of having been our first-ever guest on the show, you now have the double distinction of being the first-ever repeat guest on the show. Lou: Well, Jorge, I'm glad to be a Guinea pig in any of your experiments, so thank you. The remote Advancing Research Conference Jorge: The reason that I thought it would be interesting for us to have another conversation now is that the coronavirus pandemic has driven all sorts of changes in our society, in our economies, and in the way that we work. And among those changes, we are meeting differently, and we are doing things like conferences differently. And you and your team organize conferences and had the experience recently of having to very quickly restructure an event that was scheduled to be live and in-person. And you had to switch it to have it be all online. And I've heard nothing but good things about that experience, and I was hoping that you would tell us how you did it. Lou: Aw, well, thanks. I'm glad you're hearing good things. I mean, the general response among attendees and speakers and sponsors, actually, seem to have been very positive and I'm really grateful for that. I think it's really important that when you say how you did it, that's a… going to be a collective you, not an individual you, because it was really like a Herculean effort. I mean, I call it a moonshot, where we had like a couple of weeks that involved our speakers, our curators, our internal team, a lot of vendors. It was massive. The conference was Advancing Research, and actually it's the first time we've done it. We were going to do it in New York City, and it was programmed, and it was actually sold out five weeks in advance. And then suddenly everything hit the fan or started to, and at first we were going to create a hybrid event of in-person and virtual because New York City was still open for business, and you know, it's still seemed like a lot of people wanted to come in person, and the venue was assuming we were coming, they weren't going to refund our money, or even a part of it – a lot of moving parts. And then ultimately, we went into a new mode where you could not have people in-person at any scale, and, at least some force majeure clauses kicked in and, you know, we still financially took a big bath, but we had a great program. We felt very strongly that people wanted us to continue with it. The speakers had prepared at that point for probably about four months. Because we do extensive program design and then months of speaker preparation once the program is in place, and we didn't feel it was right to cancel for them. Nor did we feel like it was right to cancel for attendees if we could do a virtual event. Changes to the conference So, what did we do? We decided we had to stick to the original two-day schedule for the main program, just single track. And two days was not ideal in terms of keeping people engaged. You know, you're basically running nine hours a day. But we felt like we kind of had to stay true to that on behalf of the attendees. We didn't think it was going to be easy for them to adjust their schedules at that late point now, two, three weeks before the event. So, we kept that together. We'd have also inconvenienced many speakers to change it. And so, I wrote a little article in Medium if people are interested. They can probably just find me by searching my Twitter ID, @louisrosenfeld. I wrote some of the ideas up, but I will tell you a few highlights. One is that it's hugely important to prep speakers for the remote experience. Our speakers were already prepped from a content perspective. They were in great shape, had fantastic talks. But we did two rounds of tech checks to speakers, one the day of, but more importantly, one during the week prior. And you will see, if you're doing a virtual event of any type, that speakers, if they're new to this, they don't know where to stand or sit. You may want to do one or the other. Their faces aren't close enough to the camera in many cases. Their technology is problematic. And so we actually, gave them a credit to order their own equipment. Go get a better mic, that type of thing. At that point, it wasn't always possible for Amazon to turn it around very quickly, but we did our best. Things like lighting, things like what they wore, and also getting them comfortable with the technology. In our case, we used Zoom Webinar. But, not so simple, we actually then streamed a livecast version from Zoom to Vimeo, and then we embedded… it's a little Rube Goldberg, but we embedded the Vimeo stream onto a password protected webpage on our website, conference website. So, we made the content and the livestream exclusive to paid attendees. Not surprising. Having the speakers in Zoom Webinar was comfortable for them. They were mostly comfortable with presenting in Zoom. But when we did the those tech checks, we made sure they were comfortable because I can tell you firsthand that, when I presented remotely, especially early on when Zoom was new for me, I didn't always know where to find that “share screen” button when the, you know, I had that deer-in-the-headlights moment. You may be very experienced in Zoom but there still may be things that you don't have much experience with as a presenter in Zoom. So, we got them comfortable with that. It was nice in Zoom, to not have the attendees there. Attendees are all experiencing things through the livecast. And that made it easier to manage the Zoom space as a space for speakers and curators and the MC. We also found that the signal actually worked pretty well for people consuming the livecasts. There were surprisingly few technical problems. They were almost exclusively due to poor local bandwidth, which is often correctable by plugging into a router directly or getting closer to the router or turning off background apps that suck bandwidth up and just using the right browser. We found that Chrome didn't work well, it didn't play well with Vimeo, surprisingly. Establishing contingencies So, we also put in place like a huge number of contingencies. Like, I got to tell you, the thing that kept me up at night the most was what if… what if Zoom goes down, what if Vimeo goes down? What if our website goes down? What if the speaker's local connection goes down? And we came up with contingency upon contingency. And we only had one problem technically, with one speaker having to go to the contingency because they're local connectivity was suffering. So, I can get into some of those if you like. I will just say this. I would not rely on a recording as a backup. I don't think that's necessary; I don't think it's very good for the speakers, I don't think it's very good for the attendees. I think just having something as simple as the speaker dialing in to Zoom on their phone, or at least using a phone connection with the Zoom client on their phone. Muting that connection, having it ready to go to unmute should their computer crap out and having us ready to run the slides for them was a much better backup plan than having a recording ready to go. So, there's just like a whole bunch of these little persnickety things that we had to learn in two weeks' time. About the team We also had a fantastic MC, Cheryl Platz, who we already had lined up to be our MC. And we got so lucky because she was someone who was very comfortable with being an MC remotely. And she did it like making sure speaker number one got out of the way while she chatted up speaker number two and made sure speaker number two had their screen shared before she went away. So, she was just a fantastic, fantastic MC. Our curators, Abby Covert, as you mentioned, and Steve Portigal, and Natalie Hanson, all did a wonderful job. Our team did a wonderful job operating the whole thing. And it basically allowed the program to really stand up for itself, and the technology didn't get in the way. The sponsor experience I do want to mention one more thing though. We're a company that puts conferences on that really try to appeal to our sponsors. So, I will say, we never let our sponsors call the shots in our program. We've never done pay-for-play. The integrity of our programming efforts is tantamount, critical for us. That said, we want to have sponsors participate. And when we do an in-person conference, we have an expo and sponsors get involved in other ways. In this case, we went to our sponsors two weeks before the show and said, listen, we'll work with you, and we're going to develop a platform for a secondary program of sponsor-led events that would happen before and after the conference each day and during breaks. And we will basically create a webpage and essentially a platform and some support for sponsors. You are the sponsors, here are some ideas. This is your chance to step up, show your support for the community, your thought leadership, highlight your really great ideas, your great content. And Jorge, they really did step up to the plate. In fact, in a way, we had too many sponsor-led activities. We had something like 43 sponsor-led activities over two days. And they were fantastic. Like we've had people saying, I want to get a recording of that great session that MailChimp did or that Mural did, or whatever, and I don't know if you see that happen very much in an in person event that that people are dying for the sponsor's content. And again, it's because you're doing it virtually, the sponsors are pushed in effect to make sure what they're doing is engaging and not just a pitch or no one's going to come. And we opened the sponsor events to our broader community. We have, each of our conferences has an associated community of thousands of people that can participate. So, the sponsors ended up getting better turnout and better engagement than normal because they did, you know, we opened it up, but they also did a great job with their content. Flattening of hierarchies And a lot of our attendees found that the interaction in Slack – this is where the discussion went on – was superior than the interaction they might have in person. The hierarchy was flattened in many cases, introverts were able to ask questions, even of speakers, and interact with each other… Ultimately, in many respects it was a better experience than people might ordinarily get. And the time zones are an issue, but we always make our recordings as well as our sketchnotes and our trip notes and other materials available to attendees after the event, and that was part of the exclusive deal. They got all that content. So, if they missed something, or slept in or didn't want to stay up late, they could go back to it. So, it was a fantastic experience. But now that we have that under our belt and we have two more conferences we're doing this year and some partially clean slate with one and a fully clean slate with the other, we're really excited to try some new ideas out, as well as folding in the experience we had with Advanced Research. Jorge: I want to touch on something that you said there towards the tail end. I'm actually going to mix two things that you said. So, one was about the flattening of hierarchies, because one of the things that I've observed in participating in remote meetings of all sorts, I have noticed that flattening of hierarchy, where all of a sudden it's like there's no place in the physical room where the person is standing in, and this is the speaker, and you are the audience and sitting over here. All of a sudden, everyone is kind of on the same plane literally, everyone's got a little thumbnail, and you are one of many little thumbnails. And I know that when it's a webinar on something like Zoom, you don't see the “Brady Bunch screen, ” but it's almost like everyone's on the same playing field, more so than they are in a physical space. So that's one thing that I wanted to follow up on, particularly in the context of the sponsor experience, because I was super intrigued when you said that sponsors got more… I don't think I'm going to do service to what you said, but the way that I interpreted it is they got more traction on their presentation somehow from folks. And I'm wondering if the fact that in a physical conference, you have space set aside for sponsors – they have their tables, and that's where the sponsors live – and then you have the presentations, which usually happen in some kind of auditorium-like space. But now, everyone's using the same technologies to communicate, and there is this blurring, this potential… I mean, you made the disclaimer. It's like we've always been, you know, very serious about not letting sponsors drive the program. And it strikes me that there's an opportunity here for potentially blurring the lines between those that doesn't exist in the real world just by the very nature of the places where we're meeting, no? Lou: Well, yeah. I think that's a really good point, and it makes me think of sponsored search results versus organic ones and how you differentiate them. We, as you might expect that we would always err toward being clear:** here are sponsor-led activities. They're optional. They're part of the program in a sense, but they're not. These are not the speakers we've spent the last four or five months prepping, but this has a role and this helps make things feasible for us as a business and you know, one of the really interesting things about this, though it comes back to actually you, Jorge, and the book you wrote for us Living In Information, because I thought a lot about the metaphor of designing place, especially as we put together these sponsor places. Zoom Lounges Zoom already has, like, we did the sponsor events in Zoom, but with Slack channels – and we're going to take a slightly different approach in the future – but, regardless, we got kind of mucked up by Zoom's sort of uneven use of the place metaphor. I mean, you have Zoom rooms and you have Zoom, I don't know, events, and Zoom spaces… Honestly, they're not really clear, and I find that a lot of people, myself included, abuse the terminology that Zoom would like us to use because it doesn't really make sense. I want to call these things Zoom Rooms, but that's a product, that's a specific product. So, we ended up calling the sponsor Zoom areas, “Zoom Lounges,” which are places, they're places that are part of the bigger place, namely the entire conference – I'll come back to that term in a minute – but they had a different flavor. A lounge is not a place that you will necessarily have to… it's a place that you can relax in a way you can still learn and still interact. Some of the sponsor activities were completely interactive, some were, happy hours, and a trivia contest but they were not classrooms and they were not auditoriums. I was actually, you know, along these lines, looking at the Hopin platform last week, because I was a sponsor at IXDA Berlin, and they used the Hopin platform as Zoom alternative. And that's been designed around the place metaphor for events much more concretely, and they have an expo area that we were in, and they have a number of other uses that really kind of run ahead with the place metaphor and there's a bunch of problems with it – we can get into that if you like – but I really thought a lot about your ideas when we were putting this together and it's the second time one of our books has really resonated well for us in conference design. The other is Donna Lichaw's A User's Journey and trying to have a narrative arc to how the events unfold over time. Navigating uncertainty Jorge: Another thread that I wanted to pull on in what you said has to do with how you and the amazing team that helped you put this conference on, how you navigated this period of uncertainty. I'm placing myself back to that time, which seems like a long time ago, even though it wasn't that long ago. Lou: Another world, Jorge. Jorge: Yeah. Well, it was the moment when we were starting to step through this weird portal that we've stepped through or are stepping through still. Right? And it was a moment where we didn't know…. there was a lot of uncertainty. Like we didn't know if people are going to be able to fly. We didn't know if people in this city over here are going to be dealing with it differently than those of us over here, right? I have family abroad. And I talk with them every week and I can compare notes with how they're dealing with the situation and how we're dealing with the situation. And I could tell that everyone was coming to the same conclusions, but not everyone was coming to it at the same times. And when you're trying to coordinate an event that is going to rely on people traveling, I would expect that it would have been tremendously stressful. And I'm wondering if there are any tools, processes, approaches that helped you and your team come to the decision eventually to transition to a fully online conference, even though I don't think it was a given perhaps at the time when you were starting those conversations no? So, can you think back to what it was like making that decision? Lou: About that pivot? Oh, I don't know that there was any one thing that guided us. I think that was part of the difficulty, was this sensation of the sand shifting under your feet every 15 minutes. So to give you an example of that, while we were still in the assumption that we were going to run a hybrid event, last month, and not go fully virtual, there were about three or four days in a row where I drafted a communication to our attendees who had already registered, explaining to them what was going to happen and how it was going to work. Before I could send it, that would change, and then it changed again. And then finally, all right, we're going to go full virtual. We have no choice now. Change again, and it was exhausting. It was just, oh my God, we don't even, we can't keep up with these changes. So, that was the hard part, psychologically. I think once we knew we could only do a virtual event, we were committed to doing it for the reasons I mentioned earlier that, you know, attendees had already booked it, although not all of them want to go forward with the virtual event. I think, 90 or 85% still wanted to do it. And the speakers have already done all their work. It didn't feel like it was fair to them, and we felt like it was just going to be a fantastic event programmatically, which it was, to be honest. So, at that point it was, okay, we don't really have to think, we have to do. It's not an emotional thing anymore. We have a point on the calendar we have to be ready for, and let's just work weekends and nights and we'll get it done. And we did. I'd say, if it was a day earlier, it would have been a lot harder. It just seemed like maybe that's the psychology of how you use your time, and we just managed to get it in, in the nick of time. I don't know. Maybe it's just the way these things work, no matter how much time you have. I was talking with Steve Baty and I probably am mispronouncing her first name, Janna DeVylder at Meld, in Sydney, and they were putting on one of their events, not UX Australia, but a different one, and I think they had one or two days and they pulled it off. Well, here's one of the stressors. So, I also know people who were doing events in May. I would rather not have had one or two days to pull it off because you won't learn as much. You're just going to throw it in Zoom and hope for the best. And they did a great job, but there was very little they could do in terms of trying new things and thinking it through. Or you do it you know, where there's… we're talking about back in March, if you have a May horizon, by time May rolls around, the expectations are going to be much higher and the economics remain uncertain. So, I'm really glad our event wasn't in May or April for that matter. We had just enough time pull it off and still keep our attendees. Jorge: So, what I'm hearing there is that folks may have been more forgiving because they knew how short of a timeframe you had to pull things together. Lou: Yes Tweaks for future events Jorge: So, with that in mind, do you have thoughts on what aspects of the experience you're going to tweak for the next events? Because those are happening further in the future, right? Lou: Right. So, the next one we have is Enterprise Experience used to be known as Enterprise UX. This'll be the sixth one, and it's taking place August 31st through September 3rd. It was originally going to be in San Francisco, and now it is virtual of course. And the program has already been created, it was originally designed, like most of our main programs, two-day, single track. We're now going to have it as a four-day, shorter days, each day, it's like a mini conference, each day has a very strong theme. And we'll allow people to go to one, two, three, or four days. And you know, so there's a lot of sort of how you take something that was designed to flow over two days and make it flow over four days. And that's where things like the narrative arc are really important to consider. How do you keep people engaged? Not just in the middle, but in the beginning and the end, and hopefully they register for all four days. The other conference we have is Design Ops Summit. It'll be the third one of those… no, the fourth one of those. And that's going to be in October. Again, it'll be virtualized. It was originally going to be here in New York. And we're just starting that from scratch. So, we get all three scenarios, something that we can't really change, something that's been programmed, but we can move the sessions around, and then something that has a complete clean slate. The thing that we're going to really work on with both of them, there's a few little things, like having attendee troubleshooting tech check sessions before the conference starts a couple of different times to make sure they can get in so they're not late for the conference because they're having a problem getting in. More importantly though, is working in a different mode with sponsors to emphasize quality over quantity in their engagement. So not 43 sessions, but maybe 15 really high-quality sessions. And not that there was anything low quality, but at a certain point there's too much. So, you want to really focus on, you know home runs for every session that sponsors do. We also are going to be experimenting with a mode for, again, taking your concept of designing digital places, and create a place or a series of rooms for attendees to attend the conference the whole time together, and to do so based on a number of big ideas. So, it could be affinity groups. We'll have to assemble them in advance. You're all from the same industry, or you're working on the same type of problem, and we'll put you together with people like you and with a facilitator. Or, it's your team from your organization who wants to attend together, or you just want to be matched with random people. Either way, they will all be facilitated, you'll get together before the conference kicks off, you'll have an opportunity to meet the other people in your room and you will, together with your facilitators, help figure out what are the things you want to learn over the coming days. And you may check in during each conference and at the very end of the conference, you'll get back together with your crew in your room. And it could be you be figuring out what you learned, figure out what you might not have learned, and see if there's anything you want to do together after the conference. So, we're building an infrastructure to help people do that. It's not too complex, but it's not simple. The easy part is the technology. The hard part will be figuring out who to connect with whom and to make sure they're well facilitated. But that's like, so exciting, like we can then take that model and take it to the in-person events. In fact, you know, one of the things we'll do in the future, I don't think we're ever not going to have a conference that's virtual. I do think we're going to have hybrids, and I'm really also excited by the models we're coming up with to make a hybrid in-person and virtual event work even if we're still in the age of social distancing come 2021. Closing Jorge: That sounds super exciting Lou. Where can folks go to find out more about the upcoming events? Lou: Oh, just go to RosenfeldMedia.com. And, if they really are interested in our three events and want to either first to know when tickets go on sale, especially the cheap tickets or apply for scholarships or even pitch a talk, the way we communicate those is through the corresponding communities we've created for each of our conferences. For those reasons alone, we think you'll want to join whether you're interested in enterprise experience, advancing research, or design operations. But each of those communities, besides having those kinds of connections to the conferences, each has a monthly video conference call where we have a guest presenter or facilitator. And we get some amazing people to lead discussions because we're trying to keep the conversation going between the annual events, the other 360-odd days a year. And so, we have these fantastic, like we had a session with Kamdyn Moore and Kristin Skinner and Alison Rand for Design Ops community. I think it was about two, three weeks ago… we had 240 people participate. That's fantastic. Laura Klein, we had I think 110 people for the Enterprise Experience conversation we had a week or so ago. We do one a month for each community and it's all free. Go to RosenfeldMedia.com, check out communities. You'll see them and, Hey! We love this model; it makes really great sense at this stage of pandemic. And so, we're ramping up to do more. Jorge: Well, fantastic. Lou. I'm going to include links to those in the show notes. Thank you so much for being with us today. Lou: Hey, it's my pleasure. And I'm so happy not only that you bothered to have me on not once, but twice, but that you're doing this. It's one of the… you and Andy Polaine are doing two of the most interesting newsletters and also podcasts. And I just find what you guys are up to so interesting, and it's hard work. I know you put a lot into both the newsletter and the podcast, and I just want to thank you for doing it. Even if you didn't have me on it, I would be grateful. It's just wonderful information you're putting together and making available to the world, and I hope everyone is smart enough after I pitched it to at least sign up for your newsletter if they haven't already. And obviously they're already listening to the podcast, so they know that's great. Thanks again, Jorge, glad to be part of it. Jorge: Thank you Lou, I appreciate that.

