New York City 2018

Breakfast and coffee brought to you by Pratt School of Information

Welcome to World IA Day '18 from your organizers and host!

The world may not know it, but information architecture is a crucial factor for sustainable user engagement. However, information architecture sees less adoption in the industry since practicing it is easier said than done. This talk will explore key aspects of information architecture analysis and planning to demonstrate how producing a "good" information architecture is no trivial matter. Fortunately, we're getting better and once we get "good" the world will be a little better because of it.

Presented by Nathaniel Davis

Most of us are uncomfortable or unprepared to begin a conversation around death. We generally want to live as well as we can for as long as we can, but we don’t think about dying well. However, increasing knowledge and developing an action plan can ensure that we die the way we hope to and not leave tough decisions for our loved ones.

In this talk, Navit will address a few service problems in the current options for EoL planning, detail how she tried and failed to solve some of them, and share her insight into how a fundamental yet largely ignored human experience can be transformed through the perspective of a service designer.

Presented by Navit Keren

Giveaways from our global sponsors!

Assorted wraps, with vegetarian options included.

The impact of design is growing and the demand for design talent is increasing. We see more designers rising to leadership roles. Some argue that design has a seat at the table and we should stop talking about it. However, reality shows a different picture as there are thousands of design teams at different levels of influence in their organizations.

Emerging and established design leaders need to clearly articulate the business impact of design. Exerting strategic influence and injecting design into the organization’s DNA requires a multi-prong approach focused on communication, collaboration and culture. As designers, we need to work together, share the lessons we learn in our journeys and extend a hand to help each other.

Presented by Jose Coronado

Collaboration is the keystone of successful innovation. And many teams THINK they have a collaborative culture. They share their work, solicit and incorporate feedback, iterate with team members--all activities we associate with a collaborative work process. And still, many teams struggle to generate truly impactful ideas, or to actually build products from those ideas and deliver something valuable to customers. Despite best intentions, they can’t seem to get to a deep, effective level of collaboration necessary for success. Why is something as basic as working together so difficult? Why do we all seem to suck at collaboration?

Join us as we explore the most common challenges of collaborative work, and discuss simple but powerful ways that teams can tackle those challenges together: practical methods they can use to override unhealthy patterns, align on goals, and start designing a culture that nurtures and empowers collaboration.

Presented by Karen VanHouten

From our global sponsors!

Can design have a greater impact beyond commercial settings? That’s what Jim Kalbach, author of Mapping Experiences, pondered when a global counter-terrorism organization approached him to facilitate a workshop in Abu Dhabi. Earlier this year, Jim applied mapping techniques to help understand the experience of former violent extremists.

Join us for this exclusive talk. It will be informative and inspiring.

Presented by Jim Kalbach

Final prizes from our global sponsors and words from organizers.

Enjoy a beverage from our hosts at Ebay and mingle with colleagues before heading out.