UX in ATX

Portfolio Tips from the Experts
2022-02-24 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Junior to senior UX Designers of all types are welcome to bring their portfolio links for quick reviews in breakout sessions. Be sure to RSVP before volunteering for a review.

Panelists include:

Guintu is a full-time dad, sketchnoter, and soft-skills ninja, Dante enjoys solving big, gnarly design challenges in enterprise software. As a career transitioner, one of his passions is coaching and mentoring new designers as they onboard into complex product platforms and technical domains.In his current role in Design Operations, Dante helps build and scale design teams within IBM. Dante settled nicely in the Pacific NW of Portland, Oregon (via San Francisco via the New York/New Jersey metro area).

Mangels has 6 years of experience interviewing sneakerheads, Tupperware consultants, prepaid debit card users and beyond. Jacqualyn has taken a hands-on approach customizing her UX research practice to deliver problem-driven and user-focused solutions. She is excited by the growing support for UX practices in many industries and has found a sense of purpose while teaching this profession as an instructor. Currently, she studies the event industry as a Senior UX Researcher for Hopin, an events platform.

Maigen Thomas is a Sr. UX/UI Designer with 7+ years of experience creating technology solutions that make enterprise software more intuitive and easy to use. She excels at bringing folks along to embrace new technology and software regardless of technical experience level by breaking down complex workflows into ‘sushi-sized’ bites of memorable knowledge. She believes “everything is UX” and enjoys finding ways to streamline organizational challenges and empowering users to deliver exceptional results.

Jeff has more than 20 years of experience creating software products for startups and Fortune 500 companies that differentiate themselves by their User Experience. He has been a designer, developer, and CEO of a design agency. Jeff is currently Head of UX at CenturyLink.

Mike Gallers

Networking: Making Genuine Connections at a Conference/Event
2022-03-10 18:00 - 19:00
No more of that awkward standing around. Learn how to make networking work for you at conferences in 2022.

Panelists include Career Coach Juliet Barrett, who focuses on helping creatives develop process strategies, tools for self-evaluation and streamlined practices that break down large goals into actionable steps.

The Content Design Career Path
2022-04-28 18:00 - 19:00
The UX Design field is vast and varied. Learn more about the UX path of content design and see if it is for you.

Tanya Harris – Senior Content Strategist at eBay

The Accessibility Design Career Path
2022-05-26 18:30 - 19:30
The need for designers who specialize in accessibility has grown in demand as companies realize that inclusive design is the right thing to do and that accessible digital products outperform competitors by 50 percent.

That’s because inclusive products benefit everyone not just the roughly one billion people considered disabled worldwide.

In this meetup, we discussed what accessibility means, how designers can include it in their practice, and how to pursue this specialization as a career path.

Our panelists included:

Mali Holmes, Accessibility Designer at CVS Health

Kim Berg, QA Analyst, Human Experience Design for BankMobile

Karim Merchant, Accessibility Product Designer at Dell

Grace Tay, Senior Full-Stack Web Developer, accessibility certified, Ohio State University.

Resources mentioned:

WCAG based guidelines for design

Chrome tool helps developers make websites more color blind friendly – The Verge

https://www.w3.org/WAI/

Microsoft Accessibility Insights: Accessibility Insights

Should I Use An Accessibility Overlay?

Kill Your Personas. How persona spectrums champion real… | by Margaret P | Microsoft Design | Medium

https://teachaccess.github.io/accessibility-skills-hiring-toolkit/roles/ux-interaction-designer

About the Toolkit | Teach Access Accessibility Skills Hiring Toolkit

Introduction – Accessibility – Human Interface Guidelines – Apple Developer

Where Product Management and UX Meet
2022-06-30 18:30 - 19:30
Back by popular demand, UX in ATX is hosting another night of short UX Talks. The topic: Product Management.Our three guest speakers presented on different aspects of where UX and Product Management meet.