This week I had the privilege of speaking with Bansi Metha the Founder and CEO of Koru in India.We talk about her never ending mission to humanize enterprise UX, and what it takes to run a business, even when the odds are staked against you at times.Follow Koru Instagram: @koruuxdesignCheck out the Koru website: https://www.koruux.comConnect with Bansi Mehtas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bansi-mehta/-Feel free to stalk the Experience Design podcast on Instagram at @xdpodcast-As always thank you for listening, and if you enjoy what you're hearing, please share with your friends and co-workers :)-AND If you are feeling EXTRA inspired, I would love for you to check out my Patreon page here: https://patreon.com/xdpodcast#staycuriousSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/xdpodcast)

Today I'm joined by my friend MJ Broadbent. As a graphic facilitator and recorder, MJ uses visual thinking to help people communicate more effectively. In this episode, we talk about how drawing can help folks understand each other and make everyday life more joyful. Listen to the full conversation https://theinformeddotlife.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/the-informed-life-episode-16-mj-broadbent.mp3 Show notes MJ Broadbent MJ Broadbent on Twitter MJ Broadbent on Instagram MJ Broadbent on Flickr MJ Broadbent on LinkedIn Mike Rohde Sketchnote Army blog Rosenfeld Media events Enterprise Experience conference DesignOps Summit Pictionary IPEVO document cameras Landau Chartworks Franklin Planners Bullet Journal MJ's Stanford Continuing Studies course Read the full transcript Jorge: MJ, welcome to the show. MJ: Hi Jorge. Thank you for inviting me. Jorge: Oh, thank you for being here. It's good to have you here. Why don't you tell us about yourself? MJ: Wow, that's always an interesting question. I'm an emergent designer. I've studied graphic design, and my career and my way of forging through life has just been completely emergent. I really love to use visual explanations and I think the common overarching theme in terms of the work that I do and have done and looking at doing as I continue is, is connecting people with information in whatever manner that may be. It was originally traditional graphic design and then it became digital space and the nonlinear experience that were websites and apps and software. And then it became how do people… What kind of information do they need when they're being bombarded with information? And so I began to do graphic recording and sketchnoting and so forth and teaching people that really we can do that kind of visual sense-making on our own and with other people by reclaiming our innate human capability of drawing things, of making marks, just the way we write letters, we can write other symbolic language that demonstrate what it is that we're thinking and hearing. Jorge: I've known you for a while now and we've interacted in professional contexts where you've worked in large corporations and we've also interacted in things like conference spaces. And my picture of you in conference spaces has you seated at the back of the room when someone is presenting, capturing the presentation in beautiful — what I guess what are, they're called sketchnotes — but these kind of visual representations of what the speaker is talking about. And it's a mix of like words and pictures, right? MJ: Mm-hmm (affirmative). It's right. Jorge: Is that what you mean by graphic recording? MJ: It is. The term graphic recording in the professional community of practice is generally understood to be someone who is scribing or writing in real time. Graphic recording is thought of as the large scale poster sized or you know, big boards, white boards or large format paper that might be on the wall or on a whiteboard or something that's visible to the participants in a meeting or in a conference room. And the actions are very similar with sketchnoting, which is a term coined by the wonderful designer Mike Rohde, who runs a blog called the Sketchnote Army. And it's just become hugely popular in the recent period of time — I would say, well, a decade or more — as a form of visual expression concurrent with the idea and the cognitive science that when we as human beings make marks on paper, most people have greater recall of the content, whether they're making meaningful marks, that represent content that's coming into their ears and their consciousness or whether they're making abstract marks like crosshatching them in the margin. For me, I am able — I've curated — an ability to listen and choose what it is that I would want to write down to capture what I'm hearing. It's a very personal curation that one does one listening and scribing because it's very different from a court reporter or somebody who's capturing or any kind of true recording where you're capturing all of the fidelity. How we're recording right now is capturing everything and we could get a transcript and that would include everything we say. Graphic recording and sketchnoting by nature of the fact that you're using your hand, you can't possibly write it all. So you have to choose. And I tell people the way that I choose is really same way we think about what level of content fidelity we need in order to communicate. To whom? Am I making this for myself? Am I making this for other people? What is the communication act that I want to achieve through this? So I'm intentional. Sketchnoting conferences — and I've had the good fortune to do sketchnoting for Lou Rosenfeld's events, Enterprise UX, which recently became Enterprise Experience, and the DesignOps conference as part of the support team. So I'm listening and I'm drawing the taste, like kind of the tip of the iceberg. Kind of key moments. Some of it is coming from the slides. Some of it is those interesting fun voiceovers that the speaker has or something that's happening in the conversation that might not otherwise be caught, a key quote or a joke. And sometimes they are words and sometimes they're visuals. And what's nice is for these conferences, there's a body of work that people can look back on — people who were there can look back on and say, “Oh yeah, I remember those key points.” Or, ” Which talk was it that I heard that theme or that particular concept?” And they can look back and quickly see where that was. They can also look at the arc of the whole thing over a period, you know, a set of, I think there's ten pages for a two day conference and say, ” Where do I want to highlight?” Or maybe a trip review, if I'm going back and talking about my experience of the conference, I can say, ” here's a talk.” It's a visual people could use for their teams, just to summarize what it is that was there and add their own thoughts. And then for people who were not able to attend a conference, they can look at what generally went on there very quickly and perhaps make a determination about where they want to invest time in looking at the videos that are available after the fact. That's a key piece of information management, to the main theme of your work and your podcast. That I think, my gosh, so much information is flowing at us. How in the world do we decide where to go back when we missed something? We have… I know I have tons of intention. I've tons of email that I've marked, I've flagged and I need to pay attention to and it's really hard to go back in time if you don't catch something in the moment and take care of it just then, it becomes more effort to go back. So I find that the sketchnoting is tremendous for that purpose. Being able to very quickly visually summarize or assess something. Jorge: I'm thinking that folks might be wondering if it's faster to draw than it is to write. MJ: That's a great question. And the way that I think about it, I started to allude to it earlier. I teach basic drawing or drawing skills for those who say, “They can't draw.” And I do this in a variety of ways. I've done it in a lot of workshops and conferences and it's part of a design thinking curriculum that I'm currently facilitating inside of enterprise. If anybody's ever played the game Pictionary — most people have had some experience with it — it's basically visual charades, very, very simple based on a word or phrase. And the way you win is that have to represent that object or that concept as quickly as possible. And this is the underlying principle in the drawing. Drawing it… By drawing, I mean the act of, of putting a stylus or a pen to a surface, you know, whether it's digital or it's analog. You're making marks, and those marks need to have a meaning. If you're not skilled at quickly drawing a horse and you can much more quickly write the word horse, and you're in a time situation, you're gonna write the word horse. What happens with people who can draw imagery or iconography or any kind of other symbolic representation is that they've developed the ability to make that thing, that representation, really quickly. Where they might say, “I'm going to come back in the break and add a couple of things in.” And generally there's a little bit of finishing work that will happen maybe in the five, ten, fifteen minutes afterwards. You can do some couple of embellishments and kind of finish it up. Letters are visual symbols that form words that form sentences, that form paragraphs. And we can do that similar thing with other kinds of verbal representational language, visual language. Jorge: I know that you do this for conferences and I believe that you also do it for meetings and let's say… a presentation in a conference is a structured argument, right? MJ: Right. Jorge: And one of the keys I think to this type of work, if it's going to serve the filtering or summarization purpose that you brought up earlier, one of the keys to it is bringing out the right visual hierarchy so that the main points somehow draw your attention. And can you talk a little bit about the differences of doing this in a more structured setting such as a conference versus a less structured setting? MJ: Absolutely. That's a great one, and I think you articulated it very well. In fact, at conferences we've all experienced — those of us who've attended any conference — have experienced that some speakers have highly structured, “here's how I'm going to tell you three things or six things.” Or they have really clear visual aids that help mark those chapters or themes or key points. Others are very good at storytelling and some speakers will use no visuals at all and they're really just creating a story arc that we don't know how planned it is or how extemporaneous it is. So it can vary quite a bit even in a structured setting such as a conference. When people are having less structured conversation — and I do support executive briefings, for example at several corporations — and so there are big decision makers exchanging information and time is very valuable, so it can easily go from a structured, “here's our capabilities” to “let's talk about how that serves your particular need” you know, customer, who's a visiting customer. And so I will typically go to a different format where I'm wanting to capture key aspects of the back and forth. And I'll just use two different colors and I will tend to use less imagery. So it presents more like a dialogue. And you can see by the color which party is speaking. So it becomes more like the Q&A that you would see at the bottom of anything. You know, the letter Q and the letter A are there, so you can distinguish which, or an interview transcript, that kind of thing. And so I'm not capturing everything that's there, but at least there's a record of the nature of the conversation and particularly if there's excitement about something that relates back to a theme or capability that's been discussed before. I can link that, I can visually link that on the chart, the chart being what we call the drawing itself, the physical artifact. So it can be challenging and especially if you don't… Managing space when you don't know how long or how deep something's going to go. When I'm doing graphic recording on large format, it's much more freeing because we'll start the day, the start the meeting with a pretty large piece of paper. And if you don't use it all, you can trim it. I'm working on a smaller format in sketchnoting, which is typically a personal size of notebook of some kind , it's either in your lap or it's on a table in front of you or on a workspace that's right in front of you so that people around you can see it. But generally the whole of the room or the audience does not see it until after, until you publish it. So that's another distinction about the size. Graphic recording — the large scale version — can be very valuable for meetings and conferences because people see that it's happening and they can watch in meetings, they can see that they're being heard and that, that they're being paid attention to. And it can change the dynamic of the conversation. They become more focused often, and they feel cared for in a way. There's somebody taking this, this step, this action and that there will be an artifact afterward. So a lot of just times we're in rooms where people are doing a lot of talking and maybe someone's taking notes. Mostly people are looking at what do we need to do coming out of this meeting? And then maybe capturing action items, but the capturing the content or the key aspects of what's being discussed, is something that I think we can do more of. Jorge: You've been talking about paper and notebooks and that brings up another question that I had about your process, which has to do with the mechanics of the actual drawing. I assume that you are drawing on paper as opposed to digitally, right? MJ: Presently I continue to really love the pen on paper, whatever scale is, and I have a lot of different pens, love them all. There's a trend right now and lately with the greater software and app capability to do this on tablets and people… It's just more portable. And I have not fully embraced it yet. I think I have a mental block about working on a screen. We spend so much time with screens. But there are folks who are doing it and I'm excited to continue exploring it because it's just, it's a different way of working. I did recently get an overhead camera. There are many makers, the one I happened to get was IPEVO. And it allows me to connect the camera to my computer and demonstrate to somebody who's not next to me or to a group of people, I can draw analog and it's projected basically onto the screen, large or small. I'm pretty excited about that because it's a little bit of a work around in terms of how do I get to show my work or demonstrate something in action when the human beings are distributed. Jorge: As for the “final deliverable,” to, say, your clients or when the conference has finished, for example, do you photograph the drawings and share them that way? Or how do they make their way from the paper world to the digital world? MJ: That's a great question. Typically for sketchnotes, I will photograph them initially so that I can put them on social media and publish them quickly. So they go out to attendees in Slack or on Twitter or on Facebook or anywhere. And then what I will do for the final deliverable to make PDFs, or in the case of Rosenfeld, they put PDFs on the website next to each of the speakers in the program. So they're stuck there… And they are not stuck there, but they're published there. And before that I will do high resolution scans and make sure that the lighting is even, and the colors are even and so forth. And it's a quick flatbed scan and don't spend a lot of time doing, you know, photoshopping or anything. But just a quick, quick scan. And then same thing goes for the big paper versions. There's a specialty shop that does very large format scanning and digital posts. And then you can have an image, a jpeg or a pdf. And those go to the client and the paper original goes back to wherever it would best serve the folks who generated the content. Jorge: That's great. I wasn't aware of the large format scanning piece of these. That's good to know. MJ: Kind of tremendous. There's a firm, happens to be local to us here in the bay, but they do work for people all over the world, and nice, really great folks. It's Landau Chartworks. Jorge: So I'm wondering how, if any, this way of working influences the way that you manage your own information. So things like commitments to yourself and others. I would expect that like taking notes for your own purpose, like this would play into it, but beyond that, how has it changed the way that you manage your own information? MJ: Oh my goodness, this is… That's a huge topic. Yes. It… Where do I go first? I make visual lists. I do when I sit down and I want to think about something. Last year I did a kind of a, “let me look back on the arc of the different ways I've been a professional in the world.” And I took a big piece of paper and I started thinking about how to organize it. So I did… This was not a straight up graphic design and visual communication, how might I make a PowerPoint slide type of a, an inquiry, a visual inquiry. It was a more organic, “what do I notice about the cycles and themes of the way that I've been making visual sense of things?” So ways that I use drawing and sketchnoting and basically words and pictures in my everyday life to… One of the ways I enjoy using it most is making little notes, little post it notes. And that can be for myself or for my domestic partner or, you know, on something in the refrigerator or on a food item that I have put in a bowl for a gift. You know, I make some interesting lettering, get some cool pens. Recently I got some new black jeans and you have to watch out when you wash them. You don't put light-colored things in there because you know, the dye will leach. And so I made a note to make sure to use cold water and I made the big blue cold with the waves underneath, like kind of just as a reminder. So I'm… That's kind of fun. And then also a really cool way is on a little simple calendar or paper calendars on the refrigerator. And sometimes I'll put a little drawing of something that happened that day. The way people make journals. Yeah. Maybe it was the weather or something you ate. Just drawing simple little icons, or you know, I keep colored pens around the house. We have cups of pens everywhere and so that's keeping it fun. And it's always nice when somebody else is involved. They enjoy it. It's like how we used to be about getting paper mail, getting a letter in the mail. And then, I think the other part is, in terms of how I manage my life, I can't have a conversation with people in, in person, often cannot have a conversation without drawing something. So I keep, I keep pens in my bags and I want to make sure that I have the ability to (unintelligible) and sketch something out, the napkin sketch type of thing. When I was working at GE Digital, I really would just walk around with my laptop and a pad of paper or some stack of printer paper and I'm just drawing things and talking about. Show what I mean or listen to other people and say, “Is this what you mean?” And get into a conversation with them about it. Jorge: You know there was a while back — many, many moons ago as they say — I used to use the a Franklin Planner… MJ: Yes. Jorge: … to keep track of things like meetings and to do's and stuff like that. And there was this kind of tactile pleasure to using this thing. And it was a big bulky thing that I had to drag around in my bag, but I remember that I spent perhaps too much time looking into things like page templates for that thing and being very mindful about where certain things went. Like I would keep track of to do's in one section of the thing and appointments in another. So digital has completely taken over from things like the Franklin Planner, but there's been an interesting phenomenon. Over the past, I would say five years or so, I've noticed that there's been a resurgence in folks keeping track of things and I'm thinking of things like the bullet, um, I think it's called The Bullet Journal? MJ: Yes. Jorge: Where folks have rediscovered the pleasures — the tactile pleasures — of keeping track of this sort of information in an analog format. And when I hear you talk about the various pens that you use when you talked about like, “Well, you know, I did the blue pen the word cool, and I did the little wave,” like to me, that speaks of this… This tangible aspect to drawing with pen and paper, which digital just cannot capture. Yet, at least. I'm wondering if you have thoughts on that or if you can tell us about the pens that you — because you've talked several times about the pens and how much you like the pens… MJ: Oh my gosh. Well, yes, but here's the thing. I'm gonna make an analogy to our ability, the way that we navigate ourselves literally through space, and we use Apple Maps or Google Maps, or when do we need to go from point a to point b, we say, “Please, please computer, tell me how to go.” And then we follow those directions. And then we have no, literally no memory other than maybe the physical experience of, of going through space and maybe whatever you noticed along the way. If you have good visual recall, you might say, “Oh yeah, I remember passing this street and that street,” because you saw the sign. But you could not recreate that because it wasn't memorable, and you didn't … The amount of control that you had, was a little more passive than if you had to look, consult a paper map and create a turn list or create some kind of notes to yourself as you would drive or navigate or walk to the place. And so what we're talking about is a kind of, it's not stickiness in terms of attention, but it's stickiness in terms of memory. And so when you make — this is back to my earlier point of when you physically make marks — and you're being intentional about it, you're saying, “I'm, you know, I want to put this or that onto the surface, the paper, or the tablet or the…” And that's where it gets blurry in the digital space. If you're drawing on a tablet, and you're choosing the thickness and the color and the scale and the hierarchy and you're creating something there, I think that still is just as good, just as meaningful, as if you're doing it on paper because you're in charge, and you're putting it there. What we're talking about is, what's going on for you behaviorally and cognitively with this act? How is it affecting your interpersonal relationships? If it's involving other people, which typically it would be… Well, it doesn't matter. It can be with yourself. If I sit down with a piece of paper, and I want to make sense of something for myself, I tell people, this is one of the things that goes on in my workshops, you're going to have a different relationship with your ideas and with your thinking if you externalize it onto the paper, than if you keep it in your head. I'm not saying it's better, it's just different. I mean it can be better. I think it's better, but it's not, it's not a judgment call. And then if you're going to have a conversation with somebody else, or you're in a conversation, and you're not sure or you want to be sure that you are communicating effectively, drawing anything, drawing scratchy marks and a couple of labels or if it's a model, or it's a plan… Well it could be any subjects. It's going to be easier for you to have accord with the person, agreement. And both of you come away from it, or the multiple of you go, come away from it with a shared understanding. I don't think you know about this, but I'm excited to be taking these concepts into a new course that's going to be offered at Stanford Continuing Studies this fall. And it's taking the need for collaboration — for effective collaboration — that is, that takes people in meetings or in rooms or in conversations and they're speaking words , to make it tangible. To use this very simple, Pictionary-like visual language, which in the course description we're calling Simple Sketching, and to use them in facilitating group communication. So this is going to be six sessions on Wednesday evenings starting September 25th. And we're going to look at how do you do that? How can you listen and draw and engage and make people focus in a way that gives them much more satisfaction and much more traction and allows people to see, who we're not there to see what happened. It allows people who were there to have a common frame of reference and empowers everybody to be doing happier, more focused work. Jorge: That's fantastic. Congratulations. MJ: Thank you. Jorge: And it's also a great summary of what we've been talking about thus far. So I think that's a good place to wrap up our conversation. So, where can folks find out more about you? MJ: I can be found on almost every social media platform at, @mjbroadbent. So I'm on Twitter, on Instagram, on Flickr, and my domain is mjbroadbent.com. I'll be putting information about the upcoming course and some other meetups that I'm supporting into these places. Jorge: Fantastic. Well, thank you so much. It's been a pleasure talking with you. MJ: Thank you, Jorge, for your excellent work around information, which is critical.

Design Sprint is an extremely productive five-day framework for solving design problems. Not only it returns immediate results, but it also gets everyone on the same page and brings the best ideas to the surface. Our guest today is Jonathan Courtney, CEO and founder of AJ&Smart. You'll learn what makes sprints so effective, what exactly happens during these five days, and how to get started with your next client. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes AJ&Smart — Jonathan's design agency Sprint — the original book by Jake Knapp Follow AJ&Smart on YouTube for hours of free instructional videos on the topic of Design Sprint RealtimeBoard — a tool for remote collaboration Episode 63: Enterprise UX for Distributed Teams with Brent Heckerman — our previous episode on RealtimeBoard Lightning Decision Jam — how to run a shorter design sprint workshop Follow Jonathan on Instagram: @jicecream Product Breakfast Club — Jonathan's podcast with Jake Knapp Use promocode UIBREAKFAST to get €500 off the Design Sprint Masterclass Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Abstract — design workflow management for product design teams using Sketch. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @uibreakfast mentioning the show, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan. Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

My guest today is Lou Rosenfeld. Alongside Peter Morville, Lou wrote the seminal book Information Architecture for the World Wide Web — also known as the polar bear book. In 2005, he founded Rosenfeld Media, where he and his team amplify user experience expertise through conferences and books, including my own Living in Information. In this conversation we talk about how Lou manages information to effectively coordinate the various workstreams at his company, including the upcoming Enterprise Experience conference. Listen to the full conversation https://theinformeddotlife.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/the-informed-life-episode-1-lou-rosenfeld.mp3   Show notes Information Architecture for the Web and Beyond (4th Edition), by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jorge Arango Rosenfeld Media Gmail Apple Stickies.app Sanebox Facebook Andrew Hinton on Twitter Zoom Enterprise Experience 2019 conference Enterprise UX community

UX-radio is a podcast about Information Architecture, User Experience and Design. Hosts Lara Fedoroff and Chris Chandler share inspiring conversations with industry experts. JJ Kercher has 20 years of experience as a designer and product strategist. She is currently the Head of Customer Experience for Real Estate at AppFolio, where she leads a team of designers and researchers passionate about creating excellent customer interactions. AppFolio’s Customer Experience team strives for consistency and continuity across devices within the product, and at every touchpoint across the entire customer journey from sales to product on-boarding to support and loyalty. This episode is based on her talk at Enterprise UX about the Design Maturity model.

As an organization and its products expand, so do the complexities of making sure that that there’s a consistent user experience. How do you accomplish that across multiple teams and locations? Lou talks with Nathan Curtis of EightShapes about his workshop at Enterprise UX 2018, Scalable Design Systems, and how having a design framework bridges the gap between teams and creates a cohesive customer experience. Follow Nathan Curtis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanacurtis

Pressure keeps mounting for designers to be more than just designers. What can you do if you find yourself serving as the intermediary between different departments? Dan Brown talks with Lou about his workshop Facilitation for Designers and shares the habits, behaviors, and techniques you can bring into your own practice. Sign-up for Dan’s workshop, Facilitation for Designers, at Enterprise UX 2018: https://rosenfeldmedia.com/eux2018/sessions/facilitation-for-designers/ Follow Dan Brown on Twitter: https://twitter.com/brownorama

What happens when you take apart the individual pieces that make up the design of your organization? And, more importantly, how do you make it better? That’s where Organizational Design comes into play. Lou chats with Adam Connor, VP of Organizational Design at Mad*Pow and author, about his upcoming workshop at Enterprise UX 2018, Transformation by Design. Transform your enterprise at Enterprise UX 2018: http://enterpriseux.net/ Follow Adam Connor on Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamconnor Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

Enterprises present complex challenges for designers and, really, everyone in a large org. Lou talks with Dick Buchanan about his pioneering work around the “fourth order of design,” and how design and systems thinking are related. Learn why Richard believes enterprises are the ultimate design challenge. Join Dick at Enterprise UX 2018: http://enterpriseux.net/ Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

UX practitioners have been struggling for years to communicate the value of UX but our guest, JD has taken it even further to develop an Enterprise UX ROI. In this interview we’ll try to figure out how she may have cracked this code. UX-radio offers podcasts about Information Architecture, User Experience and Design. Inspiring conversations with industry experts and hosts Lara Fedoroff and Chris Chandler.

Big data is getting its fifteen minutes of fame - but where does qualitative data fit in, if at all? Lou talked with Tricia Wang, co-founder of Sudden Compass, about the importance of integrating qualitative and quantitative data, and why the only way to successfully scale an enterprise org is to bring back the human element. Tricia is our Scale theme leader at Enterprise UX 2018 Conference and introduces the lineup of speakers. Follow Tricia Wang on Twitter: https://twitter.com/triciawang Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

Everyone has a story to tell, and UX practitioners are no exception. Lou talked with seasoned UX consultant Dan Willis about his role as the Storytelling Curator at the Enterprise UX Conference. Dan discusses the process that speakers go through to join the pantheon of past Enterprise UX Conference Storytellers - and how you can be part of this amazing tradition. Apply to be a Storyteller at this year’s Enterprise UX: https://rfld.me/EUX2018story Follow Dan Willis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/uxcrank Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

When it comes to investing, most people think of dollars. But if you work in enterprise tech, you must invest in your people or your budget gets squandered. Amy Marquez, Manager of the Alexa Personality Experience team at Amazon, shares how you can better invest in people. And gives a sneak peek into what you can expect to hear about investing at the Enterprise UX 2018 conference. We’d love to see you at this year’s Enterprise UX conference: http://enterpriseux.net/ Follow Amy Marquez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/amymarquez Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

A large organization operating online steps required to define how it manages digital politics: that’s how Facebook happens. Digital governance ensures large organizations can scale in ways that meet ethical standards. Lou talks with Lisa Welchman, digital governance expert and author, who explains the two big factors that lead to governance failures. Learn more about digital governance at Enterprise UX 2018: http://enterpriseux.net/ Follow Lisa Welchman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lwelchman Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

We know we should have good communication skills, but what does that look like in an enterprise UX environment? In this episode, Margot Dear, Senior Director of User Experience at ADP, gives an overview of the different facets of communication. Hear about how she uses journey mapping to make a difference to talking to C-level execs. Finally, Margot gives a sneak peek into what you can expect to learn about communicating at Enterprise UX 2018. We’d love to see you at this year’s Enterprise UX conference: http://enterpriseux.net/ Follow Margot Dear on Twitter: https://twitter.com/madgeodear Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

How do you build enterprise-level products while keeping ethics and diversity at the forefront of your process? Eduardo Ortiz, Product Designer of Siberia introduces the 3 experts who will speak about their experience developing ethical products within the enterprise environment at the Enterprise UX 2018 conference. Join us at Enterprise UX: http://enterpriseux.net Follow Eduardo Ortiz on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eduardoortiz Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

