March 2019: Preparing students for a UX role

Waterloo Region is known for having world-class post-secondary education institutions as well as a thriving tech ecosystem that includes strong design community. How might we strengthen the connections between those educational institutions and the design community in order to better complement and amplify the impact of each? One way might be to have a conversation about what industry is looking for in UX grads.

Join us for our next session as UW professor Carolyn MacGregor opens that conversation to learn:

• What do you wish you had learned in school to better prep you for your UX career?
• What are you looking for when you’re hiring a recent grad for a UX role?
• How can students be better prepared to become design leaders?

Give some thought to these questions and join us for the conversation!

Carolyn MacGregor is an Associate Professor and the Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Systems Design Engineering and the University of Waterloo. Her teaching and research focus on user research methods, engineering design, and human factors engineering.

Please register for this free event

Thursday March 21, 2018
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, 2nd floor
[View on Google Maps]

February 2019: Informal Pub Meetup

Informal pub meetups aren’t just for summer anymore! Let’s huddle up this month and stay warm with a uxWaterloo session that features informal talk, some of it even UX-related, and drinks. Let’s make sure that the laid-back atmosphere and conversations are a welcome addition to any winter schedule. Join us!

Please register for this free event

Thursday February 21, 2019
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Abe Erb Brewing
15 King Street South, Uptown Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario

January 2018: Experiments in Creating an Urban Design UX in Kitchener

This month, we’ll be learning from folks in another design discipline: urban design!

The City of Kitchener’s role as innovators in urban design includes fostering an environment in which all parties– developers, consultants, city staff and the public– are able to collaborate sympathetically toward a future condition where new development is a valued and positively integrated part of urban life. This means not only creating leading policy in urban design, but expanding the ways in which we disseminate urban design issues and educate stakeholders so that we can make informed decisions and overcome existing, ingrained prejudices.

The City of Kitchener has developed unique design guidelines that are adaptable, scalable, and inclusive. Our approach is one that focuses on the relationships between design elements to ensure good design. Because of this, we have increased the burden on all parties when it comes to implementation; rather than static, unchanging numbers, our approach requires a greater user sophistication. To build that sophistication, we have created a series of experiments to demonstrate concepts, analyze relationships and promote creative thought processes amongst our users.

In our presentation, we will look at these experiments and consider their effectiveness. We will demonstrate how we use 3D printed models as part of our tall building design workshops. We will explore how the charrette process can help to build both understanding and consensus with the public. We will show how we deploy 3D modeling to perform detailed analyses of impacts, including shadow and viewshed studies. And finally, we will discuss how the organization, style and format of the upcoming Urban Design Manual are designed to improve the user experience, increase accessibility and advance the cause of good urban design to a wider audience.

Biographies

Adam Clark Urban Designer City of Kitchener

Adam Clark is an Urban Designer with a Masters of Architecture from the University of Waterloo. In his time with the City, he has contributed to multiple station area plans for the ION LRT and is co-lead of the Urban Design Manual, which includes the recently approved Tall Building Design Guidelines. He also provides architectural and urban design review and approval for a variety of development applications.

Dayna Edwards MCIP, RPP Senior Planner (Urban Design) City of Kitchener  

As a professional in planning and urban design, Dayna Edwards coordinates and implements the Urban Design Program, including the preparation of Urban Design Guidelines and Urban Design Studies, at the City of Kitchener. In addition, she leads and participates in the review of infrastructure projects and development proposals and applications. Dayna is a graduate of the Queen’s University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning and later completed a specialization in Urban Design at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Dayna’s interests have focused on urban design challenges related to infill development and master planning projects.

Please register for this free event

Thursday January 17, 2018
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, 3rd floor
[View on Google Maps]

December 2018: Building a New Design System at D2L

In this talk, Nick Dingle will share some stories and lessons learned from a journey building up D2L’s “Daylight” design system, which is primarily used by D2L’s flagship product Brightspace. How did they get started? How did they get everyone using it? How are they maintaining it? Where do they still need to go?

Nick Dingle has been a Product Designer for fifteen years. He started by designing websites for Canadian tv shows and they called him an Information Architect. Then he moved on to designing native mobile apps for communications companies and they called him an Interaction Designer. Now he works as a Senior Product Designer / Team Lead at D2L where he gets to design experiences for teachers and students. He loves his job.

