For Julia Feld, nothing brings a community together quite like a hot plate of fresh homemade pasta drizzled with a sage butter sauce, or perhaps a bolognese. Years ago, when Feld still called her native Boston home, she started hosting monthly dinner parties to bring like-minded people together, connect with…

Grace Phang’s interest in behavioral studies began when she was in high school. Participating in a class on evolutionary science and anthropology, Grace would go to the zoo for hours to study the monkeys and take detailed field notes on animal behavior. “I was a total nerd,” she said shamelessly…

Men dominate when it comes to the number of speakers at tech and design conferences, but it doesn’t have to stay this way. Danielle Barnes, CEO of Women Talk Design, provides tips for women and non-binary folks to help you find your voice and taking the stage for the first time. — Danielle Barnes is the CEO of Women Talk Design, an organization that seeks to elevate the number of diverse speakers on stage, specifically women and non-binary people in design and tech. Part of her job involves maintaining and growing a database of speakers that organizers can turn to when searching…

The social sector is an inspiring arena for UX researchers and UX designers who want to make a difference in other people’s lives, but make no mistake, it is not typical UX work. At its core, you’re working with nonprofit and non-governmental organizations to design products and services that help…

If you’re thinking about switching into a career in user experience design, Christene Fair’s story might inspire you to take those first steps. Learn how she went from planning events to designing user experiences. Have you ever asked yourself what you want? …

Those who use Ancestry.com tend to share one thing in common: they’re looking to better understand who they are and where they come from. If they’re not digging through the extensive genealogy records to piece together the branches of their family tree, they’re discovering the makeup of their own unique…

UX strategist Kavitha Krishnan talks about what it takes to “have the balls” to switch from full-time work to freelance, and back again. — Some people keep their work and hobbies separate. Kavitha Krishnan is not one of those people. The UX strategist and research consultant breathes UX all day and night long. When she’s not working in the traditional sense, she’s attending meetups, co-organizing conferences such as Talk UX and Better By Design…

Don’t feel pressured to specialize! Boston-based hybrid designer Katie Langerman says not only is there a place for UX designers to take on generalist roles that combine design and engineering, but there’s a need for them too. — The generalist vs. specialist debate Katie Langerman will never forget the day someone told her she couldn’t be both a designer and an engineer. She was being interviewed for a product design role and asked if she would have the opportunity to code and build out some of her own designs.

There’s a borough in London, England, where 26 percent of the population is black. Within this borough, 50 percent of residents in high-security facilities and 67 percent of residents in low-to-medium security psychiatric facilities are black. Think about that for a minute. These disproportionate numbers are part of a huge…