Key Highlights from the 2018 AWWWARDS Digital Thinkers Conference in San Francisco
Authored by Azzeddine Elasri
I recently had the chance to attend the 2018 AWWWARDS Conference, which was held at San Francisco’s beautiful Palace of Fine Arts from May 10th to 11th, 2018. The conference focused on trends in design, with input from various keynote speakers who have been essential to the success of award-winning products. Nearly a thousand attendees gathered from all over the world to learn from experts of well-established digital companies like Adobe, Facebook, Invision, Dropbox, Slack, Airbnb among others. I’d like to highlight key lessons learned that I hope to incorporate into the work we do at Velir.
Chemistry Over Culture
Cameron Moll, design manager for Facebook Events and Facebook Local App walked through his background as a musician and his decision to switch and pursue design. He talked extensively on the culture and people in tech, notably emphasizing “chemistry over culture,” or the idea that we should foster collaboration with our peers.
Chemistry enables us to be different, whereas culture encourages us to be similar. He argues that chemistry doesn’t mean a lack of ideals, goals, mission, etc. but more of a blending of new elements with existing systems which can lead to a powerful outcome.
While this idea exposes the importance of chemistry to achieve success, I’d like to argue that we strive to achieve greater chemistry through culture. The idea what we de-prioritize culture for chemistry feels admittedly unnatural to me. When speaking of project success, talent, action, and outcomes tend to be top of mind. However, at Velir, we bring out the magic of culture and chemistry through a highly-collaborative engagement, that focuses on team values, principles, and positive actions. This magic of chemistry and culture happens when they are performed as a unit, paving the way to team success. Here are a few ways you can foster greater chemistry through cultural values:
- Love your team. Perhaps the most important aspect of our lives is to love the people we engage with. Caring for and supporting those around you leads to positive change.
- Value what you do. As a designer, I tend to be quite critical of my designs. “Do I love my designs?” Sure. But perhaps thinking of what I design as “adding value” to the user experience or brand perception is a better way of judging my work.
- Leave it at the desk. Worry less about what can’t be controlled, and focus on attitude and effort. Highly-efficient and productive teams are passionate about the work that they do, remain focused on building a positive, supportive, and structured team environment, and embrace learning opportunities through mistakes.
Diversity in Design
Moll also discussed diversity in tech and how we can challenge the status quo, particularly focusing on the inclusion of women in tech spaces. Other keynote speakers such as Ryan Carson, founder of Treehouse, and Ash Huang, artist, author, and designer who currently works on Adobe XD, brought up diversity as well.
This focus on people and diversity throughout the conference resonated with me quite a bit: having recently joined Velir (my first agency experience) in the U.S. as a Moroccan, the increased focus on a diverse community in the workplace has allowed me to thrive, continue to build strong connections with coworkers, and work in a positive, collaborative environment in an entirely different country.
It has been shown that hiring candidates that differ in background and opinion can help foster a more creative culture, as diversity brings with it unique perspectives and approaches to design.
As digital brings us closer together, our clients expect their offerings to interface with a growing number of audiences. User experiences, perception, and behaviors can be quite international — even when we are thinking local.
Incorporating Augmented Reality into Design
With artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and augmented reality (AR) gaining momentum (to the point that the appetite for them has finally caught up with technology), I was excited to learn some key insights on these very topics. A speaker that stood out to me was Val Head, a web animation expert and designer at Adobe. In her talk, she walked us through the past and future of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), discussing how we might include them in our web experiences.
She explained that these new technological possibilities should not only be appreciated for their novelty, but because these mediums can truly bring humanness, empathy, and connections across contexts. Examples she provided included chatbots, conversational interfaces, and artificial intelligence used for customer service.
Here at Velir, we’ve been growing our intelligent services through machine learning for CMS platforms. The work that we do in this space, enables our clients to find harmony and creativity in solving challenging problems. Mark Stiles, Principal Developer at Velir recently shared his insight regarding this topic in his article “The Cognitive Core: Velir’s Solution for Using Machine Learning APIs with Sitecore”.
Making Technology More Natural
When designing solutions for highly-complex, data-driven websites, I not only focus on the user experience, but take into consideration the authoring experience as well. What this means, is offering a more natural and frictionless experience to complete certain tasks for both the audience and the content creator.
Claudio Guglieri, creative director at Microsoft, gave an interesting talk about making technology more natural through observing the world around us. For instance, he suggested making use of visual effects that match our real-world perception of depth and color in order to reduce the cognitive load of complex user interfaces and help increase focus and hierarchy. He showcased how we can communicate without words through the use of sound, allowing design to cater to a global audience. Overall, Guglieri provided a unique perspective on how we can mold design in a new, modern, global society.
Lastly, the highlight of the event for me was the session featuring Aaron Draplin. His passionate talk stirred the audience and incited emotional responses. Draplin shared his process, passion for creating brands and identities, and the work he did with the Obama administration. He also told us how he finds inspiration in rural, middle America; he likes to go to unknown places and find old relics that are classic and timeless. He also talked about his passion for his family and endless love for his late father, which is what has inspired him to keep going. His design aesthetic aims for less noise, a cleaner, easier experience through typography and color, and more human connection.
Incorporating the Latest Trends in Design in Our Work
I came away from AWWWARDS with renewed enthusiasm for my work, new ideas to bring to the table about the future direction of design, and insight on how to improve the culture and community of the workplace. Thanks to the organizers and speakers for a great event! Be on the lookout for some follow-up posts discussing how we’ve incorporated some of these ideas into our practice.
In the meantime, what are your thoughts about the latest trends in design? Did you happen to attend the 2018 AWWWARDS Digital Thinkers Conference in San Francisco? We’d love to hear your experiences. Feel free to share your thoughts below or Tweet Us @Velir!
