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UX in the Gray Areas – Unpolished: UX Office Hours

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November 4 @ 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm CST

What this is

Unpolished: UX Office Hours is a monthly, in-person gathering for UX designers and researchers in Austin. No formal talk โ€” just thoughtful conversation and shared work.

This monthโ€™s theme is UX in the Gray Areas.


What weโ€™ll focus on

Not every UX decision is clear-cut.

Sometimes weโ€™re working with incomplete data. Conflicting user needs. Technical constraints. Ethical tradeoffs. AI edge cases. Accessibility limitations. Business pressure.

This session is about the moments where things arenโ€™t black and white.

Weโ€™ll talk about:

  • Making decisions with imperfect information
  • Balancing business and user needs
  • Navigating ethical tensions
  • Designing responsibly in AI-enabled systems
  • Where youโ€™ve had to compromise โ€” and why

This isnโ€™t about right answers. Itโ€™s about thoughtful reflection.


What to expect

  • Co-working or quiet reflection time to start
  • Small group discussions
  • Optional group share-out of insights

Come with a real example โ€” or just listen and contribute when it feels right.


Who should come

  • Mid to senior UX practitioners
  • Designers navigating complexity
  • Researchers wrestling with nuance
  • Anyone whoโ€™s ever said, โ€œIt depends.โ€

Why โ€œUnpolishedโ€?

Because the hardest UX work happens in the gray areas โ€” before thereโ€™s a clean story to tell.