Adventure 49: Big Data, Big Design

After Design Week in October, somehow I became a part a MeetUp group of UX designers. I don't think I knew what that was at the time. I just have a great interest in design, and I think it sounded like a group I wanted to join. 

UX is a newish term that is a huge part of the technology industry, but completely unfamiliar to anyone else. UX stands for 'user experience.' As you might imagine, a UX designer thinks through the end user experience, so it could be designing a click-through map on a website, or a phone app, even a manual. 

This event was hosted by Control4 in Draper. My only complaint about this evening was the building was a bit difficult to find. Luckily I gave myself quite a buffer for time. Google maps took me to a very wrong address, but finally after driving around, following my gut, it brought me to the designated location. Go gut!

The adventure begins!

There was a break room filled with gourmet desserts and techies when I arrived. This is a social group of designers. I believe the MeetUp group has been around long enough for some strong relationships to form. Although it seemed to be the first time for handful of people I talked to.

We then gathered in this conference room that looks like it's built for techies. There were all sorts of light bulbs and buttons in front of me that looked like it might be dangerous for me to touch.

The meeting started with some MeetUp group housekeeping. Anyone looking to hire, and anyone looking to be hired was given a moment to give a pitch. How great!

Our presenter was Matt Snyder, who has 13 years of experience in UX design, including a manager at Adobe, and the current director of UX at Remedy Infomatics.

I've got to be honest, much of what was said went over my head. At least all the techie terms. However, the overall concepts were good, and applicable to just trying to make something happen (in my humble opinion.)

So, while I will be unable to give any kind of comprehensive summary of the presentation, I will do it adventure style, and give you some bullet points of ideas that stuck out to me.

Also, the next two 'awesome photos' are brought to you by Google+.

• UX design is about suppressing technology, thinking through the whole process, and making smart decisions about how to engage that technology.

• Design needs language, rationale, and accountability. 
• This idea is actually pretty deep, but the side moved by too fast for me to take notes on each of these three ideas.

• If you want a different result, change your design process

• Get away from the computer and learn a different aspect of design 
• Matt does this with his team once a month, he has a 'design day,' like visiting a dude who makes glass eyes
• Movie recommendation: Note by Note: The Making of Steinway L1037

After the presentation, it was opened up for questions. This went on for about 45 minutes. The presentation seemed to resonate with the designers, and sparked many follow up questions, especially around the idea of finding ways to be relatable to other departments, coworkers, and the company in general. Having worked in creative departments, I can relate with the feeling that people just don't seem to get what you're doing, and why they should care. I like that Matt's approach is very focused on finding ways to make other people a part of the design process so they take ownership, and get it.

I met a few really solid guys just trying to make things happen in the UX world. Though I am not in this industry, I came away feeling excited toward it.

Time spent on adventure: 2 hours

Money spent: $0

Recommendation: 8 out of 10 adventure points!