Tent Talks by Chicago Camps

Critical Processes in Design Systems:

• Emphasis on building from a library of UI components and visual language.
• Importance of collaboration between designers and developers.
• The notion of a design system as a product serving products, requiring evolution, roadmap, support, and marketing.

Strategic Planning for Design Systems:

• Life cycles of design systems as generations, each with its focus and operational mode.
• The necessity of strategic periods, production processes, and shifts to business-as-usual modes.
• Prioritization of initiatives and the balance between major investments and ongoing feature development.

Contributions to Design Systems:

• Challenges with the conventional approach to contributions.
• Advocating for a shift from central governance to facilitating direct sharing and reuse among teams.
• Success stories of changing perspectives on contributions leading to more effective collaboration and system growth.

Evolution of Design Systems:

• Higher levels of rigor and formality in design system teams compared to product teams.
• The influence of design systems on establishing effective work practices and fostering cultures of critique.
• The importance of adaptability, experimentation, and less formal rigor in design systems.

Emerging Trends and Technologies:

• The imminent impact of AI and automation on design systems.
• The future emphasis on composition skills and the importance of understanding nested structures and layouts.
• The need for design professionals to adapt to tools that automate previously manual tasks.

Notable Quotes

• "A design system is a product serving products."
• "Contributions is a bit of a bad word in design systems."
• "The best design systems are the ones that know how to change and evolve."
• "AI is right around the corner, impacting design systems significantly."

Reference Materials

• Blog post by Nathan Curtis titled "A Design System is a Product Serving Products" (2016).

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Session Overview

Christine Perfetti dives into the concept of "Strategic Rallying" as a team-based, collaborative approach aimed at setting and executing a strategy and product vision with a focus on understanding and involving both external users/customers and internal team members of an organization. She shares insights from her experience, particularly a successful implementation at Aquia, where a one-day workshop with cross-functional teams led to significant alignment on product vision and strategy. Perfetti emphasizes the importance of involving the team in the process to foster ownership and execution on the vision. Additionally, she provides steps for organizations to shift towards a problem-space ideation culture and highlights the role of Strategic Rallying in bridging the gap between research insights and actionable outcomes. Moreover, she discusses recalibrating organizational culture to celebrate team success beyond traditional metrics and addresses how her approach tackles team chemistry within product development.

Strategic Rallying Defined:

• Emphasizes a collaborative approach for setting and executing strategy and vision.
• Involves internal teams in the process, fostering a sense of ownership.
• Utilizes workshops to gather and prioritize ideas towards a long-term product direction.

Shifting Towards Problem-Space Ideation:

• Recommends a preparatory process involving stakeholder engagement, user research, and strategic planning.
• Advocates for involving cross-functional teams early and throughout the process.

Bridging Research and Action Gaps:

• Identifies common gaps where research insights do not lead to actionable outcomes.
• Suggests that involving stakeholders in the research and visioning process increases investment in and execution on insights.

Fostering Collaborative Culture:

• Advises on shifting focus from solely measurable outcomes to also valuing relationships and team successes.
• Emphasizes the importance of prioritizing relationships and celebrating collective achievements to foster a collaborative culture.

Tackling Team Chemistry:

• Outlines four internal pillars essential for product success, including team chemistry.
• Discusses how Strategic Rallying can improve team chemistry by promoting partnership and collaboration.

Notable Quotes

• "Involving your teams in setting the vision and strategy for your company and product is crucial."
• "Strategic Rallying is about bringing together cross-functional teams to collect their brilliant ideas."
• "It's not enough for your team to understand the vision; they need to contribute to it and evangelize around it."
• "Shifting from a solution-focused mindset to a problem space ideation culture involves preparing through stakeholder engagement and user research."
• "The key to bridging research and action gaps is to involve stakeholders in the process, making them more invested in the outcomes."

Reference Materials

• Jared Spool's articles on connecting research to actionable outcomes and celebrating team wins.
• Todd Zaki Warfel's work on the design studio method for ideation and convergence.

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Finding Your Voice:

• Danielle is still on a journey to discover what she wants to share with the world, using her experiences with Women Talk Design and the process of writing "Present Yourself."
• She aims to empower others to amplify their impact, believing in supporting others to do their best work and share their ideas.

Unfinished Stories in Presentations:

• Unfinished stories can make audiences feel less alone, invite collaboration, and allow speakers to outline potential outcomes.
• Sharing unfinished work can be intimidating, but it fosters connection, collaboration, and opens up discussions.

Five Beliefs in Public Speaking:

• Public speaking has no one right way; diversity in presentation styles enriches the field.
• New voices are crucial for industry and societal evolution.
• Acknowledging that public speaking is not a level playing field is vital for inclusivity.
• Improvement in public speaking comes with practice.
• Community support is essential for resilience and effectiveness in public speaking.

Lessons from Self-Publishing:

• Building a supportive team early and considering a book coach are critical steps.
• Understanding the timeline and process intricacies is necessary for a smooth publication.
• Setting clear processes and boundaries helps manage collaborations and version control effectively.
• Recognizing the various editing stages and maintaining control over content changes is important.