In Episode 9, we talk inclusion riders, the importance of pronouns, and how all of us can better support folks from marginalized communities. If there’s one thing we’re sure of, it’s that we’ve got to stick together—and that means supporting and centering the voices of folks with less opportunity and privilege than us. In this episode, we talk with designer and educator Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen about how listening, and finding community, can help us do just that. They also share how parenting shaped their career path, what it was like to come out at work, and why they see allyship as something we practice, not something we have. Listen up. > If I show up at work as myself, then I’m in a state of being in my greatest power. And I think if you can find a workplace where they want you to be there in your greatest power, then like, yeah, show up. This is how you do it. > > —Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen, designer and educator Here’s what we get into—and of course, there’s a full transcript, too. Show notes If you didn’t catch the Oscars, don’t worry—we start the show by filling you in on our favorite parts. Of note: (Ahem) Janelle Monáe’s pantsuit (photo) Jordan Peele’s win for Get Out and the amazing fan art he posts on Instagram Frances McDormand’s acceptance speech mentioning inclusion riders (hell yeah)… …which we go on to explore: Did you know Justin Bieber requires that his dressing room be filled with carnations? Riders can be wild. More important: Nicole Sanchez writes about taking inclusion riders beyond Hollywood and into fields like tech—and apply them to everything from speaking gigs to job offers. Yep. We also touch on Lara Hogan’s wonderful piece about applying inclusiveness to your hiring process, the Enterprise UX Conference’s journey through inclusive programming, how the Design & Content Conference put together a diverse conference production team, and Women Talk Design’s mission to empower organizers to create more diverse events. Interview: Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen It’s not hyperbole to say it was an honor and a pleasure to talk with UX designer and educator Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen. Stevie tells us about the causes that drive them, establishing a career in design, navigating coming out as queer, and what it really means to practice allyship. We talk about: Where Stevie lives in Vancouver, which is the unceded land of the Coast Salish people, particularly the Squamish, the Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Stevie’s work with Out in Schools, a program that engages students on issues of homophobia, transphobia, and bullying. How having a child while establishing a career—and then making choices about your career and your future—become intertwined in a way you never expected. What it means to realize you’re queer at 27—and what happens next. How we can better support marginalized people by practicing ongoing allyship, and provide safer spaces for those communities. (More on the idea of practicing allyship from Mariame Kaba.) Demystifying and sharing pronouns—and deconstructing the hard-coded way we think about each other. FYOTW We end the show with a little self-love and high-five because, fuck yeah!—we made the New & Noteworthy list on Apple Podcasts! AND it reminds us of all the amazing women-hosted podcasts we listen to and love—including a show you should definitely check out, called Good As Hell hosted by Lizzo. Sponsors This episode of NYG is brought to you by: Shopify, a leading global commerce platform that’s building a diverse, intelligent, and motivated team—and they  want to apply to you. Visit shopify.com/careers to see what they’re talking about. _WordPress—the place to build your personal blog, business site, or anything else you want on the web. WordPress helps others find you, remember you, and connect with you. _   Transcript Katel LeDû This episode of No, You Go is brought to you by Shopify, the leading global commerce platform for entrepreneurs. And did you know they’re growing? If you want to work with a diverse, passionate team that likes to get shit done, then you should talk to Shopify. The best part: they don’t just want you to apply to them, they want to apply to you. So visit shopify.com/careers to see what they’re all about. Jenn Lukas Hey! And welcome to No, You Go, the show about being ambitious—and sticking together. I’m Jenn Lukas. KL I’m Katel LeDû. Sara Wachter-Boettcher And I’m Sara Wachter-Boettcher. SWB I’m so excited today to talk about one of my favorite topics: inclusion. And, more specifically, we’re going to talk about how people like me, like all of us, can step up and make an impact for underrepresented groups in any field. To help us out, we sat down with a friend of mine, Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen, to learn more about what real inclusion can look like. But, first up, did you all watch the Oscars last week? JL Nope! KL Uh, I did, and I have a few favorite things I kind of want to share because, first of all — you didn’t have to watch it just to see all the pictures that come out of it but Janelle Monáe’s fire red, like military-inspired pant suit was phenomenal. SWB She looked amazing. KL She looked amazing. I also would really like to make a very genuine request to Tiffany Haddish and Maya Rudolph to run for presidents ASAP. SWB Like, co-presidents? KL Like, yeah, absolutely and then, I mean, to top it all off: Jordan Peele won for best screenplay for Get Out, which is just fucking so awesome. I saw that movie and I was so obsessed, I loved it so much that I started following Jordan Peele on Instagram, and he posts a lot of Get Out fan art, it is absolutely worth following. It’s magical. JL I loved that movie. KL It was so good. [2:02] JL Yeah. Um, also, I love this pantsuit. I just Googled it. SWB Get on the internet right now! “Janelle Monáe Oscars pantsuit.” The cape portion of it or whatever that kind of swoopy back is is amazing! So I loved that she really made it her own. Like it was not the kind of look that not just other women were wearing but that, like, anybody was wearing. But it also felt so completely Oscars. Right? Like it felt like she had the whole vibe — fantastic. Ok. So we can keep talking about the Oscars which I also did not actually watch. Uh I like to look at outfit photos later. But, instead, what I was hoping we could talk a little bit about was the story that came out about Frances McDormand and what she said at the end of her speech. She said something about how she wanted to leave the audience with two words and those words were “inclusion rider” So Nicole Sanchez wrote this piece that Jenn actually sent around to all of us, that was about what inclusion rider means in tech or what they could mean in tech. So Nicole is awesome. She is a diversity consultant who runs a company called Vaya Consulting. So she spent a long time looking at diversity and inclusion in the tech industry. And she wrote this piece where she talked about where inclusion riders come from and what they mean. So she credits Dr. Stacy Smith at USC for originally coming up with this concept, and says that it comes from diversifying talent in the media. And the concept is kind of pretty simple, right? It’s like: if you take a rider, which you may have heard about from the music industry— JL So a rider is like what you request if you are going to be performing somewhere. And it could be something like, “I need to have sparkling water, or I need to have a soundcheck of two hours before I’m going to go on.” It could be— KL A fancy rug. JL Or a fancy rug. It could be all these things, you know, maybe you want to make sure that you’re going to have some sort of food. Or in the famous case of Van Halen, you might say, “I demand there be no brown M&Ms.” Which really wasn’t a demand that they needed, they stuck that in their rider to make sure that it was actually being read. So it was one of those things where if they got to a venue and they saw that there was no brown M&Ms, then that means that someone actually read the rider, and the requests that they were going to do, and that they were going to have a good show. KL Paying attention. I mean it matters. JL That’s why Justin Bieber requests that his hotel room is decked out in carnations of a specific color pattern — I’m not making this up! KL I told you! It’s— [4:30] SWB Ok so, so the Bieber rider is not also what we want to talk about tonight. Although we could. Um instead I mean I really like the way that this concept applies to other facets of life. So what Frances was talking about at the Oscars was like, “Ok. If you are an in-demand name in Hollywood, you have an opportunity, in your contracts, to stipulate that the people who are working on the set, and the people who are working with you, um are coming from diverse backgrounds. You have this, you know, you have the opportunity to say that you want to make sure that they’re being paid fairly. You have an opportunity to make some demands that might actually be relatively small in comparison to what you could be getting paid if you’re a big star, but are really, really huge for people who aren’t you.” And so, what Nicole talks about in her article is really applying that other places like, let’s say, a tech conference. Like, if you’re an in-demand speaker, you also have a lot of power. And you can say, “I would love to speak at your event, but I’m going to need you to do some shit for me first.” And getting really specific about what you expect to make sure that that event is inclusive and welcoming to people who are not in demand like you are. KL Yeah, I really like what Nicole wrote because it made it really obvious and seemed really reasonable to have this filter out into a lot of different areas, right? And, like you were saying, you might not be a speaker who’s super in-demand, you might just be starting out. But I think a lot of it is just knowing that it’s very fair and totally appropriate to ask questions about the thing that you’re about to sign up to do. SWB Totally! That reminds me of what Erika Hall talked about when we interviewed her which is like the importance of asking questions and the power of asking questions. I have been thinking about this a lot and I talked about this a little bit actually on Twitter today. Like, one of the things that I’ve started doing is when I’m asked to speak at conferences which, you know, I’ve written some books, and I’ve done a lot of speaking. So I do get asked which is great but I’ve started asking some questions back and I try to make them pretty consistent, across the board, because I find if I ask the same stuff over and over, I’m more comfortable asking and it also feels a little less weird, like it’s not a special standard, it’s just my standard. And so I have a few things that I would say are kind of in my rider, or at least like, they’re in my Go/No Go [chuckling] kind of file, right? Like I won’t go to your event if you don’t answer these questions in a way that I can live with. So it’s things like, you know, for me I always ask like, “Does your event have a code of conduct?” That’s something that’s on Nicole’s list too. But I also ask things like, “What are you doing to ensure that your event has a diverse lineup?” And I ask it that way specifically because I want to hear how people think about it. And if they tell me things like, “Well, we just want to have the best speakers.” Then that’s a big red flag for me because I question, “Well, how do you know you have the best speakers? ‘Best’ according to whom? According to like people you already knew? People your Twitter connections already knew?” You know it’s like it brings up a lot for me. Or at least it’s an opportunity to have a conversation with them. And depending on how that conversation goes, that can tell me a lot about whether I’m interested in coming there, and also it’ll tell me whether I’m interested in investing time and helping them identify speakers they hadn’t heard about, which I’m super happy to do if I feel confident that, you know, if I recommend a speaker who is from a more marginalized group, who’s maybe less experienced than I am, to go to an event, I don’t want that person to be treated poorly. I want to make sure that I’m sending them to an event where somebody’s going to take them seriously. So I feel like by having those conversations, it gives me a chance to feel out how much somebody’s thought about this, how open they are to change, and how willing they are to kind of put in work. Because it is. It takes work, right? Just like we talked about on an earlier episode: it takes work to think about, you know, not centering all your events on drinking, which is a really answer. It takes worth to think about something like onsite childcare but like every single detail you do as an event planner is work and I want them to think about this as an important piece of their job. [8:33] KL Yeah, I mean, you just said that you have an opportunity to do this and I would almost say that established folks, like yourself, I imagine feel like they have a — an obligation to. SWB Absolutely. I don’t know that everybody does. I wish more people who felt like they had some sway — and I, you know, I have like some level of sway. There’s people who — who are like much more in demand and who make a lot of money speaking in our field. And I think that they have a huge responsibility. But I definitely, 100 percent like I — yes, I think of that as an opportunity in the sense of like, I’m glad to have the opportunity. But 100 percent it is an obligation and it is a responsibility. JL Yeah, um I’ve always did a similar thing to you, Sara, where I had a list of a set of questions that I asked every conference opportunity that came up and, you know, like you’re saying, it helps when you have the standard because then you can send an email back that’s like, “This is what I ask all my conferences. No matter what.” And I wrote a post about this awhile back, mine were focused a little bit more about seeing if they — if speakers were paid, and one of the things that I really like to ask is, “What is the cost of the conference? And how many attendees do you expect?” And then afterwards I would say, “What is your speaker fee?” To make sure that then, you know, if a conference will write back, “Oh our conference cost 12 hundred dollars, we’re expecting, you know, a thousand, 2,000, 5,000 people and then the speaker fee is zero, right? KL Then that math is wrong! SWB That math speaks for itself, right? Like it’s like, “Mmm, hmm, how do you like the way those numbers look on the page?” Right. [10:00] JL Not — not too great um so I think it’s really important, you know, for — to realize too and like it’s a mix of educating also, where I think some people never— never thought about that. And I’m not saying that that’s ok. But like it is — then I become, “Well, here are these questions and why I’m asking them because it’s not ok.” SWB Yeah, I mean I wish that everybody would have thought about this by now. I kind of feel like, “C’mon, like you sh— c’mon, you should be thinking about this already.” However, I also accept that that’s not the case and if my goal is to make more people aware, and hope that more people come along with me on this particular journey, then I do feel like part part of it — being