Venue, parking and transit
Michigan League Ballroom
911 N University Ave, Ann Arbor, MI 48104
Directions and Parking information can be found at University of Michigan University Unions: Directions to the Michigan League.
Program/Schedule
Breakfast
Doors will open at 8:30 AM. Come check-in, grab breakfast and coffee and settle into the ballroom.
Planning for Misinformation
We think we’re creating products, services, and experiences. But we’re not. We are agents of change. Our systems shape belief and behavior at scale. Expertise isn’t enough. Methods, metrics, culture, and governance are shifting. To realize the future, we must get better at planning. In this spirited talk about the design of paths and goals, Peter Morville builds upon his famous “polar bear book” to reframe vision, strategy, and process; and draws from his new book Planning for Everything to reveal 4 principles and 6 practices vital for shaping the future.
Rhetorical Dishonesty
Good information architecture helps people understand what is, and helps them navigate the universe of human meaning with the same confidence they navigate the physical world. We may think we are creating neutral architectures that reflect the "Truth", but everything we create or say is generated from our perspective, and most of the time we are not actually even trying to be neutral, we're trying to make a point, or to influence opinions, behaviors, and outcomes. We (hopefully!) don't do this with nefarious intentions, so how can we be sure we aren't being dishonest? I'll explain why we can't be neutral, show some examples of rhetorical dishonesty, and offer a challenge for each of us to be more honest and direct in how we architect information, whether it's a website, a movement, or a single meme.
Break
Lightning Talks Round 1: Using Information Architecture to Promote Healthy Use of Products
UX professionals design products to make them more engaging and usable for users, but do not always consider the potential effects of their products on users' health and habits. Designers can leverage information architecture to help users overcome impatience, short attention span, and other unhealthy habits.
Lightning Talks Round 1: When Your UX Subjects Are Also Your Customers
Most usability testing and user interview education of UX professionals focuses on B2C scenarios, but B2B scenarios just as common. Ensuring the research is valid for B2B customer/users requires that UX researchers keep some important points in mind, which I will share in this talk.
Lightning Talks Round 1: Using Information Architecture Workshops to Build Trust and Change Culture
As part of a major website redesign process, the UM-Dearborn Web team worked with stakeholders across the university to review and reorganize the content of a 10,000+ page website. I’ll share how we used information architecture workshops to build the campus community’s trust in our newly-formed Web team and turned sometimes skeptical stakeholders into IA and UX cheerleaders during a culture-changing redesign process.
Lunch
All attendees will receive a handout of places nearby to grab a quick lunch! Lunch will be provided for speakers and sponsors.
Dark Patterns
Dark patterns are deliberate attempts to mislead users through design. Dark patterns are rather prevalent, from Facebook's emotional blackmail when users attempt to deactivate their account, to cable companies' intentional placement of the "cancel subscription" button on rarely visited pages. The truth of the matter is that dark patterns are terrible for the user but beneficial to the company's bottom line. During this talk, I would like to discuss the role of the designer in the battle between pleasing users and generating revenue. Drawing on personal stories and examples, I will make the argument that designers are uniquely positioned to influence key stakeholders in favor of designing for the user first, and profit second. I will outline key strategies for combatting this problem within our own organizations/teams. By drawing attention to the presence of dark patterns and how we can work together as designers to protect users from them, we can begin acting as a force of change in the design industry.
Lightning Talks Round 2: Twenty Ways to Say "No"
Twenty different ways to say "no" to an idea, a request, misinformation, a design feature, ignorance, a project, coworker, alienation, your mom, your best friend, polarization, and so forth.
Lightning Talks Round 2: You are an Information Influencer
Computers are solving problems at a pace more rapid than ever before. Not only are they beating masters at GO, in seconds they can determine our credit score and reveal our ancestry while virtual assistants help us with scheduling and reminders. Unfortunately, the average person’s social customs, cultural standards, and the overall understanding of technology update at a much slower pace. Sometimes we trust digital entities we shouldn’t trust, are betrayed by those who should be trustworthy, and may be manipulated by digital ne’er-do-wells. While most technology users are celebrating advances in computing power, it is time we as technologists, entrepreneurs, governments, and community members take time to openly and authentically assess risk. We should discuss how these advances can potentially deepen inequality and alienation and take proactive steps to help humanity avoid these traps.
Lightning Talks Round 2: Accessibility Concerns with Dark UX Patterns
We know that dark design patterns negatively affect a user's experience, often for the purposes of maximizing profit. But there's another, darker angle: by creating dark patterns, whether consciously or not, designers are disproportionately affecting the elderly and people with disabilities. My goal is to build the audience's awareness of the aspects of dark patterns which are particular concerns for accessibility.
Lightning Talks Round 2: Choice Architecture and Framing Policy Decisions
I'll be discussing choice architecture as it relates to framing policy decisions, particularly when it comes to 'nudging' people into making healthy decisions and understanding the tradeoffs when it comes to voting on these decisions.
Gender and Artificial Intelligence
Gender is an innate part of human existence. It is an expression of ourselves and even our culture. However, gender is not innate to our creations. When we design something inanimate to imitate gender, it impacts our society as a whole, especially when we gender our artificial intelligence. We have a tendency to gender "assistant" AIs female and independent AIs male, such as Siri vs Watson, translate non-gendered languages to have gender, and allow our conversational AI to adopt gendered biases. Is this for the best, or are there ways to prevent human gender biases from impacting AI, so that we may have a more equal future?
