Let's Meet Up Virtually: UX Research Meetup & Event Guide September 2023

"Join us for an enlightening exploration into the dynamic realm of product development with a focus on the pivotal role of user research. In this engaging event, we're thrilled to welcome Michele Ronsen, a seasoned expert in the field, as she shares her invaluable insights and expertise.

Discover how user research serves as the compass guiding successful product creation, ensuring alignment with user needs, desires, and preferences. Through Michele's deep understanding and real-world examples, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of how this essential practice transforms concepts into products that resonate. Don't miss out!"

"By the end of the workshop, all participants should have a shared understanding of how user stories differ from requirements, and how best to use them to plan and deliver work.

Learning Objectives:

• Co-create a meaningful vision

• Identify and describe user roles

• Define and discuss user stories and their life cycle

• Create, evaluate, and refine user stories

• Prioritize user stories in a user story map"

"Are you an aspiring UX professional who has recently completed a UX program/ course or currently enrolled in one? Join us for an insightful webinar where we'll guide you on navigating your career path after a UX program.

In this 90 minutes power-packed session, we will delve into the crucial aspects of shaping your UX career post-program completion. Our panel of seasoned UX experts and industry professionals will share their valuable insights and experiences, providing you with a comprehensive understanding of the journey that awaits you.

Gain a deeper appreciation of the realities and challenges that often accompany the transition from a UX program to the professional realm."

"The goal of a research team is to objectively bring the voice of your audience directly into the innovation process to allow for a greater chance of impact. Impact is our northstar, but it is quite a nebulous concept. I define impact as a significant improvement to the business of product experience that is a direct result of a unique contribution you have made.

This talk will unpack the definition, exploring examples of unique contributions and how to measure success alongside three detailed impactful case studies of research changing the business at both DoorDash and Netflix."

"Learn about wireframing from Billy Carlson and Leon Barnard, who recently co-authored Wireframing for Everyone with Michael Angeles. Learn tips on wireframing and collaborating throughout the design process.

Agenda:

• 12:00 pm CST: Virtual networking via chat

• 12:05 pm CST: Intro and start

• 12:45 / 12:50 pm CST: Q&A

• 1:00 pm CST: Conclude"

"Join Michele Ronsen with Rohit Arora on Zoom in a Fireside Chat format where she answers questions on UX Research. Michele Ronsen is LinkedIn Top Voice 2020.

Michele is Founder at Curiosity Tank. Curiosity Tank is a consulting and education firm specializing in human-centered research, design development, and hands-on learning programs. The company conduct and teach design and user research to people and corporations around the world."

"Creative methods provide opportunity for the researcher to be more effective at engaging participants in research activities as well as helping to elicit more in-depth and reliable responses.

This webinar will examine a variety of creative research methods and show participants how to use them appropriately at each stage of the research process.

This webinar also provides a reflection opportunity to consider your developing skills as a researcher; your barriers and challenges, which of these are outside your direct control, and how could you think differently about challenges and generate solutions?"

"Empathy is not enough. Learn how to understand better your users with psychology with Tiziana d’Agostino.

In this talk, you will learn some fundamental psychological principles that will allow you to ask better questions and to connect more deeply with your users. Some of the topics include:

• Why you should not believe what your users’ say, but look at what they do

• How emotions can completely override rational decision-making

• The importance of keeping in check biases, yours and theirs

• And more"

"This course is about how to work together to define and scale user research processes and practices by applying Operations Thinking.

Operations Thinking is an approach to building, scaling and embedding human centric principles in any organization as they develop and improve new products and services that are informed by user research.

Learn how to use the unique Operations Thinking Canvases to define, embed and scale user research."

"Are you looking for a tool to help you speed up your literature review process? Would you rather invest your time in drawing conclusions or writing instead of spending countless hours on endless reading lists? Join the webinar and meet the Researcher Workspace!

In this webinar you will get a 20 minute demo of the Researcher Workspace followed by a 20 minute Q&A session."

"Let's start this autumn with a UXR Meetup talk about caring for mental health in UX Research from Dominika Prikrylova, UX Researcher at Kontent.ai. Join us for her talk and learn about:

• Strategies for balancing emotional demands in UX research.

• Stressing self-care in UX research by acknowledging strengths and achievements.

• Exploring feedback's role in mental well-being, seeking external input and self-reflection for growth in UX.

• Cultivating a positive research setting for mental health through briefing, debriefing, and seeing challenges as growth chances."

"The agenda has launched! Join Disco Conf on September 19 to dive into the spirit of discovery, and how to power product decisions with human-centered insights. Virtual-by-design and fully global. Disco Conf 23 is free to everyone — all you need to do is register to secure your spot and add sessions to your calendar."

"I'll be sharing what we've learnt from our discovery project and my experience over the past year exploring this topic!

Thank you to everyone who has taken part and been involved so far.

We'll cover:

• Framing the problem - common challenges I've come across in the industry, gaps and opportunities for us to do good research

• Sharing what we've learnt - from our discovery research, practical experience and testing over the past year

• Collaborative discussion - to talk about what makes good user research, what supports us most to deliver it and what gets in the way"

"In this insightful webinar on UX research featuring renowned expert Nikki Andersen, you will discover the true essence of UX research, breaking the myth of perfection and emphasizing the value of embracing imperfection for personal and professional growth.

You will gain a holistic perspective on validation approaches and learn why negativity and challenges are essential for driving innovation, exploring the pivotal role of a researcher as a catalyst for change, guiding teams towards user-centric design decisions.

Behrad and Nikki will candidly discuss the inevitability of mistakes in user research and their transformative potential."

"​Do you need strong quantitative skills to be an effective UX Researcher or is it enough to be a qualitative rockstar? Come prepared to listen, stay curious, and share your perspective on this important topic.​

Are you prepared for a UX Research Rumble? This monthly event is specifically designed for UX Researchers to engage in professional discussions about divisive and polarizing topics in the field. Join us to expand your thinking, practice respectful discourse, and connect with peers in the industry."

"Erin Bramwell (CDDO) and Alasdair Gray (TPX - working for CDDO) show how user-centred design features in our work on the Data Marketplace.

In this session, Erin and Alasdair will cover:

• A brief introduction to the Data Marketplace and its products - the story so far

• High-level user research insights from supplier users (including our partners)

• How we’re making user-centred decisions with what we’re learning from our partners

• What user research activities we plan on doing during private beta with our partners and other organisations, and why"

"The decisions we make when we design our research has a huge impact on everything from the quality of our data to the decision-making process.

It is important that our design choices are user need-led and based on evidence, to ensure that the product or service that we are designing meets the needs of its users.

The panel - made up of social researchers and user researchers from across government - will give a brief insight into their own approaches and experiences of using insights and data to design for users and respondents."

"Our September BC Gov Design Community talk will feature a beginner's talk on usability testing and user research.

About the talk:

We all know by now (or should know) that user research is the foundation for good public services. In this session, we'll talk about the basics of user research and show you how you can do your own usability testing.

Agenda:

• Territorial acknowledgement - 5 minutes

• Community updates - 5 minute

• A beginner's guide to usability testing with Martha Edwards

• Breakout rooms / workshop (details to come)"