November 2022: Designing with Emotional Intelligence

This month, we’re thrilled to welcome past Fluxible speaker Pamela Pavliscak to our UWaterloo session, and she’ll share insights into designing with emotional intelligence.

The spectrum of emotions we feel when we use technology is vast—a brief thrill when our post receives a lot of attention, low-grade anxiety scanning a news site, a wash of shame when we see ourselves reflected back in recommendations, a strange sense of community with a bunch of strangers over the latest viral trend. And yet, the range of emotions we explicitly design for is quite small. In this talk, we’ll look at how to move past design for delight and start to address fears, give outrage an outlet, and build trust by keeping emotions at the center of design.

Please register for this free event

November 17, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

October 2022: Fireside Chat with author Abby Covert

This month we are joined by information architect and author, Abby Covert. Abby is currently on a mission to rid the world of bad diagrams, one diagrammer at a time. 

Abby recently published her second book, STUCK? Diagrams Help., a much anticipated follow-on to her wildly popular debut title How to Make Sense of Any Mess, in which she demystifies the practice of information architecture. 

She is excited to join our online uxWaterloo community to answer audience questions about practicing information architecture, parenting during the pandemic but especially about … you guessed it, diagramming.

About Abby Covert

Abby Covert is an information architect, writer and community organizer with two decades of experience helping people make sense of messes. In addition to being an active mentor to those new to sensemaking, she has also served the design community as President of the Information Architecture Institute, co-chair of Information Architecture Summit, and Executive Producer of the I.D.E.A Conference. 

Abby is a founding faculty member of School of Visual Arts’ Products of Design graduate program. She also managed the team that helped Rosenfeld Media to start both the Design Operations Summit and Advancing Research Conference. Her most proud achievement is having come up with the idea for World Information Architecture Day, bringing accessibly priced education to thousands in their local communities annually. 

Every November Abby hosts Makesensemess, an annual sensemaker party where she gives new voices a platform to share their sensemaking stories of messes made clear in each year. 

Abby spends her time making things that help you to make the unclear, clear, many of which she makes available for free on her website abbycovert.com or at accessible price points in her popular Etsy shop AbbytheIA. Her books are available wherever books are sold (or loaned!) but she always appreciates when people buy them right from her.

Abby lives and writes from Melbourne, Florida where her most important job title is ‘Mom’.

Please register for this free event

October 20, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

July 2022: Let’s talk about problems

Problems are everywhere and range in significance, scale, and impact. For most people in their day-to-day, problems are to be avoided. For those who find themselves in User Experience (and storm chasing), we seek
them. Time and again in the process of defining the work, starting with a well-defined problem is a reoccurring requirement to inspire action.

For those unfamiliar with starting with a problem, this pursuit can feel unnatural and even scary (like driving toward a tornado). This is a culture issue, and we will help. To do so, we need to look at all the different ways problems show up for us.

In this uxWaterloo Meetup we’ll take a look at problems. Not really that there ARE problems but the foundations of them, where to get them, have good ones, and ones that inspire collaboration, innovation, and most of all action.

Like all problems, they’re never one sided and neither will this Meetup be. We’ll kick off with a few problem topics that have some solid passion behind them as it relates to our work. From there we’ll open the agenda where you’ll help prioritize the next problem topics that matter most to you. Finally we’ll ignite the conversation and talk about how problems show up for you in your work.

About our speaker

Dana Marr currently holds the role of Head, Innovation Design at Farm Mutual Re in Cambridge, Ontario. Dana brings over 27 years of design experience to Farm Mutual Re, most recently performing the role of UX (User Experience) Design Lead, Global Innovation with Scotiabank. Dana has also held similar positions with D2L and BlackBerry. Dana brings a passion for providing a human-centered approach to innovation.

Please register for this free event

July 28, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

June 2022: Interpreting urban change through a critical visual analysis

When looking at old pictures of cities, it is clear that urban, economic, and social geographies have changed dramatically over the generations. Historic photos of Toronto’s streetcar network offer a unique opportunity to examine how Canada’s largest city has been transformed from a provincial, industrial place into one of North America’s largest and most diverse regions.

This talk is based around the book Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto, which studies the city’s urban transformations through an analysis of photographs taken by streetcar enthusiasts, beginning in the 1960s. These photographers did not intend to record the urban form, function, or social geographies of Toronto; they were “accidental archivists” whose main goal was to photograph the streetcars themselves. But today, their images render visible the ordinary, day-to-day life in the city in a way that no others did. These historic photographs show a Toronto before gentrification, globalization, and deindustrialization. Each image has been re-photographed to provide fresh insights into a city that is in a constant state of flux.

This critical visual analysis helps to interpret and explain how the major forces shaping cities affect its form, functions, neighbourhoods, and public spaces.

About our speakers

Brian Doucet is a Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor in the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo
Michael Doucet is an Emeritus Professor of Geography at Toronto Metropolitan University

More info about Streetcars and the Shifting Geographies of Toronto can be found here

Please register for this free event

June 16, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

May 2022: Design for digital wellbeing and mental health

Corina Sas is joining us for this timely session:

“This talk outlines part of my work on technologies for wellbeing and mental health, with an emphasis on their ethical underpinnings. It outlines award winning research described in TOCHI and JMIR journals, CHI and DIS publications targeting emotion and memory processes for digital wellbeing, depression, stress and dementia. The talk covers several prototypes developed and evaluated with my research group involving smart material interfaces, wearable biofeedback interfaces, 3D food printing technologies or large displays, as well as novel tools supporting their design. The talk articulates the value of this body of work for novel design implications for wellbeing and mental health technologies and their ethics.”

About Corina Sas

Corina Sas is Professor in Human-Computer Interaction and Digital Health with the School of Computing and Communications, and Assistant Dean for Research Enhancement with the Faculty of Science and Technology at Lancaster University, UK. Her research is in the area of technologies for wellbeing and health. She published over 200 papers, and her work received extensive media coverage as well as 5 Best Paper and Honourable Mention Awards. She has been investigator on competitively awarded grants totalling over £15.1 million and is part of the Editorial Boards of the ACM Transactions in Human-Computer Interaction, and Taylor & Francis Human Computer Interaction journals. This academic year she is in sabbatical leave visiting University of California at Santa Cruz, University of California at Irvine, and Stanford University.

Please register for this free event

May 19, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

April 2022: Group Discussions – Creating Effective UX Portfolios

Anyone who has applied to a UX design job has probably had some experience creating a UX portfolio. But for many of us, this is much easier said than done. What are hiring managers looking for in a portfolio? What job does your portfolio have? What if the work you’ve done is all under an NDA? Join us this month as we come together to discuss our experiences creating and sharing ux portfolios!

We’ll be using Remo, which will let everyone sit at virtual tables to discuss in small groups. We will also come together to share our learnings across groups. Please come ready to share, learn, and have conversations with other UXers!

Please register for this free event

April 28, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

March 2022: Designing Systems to Enable Accessible User Experiences

We’re excited to announce that our February Meetup with with Patrick Carrington has been rescheduled to March!

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Mobile and wearable technologies offer the promise of great opportunity, connection, new experiences, and natural interactions. However, what happens when these designs do not fully consider the relationship between people and the devices they use? For example, wheelchair users often use and carry multiple mobile computing devices, such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. However, due to the assumptions many of these devices make about our abilities they remain challenging to use. My research group focuses on supporting the broad range of humans with diverse abilities as they interact with the world and people around them. Our ongoing research aims to support and empower people with disabilities as they engage in a range of activities, including mobility, social interactions, and competitive sports.

Patrick Carrington

Patrick Carrington is an Assistant Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and his research emphasizes the design of systems to support people with diverse abilities. He studies mobile and wearable technology, builds assistive devices, and explores how to create experiences that support empowerment, independence, and improved quality of life. His current projects span topics including accessing digital content and media, transportation and mobility, and developing technologies for athletes with disabilities.

Please register for this free event

March 24, 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

January 2022: Thought Leadership – a conversation with Margot Bloomstein

We’re bringing back a favourite uxWaterloo and Fluxible speaker!

Some of you might wonder what it takes to share your ideas and expertise with the world. If you want your thought leadership to have more permanence, serve as a reference to colleagues in the industry, or help establish your brand with a broader audience, it might be time to think about a talk, a book, or some other vehicle to help your ideas stick.

In a discussion with Margot Bloomstein, author of Trustworthy, we’ll talk about how to determine the right platform for your ideas, approach the proposal process, traditional vs. hybrid publishing models, and working with a developmental editor to polish your ideas. Bring your questions!

You may know Margot Bloomstein from content strategy or design conferences, where she’s taught workshops and keynoted events for more than a decade. A working content strategist for more than 20 years, she’s consulted with clients in a range of industries, from software-as-a-service to sex toy retailers and footwear technology to 401(k)s. She’s the author of the industry mainstay Content Strategy at Work and the new Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap. Margot teaches in the content strategy graduate program at FH Joanneum University in Graz, Austria, lectures around the world about brand-driven content strategy and designing for trust, and tweets prolifically at @mbloomstein.

Please register for this free event

January 19 2022
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

November 2021: UX research and design in an age of remote work

Over the course of the COVID pandemic the way we work has changed dramatically. For many of us, collaboration, usability research, and co-design were all in-person activities pre-pandemic. At this point we’ve adjusted, at least to some extent, to the reality of working remotely for an extended period, and have found tools, new and old, that allow us to do so effectively. Join us this month as we come together to discuss the tools and methods that we are now using for design, research, communication, and beyond! We’ll be using Remo, which will let everyone sit at virtual tables to discuss in small groups. We will switch up tables a few times throughout the event, and will also come together to share our learnings across groups. Please come ready to share, learn, and have conversations with other UXers!

Please register for this free event

November 18 2021
12:00pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!

October 2021: Applying a UX Approach to Buildings with Erin Corcoran

Buildings are made for people. We’ve all experienced places that felt ‘right’, that we were drawn to, or spaces that anticipated our needs intuitively, just as we’ve also visited buildings that are outright unwelcoming or confusing, or places that have negative impacts on our wellbeing.

Good and great spatial experiences don’t happen by chance – the architectural profession is increasingly using a strategic approach to design: adapting tools and approaches from parallel strategy and UX fields to inform our process.  Additionally, as we’ve adapted through the COVID-19 pandemic, a thoughtful, researched approach has become more critical as user expectations change and our clients seek to make informed decisions in a changing landscape.

This talk will introduce attendees to how a strategic / UX approach is used in architectural practice: how we study users and apply it to designs and how the conversation around human impact has shifted during the past few years in response to changing user and client needs.  Facing these new challenges has driven home the intersections of people, place, technology, and policies to create successful designs.

Erin Corcoran

As a Design Strategist and an Architect, I’m obsessed with how people use, interact with, and impact space. I’m also fascinated by how humans connect with each other, how we communicate and behave, and how we come together. Lastly, I love a good workshop, one of those gems where everyone comes in ready to hate it, but leaves energized and heard, feeling that they had an impact, and excited for the space or project to come.

With Gensler’s Boston’s team, I work to develop human-centric strategies for complex space and cultural challenges, working with public and private sector workplace clients, building owners and developers, post-secondary education groups, healthcare institutions, community organizations and many others.

Please register for this free event

October 28 2021
5:30pm ET
Live streamed to wherever you are!