Speakers

Pedro Duarte, Head of User Experience Design at Critical Software

Jacqueline Sigler, Senior Product Manager at GoDaddy

Sudha Balasubramanian, Senior Product Manager at Redfin

Duarte will speak about the future of product development.Duarte says product development is not what it used to be. The way we create, develop and deliver products has changed significantly in a short period of time. Nowadays, our customers need shorter, faster and more iterative deliveries to validate their ideas, and receive and implement feedback rapidly to add value for their end-users.

The Designer-Developer Relationship
2022-07-28 18:30 - 19:30
How UX designers can have better working relationship with engineers

UX designers rarely work in isolation. They are part of a larger team, making products for our end users.

In July 2022, we looked at how designers can improve their working relationship with developers and engineers.

We invited a group of developers for a panel discussion to answer these questions and more:– Andrew Brummer, Senior Software Developer for Standard Beagle– Felipe Solis, Staff User Experience Designer for Home Depot– Kathryn Huggins, Software Engineer Manager for Home Depot

What you should know about Agile and Lean UX
2022-08-25 18:30 - 19:30
Agile frameworks are often used in industries that employ UX Designers, but design bootcamps can be light on information.Learn how UX and agile work together through the experiences of veteran designers.

Hear from, Mike Gallers, a staff UX Designer, with 20 years of experience doing UX for companies large and small. He has worked on both internal and consumer-facing products and is eager to share his personal journey into UX and how agile has come into play.

Stay tuned for more …

Design Skills Matrix Workshop - Finding your job ready skills
2022-10-26 18:00 - 19:00
10/26 “The Red Pill” @ 6:00pm-7:30pm

Have you ever wondered how to identify your own design strengths and which areas you need to work on developing? Do you struggle knowing which types of job roles you might be suited for?

Join us as Maigen Thomas, senior UX designer, takes us through the interactive Design Skills Matrix: a fun and unique self-assessment tool designed to identify skill clusters. After interpreting the results, you’ll be able to pinpoint strengths, align your best skills to job descriptions, and create a plan for professional success. Perfect for junior designers, job seekers, or anyone interested in learning about their own skill profile.

Design Skills Framework: Skills to advance your career and build wholesome teams
2022-11-17 18:00 - 19:00
11/17 @ 6:00pm-7:30pm (rescheduled from 10/27)

Developing both the depth and breadth of your skills is essential to becoming an effective collaborator and influential designer.Do you want to learn how identifying individual skill clusters could not only advance your career but also promote effective teams?Andreina Dyer will lead night two of this workshop with golden nuggets of information on how individuals, managers, and teams can use the T-shaped skill framework to facilitate collaboration, optimize team performance, and honor employees’ unique skill sets.

Figma Workshop: How to use auto-layout
2022-12-08 18:30 - 19:30
Learning a new tool such as auto-layout can be confusing or challenging for many designers, but Figma offers some extremely powerful and useful mechanics that can drastically improve your designs. In this session, our Figma expert, Nathan Flores, will begin by walking through auto-layout and its ability to provide consistency, flexibility, and a guideline for future work. By the end of the workshop, designers will be able to use, implement, and observe the benefits of auto-layout.Things we’ll cover:

Why auto-layout is valuable (design system, consistency, auto-resizing)

Learning all things auto-layout

How to apply auto-layout to designs and use cases

Showcase a finished design that implements talking points

How to Rock Your Personal Brand on Social Media
2023-01-17 18:30 - 19:30
New Year, New You!

Struggling to solidify your personal brand identity? LinkedIn profile not capturing the sparkle you could bring to a new project or team?

See the UX in ATX recap with special guest: Sha-Lene Pung who discusses how to develop your personal brand on LinkedIn and other social media.

Sha-Lene presents 10 simple steps that professionals can take to optimize personal brands and profiles. Start shining with a LinkedIn makeover to kick off 2023!

Register on meetup for the link to register for this Zoom event.

UX in ATX Armadillo Den Happy Hour
2023-02-03 17:00 - 18:00
Attention UX in ATX resident Austinites! Join us for an in-person happy hour at Armadillo Den on Friday, February 3rd from 5:00-7:00pm.

