RUX May: People Skills for UX

Note: Eventbrite registration is required for this event.

Back in November, we hosted a local, sold-out viewing of the UX Futures virtual conference, presented by Rosenfeld Media. Those who attended thought watching the online sessions together—and networking before, during and after—featured all the benefits of a larger, one-day conference, minus the hassle of travel. We asked if you’d like to participate in an event like that again, and the response was a resounding “yes!” Rosenfeld Media has announced their next virtual conference, and we are excited to bring you, People Skills for UX. See below for more details, from Rosenfeld Media.

Tickets are $25, available via Eventbrite.

People Skills for UX
The skills no one told you you needed.

Many of us feel comfortable managing the nuts and bolts of research and design. What stumps us are people—delightfully difficult, unpredictable, and irrational. How do we get better at understanding, collaborating with, and motivating the people who are integral to our efforts to make experiences better?

In People Skills for UX, our one-day virtual conference, we’ll explore four critical soft skills themes: listening, facilitation, negotiation, and leadership. We’ll do it with a unique outside-in twist: pairing presentations by experts from outside the design world with responses from UX experts who are deeply in it. If you’re interested in the people skills that are behind great user experience design, please join us.

AGENDA

10-11:30am: Negotiation
Conflict is a natural part of life in general and UX work in particular—whether you’re at an agency or in-house, whether you’re the design director or you just joined the team. When competing for projects, collaborating with developers, or bargaining for better salaries. Negotiation is how we align our conflicting interests. How can we negotiate the best deals & mash the ones where both parties come out as “winners”?

• 10-10:45am: Michelle Katz, formerly VP of Business and Legal Affairs, Universal Studios New Media
• 10:45-11:15am: Harry Max, VP Product, AllClear ID
• 11:15-11:30am: Discussion

11:30-11:45am: Break

11:45am-1:15pm: Facilitation
Statistics suggest that 37% of our time is spent in meetings—and it isn’t exactly spent productively, much less enjoyably. Effective facilitation changes the equation by making groups work—functionally and culturally—by squaring individuals’ needs with organizational dynamics and goals. What does it take to facilitate in ways that transform our meetings—and our organizations?

• 11:45am-12:30pm: David Sibbet, President and Founder, The Grove Consultants International
• 12:30-1:00: Kevin M. Hoffman, author of Meeting Design (forthcoming)
• 1:00-1:15 Discussion

1:15-2:15 pm: Lunch break

2:15-3:45 pm: Listening
Listening is one of the most critically important—and misunderstood—human skills. As a matter of course, we listen—but few us know how to really listen. We regularly miss out on opportunities to challenge our own assumptions about the people around us and to learn what makes them tick. How can we listen more effectively to our colleagues and customers, better understand their motivations and environments, and align our work with their goals?

• 2:15-3:00pm: Julian Treasure, author of Sound Business and TED speaker
• 3:-3:30pm: Steve Portigal, author of Interviewing Users

3:30-3:45pm: Discussion

3:30-3:45pm: Break

4:00-5:30 pm: Leadership
Leadership is in flux. Organizations, their business models and their cultures are changing dramatically, and traditional command/control models are increasingly irrelevant. Leaders must rely on new approaches: modeling productive behaviors, working alongside their teams, inspiring possible futures, encouraging independence, and even celebrating mistakes.

• 4-4:45pm: Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director, Code for America
• 4:45-5:15pm: Kim Goodwin, author of Designing for the Digital Age and VP of UX, PatientsLikeMe

5:15-5:30pm: Discussion

After the last session we will be raffling off some terrific UX-related prizes, including the Grand Prize: the entire Rosenfeld UX library in digital format to one lucky winner!

Your cost to join us at Gather is just $25. On your own, this event would cost $179—with no discussions, door prizes, or networking. To attend an event of this caliber outside Richmond would be an even greater investment of time and money. Seating is limited…get your ticket today!

Thank you to our sponsors: