The user has a user

While simplicity continues to be a cornerstone of design, the question of whether people can get through the UI now foundational. The bigger question is what are people making with the UI we put out there?

Tools used to be practical mechanisms but today they are also social places. You can say that you’re ready to move on from a project because the practical nature is addressed, but when we examine everything that people are doing with our UI's in a social context, that’s a key to uncover nuanced details and complex user behaviors at scale. We will use a few post-launch scenarios of real-world products to talk about a design process and opportunities to react to these observations. We will use breakout groups to collaborate on this exercise. Each group is likely to focus on a specific set of results that are observed post-launch and design their process as well as an iteration under a set of constraints.

This workshop is relevant if you care less about design and more about the relationship between the two types of users of your product - the writer and the reader, the seller and the buyer, the helper and the complainer.

The workshop will consist of interspersed short lectures and small group activities (4-5 people) and includes time at the end for sharing what folks learned with each other, plus a Q&A. While the workshop will touch on considerations and techniques, the main thrust of the workshop will be on the designer's process.

1. Short Talk + Q & A
2. Breakout Group Exercises
3. Share-out + Q & A

1. Junior to mid level designers who want to have an authorship and perspective to their work
2. Senior designers who want to address the culture of mindful observation and iteration in their organizations

1. Methods for a design process to study and design for post launch observations
2. Storytelling skills to share post launch opportunities with your team and wider organization
3. The confidence to decide when a project is executed at a level of quality that shows your craft and makes you proud to have served users