Dogfooding my way to better UX
Why I spent a week as a gopher at TEDSummit 2016
Last week I took a break from being UX Architect at TED. Instead, I was on-the-ground support — a gopher — for the conference team at TEDSummit 2016 in Banff, Canada. I spent my days, and a good portion of my nights, at the InfoHub, the help center located in the most active spot in the venue. When I wasn’t there (or asleep), I was available online. It was the first TED conference that I didn’t attend a single session, but there was a reason.
Gopher duty
I did everything from addressing general attendee questions—Where’s lunch? Can I switch sessions?—to bringing a toothbrush to an attendee’s hotel room at 10pm. I supported Gigi, our 24/7 virtual concierge who’s there to answer any and all attendee questions. (“How do Unicorns have sex, Gigi?” Yes, that was an actual question.)
I also got to work with many of the tools and products that make our conferences such an incredible experience for attendees, including our bespoke Event Management System (EMS) and the TEDConnect conference app for iOS and Android.
I was able to experience firsthand how our conference support team works with these tools and interacts with our attendees. Bonus: I got to meet some of the most engaged members of the TED community…
