Hatch Conference 2023 — a few notes from the Design Conference in Berlin

I recently had the incredible opportunity to attend the Hatch Conference 2023 and wanted to share my insights and experiences from the sessions. I participated in this conference online alongside 600+ other participants. I can only imagine the in-person experience, especially with sessions led by industry veterans like Brad Frost and Jaime Levy. This conference was a melting pot of ideas, inspiration, and innovation, showcasing some of the brightest minds in design. Here's a quick recap of the sessions I attended:

Getting Lost in Discovery — By Jaime Levy

The first session at the conference was by Jaime Levy, the author of the renowned book "UX Strategy". When Jaime decided to move to Berlin, she faced the huge problem of finding a long-term flat. But what would a designer with 30+ years of industry experience do in such a situation?

“This is a real wicked problem, and perhaps I should solve it using my own UX strategy techniques and embark on a discovery phase.”

She applied Discovery phase techniques to tackle this challenge, transforming what began as a personal problem into an enlightening journey for us to delve deep into these methods.

Jaime discussed the dos and don'ts of stakeholder interviews, competitive research, workshops, interviews, and prototyping, and they were nothing short of a roadmap to me. The contextual applications of these techniques to her problem statement made the case study very interesting.

The Dos and Don't of Discovery Phase Techniques

Key Takeaways:

• The Discovery Phase is crucial in the UX design process. It's not just about research; it's about aligning with different types of stakeholders and ensuring a clear vision at each and every step of the process.
• Jaime emphasized on taking risks, having an open mind to experimentation, and not forgetting that failing is an important part of our strategic journey.

Crafting Tomorrow — The Impact of AI on UX Design— By Jascha Goltermann

Jascha, a Design Manager at Booking with over a decade of experience, delved into the ever-changing landscape of UX design with the advent of AI. He presented a case study of Booking's AI Trip Planner. With a plethora of AI integrations across platforms, user expectations are transforming at lightning speed. Familiar tools like Miro, Notion, Grammarly, and GitHub now boast new AI-powered features. Booking initially had a Virtual Travel Assistant powered by a machine learning model. However, it had its limitations, such as not fully grasping languages and being restricted to its training data.

The AI Trip Planner emerged from Booking's 2023 Hackathon. Jascha emphasized the significance of such hackathons within the company, as they often act as a simmering pot of innovative ideas. This AI trip planner surpasses the capabilities of the previous virtual assistant. For instance, when a user wishes to plan a mountain honeymoon trip in the USA, instead of the lengthy process of online searches and reading reviews, they can simply input "mountain honeymoon in the USA" into the AI, which then contextualizes the request.

Jascha highlighted the non-linear steps of GenAI. When working with GenAI, you can't always predict the user steps. It's vital to train the AI to provide contextual responses and handle the situation in various ways. This involves designing prompts and establishing clear guidelines and principles. Given its potential for inappropriate outputs, it's paramount to establish guardrails that consider sensitive subjects and protect against malicious content.

With its vast database of 29 million+ global listings and 266 million+ guest reviews, one can only imagine the caliber of recommendations the Booking AI Trip Planner can provide. Although the feature is currently exclusive to the US, I can't wait to try it.

Jascha concluded by stressing that while the design landscape evolves, certain core skills remain evergreen, with empathy at the center. Alongside these foundational skills, designers will need to assimilate new ones in the age of AI. A few of them are:

• AI Literacy: Ben's Bites newsletter, Invisible Machine Podcast
• Prompt Engineering: "Prompt Engineering Guide" on promptingguide.ai
• Hyper-Personalisation: Deloitte report "Connecting with Meaning"

Key Takeaways:

• UX design is undergoing rapid transformations, thanks to AI, leading to evolving user expectations.
• The role of designers continually shifts, demanding an amalgamation of both classic and new skill sets.

Getting your Buy-in and making Stakeholders listen — By Kevin Hawkins

Diving deep into the identification of stakeholders, Kevin emphasized that understanding their concerns, motivations, and interests is crucial. It's not just about mapping out their names or titles, but truly comprehending what drives them and how your project can address those drivers.

On the subject of influence, Kevin talked about the importance of building relationships. It's not about persuading stakeholders through a one-off presentation but cultivating trust over time. This involves regular communication, transparency, and showing genuine interest in their feedback.