Notable Quotes:

• "Empowering others amplifies impact beyond individual efforts."
• "Unfinished stories connect, collaborate, and create opportunities for dialogue."
• "Diverse voices and approaches enrich public speaking and thought leadership."
• "Self-publishing is a journey of learning, adaptation, and community support."

Reference Materials:

"Present Yourself" Book:

• Authors: Danielle Barnes and Christina Wodtke.
• Focus: A comprehensive guide to public speaking, aimed at empowering readers to find and amplify their voices. The book distills insights from the authors' experiences and lessons learned through their professional journeys and work at Women Talk Design. It includes practical advice, exercises ("now try" sections), and strategies for improving public speaking skills. The book emphasizes the importance of practice, inclusivity, and adapting one's approach over time.

Kat Vellos' "Designer to Author" Course:

• Creator: Kat Vellos, a designer and author known for her self-published works and educational initiatives.
• Content: This course is designed for designers and other creatives who are interested in writing and publishing their own books. It covers the end-to-end process of book creation, from ideation and writing to publishing and marketing. Vellos shares her own experiences and lessons learned, providing a roadmap for others to follow in her footsteps. The course is valuable for anyone considering self-publishing, offering insights into overcoming common challenges and making informed decisions throughout the publishing journey.

Women Talk Design Events and Workshops:

• Organization: Women Talk Design is dedicated to increasing the visibility and influence of women and non-binary individuals in design and technology through public speaking.
• Offerings: The organization hosts a variety of events, workshops, and training programs focused on public speaking, leadership, and career development. These initiatives are designed to help participants develop their speaking skills, discover their unique voices, and gain the confidence to present their ideas effectively. Women Talk Design's programs are characterized by a supportive community atmosphere, practical learning experiences, and a commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion in the tech and design fields.

These materials and initiatives collectively support individuals in their journeys to become more effective communicators and leaders, emphasizing the value of diverse perspectives, continuous learning, and community engagement in professional growth.

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Session Overview

In this episode of Tent Talks, Christine McGlade, a sessional lecturer on digital futures at OCAD University, shares her insights on designing tomorrow with a focus on ethics and AI. Christine discusses the importance of futures thinking as a design discipline akin to systems thinking, emphasizing the need for ongoing engagement with the world to anticipate changes. She highlights the challenges of finding trusted primary sources in an era where AI-generated content is becoming increasingly prevalent, leading to a potential "model collapse." Christine also delves into the ethical dilemmas faced by designers in creating AI-driven solutions and the importance of incorporating ethical considerations into the design process. Additionally, she shares her thoughts on the intersection of humor and AI, suggesting that while AI struggles with creating humor, it can be a powerful tool to address ethical issues in AI.

Approaching Futures Thinking in AI:

• Futures thinking is likened to a design discipline, stressing the importance of scanning for signals of change.
• Challenges in finding trusted primary sources due to the proliferation of AI-generated content.
• The importance of using tools like Perplexity.ai and Google Scholar to access primary sources.

Model Collapse and AI:

• Model collapse results from an increase in AI-generated training data, leading to a decrease in the quality of AI outputs.
• Concerns about data pollution and the echoing of mediocrity in AI-generated content.
• The introduction of artist-developed countermeasures like Nightshade to protect their work from being used as AI training data.

Ethical Considerations in AI-Driven Design:

• The need for designers to focus on the process rather than the outcomes when using AI to generate designs.
• Encouraging students to demonstrate their problem-solving process, emphasizing that the journey is as important as the destination.
• The limitations of AI in fully capturing the creative and design process, particularly in art and design.

Humor as a Tool in Addressing AI Ethics:

• AI's inability to create humor effectively, especially in sensitive or nuanced topics.
• The potential for humor to address and highlight ethical issues in AI, despite AI's limitations in understanding or generating humor.

Notable Quotes:

• "Futures thinking... is helping students to foster... a kind of ongoing engagement with the world."
• "It's actually pretty difficult to find trusted primary sources."
• "We're not getting innovation, right? And that's the bottom line."
• "The outcome is not the thing. The road that you travel to get there, that's the thing."

Reference Materials:

• Jeremy Rifkin's "The Empathic Civilization": This book is widely available and can be found on major book retailer websites, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or your local bookstore's online platform. Additionally, it may be available in digital format through platforms like Kindle or Audible for audiobooks.
• TechTarget Article on Model Collapse:  Model collapse in the context of AI refers to a situation where a machine learning model fails to generalize from its training data, often due to overfitting on synthetic or unrepresentative training data, resulting in the model producing increasingly homogenous or inaccurate outputs. This issue underscores the importance of using diverse and representative data in training AI models to ensure they perform reliably in real-world applications.
• Nielsen Norman's Publications on Working with AI as Designers: The Nielsen Norman Group is renowned for its research and publications on user experience (UX) design.
• Nightshade: Nightshade is a tool designed to protect artists' copyrights by transforming images into "poison" samples that disrupt AI model training. It aims to deter the use of unlicensed data by introducing unpredictable behaviors in models trained on such data, making licensing a more appealing option. Nightshade and Glaze serve complementary roles: Glaze protects individual artworks from style mimicry, while Nightshade offers a collective defense against unauthorized scraping, with both aiming to support artists and encourage responsible data use in AI development.

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

In this insightful Tent Talks episode, Alison Gretz, a seasoned leader in the design industry, shares her unique leadership philosophy and how it has positively impacted her team dynamics and conflict resolution. Alison emphasizes the importance of viewing leadership roles as partnerships and coaching opportunities rather than positions of command and control. She discusses the application of Radical Candor, a concept by Kim Scott, in her leadership approach, highlighting the balance between honesty and sensitivity in team communications. Alison also explores strategies for fostering open communication and encouraging team members to engage in difficult conversations.

Leadership Philosophy and Conflict Resolution:

• Leadership as partnership and coaching, rather than command and control.
• Importance of facilitation and understanding team dynamics.
• Encouragement of dissenting opinions and open communication.
• Navigating personal styles and conflicts for team betterment.

Applying Radical Candor:

• Foundation of trust and caring for successful application.
• Four communication styles: obnoxious aggression, ruinous empathy, manipulative insincerity, and radical candor.
• Emphasis on caring genuinely and addressing issues directly.
• Personal growth through feedback and clear, kind communication.

Balance in High Stakes Situations:

• Foundation of trust and caring is crucial.
• Importance of considering the receiver's perspective and readiness.
• Direct and clear communication for effective understanding.
• Strategies for feedback and creating a supportive environment.

Adapting Leadership in Diverse Teams:

• Application of design skills to stakeholder relationships.
• Importance of aligning goals and building trusting relationships.
• Strategies for dealing with tough relationships and disagreements.
• Emphasis on inclusivity and understanding different perspectives.

Encouraging Open Communication:

• Creating safe and approachable spaces for team members.
• Importance of facilitation across different work environments.
• Strategies for anonymous feedback and enforcing a no-asshole policy.
• Support for team members in preparing for and debriefing after difficult conversations.

Notable Quotes:

• "Leadership is about partnership and coaching, not command and control."
• "Radical Candor requires a foundation of trust and caring."
• "Navigating team dynamics demands honesty, sensitivity, and a strong foundation of trust."
• "Encouraging open communication involves creating safe spaces and supporting team members through challenges."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

In this episode of Tent Talks, Sunni Brown and Liya James share their insights on the creation of a virtual community centered around contemplative practices at the Center for Deep Self Design. They emphasize the impact these practices have had on their lives, enabling them to live more authentically and utilize their full potential. The conversation delves into the method behind Deep Self Design, highlighting its focus on exploring the inner world with benevolence and compassion rather than avoidance. They share personal and professional experiences to illustrate the transformative power of engaging with one's inner world, underscoring the method's effectiveness in fostering personal growth, overcoming internal obstacles, and enhancing relational dynamics.

Deep Self Design Virtual Community:

• Creating a community for people interested in contemplative practices.
• Focus on personal growth, leadership, and becoming better at life and work.
• Transitioning to a virtual community to reach more people.

Deep Self Design Method:

• Emphasizes engaging with the inner world for personal insight and growth.
• Different from other methods by encouraging exploration and benevolence.
• Particularly beneficial for designers and creative professionals facing obstacles.

Challenges Addressed by Deep Self Design:

• Suitable for personal risk-taking, career changes, and overcoming internal obstacles.
• Helps with achieving personal and professional goals through inner exploration.

Personal Benefits from Applying Deep Self Design:

• Provides a pathway to peace, inner stability, and resilience in the face of challenges.
• Has been a transformative and healing process for both Sunni and Liya.

Notable Quotes:

• "Engage with the inner world because there's data in there to help you get to where you need to go."
• "Real courage comes from working with self-talk in a compassionate way."
• "Deep Self Design is well suited for taking the meaning out of it's not just about you."
• "Exploring thoughts and being curious about them can open up a whole world that helps you understand why you behave a certain way."
• "Peace and inner stability... that's the thing we both return to again and again in the face of chaos and adversity."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Session Overview

In this enlightening Tent Talks session with Yaddy Arroyo, we dove into the intricate world of AI UX design leadership. Yaddy shared valuable insights on the differences between traditional UX design leadership and AI UX design leadership, emphasizing the importance of a diverse skill set, adaptability, and ethical considerations in AI projects. She highlighted the necessity of leaders to have hands-on experience in AI product design and development, along with the crucial role of natural language understanding in AI UX design. Yaddy also addressed the special UX considerations for digital human design and offered advice for companies looking to build a competent AI UX practice.

Key Differences in AI UX Design Leadership:

• Importance of being a good human and caring about others.
• AI UX leaders need AI experience to attract high-caliber talent.
• AI leadership involves abstract thinking and a respect for content design.
• AI leaders must be adaptable, open, and able to handle ambiguity.
• Ethical considerations, like diversity and user privacy, are crucial in AI UX.

