Attending UX Scotland
We recently sent three of our designers to the UX Scotland conference: an event bringing Scottish professionals together to discuss everything User Experience. We caught up with each of them to hear about their time at the conference - here’s what they said:
What did you love about the conference?
Scott:
There was a very varied demographic of people from different areas of design, research and development, and they were all very keen to talk about their experience. The talks were varied in both tone and content and there was always lots of time for questions at the end of each (which is welcome from larger conferences).
Charlotte:
I really liked that it wasn’t just designers in attendance, but a mix of people in varying roles and from all sorts of backgrounds. It was nice to chat and connect with different attendees and get some fresh perspectives on UX challenges. Plus, the smoothies were great!
Chloe:
I loved that there was a variety of topics and workshops available, ranging from collaboration in teams to how to run effective workshops. It was great to network with people outside of a design team to see their different approaches.
Which talk was your favourite, and why?
Scott:
There was a very interesting discussion called “Hiring and onboarding in turbulent times” by Russ Unger (IntelliBridge) on how important correct onboarding is to both new users of a website or experience but also new members into design teams. There were a number of very interesting ideas and concepts for how to make team members feel welcomed, and avoid the dreaded first day “ok I’m here, what do I do now?”. Very handy as we have just taken on a new team member!
Charlotte:
I had two favourites. The first was a workshop on neurodiversity and accessibility by Snigdha Ramkumar (User Vision). Whilst I already have a good understanding of web accessibility, it was interesting to have a narrower focus, looking at how people with autism, ADHD, Alzheimer's and other conditions interact with digital products in more nuanced ways. The other talk I loved was “Finding the Mother Tree: Lessons on inclusion from the forest” by Rose Clarkson (Lloyds Banking Group). She used nature-themed metaphors to encourage empathy and kindness within the workplace. It was unusual but very insightful.
Chloe:
My favourite talk was the ‘Imagining feminist technology futures: A workshop to creatively deconstruct harmful design and imagine alternative futures’ ran by Fractals Co-op. The workshop featured prompt cards assigning our: situation, values, personna, and an object. We had to use the random allocation of cards to create a response to the situation. This workshop helped to foster interesting and insightful conversations within our groups, discussing our own situations and biases, and then working together to solve the problem.
What was your key takeaway?
Scott:
Collaboration is key. Designers need to be involved at the earliest possible phase of the research stage to help guide the processes and make sure we are gaining valuable insights for the design stage.
Charlotte:
I learned a lot about how we work as a team at tda! There’s already a great energy within the agency and we can collaborate freely. However, some of our processes could still be developed or improved. The conference gave me renewed enthusiasm to work together more effectively.
Chloe:
I found that creating confusion is a useful workshop tool, by adding random items like ‘chair’ and ‘spoon’, it breaks your default way of approaching a problem and gains some interesting results!
Next steps
Our three conference attendees returned from UX Scotland feeling inspired and enthused. They presented back to the wider team, so that everyone could benefit from what they’d learned. Beyond the wealth of knowledge, the conference also provided tda! with some invaluable networking opportunities. Engaging with other industry leaders and creative minds has sparked new ideas and potential collaborations that we’re excited to explore.
As we return to our projects with renewed energy, we’re more motivated than ever to place user experience at the heart of all we do. Stay connected with us as we implement these learnings and continue to deliver groundbreaking solutions. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest updates, or get in touch to discuss how these fresh insights can benefit your next project.
