This year we celebrate the diversity and growth of our UX community In Utrecht. To keep growing the mindset, we have invited local and international speakers to share with all of us their experience and challenges in their UX practice. Here you will find the details of every talk and workshop.
Don't forget to choose two parallel sessions in advance!
During the Meetup, there will be parallel sessions. We want to split the crowd evenly into the 3 different sessions. At the registration desk, you can select and enrol for the session you prefer. For each session, there will be a list and limited seats available.
Opening
12:45 —Theater
Jenny Shen, the regional leader of Ladies that UX
Jenny Shen, EMEA Director at Ladies that UX, will open this Meetup XL. Jenny is a UX Strategist and Localisation Consultant who helps global organisations expand into new markets and guide businesses to get seriously strategic about UX. She has worked with startups and brands including Neiman Marcus, Crate&Barrel, eBuddy, Babylon Health, IBM and Randstad. In her spare time, she is mentoring designers and working on global community strategy for Ladies that UX.
Keynote
13:15 — Theater
Dana Chisnell — Democracy is a design problem
We are very happy with a strong female opening keynote. This talk will show how every great designed experience starts with the stories of individual humans.
At the Center for Civic Design, Dana Chisnell and her team have collected thousands of stories from U.S. voters over the years. They used the stories to visualize and map the voting experience. This revealed two massive gaps in the process.
First, people who administer elections and voters have very different *mental models* on the process of voting. The second gap was between *privileged* voters and *burdened* voters. These gaps explained why it’s harder than it should be to vote in the U.S.
The stories also showed that several policies that were meant to make things better had unintended consequences that might make it worse. And just as in the private sector and across lots of different kinds of organizations, design research could have helped solve real problems without causing new ones.
Dana Chisnell brings deep experience in civic design. She is also an expert in plain language and usability for older adults, including ground-breaking work on design for older adults that was the basis for several requirements in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
She teaches design in government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and spent a 2-year tour of duty as “generalist problem solver” for the United States Digital Service in the Obama White House, doing user research and civic design across agencies.
As the editor of the Field Guides To Ensuring Voter Intent, she has taught thousands of election officials on how to improve ballots, web sites and other election materials to ensure voter intent.
Dana and Jeff Rubin wrote the Handbook of Usability Testing Second Edition (Wiley 2008), the seminal book on the topic.
Parallel sessions (1)
14:15 — Theater
// Voice Design: No way back. Designing without good old breadcrumbs, menu’s & visual hierarchy by Marieke Linssen from Bol.com
“Continue to checkout!?!”, shouted the smart speaker. “Or want to shop some more?”, it whispered softly. Then, hardly noticeable: “the terms & conditions”. A weird situation. In design, we rely heavily on visual hierarchy, but without screen there is none. No back button, no breadcrumbs, no clickable logo’s. How does this change the way we navigate & orientate? And what does this mean for our interaction design?
Marieke Linssen is an Interaction & Conversation Designer at bol.com, and part of the Voice Innovation Team. She aims to learn the ins & outs of how we (will) speak to machines. Her background in media philosophy, storytelling and content strategy provides the best experience to learn from: lots of talking
14:15 —Koepelzaal
// Workshop: How to become more visually literate by Maartje Aangenendt from Informaat
Get acquainted with sketching as a quick, versatile and fun way to communicate.
Sketching can help you clarify complex problems or situations to others, e.g. stakeholders. Where words can be interpreted differently, a sketch or visualization is easier for our brain to remember and helps you to look at a problem in a different way.
During this breakout session, Maartje Aangenendt will give you some examples of how to visualize complex concepts. You will also get some useful tips & tricks on how to visually communicate your ideas to others quickly and easily. After a short introduction, you will directly start sketching with some fun and informative drawing exercises!
Maartje Aangenendt is a senior UX designer with a strong feeling for visual design and has been working at Informaat for more than five years. She likes complex conceptual challenges but also enjoys getting the details done, and can be very enthusiastic about processing this simply and elegantly. For her UX design is the connecting link between design, development and business.
14:15 — Studio 3
// Manage the customer experience with top tasks: focus on what really matters! by Lonneke Theelen from User Research
How to successfully manage your customer experience? The Top Task Management model enables you to determine, measure and improve what really matters to customers. Why this approach? Over the years it has been proven to be successful — and you can start small. How to start? I will share my experiences and insights on the method.
With a background in Media- and Communications science, Lonneke emerged herself in the world of customer experience and user research 8 years ago. Through UX research (mainly qualitative) she improves the digital customer experience and ensures happy customers. “Customers are intelligent. Watch them, learn and optimise the usability”.
Parallel sessions (2)
16:00 —Theater
// Researching empathy: A vulnerable conversation about us as designers by Maike Klip from DUO
The makers and users of the digital government have lost their connection. People don’t talk to people anymore, they talk to computers which then talk to each other. If digital civil servants don’t see or talk to citizens, how can we expect the digital government to work in an empathic way? For too long we have ignored this problem. We have created an empathy debt.
What happens if we reconnect makers and users again? Will they be more empathic? Will they make different, maybe better decisions? And how much empathy do you actually need? I started the empathic civil servants' portrait series and I’d like you to meet some of my empathic colleagues.
Maike Klip is a user researcher at Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs (The Education Executive Agency of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science). They are best known for the student finance :) She has started a masters programme at the Willem de Kooning Academy where she uses photography to do design research about how the digital government can have an empathic connection with you and me. You can follow her quest to what empathy exactly is and what this means for everyone working in government at klipklaar.nl.
More about Maike and her talk >
16:00 — Koepelzaal
// The strategic impact of mini-journeys for My Amsterdam by Laura Lammers from Osage and Kim Westerweel from Municipality of Amsterdam
In the quest to develop My Amsterdam, a personal digital platform for the citizens of Amsterdam, the agency OSAGE was asked by Kim Westerweel from the Municipality of Amsterdam to help create new focus in the program which at that point had been running for a considerable time and was running low on energy as well as budget. As it turned out, putting the user first helped to create new energy and convince stakeholders and budget holders to embark on a new phase of development in 2019. This talk is about how mini journeys as a method helped to actively engage stakeholders and budget holders, achieving considerable strategic impact in a limited amount of time and on a limited budget.
In My Amsterdam, you can view and manage 24/7 your personal information and requests, view relevant information about your neighbourhood and receive personal suggestions tailored to your situation. The design for My Amsterdam was developed in co-creation with citizens of Amsterdam and stakeholders on the basis of mini journeys: a fast and concrete way to create and test prototypes.
Laura Lammers is a graphic designer and advisor at OSAGE, a communication and design agency in Utrecht. OSAGE is specialized in interaction, identity and content. Our core belief is that everything can be made simple. Kim Westerweel is a customer-driven change manager currently working for the resident and business services department at the Municipality of Amsterdam.
16:00 —Studio 3
// From feature to experience: how to transform a traditional organisation to embrace customer-centricity? by Renske Jongbloed and Nicky Rog from Valtech
That’s the million dollar question. Working as CX-designers in a journey-based company is the dream, but getting there was a journey in itself. In this session, we will share our struggles, victories, and the 3 guiding principles that helped us along the way.
Renske Jongbloed is a passionate Senior Customer Experience Designer, growth hacker and other marketing buzzwords. Loves climbing (in and out of bed mostly, but sometimes also mountains), movies, food and driving people crazy by asking ‘why’ all the time.
Nicky Rog is a Digital Marketing Consultant who focusses on reaching business and user goals by optimizing experiences. Loves sports (cycling & soccer) and is an experienced expert in online shopping (downside: very time consuming and pretty expensive).