Ethical Implications in AI Product Design:

• Necessity of diverse teams to reduce algorithmic bias.
• Importance of user privacy and data protection.
• Ethical considerations extend beyond UX to sourcing and handling of data.
• AI leaders must advocate for ethical practices and understand the broader impact of their decisions.

Importance of Hands-On Experience:

• Leaders with AI experience are crucial for guiding teams effectively.
• Leaders must understand AI intricacies to make informed decisions.
• Hands-on experience helps leaders mentor and elevate their teams.

Building a Competent AI UX Practice:

• Emphasize hiring leaders who are teachable and can nurture talent.
• Focus on upskilling existing workforce with a mindset for learning and adaptability.
• Encourage a culture of collaboration and continuous learning.

Role of Natural Language Understanding (NLU):

• NLU is foundational to AI UX design, especially in crafting user interactions.
• Understanding user communication and processing is key to effective AI UX design.
• Content design closely aligns with NLU and is critical in AI UX.

UX Considerations for Digital Human Design:

• Focus on human factors and understanding user mindsets in various scenarios.
• Design must account for different user needs and urgency levels.

Continuous Learning in AI for Leadership:

• Learn from industry professionals and hands-on experience.
• Engage in professional communities, attend conferences, and follow AI thought leaders.
• Understand AI technology fundamentals and stay updated with evolving trends.

Notable Quotes:

• "AI UX leaders need to be adaptable, open, and able to handle ambiguity."
• "Diversity in teams is key to creating ethical AI products."
• "Hands-on AI experience is crucial for effective leadership."
• "Continuous learning and adaptability are essential in AI UX practice."
• "NLU is foundational to AI UX, shaping user interactions and content design."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

The session with Jane Ruffino explored the often overlooked yet crucial role of content in technology and design. Jane, a content strategist, discussed how content acts as a foundational infrastructure in digital products and services, likening it to the integral but usually invisible components of physical infrastructure. She shared her experiences in various projects, highlighting the importance of integrating content design from the onset rather than treating it as an afterthought. Jane also touched on the challenges of advocating for the value of content in tech environments and the importance of building alliances and educating colleagues about the vital role of content.

Content as Infrastructure

• Content is a foundational element in products and services, akin to infrastructure in its essential yet often invisible role.
• Jane shared a project experience where content design was initially sidelined but later recognized as critical in structuring user interactions and decision paths.
• The project highlighted the importance of considering content early in the design process and integrating it with other aspects of product development.

Value of Content in Tech Environments

• Convincing others of the importance of content is challenging; success often lies in working with those who already acknowledge its value.
• Jane emphasized the importance of making informed decisions about content and helping others understand these choices.
• She noted similarities between the challenges faced by content strategists and engineers, suggesting potential alliances.

Educating on Technical Concepts

• Jane's approach to teaching complex subjects involves meeting people where they are and focusing on their goals rather than overwhelming them with jargon.
• She shared her experience teaching archaeology to school kids, using relatable scenarios to make the subject engaging and accessible.

Advocacy for Content

• Advocacy in content strategy is about forming alliances and understanding the type of gap (awareness, knowledge, value) you're trying to close.
• Measuring the impact of advocacy and content work can be difficult; success often lies in prevention of problems rather than easily quantifiable metrics.

Notable Quotes

• "Content is not an afterthought; it's the structure we build everything else around."
• "In content design, success is often about making informed decisions and helping others see the value in those choices."
• "Teaching is about helping people see the world through a new lens, not just imparting knowledge."
• "Advocacy for content isn't just about promoting its importance; it's about forming strategic alliances and being recognized for your expertise."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

In this episode of Tent Talks, Tim Frick delves into the evolving landscape of digital sustainability, a topic that's gaining traction but still relatively niche. Tim discusses recent regulatory changes, like the EU's Climate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Biden's executive order on AI, highlighting their impact on sustainability. He envisions a future where sustainable practices in digital product design and development become the norm, driven by a growing awareness and desire for change.

Tim also touches on the significant environmental impact of the internet and data centers, a revelation from his journey as a B Corp advocate. The discussion also covers the Web Sustainability Guidelines (WSGs) and their potential to shape web development and design. Tim acknowledges challenges like lack of awareness, technical debt, data accessibility, and legislative incentives in adopting sustainable practices. Lastly, he emphasizes the importance of inclusive economic practices and regenerative design in the digital product lifecycle and advises on measuring and communicating the impact of sustainability initiatives, drawing on his experiences with MightyBytes and B Corp certification.

Digital Sustainability's Future:

• Digital sustainability is an emerging, niche topic.
• Growing awareness in both technology and sustainability sectors.
• Hope for sustainability to become a default in digital product design in the next decade.
• Significant environmental impact of internet and data centers highlighted.

Web Sustainability Guidelines:

• WSGs developed to provide guidance in digital sustainability.
• A multidisciplinary approach covering business, UX design, web development, and more.
• Aimed at making sustainable practices more accessible and actionable.