Presenting ideas in context was a key takeaway. Kevin showcased the technique of "priming your audience". By framing your ideas within a narrative that is both familiar and relevant to the stakeholders, you increase the likelihood of resonance and, subsequently, buy-in.

Kevin gave an example of his friend Casey's skill mapping technique. By visualizing the skills within a team, it becomes easier to identify areas of strength and weakness and aids in professional development.

Key Takeaways:

• Understand and empathize with stakeholders' motivations.
• Build trust through consistent communication and transparency.
• Frame ideas within a familiar and relevant narrative.
• Use tools like skill mapping to identify team strengths and areas for growth.

Systems of Exclusion — By Luke Murphy

Luke opened the session with a personal narrative, recounting his struggles with identity and acceptance while growing up in Australia. In his hometown, he was prematurely labeled based on perceived sexuality, which led to feelings of alienation. He connected this personal experience with the broader issue of exclusionary design systems.

Highlighting that 1.7% of the US population is intersex, Luke expressed concern over their lack of representation in many design interfaces, from Healthcare to Skincare and from Clothing to Toys. He emphasized the importance of a diverse design team, suggesting that varied experiences and backgrounds can lead to more inclusive products. Luke also recommended the book "Rethinking Gender" by Louie Lauger for a deeper understanding.

Key Takeaways:

• Design systems can unintentionally perpetuate exclusion and bias.
• As a designer, it's our duty to ensure inclusivity in their work.
• Representation is important as it allows people to feel comfortable enough to be seen.

Is Atomic Design Dead? — By Brad Frost

Brad Frost is a design system consultant, Front-end developer, Speaker and writer of the famous book Atomic Design. He gave a concise history of websites, brand style guides, web apps, pattern libraries, and the rise of design tools over the past two decades.

The harmony between Design System and Product is really hard to achieve

“We are building the same designs from Berlin to Bangalore: the same accordions, same input fields, and the same buttons. And how are we doing so far? There are a vast number of accessibility errors on popular home pages.

As AI-driven online content surges, people will increasingly gravitate toward authentic, well-crafted products and experiences. As creators, we must answer this question: Are we adding to 90% noise or we are crafting the 10% signal? Check this website from Brad Frost.

Key Takeaways:

• The digital design landscape has undergone significant shifts, moving from basic websites to complex design systems.
• Accessibility remains a pressing concern, with many popular web pages failing to meet basic standards.
• There's a growing need for a cohesive, global design system to ensure consistency and inclusivity.
• In the age of AI, authenticity in design stands out and should be a primary focus for creators.

The Design Process is a Lie? — By José Torre

José Torre is a Senior Staff Designer at Shopify. José shared his life story and how he chanced upon graphic design as a career. He reflected on the hardships he faced in the initial phase of his career, from working in unsatisfactory roles to struggling with financial instability.

José emphasized that the design process isn't just about following prescribed frameworks. While these frameworks can provide a roadmap, they often fail when applied to the unpredictable and chaotic nature of real life. He urged designers to be adaptable and emphasized that the design process needs to be tailored according to individual project circumstances and constraints.

Key Takeaways:

• Frameworks vs. Real Life: While design frameworks can be useful, they are often too rigid for the messy reality of real-world projects. Real-life is filled with constraints, unpredictability, and unforeseen challenges.

• Adapting the Process: It's crucial for designers to customize their process based on project-specific circumstances, such as understanding the target audience, project timelines, team composition, and the actual problem worth solving.

• Iterative Design: The best design outcomes often emerge from relentless exploration and iterative attempts. Don't fall in love with your ideas. Being open to feedback and ready to pivot is crucial.

• Software is Never Done: José highlighted that software, or design for that matter, is always evolving. It's crucial to continually test, gather feedback, and refine the design.
• Collaborate: Building bridges and not walls. Everyone, from designers to developers, should build together and this can only happen with good communication, mutual respect and a good amount of compromises.

José's talk was both insightful and heartening. His personal experiences added depth to the subject, illustrating the complexities of the design world. His emphasis on adaptability and the need to tailor the design process based on real-world challenges offers a fresh perspective.

José shared the process of evolving a large-scale design system — Shopify Polaris, which can be found here: Uplifting Shopify Polaris

Reflecting on Hatch Conference 2023, it's clear the design world is evolving rapidly. The sessions provided rich insights, from UX nuances to AI's influence. As designers, it's vital to absorb these lessons and drive forward, ensuring we build user-focused and forward-thinking designs together for the future.