News

It’s been a couple of weeks now since UX Australia and we’re still absorbing some of the information and insights from the presentations. There were some recurring themes throughout, and we did not flinch from talking about decolonisation, decarbonisation and equality as part of making our design practices better. 

Among these thematics we wove in practical talks about design systems and design ops, designing with AI and for wearable tech, how to present designs in the best light, case studies on design research, including for non-human factors.

In case you missed out, here’s a recap of all our speaker presentations. 

Note that the presentation slide decks, audio and transcripts are available on the website to all. Attendees can access the full recordings until the end of September.

Keynotes

Steve Baty

Steve set the tone by talking about how we must design for a better world. He talked about climate risk, resource depletion, economic and social equity, and more. It might seem a bit more politics than UX, but the opportunity for designers to tackle big issues also requires us to face up to our responsibilities and shoulder accountability for what we create and how we go about it.

Steven Wakabayashi

Steven gently challenged us to rethink what we know as diversity, inclusion and equality - because they are sometimes at odds with creating a truly inclusive workplace.We have to actively invite people who are currently excluded. We must hire them, listen to them, understand their needs, and create more opportunities.

Gerrard Gosens

"Change is constant, growth is optional" is the motto of extraordinary human Gerrard Gosens OAM who spoke with us about courage and resilience and being part of a team. He reminded us that designers must design for everyone and exclude no-one. Never assume a person can't do something. You'll be proved wrong every time.

Dori Tunstall

Dori talked to us about the decolonisation of design. As designers, we can (and must) contribute to this, including by putting indigenous demands first, owning up to institutional racism, establishing authentic relationships with BIPOC communities, diversifying our hiring practices, ensuring our standards and policies actively include, and do not exclude people. 

Sketchnote illustrations hand drawn and provided by Matt Magain of Sketch Group.

Presenters

Kate Archbold expertly outlined how to work with our closest and most influential team-mates, such as developers and product managers, by creating a common understanding of work and sharing a clear understanding of roles.

Jennifer Blatz walked us through some clear and practical frameworks for presenting designs, research, and having other discussions with stakeholders. There were many acronyms but also many dog pictures!

Scott Burns and Petra Gulicher showed us how we can centre the protection of users to create trust with those who partner in content. And that we can create positive community experiences if we prioritise content partnerships.

Kim Chatterjee wowed us with her stories of designing with dignity. She took us all over the planet, explaining in the humblest terms, how lives can be made better by listening and then giving people exactly (not minimally) what they need.

Aaron Cheang and Michelle Pickrell blew us away with their world of design complexity in trying to support and protect NSW health workers during the COVID pandemic. Hats off to them for trusting rapid human centred design to produce great results that will save lives.

Elle Geraghty shared the tools of AI and showed how they can be used to create both good and bad user experiences. She reminded us that the tools themselves are not enough, we have to use them well and responsibly.

Margaret (Mags) Hanley presented about navigating the politics of work and people, telling some great stories about how to develop functional relationships, even when it is challenging.

TJ Harrop delivered a Star Wars gif-studded presentation about design ops and how to scale design practices without leaving anyone behind. He introduced us to design ops 2.0 and explained the benefits of systematising the technical practices behind designing.

Krytal Higgins shared her insights for better user onboarding, talking us through the difference between what we think users need, and what they actually need. There's a lot more to consider than just learning some software.

Erin Malone shared a confronting talk about online hate and how social, game, corporates and media contribute to the radicalisation of people and circulate hatred. She showed us the complexity of mapping the hate to reveal pathways of radicalisation.

Charlii Parker took us on a journey of designing for people with disabilities. She showed us that we need to do better than designing with ‘mindfulness’, we have to involve differently abled people and communities in our processes - from inception to testing - even when that can be challenging.

Donna Spencer gave us four practical tips for sharing designs with stakeholders, including why we need to be really aware of context and to run through things at least twice.

Josh Thompson provided an amazing design systems talk to remind us that we have to codify design decisions, processes and ways of working, so that we can create reliable, consistent products for every kind of user. And although it can be a hard and complex slog to create a design system, it is worth it for users and companies.

Martin Tomitsch got us thinking very hard about how we reframe design conversations and expand our definitions to include non-human stakeholders, like the environment, climate, animals, COVID, business, technology and more. His presentation sparked many conversations and provoked many questions. 

Oliver Weidlich knocked our wearables off with his presentation about designing for integrated technology, and how this broadens our responsibilities as UX designers. He demonstrated how augmented reality, intelligent agents and the internet of things can combine to create powerful experiences.

Slide decks, transcripts and audio recordings are available in each presentation listing.

Workshop facilitators

Justin Cheong ran a fun and practical workshop that took participants through the elements of visual thinking and its applications across human-centred design.

Matt Fenwick brought his content experience to show how writing is a critical and useful skill for designers, especially if you want to persuade your stakeholders to support your designs.

Mags Hanley helped participants answer some of the hardest questions - what do I want to do next and how do I do it? - by asking them to apply their design skills to their own career.

Donna Spencer guided her group down IA memory lane by explaining the fundamental information architecture skills of classification, categorisation, content modelling, and more.

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Thanks again to all our sponsors for helping make the event possible.