Barriers to Sustainable Practices:

• Challenges include lack of awareness and understanding, technical debt, data accessibility, and lack of legislative incentives.
• Emphasis on the need for sustainable data strategies and supporting right-to-repair policies.

Regenerative Design and Inclusive Economic Practices:

• Focus on systemic thinking and sustainability in all decisions.
• Importance of powering digital products with renewable energy and responsible data strategies.
• Inclusion entails personal wellbeing, equitable hiring, and sharing economic benefits.

Measuring and Communicating Sustainability Initiatives:

• The B Impact Assessment as a valuable tool for measuring sustainability.
• Importance of collective action and making sustainability a journey rather than a switch to flip.

Notable Quotes:

• "Digital sustainability...is growing rapidly. As technology advances, the intersection between digital innovation and sustainability becomes more crucial."
• "My hope is that 10 years from now, [sustainability] is just a default way that people design and develop digital products."
• "The internet is a big machine...the true environmental impact of the internet [is significant]."
• "We need a set of guidelines to govern sustainable digital practices...and [the Web Sustainability Guidelines] aim to provide that."
• "Lack of awareness, technical debt, and data gaps are significant barriers in sustainable digital product development."
• "Sustainability is not a switch you flip. It's a journey. It's about continuous improvement and collective action towards a more sustainable future."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

The session with Steve Portigal, discussing the second edition of his book "Interviewing Users," delved into how the field of user research has evolved over the past decade. Steve highlighted significant shifts, including changes in societal norms, the rise of remote work due to the pandemic, and advancements in technology, particularly in user interview techniques. He also touched on ethical considerations in user research and the role of AI in shaping future dynamics. Throughout the session, Steve shared insights from his extensive experience, emphasizing the importance of context, adaptability, and the ever-changing nature of user research.

Evolution in User Research:

• User research practices have shifted significantly, particularly in compensating participants. The trend moved from cash payments to more convenient, digital forms.
• The rise of remote work, accelerated by the pandemic, has transformed user research methodologies, with a notable increase in remote interviews.
• There's a greater focus on data privacy and regulatory compliance in research, reflecting societal and legal shifts.
• Adapting interview techniques for remote settings has become crucial, with adjustments needed for communication styles and technological limitations.

Impact of Remote User Interviews:

• Remote interviews lack the personal connection and context-rich environment of in-person interactions, affecting the depth of insights.
• Collaboration within research teams and post-interview synthesis have become more challenging in remote settings.
• New norms of communication, like managing turn-taking and interpreting non-verbal cues, have emerged, necessitating adaptation by researchers.

Ethical Implications in Research:

• The ethical landscape in user research is complex, with a growing emphasis on informed consent and transparent data practices.
• Resources like Alba Villamil's "Ethical Researcher's Checklist" provide guidance on navigating these ethical considerations effectively.
• The approach to consent has evolved, with more nuanced methods being developed to respect participants' autonomy and privacy.

AI in User Research:

• The role of AI in user research is evolving, with its potential impact still largely uncertain.
• AI's current strength lies in data summarization rather than synthesis, which remains a predominantly human-driven process.
• As AI technology advances, its application in user research could extend to supporting creative thinking and problem-solving.

Most Profound Learning Experience:

• Steve recounted an experience where he confronted and overcame his own age bias during an interview, highlighting the human nature of biases in research.
• This experience underlined the importance of being aware of and challenging personal biases to gain true insights in user research.

Notable Quotes:

• "We operate on biases, but research allows us to overcome and revisit our assumptions."
• "Remote research has changed our norms of communication and collaboration."
• "Ethical considerations are vital in user research, especially in the age of data privacy."
• "I had a conversation with someone that I respect the other day, and they said to me, a large language model, they can summarize, but it can't synthesize because it can only be based on what is, so summarization is like a great use of that, but synthesis isn't."
• "AI's potential in user research lies more in aiding creativity than replacing human analysis."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Haley Stracher shared her expertise on user onboarding, emphasizing the criticality of the initial user experience. Her practical, three-step method for effective onboarding—introduction, cognitive load management, and retention through rewards—highlights the significance of a user's first interaction with a product. She also tackled common onboarding mistakes, the importance of accessibility, and shared a success story to illustrate her points.

Effective Onboarding Steps:

• Introduction:
  • Emphasize the product's benefits.
  • Utilize tutorials, carousels, and videos for user engagement.
• Cognitive Load:
  • Limit tasks to three to avoid overwhelming users.
  • Too many tasks without rewards can deter users.
• Retention:
  • Reward users after completing tasks for serotonin boost and retention.
  • Simple gestures of recognition can significantly impact user satisfaction.

Common Onboarding Mistakes:

• Asking Too Many Questions:
  • Unnecessary questions lead to false data and user drop-off.
  • Explaining the purpose of data collection can enhance trust and compliance.
• Neglecting Analytics and User Feedback:
  • Analytics reveal drop-off points indicating issues.
  • User interviews provide insights to improve the onboarding process.

Creating Memorable First User Experiences:

• Branding and Visuals:
  • Align visuals with company's mission and identity.
  • Brand identity impacts user's first impression significantly.
• Copywriting:
  • Clear, error-free, and personable copy is as crucial as visuals.