Grab a frozen drink from the bar, munch on a snack from one of the food trucks, and come socialize with other amazing Austin-based UX peeps so we can meet each other IRL and not behind the camera!

Please RSVP to this Meetup event so we know how many people to expect. We’ll have a sign that says “UX in ATX” at one of the large outdoor tables so you can find us. Parking can be tricky (lot available, but fills up quickly); rideshares encouraged (presenting rideshare receipt gets you 10% off your tab)!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Making your Usability Studies Accessible
2023-02-28 18:30 - 19:30
You want to include participants with disabilities in your usability studies, but where do you start? UX in ATX invited presenter Erica Braverman to speak on how to bring accessibility into all stages of planning and running a usability study, and the skills you can use to develop accessible studies for your own research needs.

UX Designers and Researchers Meet Up
2023-03-14 16:00 - 17:00
* This is an official SXSW event and requires a badge.

This meetup will allow user experience professionals from around the globe to network and meet with each other, exchange ideas, and plan future collaboration. Hosted by UX in ATX, this meetup is intended to create a community of UX practitioners attending SXSW through in-person interaction and networking.

Creative Burnout - Ignite Your Spark!
2023-03-30 18:30 - 19:30
Feeling stuck lately, as if your gas tank of internal creative resources has landed on empty?

That’s creative burnout, and it’s a signpost telling us that it’s time to grow.

Join UX in ATX and Coach Steph online as she teaches us how we can combat our burnout and turn it into an opportunity to unleash our potential.

Date: 3/30/23Time: 6:30-7:30 pm CSTSpeaker: Steph Sansoucie

Escaping the Bad Design Echo Chamber: 4 Easy Steps
2023-04-27 18:30 - 19:30
Just because you saw it on the internet, doesn’t mean it’s good design.

Many of today’s UX designers are new to the field, self taught, or straight out of boot camp. Others of us are overtaxed with projects or leashed by short timelines for deliverables. In cases like this, we look online for existing work to inform our design choices. What many of us may not realize when we do this is how much bad design there is out there, and that we may be using it to our own disadvantage.

As the UX profession grows and demands on our teams increase, the tendency to use designs without checking them for their potential success with our specific users becomes a self perpetuating problem – the bad design echo chamber. By revisiting some essential UX skills and applying a critical evaluation, we can move beyond social proofing to good design.

About Our Speaker: Christene Fair

As a practicing UX designer, Christene has worked with a variety of clients from small startups at the Harvard Innovation Labs to large corporations like CVS. Her projects have scaled the digital media landscape from web, mobile web, to native app. She prefers to operate with a Lean UX methodology, embedded with engineering/development, other stakeholders, and product team members to bridge the gap between user needs and business goals.As an educator, Christene was first a graduate teaching assistant in the Harvard program where she received my master’s degree. After a few terms, she began developing and teaching my own courses – first for New England College and now at Northeastern University.

Breathing Life into Your Prototypes with Figma Microinteractions
2023-05-25 18:30 - 19:30
As (UX) designers, we strive to create intuitive, delightful, and memorable user experiences. Microinteractions, the small yet impactful moments that occur during user interactions, play a crucial role in shaping these experiences. In this session, you’ll discover:

The impact of microinteractions on user engagement and satisfaction.

Designing meaningful microinteractions that support your product goals.

Utilizing Figma’s prototyping tools, including Smart Animate, Variants, and Interactive Components, to craft engaging microinteractions.

Tips for achieving natural, responsive, and delightful interactions.

Speaker: Vaishnavi Dwivedi

UX in ATX Happy Hour
2023-06-02 17:00 - 19:00
Join fellow UX in ATX members at Central Machine Works in Austin for good times. (Rescheduled from April)

Central Machine Works is dog and (kid) friendly.

Find the brewery at: 4824 EAST CESAR CHAVEZ STREET AUSTIN, TX, 78702.

Their parking lot is located on E. 5th St. (across from Justine’s Brasserie) and there is some street parking in the neighborhood.

