Three Key Takeaways from the UX STRAT Conference

This past week, my fellow classmates and I volunteered at the UX STRAT conference here in Boulder. Donned in our “Orange is the New Black” t-shirts, we had the opportunity to mingle among Silicon Valley elites and learn how leading companies leverage UX strategies and approaches to develop innovative products and services. Normally the thought of attending a conference of this caliber would reduce me to night sweats, and would result in a drunken stupor of inappropriate jokes and awkward one-liners. However, after picking up my life and moving across the country to pursue grad school at a time when I previously thought I would be a trendy working mother with a baby on each hip, a design conference with Google, Disney, and Facebook execs seems less daunting.

Since I moved to Denver, I’ve grown accustomed to pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. Hell, what do I have to lose? I already left the only home I’ve ever known, said goodbye an amazing group of friends, and bid farewell to a comfy full-time job. Not to mention, my husband and princess pup stayed behind in DC. While I do have a small security blanket living with my sister and her family, this is the first time in my life that I’m not paralyzed by the thought of what other people think of me. This past weekend, I even went to a brewery by myself. I strategically placed myself by the bar, so I could harass people and guilt them into having conversations with me as they ordered their drinks (my apologies to the unbeknownst victims).

Although hanging out at a bar by yourself might seem insignificant, all my “firsts” over the past few months put me in the perfect mindset to confidently attend the UX STRAT conference without a hidden flask of liquid courage. As the Volunteer Coordinator, I had the opportunity to attend the conference each day and listen to all the amazing speakers, including Miles Orkin from Google, Ryan Russell from Amazon, and Kaaren Hanson from Facebook. After sorting through all my frivolous chicken scratch notes, here are three key takeaways.

1. Generalist employees are extremely valuable when building next-generation UX teams. While employees with specialist skills in their niche field can be beneficial, teams also need cross-functional employees that are fluent in multiple disciplines in order to foster effective communication and collaboration between developers, designers, and other stakeholders. (Miles Orkin, Chief of Staff, SUMux / Google: Designing the Next-Gen Google Experience)
2. Match the fidelity of your designs to the maturity of your idea. This helps eliminate wasted effort and investments. In addition, it enables continual user-feedback and validation throughout the design process. If a user is presented with a high-fidelity prototype in the beginning, they may be more compelled to comment on the overall aesthetic, instead of the concept and content. (Ryan Russell, Director, Human Centered Design, Amazon: Using Design Thinking to Shape Amazon’s Prime Now Experience)
3. One jerk can reduce team performance by 30–40%. Gender biases still and do exist; it is important to be aware of them, especially in the technology industry. For instance, women are interrupted 3–5 times more than men and are 6 times more likely to be hired when auditions are blind. Ladies, don’t be afraid to negotiate or meet with senior leaders. We need to push the boundaries because we don’t know where they are until we hit them. (Kaaren Hanson, Product Design Director, Facebook: How to Develop More Diverse Design Leadership)

To see a full list of presenters, visit the UX STRAT website.