New York City 2017

We know what makes most people click, but we don’t know as much about how they feel. Feeling is as important as form and function, and yet emotion isn’t always part of the design process. How do we do we move beyond solving problems to recognizing the rich emotional texture of our relationship with technology? This talk draws on the hallmarks of emotional intelligence—perceiving, understanding, communicating, and managing—to create a meaningful approach for emotional design that moves beyond delight.

Presented by Pam Pavliscak

The technologies and people we are designing experiences for are constantly changing, in most cases they are changing at a rate that is difficult keep up with. When we think about how our teams are structured and the design processes we use in light of this challenge, a new design problem (or problem space) emerges, one that requires us to focus inward. How do we structure our teams and processes to be resilient? What would happen if we looked at our teams and design process as IA’s, Designers, Researchers? What strategies would we put in place to help them be successful? This talk will look at challenges we face leading, supporting, or simply being a part of design teams creating experiences for user groups with changing technological needs.

Presented by Aaron Irizarry

Fighting to get your team to think big picture and outside the box? Do your brainstorming sessions lead to total chaos? Having trouble generating fresh, actionable ideas? Or getting buy-in at stratified and siloed organizations? The struggle is real. You can’t make new things without new (and lateral) thinking. Through the lens of my own practice at Cooper, I’ll discuss the value of developing an exploration strategy—the frameworks and ideation methods I’ve relied on to unlock tsunamis of creative ideas in teams otherwise mired in tactical thinking or skeptical of the value of brainstorming. I’ll also share a few evaluation methods that transform that dump truck full of ideas into a prioritized, actionable roadmap.

Presented by Shannon McGarity

It's taken very many years, but user research capabilities are finally becoming accepted as a must-have by large organizations that strive to produce better products and services. So user researchers should take a well-deserved bow! But only one. Because each type of user research remains narrow in focus, full of biases, and disconnected from other kinds of research. Most organizations are therefore overpaying for a disjointed, uncoordinated dog's breakfast of data that chronically under-delivers.

Presented by Lou Rosenfeld

Closing Remarks