Plenary session
16:30 — Theater
Food experience by Jasper Udink ten Cate as Creative Chef
Experience. Hear. See. Feel. Taste. In this presentation Creative Chef Jasper will share with you his ideas on experience design. With examples, Jasper will explain how experience design in analogue shape can be a starting point for a meaningful experience captured in a digital environment.
Keynote
17:00 — Theater
Jared Spool — It’s a great time to be a UX designer
There’s never been a better time to be a designer. After years of wishing we’d have the recognition and appreciation for the value we bring, we’re now highly sought after for our talents and skills. A growing number of organizations have seen success through great design, from Apple to Cirque de Soleil to the White House and the demand for great designers has never been better.
But creating great experiences needs a new breed of designer. One that can handle all the skills involved, from visual design to coding. Some might even call it a “unicorn,” but these creatures aren’t mythical. In fact, they are alive and thriving in today’s design teams.
This talk will show you and your team:
- Why it has never been a better time to be a designer
- What the new breed of designer must handle to meet the demand of being a great designer
- Why Jared believes in unicorns and how they are thriving in the design teams of today
In the 39 years, Jared Spool has been in the tech field, he’s worked with hundreds of organizations, written two books, published hundreds of articles and podcasts, and tours the world speaking to audiences everywhere. When he can, he does his laundry in Andover, Massachusetts.
Jared Spool is a Maker of Awesomeness at Center Centre/UIE. Center Centre is the school he started with Leslie Jensen-Inman to create industry-ready User Experience Designers. UIE is Center Centre’s professional development arm, dedicated to understanding what it takes for organizations to produce competitively great products and services.
Evening Programme
19:30 — Theater
//Share your picture — Grow The Mindset! for me is…
What would #GrowTheMindset or Growth look like? Please bring one or more photo’s or drawings with you; share in print what #GrowTheMindset means to you! Could be something personal, about your work, your team, skills, business, education, sustainability, inclusion …. you name it!
Bring it printed out with you at the Meetup (preferably A4 or bigger), or send it via to utrecht@ladiesthatux.com. You can also share your picture on Instagram or Twitter using #GrowTheMindset and #Picture
20:00 — Theater
Debate, led by Karlijn Moll
The Meetup XL will conclude with a debate between several design agency owners, directors of UX departments, Ladies that UX organizers and speakers of the afternoon programme. Join this interesting debate where experts will share and defend their point of view about the current state of UX.
//Pitch in!
Do you have an important subject to debate more about? If you think of a subject, now or during the event, which you would like everybody to elaborate on more, please share your subject to debate on social media or via email to utrecht@ladiesthatux.com.
Use the hashtags #Debate and #GrowTheMindset
The debate session will be led by Karlijn Moll, user-focused product-owner that wears her heart on her sleeve. She knows a thing or two about organizing meetups and is passionate about diversity, ethics, feminism, earl grey tea and knives.
21:00 —24:00 Bar
Party, drinks and good conversations!
After the spicy debate and inspiring talks and workshops from the afternoon programme, you can let it all out.
Relax & get those feet off the floor! Let’s have a drink to celebrate: you are part of our amazing community, and it is well worth celebrating!
There is no party without great music and we do have the best DJ in town for you! DJ Helen is the house DJ of https://pann.nl/ ! She is well known for playing at straight-friendly gay parties in venues like TivoliVredenburg.
Connect and explore
One of our Meetup goals is to connect people, professionals and companies with each other. You will find many UX professionals to share experiences with, don’t miss the opportunity! If you are looking for a job, look for our Job board on the wall. Different companies will share their job positions there.
Curious about other companies? If you are a UX researcher, we are sure you will like to know more about Happy Labs. Approach their stand to find out about their cool facilities for performing user research!
Get ready for an immersive VR experience! We are looking forward to seeing what Valtech is doing with this technology. This agency helps companies innovate and develop experiences with new digital technologies. You cannot miss it!
Keep on Growing!
Don’t have a ticket yet? Get your ticket now!
#Growthemindset