able to do something than education is ok and important. I don’t expect everybody to do that, in all circumstances, but I feel like I have enough like sort of comfort and confidence of where I am that I— I can do that. And I think that’s a service to — I’m not so much worried about doing it as a service to the conference organizer, I think that’s like a side benefit. I think about that as a service to the industry, at large, and to the people who need that information to be more widespread. JL Completely. And, you know, I would say that, as a speaker, I did this but as an attendee I’ve asked for things too. And so I feel like people should feel empowered to ask questions as an attendee also, you know, “Will you have a vegan meal?” “Will you have a vegetarian meal?” And that’s something that I used to ask a lot um you know, “Is there a place to nurse?” Or “Is there a place to pump?” And like, “What sort of facilities will be available?” And, as an attendee, someone who’s paying for a conference, you should definitely feel empowered. I mean as a speaker, you should too, that wasn’t taking away from that. But you should definitely feel empowered to write the organizers and make sure that they will have these things available to you also. SWB And I’m also deeply suspect of any event that makes you feel bad for having— like if some event makes you feel bad because you ask for a vegan meal or you ask for a nursing room, like, “I’m sorry. What the actual fuck?” It’s one thing for them not to necessarily be able to meet every need, that’s like a different conversation. But I think if somebody comes to you with a need, and you write them off, or you minimize it, or you pretend like it doesn’t matter. Like, I don’t want to go that event. And I don’t want — I don’t want those people to have my money, or for them to use like my face and my talk to promote their event. KL Right. SWB Um so there were some things though on Nicole’s list that I’d never thought about before that I’m super glad to have heard about now. So for example, I had not thought about — and I feel silly not having thought about it but I never thought about asking about the people who are working the event. So like the laborers, the people who are doing setup and takedown, the people who are doing food, like how are they being paid? She specifically mentioned, you know, what are the labor conditions, are they part of a union? I think there’s probably a whole lot of different questions you might ask depending on your particular interests or your particular kind of like stance but I think asking about the welfare and the support of the people who are not kind of seen as like part of the conference, but are, in fact, like what makes the conference run. Like that’s a huge area that I’m going to be thinking more about. KL And the fact that, you know, she points out, is there — is there a process for intake of these kinds of requests, or like these kinds of questions, right? For like just handling that and — and talking about them. JL So I think the conversation that keeps coming up again and again, from conference organizers saying, “How do I make this happen? How do I diversify my lineups? How do I diversify my speakers?” And I think some people have provided solutions and ideas for this. An article I read recently on Medium was about the Enterprise UX Conference which um they’ve been working on this for four years and every year have slowly iterated on how they’ve been handling things. And I think one of the things that is really great about that is they didn’t just give up after year one. They’re like, “Well, I don’t know how to do it.” Is that they’ve been slowly trying to improve their process and they wrote about this and they were saying that one of the things they did was make sure to have different people, besides three white men, choosing the lineup and being in charge of the themes. And as soon as they started expanding from that, then so did their speaker lineup. SWB You know one of my favorite conferences, Design and Content, actually a conference that Stevie, our guest today, is going to MC this year, they’ve done a really similar thing where they have a selection committee and what they specifically did is they intentionally went out and identified people from a bunch of different backgrounds and then they paid them for their time to be on that committee. And it dramatically changed how they come up with who’s going to be on the roster for the year. And they’ve written about it publically, we’ll put that in the show notes, because I think that they have a process that is — is something that other people can follow. And, you know, part of it came out of their first year. They had really good intentions. They went out and thought about, you know, “You know let’s make sure we have a good, diverse lineup. Let’s ask some people who we’ve never seen before, and some new faces, et cetera.” And an attendee called them out for it at the event and said you know, “This lineup is really white.” And they had to take a step back and be like, “Yeah, it is.” And sit with that. Right? And figure out what to do about that. And I think that that’s hard but I think that’s one of the responsibilities that we have is to be able to hear those kinds of feedback and say, “Ok I’m going to listen to that and then I’m going to figure out how do I change?” And, you know, and that’s one of the reasons I like to ask these questions I ask, right? Is it’s like, do I get defensiveness? Or do I get somebody who can say, “Yeah, you know, we haven’t that diverse of a lineup in past years. You’re right that’s something we should change. I have some ideas but I would love to hear more,” or whatever it is. But that — that openness is really, really important. So, um, that’s one of the things about Enterprise UX that I think has been great as well is that they’re willing to write about it. Like they’re willing to admit it that it wasn’t great year one! Which is sometimes hard to do, right? You have to be able to look at your work and say like, “Here are the ways that this wasn’t where we wanted to be. And then here’s what we did differently.” [16:11] JL Another site that I found interesting was womentalkdesign.com. Their tagline is that they “elevate the best talks about design from women and empowers event organizers with tools, approaches, and information to engage more women speakers.” So this is a neat project because it’s an answer to that question of, “Well, I don’t know where to find these speakers!” And so I really like it because they went out and tackled this specific question that people kept asking. SWB Yeah, I mean Christina Wodtke who is one of the people who created that site, I know that part of this was born of her frustration. Like, she’s been in the industry a long time, working in tech and in UX. And people would frequently ask her, “Well, where do I find all these diverse speakers?” And now she’s like, “I don’t have to answer that question anymore!” Right? Like she’s like, “They’re out there. You just have to do a little bit of work, to get outside of the bubble that you have,” and then she was like, “Ok, let me go and do some of that work.” And um — and so the result is that it’s like, “Oh! You’re looking for more diverse lineups for your event?” That’s certainly not everybody, by any means, but like if you haven’t at least gone through that, like you’ve done not even the bare minimum. JL And I— I don’t think inclusiveness just stops at these conferences, right? I mean one of the things that came out recently was Lara Hogan wrote a great article about how to apply inclusiveness to your hiring process, and how to like tackle that, and one of the things that she had was to make sure that you have a diverse group of the team interviewing these candidates, and I think that’s great thing: making sure that it’s not just one group of people that are interviewing all of your candidates as they come in. SWB And I think it also goes back to some of the same stuff that we talked for like an inclusion rider is that if you are in a position where you feel like you have some choice about the job that you’re taking, which I recognize not everybody is in, but if you’re in that position and you’re thinking about, “I want a place that’s going to give me the most growth opportunity, I want the place that’s going to offer a really good salary package, et cetera, et cetera,” you know, I think that it’s another responsibility to be able to say, “I want to place that is willing to kind of put its money where its mouth is when it comes to being an inclusive environment,” and to ask those same kinds of questions, right? “So what are you doing to increase diversity in your team?” And “What are you doing to support people who come from different backgrounds? And like — what does that look like?” JL I love this question. I love this so much. Um I think it’s like— as a candidate, as an interviewee, you might be like, “Well, how do I phrase this? How do I make sure that this job is going to be a good job with me?” And I think that’s a great way to phrase it. Um when we interview people, one of the questions I always ask is, um I phrase it as: “Diversity and inclusiveness are really important values to us. What are some important values to you?” And, you know, it’s a very leading question but you’d be surprised at how many people go on some sort of tangent that is, like, “Ah. You know? I want to make sure that I have like — snacks.” No one’s ever said snacks! That’s an exaggeration [sure] but it’s certainly something that’s like, you know, not appropriate for the answer or where I was hoping that they would go. SWB We talk a lot about sort of how this relates to people who are working in like tech and design fields, but this is the kind of thing that I think is really transferrable to almost any field, right? Like that it’s not really about the industry that you’re in, it’s like if you were working in an industry that is not necessarily perfectly inclusive, which is like, newsflash: probably all of them. Then you know I think that the— the same kind of stuff applies and you can kind of bring some of these same principles and ideas along. So I’m really stoked that we’re talking about inclusion riders, I don’t think it necessarily has to be like a contract in every circumstance, I think it’s much more about how can you apply that concept to whatever it is that you’re doing in your professional and however you’re interacting with people who hold power in your industry. [19:55] ** **** JL** [Sponsor] No, You Go is proud to be supported by wordpress.com. Whether you’d like to build a personal blog, a business site, or both, creating your website on wordpress.com can help others find you, remember you, and connect with you. That’s why nearly 30 percent of all websites run on WordPress. You don’t need experience setting up a website, WordPress guides you through the process from start to finish. And takes care of the technical side. In fact, we use WordPress at No, You Go. WordPress also has 24 hour customer support, which is great because we all have different schedules. Plans start at just four dollars a month. Start building your website today! Go to wordpress.com/noyougo for 15 percent off any new purchase. That’s wordpress.com/noyougo for 15 percent off your brand new website. Interview: Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen SWB Our guest today is Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen. I first met Stevie back in the summer of 2015, after I gave a talk at a conference up in Vancouver, and they approached me afterward wanting to chat about my talk, which was very flattering. But more than anything, what I really remember about that conversation was that this person I just met had come to me with so much kind of kindness and generosity, and our conversation felt so uplifting. And over the next few years, I have paid a lot of attention to what Stevie’s been up to and the things that they’re talking about and interested in. And this year, fast forward, Stevie is now going to be the MC of that very event where I met them: the Design & Content Conference. They’re also a UX designer, a design educator who works with youth and teaches in two different university programs, and somebody who’s just really active in their community in Vancouver, and in design in general. I am so excited to welcome Stevie to the show today. Thank you so much for being here. Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen Thank you for having me. Can I add a moment and just also acknowledge that I am also on unceded Coast Salish territories, and while we may call it Vancouver, it is the unceded land of the Coast Salish people, particularly the Squamish, the Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. SWB Thank you for doing that. I think that actually sets the tone for this conversation really well because I think one of the things I would love to talk with you more about is sort of the way that you look at your role as a designer in your community and sort of the impact that you have on community and on the way that people from different backgrounds within your community are represented. So can you tell us a little more— how did you get to this place where you start a conversation and you say, “Actually, can we remind ourselves of the indigenous people whose land this is and this land has always been?” Like, what was your process of getting to a place that you were comfortable doing things like that? STAN Honestly, every time I have these moments where I’m like, “Oh! I need to say something, I should say something, this is the right thing to say,” and it is still really, really hard because I think always makes me uncomfortable not knowing how the other person may respond on the other end. Yeah, these issues are political and they are uncomfortable for people to talk about, hear, or acknowledge. I don’t know if you know what’s happening right now in Canada, but Tina and Coulton were murdered and people don’t talk about it because people don’t care. And so we need to bring these things up even though it’s really hard because people are dying. So that’s my response I guess. When I began to recognize that when we don’t talk about things, people die. And the more personal we make it, the more people who we spend time with who are directly affected by these things, by systemic oppression, the more we recognize the power that we have as individuals when we are in a place where we have to acknowledge these things. SWB That’s a pretty difficult topic and I think that that’s something pretty challenging to our audience — I mean, you mentioned that it’s hard for people to talk about, I think it’s hard to talk about on a podcast like this where we — where we really do want to talk about, you know, finding some joy even when things are difficult. And I don’t that that means erasing talking about the things that are difficult, by any means, and so, with that in mind, what is your day to day work? [25:23] STAN Hmm my day-to-day work probably doesn’t look too different from many people. I’m a parent; I have a five, almost six-year-old, son. And I have shared custody with his father. And so on days when he’s with me, I actually wake up at like 4:30 in the morning, and I wake up, and I shower, and I go to make a matcha latte for myself every morning. And I come out and I answer