Accessibility in Onboarding:

• Standard Practice:
  • Accessibility is no longer optional but a standard expectation.
  • Contrast checkers, font sizes, and inclusivity in gender options are critical.
• Inclusive Design:
  • Consider target audience characteristics, like age, in design decisions.

Success Story in Improved Onboarding:

• Problem Identification:
  • Diverse user personas require different onboarding paths.
  • Understanding user context is key to providing value.
• Solution Implementation:
  • A bifurcated onboarding approach tailored to user location (home/store).
  • Algorithmic guesses of warranty expiry provided a "small win" for at-home users.

Notable Quotes from Haley Stracher:

• "If you do too much and don't reward users, they're going to feel like it never ends."
• "Explain why at every juncture—it can be really helpful and useful."
• "Design is always an iterative process. It's never done."
• "Accessibility has become more of a standard than a nice to have."
• "Understanding your users a little bit better can solve onboarding problems by making a fork in the road."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

In this insightful session, Jesse James Garrett, a visionary in the field, delves into the intricacies of design leadership amidst the dynamic interplay between executive expectations and team aspirations. He reflects on the evolution of design leadership, the spectrum of design maturity, and provides a nuanced understanding of navigating leadership responsibilities.

Balancing Needs and Expectations:

• Acknowledgment of design leaders as a unique bunch, learning on the job due to a lack of formal education in design leadership.
• The "design leadership playbook" is an amalgamation of trials, errors, successes, and failures over the last two decades.
• Importance of translating the value proposition of design not only to the design team but to the larger organization.

Reconciling Product Success with Design Maturity:

• Questioning the long-term goal of design maturity and emphasizing that it should lead to greater product success visible to people outside design.
• Design maturity described as an asymptotic approach towards perfection that can never be reached, thus requiring realistic goal-setting.

Misunderstood Executive Motivations:

• Highlighting designers’ potential misinterpretations of executive motivations, especially regarding financial and quantitative aspects.
• Advocating for more empathy and attunement towards those who do not share the designerly way of seeing things.

Navigating Tough Decisions:

• Discussing the delicate balance between being responsible and being compassionate when making tough decisions.
• Encouraging design leaders to clarify their mandates and align their change-making goals with organizational expectations.

Notable Quotes:

• "Leadership is the art of disappointing people at a rate they can handle." - quoted by Chicago Camps from Carmen Medina’s Tent Talk session.
• "Design maturity is not an end in itself... It has to add up to something more that is visible to people outside design."
• "If your boss is like, I thought I hired you to build me a function to keep this dev engine fed with front end assets. And you're all, I came here to create systemic organizational and cultural change to drive a revolution of human-centered thinking across the company. Yeah, you're going to have a disconnect."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Carmen Medina, a former CIA officer, shared her experiences and insights on being a 'rebel' within a bureaucratic setting during the Tent Talks session. Medina spent 32 years at the CIA, starting her rebellious journey in the mid-90s when the digital revolution sparked her interest. Despite facing resistance, she continued to advocate for digital adoption within the organization. Her narrative provided a wealth of advice for those keen on driving change within their organizations, emphasizing the importance of empathy, patience, and understanding organizational dynamics.

Heretical Change and Organizational Resistance:

• Initial efforts to introduce digital adaptation at the CIA met with resistance due to the organization's contrasting ethos around secrecy.
• Encountering resistance led to a realization of the importance of aligning change proposals with organizational orthodoxy or finding overlapping interests.

Approaching Change through Adjacency:

• Using adjacent areas of interest to bridge the gap between new ideas and existing organizational priorities.
• Emphasized the importance of practical steps and new metrics to avoid getting trapped in old processes.

Importance of Allies and Bureaucratic Black Belts:

• The necessity of gaining and keeping allies throughout the rebel journey.
• Befriending 'bureaucratic black belts' who understand the organization's workings can be crucial for successfully navigating change.

Pacing Change and Prioritizing Ideas:

• The notion of pacing oneself to ensure the organization can tolerate the rate of change.
• Prioritizing ideas based on various criteria including cost, practicality, and potential support.

Operationalizing Empathy:

• Advocated for avoiding embarrassment and humiliation when interacting with others.
• Mentioned the phrase "connection before correction" to emphasize understanding before making corrections.

Building Trust and Empowering Teams:

• Trust was described as a muscle that needs to be strengthened by testing its limits.
• Creating an environment where team members willingly provide discretionary energy towards excellence.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls:

• The 'ego trap' where narcissism is hidden behind the language of innovation can be a common pitfall.
• Being cognizant of one's speed when pushing forward new ideas to ensure others can keep up.
• Understanding one's status within the organization and sometimes conforming to existing ways before proposing new ideas.