UX Frontiers: Artificial Intelligence in Design
2023-06-22 10:00 - 15:00
UX in ATX presents a day filled of expert presentations on a topic many UX practitioners want to know about — Artificial Intelligence.

Join us June 22 from 10-3pm CT for the first UX Frontiers conference, from UX in ATX.

Networking for Gold
2023-08-10 18:30 - 19:30
How your network can help you get noticed and get hired:Are you sending out resume after resume but have not gotten any responses? Are you stuck in a dead-end job and don’t know how to get the job you long for? A robust network can help you build meaningful connections, leading to hidden job opportunities, valuable mentorship, and career advancement. In this seminar, Chris Gay will share practical tips and real-world success stories that will empower you to confidently navigate the job market and land your dream job.

Design Thinking for Career Progression
2023-09-26 18:30 - 19:30
UX leader Sarah Alme will share a host of tools and tactics to evaluate the current state of your career, recognize your superpowers, and identify a potential career progression by leveraging Design Thinking methodologies.

Strategies for Hiring UX Professionals in Start-up & Conventional Sectors
2023-10-12 18:30 - 19:30
With recent shifts in big tech, traditional sectors are proving that total experience can revolutionize outcomes. This panel session unveils how emerging and non-tech industries can secure the best UX and human factors minds, paving the way for remarkable user experiences.

Speakers

Trey Roady, Senior Behavioral Researcher at ChaiOne

Laura Klein, Director UX Design, Indeed

Lena Clark, Expert UX Researcher in the Innovation Lab, Charles Schwab

Lawrence Humphrey, Founder & CEO of Pearl

Julia DeBari, Head of Design Operations, Copenhagen Institute of Interaction Design

Getting Interviews as an Emerging Designer
2023-11-30 18:30 - 19:30
In this event, our panelists discussed how to get that UX design interview and stand out with your portfolio. They conducted a workshop portfolio review.

Enhancing Your Problem-Solving Skills in Job Interviews
2024-01-30 18:30 - 19:30
In this workshop with our guest Lena Clark of Sunflower UX, participants learned how to How to effectively communicate your unique problem-solving processes during job interviews. Including:

Articulating your thought process

Using industry-specific language, and

Showcasing your unique approach to UX challenges

UX Social Hour
2024-03-06 17:30 - 19:30 | Austin Eastciders Collaboratory – Taproom, 979 Springdale Rd Ste. 130, Austin, Texas, 78702, United States
Join us for happy hour and time to chat and get to know each other in person!Let’s put work aside, get ready for SXSW, and enjoy a drink together.

SXSW Official Event: UX Researchers and Designers Meetup
2024-03-11 11:30 - 12:30
This event requires a SXSW badge to attend.

UX researchers and designers work best when we can stay connected as a community, no matter where we are. UX in ATX is back for a second, successful year to host our friends across the globe to talk shop, share resources and tools, and look to the future for where our profession is taking us. We’ll meet up to connect UXer’s with mentors, discuss the impact of AI on our work, and make new friends.

UX Job Club March 17
2024-03-17 18:00 - 19:00
Join the UX Job Club!

This is an informal bi-monthly, virtual session where participants ask questions and help each other in their job hunts.

Designer Idea Exchange
2024-03-27 18:00 - 19:30 | Standard Beagle, 7801 N Lamar Blvd, B-163, Austin, Texas, 78752, United States
Sometimes we need a little help finding inspiration in the work we do. Join us Wednesday March 27 for an in-person idea exchange.

Network with other UX’ers then we’ll gather round the whiteboard to share ideas and inspiration.

Strategic Career Foresight: UX Themes for 2025 and Beyond
2024-04-02 18:00 - 19:00
What should designers think about in keeping their career future forward? Join us for a two-part event.

In our first half, UX in ATX co-founder Cindy Brummer will share insights from SXSW 2024 on what’s ahead for design. Then, UX in ATX co-founder Andreina Dyer will segue into a discussion with attendees about the career topics that they need and preview our UX book.

UX Job Club March 31 - Rescheduled
2024-04-07 18:00 - 19:00