emails, I try my best to catch up on like Slack, on text messages, on WhatsApp, on Viber, on Signal, on my work email versus my personal email, and um what else is there? Messenger. So that’s kind of normal, I imagine, I think we all have these mornings of having to try to catch up with all that stuff. And then I get him ready for school, take him to school, and it’s a privilege that allows me to do that, and I come back and I work. And so some days that’s with Out in Schools, where I’m talking about queer and gender issues with young people in high schools. And sometimes in elementary schools. And other days it’s going to meet my own clients at their offices. And then other days, it’s staying home um and doing like UX work. So for me that’s everywhere from leading a workshop, like I did this morning, where I’m presenting to clients whatever our ideas are, whatever our proposals are, and then other days I’m heading off to go teach. And then I come home and I try to fit in some yoga somewhere. And pick up my son and then do things with him in the evening, feed him, put him to bed. And do some more work and then go to bed. That’s my day. SWB I think a lot of our listeners can relate to sort of the juggle and trying to figure out what the right mix of things is in a day and how to have some time for yourself amid everything else. Can you tell us more — like what was your journey into becoming a designer? How did you end up in this sort of life that you’ve crafted for yourself now? STAN I lucked into it, I think. I remember I was in high school and I had really no real idea about what I wanted to do and somebody came into the school who was an alumni and did a presentation. And she worked in — she worked in marketing for an ad agency. And I just thought her job sounded really cool. I liked that she got to like talk to people and I liked hearing about how she got to like come up with ideas to do things and like sell things to people, which I feel so much like cringey shame about now. But at the time it sounded really interesting. Um so I went into the university and studied communications but partway through my program, I did a certificate in innovative leadership from SFU, Simon Fraser University, and it was an eight-month program where the first four months we did workshops, and the last four months we got to do like a practical project with a local company. And the company that I happened to work with was a leadership development company. And at the end of this project, which was, funnily enough, all about looking at how people within the organization viewed their leadership skills, as opposed to people who are like several levels away from them. How did those people view their executives leadership skills. At the end of the project, the person I’d been working with at this company said, “Oh I noticed you like — maybe had some graphic skills. You know we really need a graphic designer.” And I’m like, “Well, I’m like — I’m taking my first course in design right now.” “Well, that’s great! That’s more knowledge than we have!” And so they hired me and I started off just like making PowerPoints and doing a lot of things in print, working within business development and supporting people people in sales. Packing suitcases. I did a lot of packing suitcases. But along the way I learned a lot about like leadership and leadership models and um when we talk about adult learning, that realm is something that I gained a lot of experience with over six years. And so at the same time I was still in school, had abandoned communications, and had — was fully in design now, and then I went away on an amazing field school and came back and was pregnant! So I took a year off. And I will say this is like — this is an important part of my professional journey, this is an important part of my growth and journey as a person, because having my son changed everything. I’ve always been someone that was really into research. So the moment I got into something, or the moment I found out about something new, I’d like totally geek out and go read every book, watch every movie and documentary, and talk to every person I could find about the thing. Uh I get really excited about new hobbies and interests. So I got really excited about being pregnant, and about birth, and about breastfeeding, um and about being a parent. And when that happened, I began to see the ways in which I had to make really, really clear decisions. So the same way in marketing or in design, you have to have a reason as to why you’re doing something for a certain desired outcome, I knew that I wanted my son, I wanted my child to be happy, and I knew that I wanted him to be really kind, and I knew that I wanted him to be really safe. Like I wanted him to live. Right? Like that’s all I really wanted and I knew that I had to make decisions to support that. And so that was like — we raised him vegan for the first like year because we felt it was important for him to have the choice, right? It was important for him to know that you don’t have to eat animals but you can and that’s your choice. But do you know what you are doing if you are going to that? So he still doesn’t really eat animals. But that’s still something that applied to me in my life. I began to think about like what am I doing? Is this who I want to be? Is this how — what powers do I have as an individual to like make all those things happen for him? And it made me really political. Like all of a sudden, things that I have always had values about like really mattered because I’d made an investment in the future by having him, and I needed to invest in the future. And then I got laid off from my job. The job that I’d had for six years. I was a marketing assistant or a project assistant but I was never actually a designer. And I was feeling a lot of doubt about this and I have a mentor at school, Russell Taylor, who is kind of the father to like so many of us in this design program. And I reached out to him and I said, “Well, I got laid off. I really love design but I have no design skills. I didn’t finish my degree.” And he goes, “Well come back and teach for me. Um like you know this stuff. You’ve taken this course and I like — I feel confident that you’re going to do a good job in this.” And so he brought me back and had me teaching his second year course with him. And then at the same time he was developing a conference that was in its second year. And at this conference, he brought in agencies and different companies to like do talks but also to do interviews. And while I was teaching, I also applied for an interview at this conference, and I came out of the conference and I was offered — I was offered some jobs! My first job in which I would get to call myself a designer. And so, Sara, this is where it kind of comes back around to you because this job was the first job that I gone in to do the interview and really felt like, “This is who I am. And like I don’t know these things. This is what I’m working on. Um please see some potential in me!” Like, “Please take some faith in me because I think I can do this.” Uh and I felt really good about some of the things that I felt were just really natural and inherent to me. And they absolutely said, “Yeah!” Like, “We think you can do this. We think that you can kick it out of the park. I feel confident putting you in front of like our — any client, right from the getgo.” And this was my manager, Robin Ashmore, and so it was the first job where I’m like, “Oh. Ok. Like I can admit that I don’t really know this but I can learn this and I can develop in these areas where I think I’m good.” And part of how he supported me was allowing me to go to that conference DCC, Design & Content, which is how I met Sara! And at this time though I was beginning to get really bitter, um I was beginning to look around and see that we, as designers, have all this potential to build things that really make a difference in the world and really help people, and yet we’re like focused on how to get snacks. Or we’re building technology that is actually enabling violence against marginalized people. So I — even now I tell people that I feel shame around calling myself a designer because as a whole, this industry is causing so much more problems than it is helping and I think so many of us have this power and opportunity to actually do something about it, and we’re afraid to. And we don’t. For whatever reasons. And some people have more ability to do something about it then others and I really do mean this in like ability, privilege, some people have more privilege in order to make change happen. Um but I went to this conference, I went to DCC, I met Sara. I’m like, “Oh!! There’s designers who really do see the same things I see! Who really are concerned about the same things that I’m concerned about.” And there are people who, like you, Sara, who want better things out of tech, who want designers to do better things — the tech industry to do better things. And so I began to look for places in which I could try to do better things and I could try to learn on how to be a better designer. This is where I’m at right now. Like I’m still working on that. I’m still trying to influence and like bring kindness into the world, bring safety into places where I think people need someone to invite them in or to support them while they’re there. So yeah that’s where I am right now. [35:25] SWB Well, I am so proud and kind of tearing up a little bit to think that I played even just like a tiny, tiny, little role in your story— STAN Big role! SWB —oh gosh! Ok, ok I wouldn’t — I wouldn’t oversell that. I really think like, you know, your work and your what you are bringing to your community is— is big and different than anything that I do. So I definitely don’t want to oversell what I might’ve played a role in. Something that I’m really interested in hearing more about that you mentioned a little bit ago is the work that you’re doing with Out in Schools. So can you tell us a little bit about that organization and how you got involved with them? STAN Yeah, oh. So I guess one of the key parts of the story that was a huge pivot point in my life, that happened shortly before I met Sara, is that I realized that I was queer. And I like to say that I “realized” because it was something that kind of — it’s always been a part of me. It’s who I am. I am a queer person. But I didn’t have the words for it and I didn’t know that’s what other people were calling it and when this happened, I was 27, I had already had my son, Noah, and I had a cis male partner. And realizing I was queer, finding queer community, making queer friends, really like embracing and exploring what that could mean for me was like so amazing! It sounds so cheesy, but I really did feel like I was born again. And I was also really disappointed and sometimes embarrassed to admit that I was 27. And I think about how I grew up with very conservative parents. I think they’re a little bit more liberal now than they used to be but they are conservative, they’re still very Catholic. I grew up in a very Catholic cishet family. And I was also really protected, care for, loved, I still am. And for them, that meant sheltering me from just sexuality in general. And so that included putting me in an all-girls private school um great school, I mean great academics but it was also an all girls Catholic private school. So we didn’t get sex-ed. And when I was 27, I realized that I was queer and I was so happy about it because I think like being queer is so liberating, and so fun. I really wanted to make it happen — or contribute to a culture where queerness is normalized. And so I found the Queer Film Festival, I met some people there, including some facilitators from Out in Schools, and they became my friends. Jen Sung, in particular, reached out and was like, “Hey! You kind of said that you would love to do this. Were you serious?” And I said, “Yes!” And she goes, “Well! We’re hiring! You should submit an application!” And I submitted an application and became an Out in Schools facilitator. So we’re led by Gavin Somers and Brandon Yan, and we go around to high schools, and elementary schools, and we talk to young people about queer and trans issues using media, like using film. So we watch movies with them, we watch music videos with them and we lead discussions. And it’s interesting in the ways in which like that also ties back into the skill I have around facilitation because that’s part of what I do in my job as a designer. So I get to practice, like, being in front of people, and presenting, and engaging with audiences. Like, in everything that I do, in many places in my life. [39:24] SWB That’s such a cool additional piece to your professional profile that I didn’t know about until — you know just now, right? Like you being involved with Out in Schools seems like, in some ways, you know, really different from doing the design work, but it feels very natural, the way that you talk about it all together. STAN Thanks. It feels really natural to me. SWB I’m also curious, you know, you mentioned coming out as queer at 27 and sort of realizing to yourself that that was even the case and I know that in that same time period you also started going by different pronouns, and coming out as non-binary, and I’m wondering if you can talk a little bit about what that was like? And especially what was that like, you know, in the context of work where that seems like maybe it could be a challenging thing to do. STAN Well, what had happened was that you did this amazing talk and you were really vulnerable and real and talked about how important it was to like create spaces and technologies that allowed and encouraged people to be who they are uh rather than try to force them to fit in any particular box. And I came up to you and I was in tears, I remember this, because I had this name tag and the name tag actually had my name, like “Stevie” was on it, but Stevie’s like — is not my given name. And I was expressing to you, like, “Oh my god, how amazing is it that, yeah the Eventbrite form for the conference was like, shout out to Steve Fisher and Shannon Fisher for recognizing the significance and importance of this. But the conference signup form allowed me to input my name. Like it didn’t ask me for a piece of ID to like prove that that was my name.” And I’m like tearing up now, thinking about it, but yeah that’s like it was the first piece of paper that I wore around my neck that allowed me to identify myself and identify myself to other people as Stevie. And it was in a professional context. And then all the speakers, everybody that I met that weekend like called me Stevie. Like everybody that knows me from that time onwards, calls me Stevie and so it felt so good. I came back and I didn’t immediately do it but from then on, anytime I introduced myself to somebody I was like, “No, Stevie.” Like I’d been doing this previously, as a nickname to personal friends but not professional contacts. And being at Design and Content, meeting people who would use my name eventually I think, a couple weeks later, gave me the confidence to actually casually, jokingly at work say, “Actually! Like all my friends call me Stevie.” And so my co-workers were like, “Do you want us to call you Stevie?” And I’m like, “Yes!!!” And I had another amazing colleague, like Jason Landry, he reached out to