Notable Quotes from Carmen Medina:

1. "Innovation is the opposite of policy."
2. "Avoiding the Athena complex telling stories appealing to emotions."
3. "Leadership involves disappointing your followers at a rate they can tolerate."
4. "An act of trust implies that you are not certain of the outcome if you let a particular individual handle the task."
5. "You need to operationalize empathy... Stop embarrassing people."
6. "You have to be really aware of what your status is in the organization...you have to become proficient in doing things the way they're done before anybody will listen to you and your new ideas."
7. “Oftentimes narcissists, hide their narcissism in the language of innovation. Which is a sad thing. It’s their idea. They’re the one that can save the organization.”

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

In this Tent Talks session, Chicago Camps engages in a rich conversation with Donna Lichaw, discussing the essence of leadership impact and how leaders can assess and enhance their impact within their organizations. Donna shares insights from her new book and her experiences coaching leaders, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness, interpersonal dynamics, and creating an environment conducive for growth and productivity.

Assessing and Improving Leadership Impact:

• Leaders often face challenges when their teams expand rapidly, and issues arise that can lead to blaming others for performance gaps.
• It’s crucial to self-assess and gather feedback from team members to understand the leader’s impact on the organization.
• Engaging in conversations and assessments helps in discovering the good practices and amplifying them rather than focusing on the negatives.

Meaning and Importance of Leadership Impact:

• Leadership impact is about understanding the results and reactions that follow a leader’s actions or decisions.
• It’s vital to assess leadership impact to ensure that actions are leading towards desired outcomes and not causing unintended negative effects.
• Using metrics and feedback, leaders can connect the dots between their actions and organizational performance.

Essential Skills for Positive Leadership Impact:

• Self-awareness is paramount; understanding the impact one has on others and the organization as a whole is critical.
• Developing a sense of awareness requires a pause and notice approach, understanding the effects of one’s actions on others and the business.
• Appreciation and less judgment can lead to a better understanding and improvement in leadership impact.

Advice for Emerging Leaders:

• Developing awareness and curiosity early in one’s leadership journey is crucial.
• Building alliances and relationships across the organization can provide a supportive environment for growth.
• Being open to feedback and willing to help others can foster a culture of growth and continuous improvement.

Notable Quotes from Donna Lichaw:

• “One of the first things I do with anyone I work with is we go out and we find out, all right, how are you doing? And it’s as simple as talking to people.”
• “You want to find out what’s working, what could be better. There’s so much evidence behind this idea of first identifying and then amplifying your strengths versus trying to minimize them.”
• “Self-awareness, it’s everything… it requires you to do is if it’s skill, you pause, you notice, and you look at the impact.”
• “For emerging folks, I think showing up with people internally or externally who you admire and want to learn from and grow with showing up as a helpful human is key.”

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Amy Bucher titled, “Personalizing Behavior Change: The Intersection of AI, Ethics, and Team Collaboration:”

Session Introduction:

• Amy Bucher discusses personalization in behavior change.
• Highlights the importance of tailoring communication to each individual's context and needs.
• Explores the use of reinforcement learning in personalization.
• Distinguishes between broad, AI-driven approaches and audience-specific design.

Defining Personalization:

• Personalization involves communicating with individuals as if you were talking to them one on one.
• It requires understanding an individual's context, preferences, and history.
• Goes beyond segmentation and adapts to changes over time and across contexts.
• Acknowledges that personalization should account for situational variations in behavior.

The Role of Reinforcement Learning:

• Lirio employs behavioral reinforcement learning, a subset of AI.
• Reinforcement learning involves designating outcomes to reward the algorithm for achieving.
• In healthcare, the primary goal is to reward behaviors like completing a mammogram.
• Reinforcement learning is advantageous for its ability to learn individual characteristics over time.
• It can help overcome biases present in manually designed interventions.
• Amy emphasizes the importance of having data-attached behavioral outcomes for effective reinforcement learning.

Benefits and Challenges of AI in Personalization:

• AI, specifically reinforcement learning, allows for broad, data-driven design.
• It enables the inclusion of various elements in interventions to cater to different subsets of the population.
• It's especially valuable in healthcare for tracking outcomes like appointment attendance.
• Challenges include detecting behaviors without data and maintaining privacy.
• Amy emphasizes the need for finesse in designing for more elusive behaviors like exercise.
• She also discusses the benefits of AI in overcoming biases and the validation of AI-driven messaging through behavioral science.

Dealing with Limited Data:

• Amy discusses approaches to personalization with limited data.
• Mention of "transfer learning," where knowledge about one person is used to inform personalization for another with similarities.
• Emphasizes the importance of minimizing data hoarding and maintaining privacy.
• Talks about using demographic data and behavior-influencing demographics for "warm starts" in AI personalization.
• Stresses that interactions with individuals quickly replace initial data, making personalization more accurate over time.

Ethical Considerations:

• Addresses the ethical question of why an AI should recommend actions to individuals.
• Draws on motivational psychology, discussing "volitional non-adherence" – allowing individuals not ready for action to make their own choices.
• Highlights the risk of resentment and short-term gains with forceful recommendations.
• Discusses the need to respect individual autonomy in healthcare decisions.
• Explains the importance of maintaining trust with individuals and not pushing them into actions they're not prepared for.