Please register for this free event

Thursday December 20, 2018
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, 2nd floor
[View on Google Maps]

November 2018: The UX of Mobile Autonomous Robotics, with Clearpath

October 2018: Artificial Intelligence on screen and in reality, with Chris Noessel

After a September filled with UX goodness in Waterloo Region, this month we have a very cool special guest speaking on a topic that is simultaneously lighter and dead serious.

Most people know about AI through movies and TV shows. This one has an unblinking, red eye. That one crushes human skulls under its metal—and humanoid—foot. But how does the AI seen on screen match up with the science of AI? How does what you’ve seen color the way you think about it? How optimistic you are? What you think should be done, and how you would vote on AI policy? Join Chris Noessel, keeper of scifiinterfaces.com, as he explains what screen AI aligns with the science, what is pure fiction, and what we should be telling ourselves but aren’t.

Please register for this free event

Thursday October 18, 2018
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, 2nd floor
[View on Google Maps]

September 2018: Charting the Course — Building Effective Strategic Partnerships

This month, we’re presenting a special edition of uxWaterloo as a part of Fluxible Meetups!

As user experience professionals, we are uniquely positioned to drive product strategy through deep understanding of the needs of the people who use our products. In this talk, Google’s Meagan Timney will share some stories of how she’s developed successful long term relationships with cross-functional teams and enabled UX to be an effective partner in developing product and organizational vision and strategy. She’ll discuss some of the most common barriers and challenges, what’s worked (and what hasn’t), as well as how to be effective when you’re the sole UX voice on a team, working remotely, or constrained by ambitious timelines and limited resources.

Meagan Timney is a London, Ontario native and a creative at heart. After completing her PhD in English Literature and a postdoc in Digital Humanities 8 years ago, her path led her to the Bay Area and the field of UX, where she’s worn many hats: designer, researcher, and manager, at small agencies, silicon valley startups, and now Google.

Please register for this free event

Thursday September 20, 2018
7:00 to 8:30 pm
Google Kitchener-Waterloo
51 Breithaupt Street
Kitchener, ON

August 2018: Informal Pub Meetup

Hello UXers! Join us for the 2nd instalment of the Summer patio edition of uxWaterloo. Come out to Abe Erb in Waterloo, have a drink and enjoy some like-minded company. The event will be informal, where you can meet and learn what others are working on or just how they’re spending their precious Summer time.

See you there!

Please register for this free event

Thursday Aug 16, 2017
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Abe Erb Brewing
15 King Street South, Uptown Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario

July 2018: Informal Pub Meetup

In what is now a beloved summer tradition, it’s time to replace energizing presentations and deep UX thoughts with a lighter event befitting the season. Let’s savour that summer feeling with a July uxWaterloo session that features informal talk, some of it even UX-related, and drinks. As befits any self-respecting tradition, we do this every July and August and the laid-back atmosphere and conversations are a welcome addition to any summer schedule. Join us!

And, as has become a yearly tradition, count on hearing an update on Fluxible 2018, Canada’s UX Festival! You’ve been warned…

Please register for this free event

Thursday July 27, 2017
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Abe Erb Brewing
15 King Street South, Uptown Waterloo
Waterloo, Ontario

June 2018: Soft Skills Are Hard, with Steve Portigal

Steve Portigal is no stranger to Waterloo Region, having spoken at the second edition of Fluxible back in 2013, and again in 2015. Now, through the miracle of video calling, Steve joins us at uxWaterloo to help navigate the potentially tricky skills of communication and collaboration.

Working successfully in UX entails communicating and collaborating with a diverse range of individuals in other geographies, organizations and disciplines. But we’re people first and workers second. We’ll take a hard look at what it really takes for people to get work done — working with colleagues, leaders, and users — and trying to deal better with ourselves! These are the skills we know we need, but we rarely spend time or effort to develop.

Note that Steve will be presenting remotely for this event, through the miracle of the internet-enabled transmission of sound and images.

Pizza and drinks will be served at the event.

Please register for this free event

Note the special day this month!

Wednesday June 13, 2018
5:30pm to 7:00pm
3rd Floor Theatre, Roddenberry, Communitech
151 Charles Street West
Kitchener, Ontario