me privately on Slack and said, “Hey, I know that you’re going by Stevie.” And like, “Awesome! Stevie’s a great name. I just wanted to check in. Like have your pronouns changed? Like what pronouns would you like me to refer to you as?” So at the time I said, “Oh um like no, like, she/her is fine.” And she/her is great. I just don’t use she/her anymore. Like they/them is super comfortable to me. Like it makes me feel really good. And so I use they/them and eventually like it was people in my team making me feel like welcome. And doing that work of like welcoming me as opposed to me having to step out and be vulnerable is what allowed me to come to work and tell people, “My name is Stevie.” And now like over time I’ve built enough confidence to include it in my email signature. If I meet someone new, I always say, “Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen. My pronouns: they/them/theirs.” So I try to assert myself and I know that from what we tell young people in schools, every time that I do that, I can help somebody else feel more comfortable sharing their pronouns. And as a practice of allyship, that’s the best thing folks can do is share their pronouns. SWB I love that story so much and I’m so thankful that you had a colleague who reached out to you sort of made it ok for you to say like, “Yeah, actually I prefer to go by different pronouns.” Was that a scary conversation to start to have? Like the first few times you were doing that in these professional settings? STAN Mm hmm yeah. And I mean, let’s be honest, my team, most of the people on my team are great. They use they/them pronouns. Some people still make mistakes. I think it’s interesting the way in which every time someone new comes onto the team, if I don’t already know them, I have to find a time or an opportunity to, hopefully, quickly get in there and let them know that my pronouns are they/them/theirs before they hear maybe the wrong pronoun from somebody else, or make an assumption, and then I eventually have to awkwardly correct them. But yeah it was initially really hard because I didn’t even understand the — like once I understood how it felt empowering to me, it was hard because there was always a lot of explaining. People like need explanations or they look at me, you know, like, “Wait. What does that mean?” And they like — I think — I think people look at me and they’re like, “Wait. What does that mean for your body parts?” SWB Which um is — has nothing to do with it at all. STAN Exactly. But— SWB It is not an appropriate question for work — like pretty much ever. STAN Well it’s just like — I don’t think it needs to be even verbally said sometimes, it’s just like people stop and look like the same way. Some folks know — like particularly feminine-presenting folks knows what it looks when someone looks at you and looks you up and down [mm hmm]. I think like queer and trans and non-binary folks, we know what it looks like when you look at us and you’re like, “Mmm,” like, “What’s under your clothes and how do you have sex?” [44:55] SWB Which I, you know, I understand that it’s kind of uncomfortable for people when they are first presented with pronoun and gender stuff that they’ve not encountered before and that they don’t understand, and um and then even still, you know, I mean I think I, for example, like I have several friends who would identify as non-binary or who identify as, let’s say they’re trans, and I have tried to unlearn some of that like default gender binary language and it’s hard. And I screw it up. And I screw it up oftentimes when I have, you know it’s like something gets coded in my brain early on, whether it’s an assumption, or whether it’s something where, you know, I have a friend who I met when they presented as male and they, at some point, came out as trans. And they’re a woman. And I sometimes still have like that little mental like kind of hiccup right? That like is about the history that I have with them, and sort of having to shift my thinking, I mean that just is what it is but that that’s up to me, right? Like it’s my job. It’s my job to figure that out. It’s not their job to figure that out. And if I feel weird or if I have to like go through an extra like you know mental circuit in order to make sense of it and make sure that I’m doing it correctly, like, that’s work that is on me to do. And that the more I do that kind of work, the easier it becomes. And that’s kind of like the way that I’ve tried to deal with it but I think it’s — I think it’s something that seeing people like you who are willing to be vulnerable and to say, “Hey, this is who I am.” And to know that you might get reactions that aren’t positive and that aren’t good. I think that that’s — it’s such a gift, I think, to the rest of us, in terms of opening our minds and helping us get to a more inclusive place. KL I also just want to say that— that you said something, you said the words, “practice of allyship,” and I wrote that — I just wrote that down because I like that so much and I feel like if we can just share that as much as possible, that is — that is such a gem of a thing to think about. STAN Let me — let me credit that Mariame Kaba who is @prisonculture on Twitter because I heard Mariame — actually I may be pronouncing this wrong: M-A-R-I-A-M-E. I heard her speak on a webinar, which is run by Talila Lewis, TL Lewis, who does not use any pronouns, and this is what they — the whole discussion was about, was about the practice of allyship. That no one gets to say like, “I am an ally! So I am done!” Like it’s not about what this identity, it’s about how do you continue to practice allyship. KL Exactly. It’s like — it really, truly is a practice. It’s like all things that you, you know, I’m — at least I know for myself that I want to get good at, you know, between yoga, and just being a, you know, a better friend and publisher and coworker. It’s— it really, truly takes practice. And you have to be — you have to be aware of that. STAN Yeah, and it takes like that, like what you talked about earlier, Sara, that constant, the constant practice and I think when we’re in community with other people, we’re all practicing our allyship to marginalized people, and marginalized communities, there has to be a practice of forgiveness as well. Like grace, for us as individuals, and the practice of forgiveness for each other. Like I wouldn’t know anything I know if somebody didn’t tell me I was wrong if somebody didn’t like — wouldn’t forgive me, and like didn’t cast me out of their life because I made a mistake, but it also has to come from a place of like being willing to sit around and like shut up sometimes. SWB So as somebody who has gotten more comfortable bringing your whole identity to work, and who has kind of gone through some of those scary parts, what would you tell someone or what advice would you have for somebody who is thinking about some of the same things, about being able to be more of their authentic selves in their professional environments and being able to kind of fuse maybe some of the stuff that they’ve kept personal or private with the way that they present professionally. [49:40] STAN Hmm. What would I tell someone? I think the first thing I would want to make sure is that person feels safe. And I know this word like “safe” or “safety” gets thrown around a lot. But, quite honestly, what are your risks and dangers? And what violence may you face if you fully — if you bring yourself fully? And this is me speaking from a position of privilege of where I am able to bring myself to work, where every part of me is at least, at the very least, recognized and acknowledged. And then I would say: surround yourself in community and with allies to support you through it. I don’t think I could do it if I didn’t think — like I don’t think I could show up, assert my name, assert my pronouns, talk about my politics, if I thought that I would be attacked in any way, or punished in any way. And so that — that’s sort of required first. Make sure you’re safe and make sure you have support. And then, like show up and be real. This — it’s, again, cheesy sayings but I was tweeting, I tweeted about it this morning. But this idea of like nobody — I don’t know anything other than my own experience and I have so little that I know, but all I know is like myself. And so if I show up at work as myself, then I’m in a state of being in my greatest power. And I think if you can find a workplace where they want you to be there in your greatest power, then like, yeah, show up. This is how you do it. KL I love that. STAN Does that help? SWB That’s so great. That is so great. Yeah. So, very last question then is you mentioned safety and the importance for people who are going to do something vulnerable, whether that’s you know coming out at work or anything else, to feel like they have some sense of safety. So what can listeners do who feel like they can — they have some power in their workplace or in the organizations they’re part of, to help foster that safety for people. Like what are some of the ways that we can ensure that more of the people that we work with feel safe around us? STAN Well I think for people of marginalized identities, yeah, showing up so that you can be that example, so that you can be another person who like makes someone feel safe because you see someone who’s similar to you. That’s one way. But if you aren’t, like if you are someone who is in a position of privilege and power, gosh, like: not punishing people. How do you make — how do you make that space? Inviting it? Educating yourself? Like and making it — like I’ll bring it back to the beginning: like making it personal. I think if you genuinely care about the people in your company, then these are things worth learning about and these are things worth like not just acknowledging and recognizing and forgiving, for some reason, like if you think it’s wrong and you “forgive” them for this thing. Like get past that point where you can love them for that. [55:08] STAN I think that’s it. FYOTW SWB I have a pretty important Fuck Yeah tonight. It’s the Fuck Yeah to the um real champagne that Katel brought over today. KL Uh we have to take this moment to say a little “Fuck yeah” to ourselves because we made it onto the New and Noteworthy in Apple Podcasts and I’m really excited because we are a little, indie podcast that we started because we just really wanted to talk to each other and see where this went and, I’m psyched. SWB We started talking a while back about how much we were really hoping we could get onto the New and Noteworthy list because it’s a really good way to get new audience, and have people kind of be aware of you, plus it just feels good to know that what you’re doing is working. And, when I started looking at the other shows that were on there, almost all of them were supported by a bigger brand. It was like a podcast coming from Gimlet, or a podcast coming from Slate, or some other organization that was backing them and funding them, and so it’s a kind of a big deal to have a podcast like this that’s completely independently run be able to make it onto that list. Or at least, it feels like a big deal to me. JL Fuck yeah! It’s a big deal! KL Feels like a huge deal. SWB And I was also thinking about how much of a big deal to see a podcast ran by women, and more podcast run by women coming out because I feel like for a long time, there were just so few. I remember seeing a stat the other day that was like something like 70 percent of podcasts are run by men. And I don’t know if that’s true. Like it wasn’t the kind of stat that I felt like I could easily back up. But it is something that’s talked about quite a lot in the industry is just how male-dominated podcasting is. And how almost all of the biggest name podcasts are run by men. And, you know, there’s some really great podcasts run by men. It’s not like there aren’t but like man, there are so many interesting women doing interesting things. And I would love to hear from more of them. And, like, that’s what we’re doing. JL Yeah! I mean, also, fuck yeah women’s history month! And with that in mind I just started looking — I went a little Google-wild again and I just started looking at all these like, you know there’s all these lists, it’s the internet; of course there’s lists. But I just started looking into more like women-run podcasts and I just started going through them all — and I just — I have so many queued up right now. I’m so excited to listen to them all because I feel like, again, the more we support each other as women podcasters, the more that we get our — like we share our message! And we keep listening to each other and raising each other up! So it’s been so fun to try to listen to some of these other podcasts also. Katel, I know that you have been like super into one recently. KL Yeah, I gotta be honest: I’m actively looking for more podcasts that are just basically more diverse voices. And one that I really like lately is by a music artist that I just really love, her name is Lizzo. And if you don’t know her, just Spotify that shit immediately because it will make you feel good and it’s totally worth it. But she has a new podcast, that I think launched like right around the same time ours did, which is so cool, and it’s on Spotify. She describes it as, “A safe space for the baddest women in music.” She’s an alternative rapper, she sits down with iconic queens and rising stars and basically sets the record straight on making a name in a very male-dominated world in music. So I just love that. I love her. I’m so happy that I get to hear her not only sing but also talk and talk with other women. JL What’s the podcast called? KL Sorry, I should’ve said that! It’s called Good As Hell which is also just a really fucking good name. And yeah it’s really inspiring and you should take a listen. JL Maybe we could do a crossover episode: No, You Good. KL That would be amazing! SWB I love this whole concept because it feels like a sister podcast to No, You Go. Because I think that that’s really like — similar stuff we’re trying to do. Obviously we don’t have as many connections in music but if any, like, musical stars want to be on our show, that’s great. JL Kesha! [Ahem.] SWB Kesha is definitely like Jen’s number one dream guest. She’s literally on a spreadsheet right now. But I think that — that’s a lot of the same stuff that we’re trying to talk about, right? It’s like who are the most badass women and non-binary people we have encountered in our professional lives who are doing great things and who have something to say to the world? And how can we talk about ways to elevate their voices and make spaces that are more inclusive? So fuck yeah to women-run podcasts. JL Fuck yeah! KL Fuck yeah on New and Noteworthy. [59:59] JL Well, that’s it for this week’s episode of No, You Go! The show about being ambitious— and sticking together. NYG is recorded in our home city of Philadelphia and produced by Steph Colbourn. Our theme music is by The Diaphone. Thanks to Stevie Thuy Anh Nguyen for being our guest today. If you like what you’ve been hearing on our podcast, we would love it if you subscribed and rated us on Apple Podcast where we’ve been New and Noteworthy! And fuck yeah! New and Noteworthy! Deserved! Your support really helps us spread the word. We’ll be back next week with another great guest.

You probably only think about security software when it's too late, and you already have a virus. Big companies can't take that risk, and many of them turn to McAfee for protection. Today we talk to Laura Thelen, Senior UX Designer in their Enterprise UX crew about how they create software that satisfies serious security experts and normal folks, too. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Donna Lichaw returns to UX Podcast for another chat, this time we focus on how stories could be used when working with Enterprise UX. Donna is the author of The User’s Journey. In the book Donna explains the idea of storymapping. How, when, and why to use narrative structure in your design work. During our chat... The post #165 Enterprise stories with Donna Lichaw appeared first on UX Podcast.

In part two of their live taping at Enterprise UX 2017, Jon Reed of diginomica.com talks with Sam Yen of SAP about their UX overhaul and the integral role design thinking plays in Leonardo - including project delivery. Yen also gives a glimpse into Hasso Plattner's passion for design and how this impacts SAP's UX challenges ahead. Also check the itunes channel for the full podcast archives.

In part two of their live taping at Enterprise UX 2017, Jon Reed of diginomica.com talks with Sam Yen of SAP about their UX overhaul and the integral role design thinking plays in Leonardo - including project delivery. Yen also gives a glimpse into Hasso Plattner's passion for design and how this impacts SAP's UX challenges ahead. Also check the itunes channel for the full podcast archives. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

In this impromptu. on-site podcast, Jon Reed of diginomica.com talks with Sam Yen of SAP about his presentation on driving organizational change through design. In this first of two podcasts with Reed and Yen, the guys hit on issues like the (relative) maturity of enterprise UX, and the big themes from Enterprise UX 2017, including breaking down silos. Yen critiques incremental innovation and makes the case for organization-wide design culture. Yen also gives his advice for non-designers who want to bring a design mentality to their work - and why that matters. In part two of their podcast, the guys will take a harder look at SAP's UX approach and get Yen's Leonardo/UX status report. Yes, you can get Busting the Omnichannel on iTunes.

In this impromptu. on-site podcast, Jon Reed of diginomica talks with Sam Yen of SAP about his keynote on driving organizational change through design. In this first of two podcasts with Reed and Yen, the guys hit on issues like the (relative) maturity of enterprise UX, and the big themes from Enterprise UX 2017, including breaking down silos. Yen critiques incremental innovation and makes the case for organization-wide design culture. Yen also gives his advice for non-designers who want to bring a design mentality to their work - and why that matters. In part two of their podcast, the guys will take a harder look at SAP's UX approach and get Yen's Leonardo/UX status report.

UX collaboration can be a challenge for people in the same room, not to mention distributed teams! Today our guest is Brent Heckerman, the founder or D-Fusion UX Design & Strategy, who now works with RealtimeBoard to help them build a great collaboration platform. In this super-actionable episode we walk through the key principles, tools, scenarios, and tactics for remote UX workshops. Podcast feed: subscribe to http://simplecast.fm/podcasts/1441/rss in your favorite podcast app, and follow us on iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play Music. Show Notes RealtimeBoard — collaboration software we're talking about UX Mapping Workshop with Andy Parker (video recap) Mural — another tool for online collaboration Follow Brent on LinkedIn RealtimeBlog — more resources on remote UX collaboration Read full transcript for this episode Try RealtimeBoard free, and use promocode UIBREAKFAST to get 25% off your first purchase Today's Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Double Your Freelancing Conference — a conference for freelancers and agencies who want to get better at the business of consulting. It's located in Stockholm, Sweden, between 16-19th June — you can find out more at doubleyourfreelancing.com/euconf. I'm speaking there, too, and would love to meet you in person! Interested in sponsoring an episode? Learn more here. Leave a Review Reviews are hugely important because they help new people discover this podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please leave a review on iTunes. Here's how.

Leaving a UX legacy at an enterprise level requires stamina, courage, and grit. But the common denominator for creating a UX legacy is a surprising one: empathy. Lou talks with Colette Vardeman, Executive Director of Design at USAA, about her current experiences, past challenges, and what she’ll be covering as Theme Leader for Creating a Legacy at 2017’s Enterprise UX Conference. Join us at Enterprise UX: http://rfld.me/2ouQx8H Follow Colette Vardeman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/colettev Follow Rosenfeld Media: https://twitter.com/rosenfeldmedia

Longtime friend Marcin Treder of UXPin chats with Lou about the importance of a systematic approach to design and the difficulty that large scale or distributed teams of staying methodical and aligned. Visit UXPin's table at Enterprise UX next week and meet their team.

Rackspace's KC Teis sits down with Lou to share his perspective on leadership: his own story of growth and discovery, people he has seen blossom from unassuming designers into highly effective leaders, and, above all, the need to be an authentic, consistent and humane. 20 minutes of tremendous conversation. KC's organization Rackspace is a founding sponsor of Enterprise UX (www.enterpriseux.net). They will host the event for the second time June 8-10 at their beautiful headquarters in San Antonio.

Enterprise UX (www.enterpriseux.net) braintrust Uday Gajendar and Dave Malouf get together with Lou to talk us through the reasons that UX design needed a conference for enterpise, how they tackled the unique challenges of community building and programming posed by an emerging subset of the profession, and how they plan to keep from being 'one hit wonders.'

Enterprise UX (www.enterpriseux.net) theme leader and super-nice Brooklynite Ted Booth talks through the process of designing for the multitudes. After hearing from Ted, you will never see your thermostat the same way again.

Stephanie Gioia of XPLANE comes by to tell Lou about the value of visual thinking in making sure teams are framing the problem in the same way and work with a shared intention. XPLANE will be moderating Challenge Sprints, a new experiment in conference programming making their debut at Enterprise UX this year in San Antonio. (www.enterpriseux.net)

Eminent design mind, USAA VP and Enterprise UX 16 theme leader Richard Dalton stops by to discuss Disney's Magic Bands, the nuts and bolts of building a world-class design capability into an enormous 90-year-old company and the tenuous future of auto insurers in a world without car accidents. Richard will be a theme leader on "The Politcs of Innovation at Enterprise UX, June 8-10 in San Antonio www.enterpriseux.net

Susan Worthman, Design stategist, writer and Associate Dean of the Design MBA program at CCA talks Lou through the nuances and challenges of building and retaining a potent experience design team in a moment where that is a significant challenge. She will be a theme leader at Enterprise UX in San Antonio, June 8-10: www.enterpriseux.net.

Jack Moffett, leader of the apps development group at GUI Immedius, talks to Lou about the importance of systems and standard practices for designing at scale when the stakes are high. Jack will be a theme leader at Enterprise UX 2016, June 8-10 in San Antonio: www.enterpriseux.net.

Design Guru and sketch-noting virtuoso MJ Broadbent tells Lou about her transition from smaller scale UX consultancy to an exciting position within GE Digital. Be sure to catch her sketch noting work at Enterprise UX 2016 www.enterpriseux.net.

Well-crafted UX depends on having a company culture that’s set up to design well. Can you influence the culture of your company? Yes. Marc and Lou discuss three unique approaches to culture change happening in corporations like IBM and Citrix today. This is a preview into a panel Marc will lead on Designing Organizational Culture at Enterprise UX in San Antonio (May 13-15). Get tickets at www.enterpriseux.net or follow along on Twitter at @enterpriseUX.

UX commando Dan Willis talks with Lou about his experience handpicking a “best of” lineup of UX tales to be performed live at the Enterprise UX conference this May 13. Dan shares a few tips on how to present a memorable story in five minutes–and whether it’s ever a good idea to drink a beer before going on stage. See the official line-up or follow along on Twitter at @enterpriseUX.

Four years ago GE discovered it was one of the largest software companies in the world--but not building software very well. Hear how Greg Pettroff, as GE’s Chief Experience Officer, slowly built a community inside the company to evangelize the importance of design in a developer-focused culture. Greg will give the opening keynote at the Enterprise UX 2015 conference in San Antonio this May 13-15. Get tickets at www.enterpriseux.net or follow along on Twitter at @enterpriseUX.

Lou Rosenfeld and Steve Sanderson break down ways designers can use experimentation as a tool for innovation in enterprises. Steve also gives a preview to hot topics to be covered around innovating in big business at Enterprise UX, San Antonio, TX, May 13-15. @stevesanderson www.stevesanderson.com @enterpriseux www.enterpriseUX.net

What does quality and craft look like in the Enterprise UX world? Kendra and Lou take on the unique challenges of designing software to meet the needs of a constantly changing world. Craft Amid Complexity is a key theme at the upcoming Enterprise UX 2015 conference, where Kendra will deep dive into the topic along with fellow experts David Cronin, Uday Gajendar and Peter Morville. @kshimmell http://www.cooper.com/people/kendra_shimmell @enterpriseUX www.enterpriseux.net

Steve and Lou dig into the challenges of learning about people who engage with enterprises—how to gather data, and how to synthesize that data to get to something like true insight. Insight at Scale is a major theme at the upcoming Enterprise UX 2015 conference (San Antonio, May 13-15), where Steve will dig deeper into the subject along with Kelly Goto, Christian Rohrer, and Chris Chapo.

Chris Avore and Lou Rosenfeld talk about their upcoming conferences: Pro/Design in New York City on January 30 (hosted by Nasdaq) and Enterprise UX in San Antonio on May 13-15(hosted by Rosenfeld Media and Rackspace). Pro/Design will be held on Friday, January 30, 2015. There are currently no more tickets available. However, Nasdaq will be releasing live stream information on Monday, January 26. http://prodesignconf.com/ Stay updated about Pro/Design here: @PROdesignconf and #prodesignconf Follow Chris on Twitter here: @erova Follow Chris and his team at Nasdaq here: @NasdaqDesign Enterprise UX will be held on March 13-15, 2015. For more about Enterprise UX: www.enterpriseux.net @EnterpriseUX @RosenfeldMedia