Balancing Personalization and Intrusiveness:

• Discusses the need to obtain permission for data usage and communication methods.
• Emphasizes data privacy rules and regulations and securing data with certifications.
• Highlights the importance of "white-labeling" interventions to maintain trust with clients and end-users.
• Considers the "creepiness" factor and how personalization varies depending on communication channels.
• Discusses using first names in emails as an effective personalization strategy.
• Notes that personalization effectiveness may vary across different communication modalities.

Navigating Interdisciplinary Teams:

• Amy leads the behavioral science team at Lirio, working closely with AI and platform teams.
• Emphasizes the importance of asking questions and seeking clarity, even if it means sounding "stupid" in interdisciplinary discussions.
• Stresses the value of cross-functional meetings and sharing ideas early in the design process.
• Reflects on her experience with the platform team when designing for colonoscopies and the importance of aligning behavioral requirements with technology capabilities.
• Highlights the value of collaboration among leaders of different teams.

Types of AI for Different Design Needs:

• Discusses reinforcement learning as used by Lirio for behavioral outcomes.
• Touches on large language models like Chat GPT and Google's BERT as tools for generating content.
• Explains experiments with generative AI for content generation.
• Mentions recommender systems, such as those used in e-commerce, and their potential in healthcare for lifestyle management.
• Envisions using natural language processing (NLP) for bidirectional messaging and understanding user intent.
• Stresses the importance of managing risks when using AI for content generation, particularly in healthcare.

Notable Quotes:

"I think we really have to be okay with them still not being ready to do that. We can provide them the reasons we can have that gentle conversation with them. But ultimately, if they don't want to take action, I think that's something we just have to learn from and move on."

"I think it's so helpful to have people at the top of the teams who are willing to work with each other."

"The risk of delivering somebody the wrong message is so high. Whether they took action on something that's not really good for them, or they missed a recommendation that would have been incredibly helpful or even life-saving."

"We really want to understand the role that [generative AI] might play, but we have some concerns about it."

"One of our Lirio maxims that people say all the time, share before you're ready."

"You really have to be willing to sound stupid in some of these conversations."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Shannon Leahy explores the importance and versatility of using common office tools for UX deliverables. She shares her experience as a self-taught designer, the benefits of democratizing design processes, and tips for effective team collaboration.  She also offers a candid perspective on the ever-evolving world of UX and design. She addresses the hesitancy some professionals feel about stepping away from brand names or expensive tools, and also speaks to emerging designers and educators about fostering a resourceful and adaptable mindset.

The Genesis of Necessity

• Shannon emphasizes that her journey began from a need to adapt due to budget constraints.
• Working at smaller companies initially, she couldn't afford "fancy design tools," so she relied on accessible office software.

Democratizing Design

• Using common office software makes design more approachable for non-design team members.
• These tools are familiar to people across various departments, reducing intimidation and making it easier for them to participate in the design process.

Innovative Use of Simple Tools

• Examples include using word docs and spreadsheets for user journey maps, ideation sessions, and even complex service blueprints.
• By harnessing the basic functionalities of these tools creatively, Shannon has been able to produce valuable UX artifacts.

Boring Design is Good Design

• The focus should be on creating artifacts that are well-organized and help move the project forward.
• Pretty designs are fine, but the path to getting there may involve "ugly but effective" steps.

Collaboration and Communication

• Shannon stresses that the tool is secondary; what matters is good communication and relationship-building within the team.
• Tips for effective collaboration:
  • Clear expectations and boundaries.
  • Setting the stage by explaining where you are in the process.
  • Making sure everyone has access and knows where to find shared documents.

Legal Inclusion

• Including departments like Legal early in the process can be enriching and prevent roadblocks down the line.
• Setting the context of the design phase helps in managing expectations and allows for more constructive collaboration.Balance and Context in Tool Selection
• Shannon advocates for a balanced approach when choosing design tools.
• Importance of context: Tools can be powerful but need to fit the task at hand.

Balancing Between Different Design Tools

• Shannon emphasizes the importance of balance in choosing design tools.
• Sometimes less glamorous tools like wireframes or word processing documents are just as effective as high-fidelity design tools.
• When a project got stuck at the high-fidelity design stage, Shannon broke the deadlock by stepping back to create basic wireframes that facilitated discussions.

Open-Mindedness & Experimentation

• Keeping an open mind is essential for growth and innovation.
• She advocates for using existing resources in new and unexpected ways.
• Different tools can complement each other; they are not necessarily in competition.

Advice for Early-Career Designers

• Shannon encourages those who are new to their careers to "make stuff up."
• There is room for all kinds of approaches and it’s not about one "right" way.
• She stresses the importance of sharing your unique methods and experiences; someone out there will find it valuable.

Adapting Design Frameworks & Processes

• Design is not static; it evolves based on context and needs.
• Shannon believes that one should declare their design process and then adapt it as they gain more experience.
• She emphasizes focusing on core behaviors like creative thinking, problem-solving, and research, rather than sticking to a particular method.

Encouragement for Design Educators and Leaders

• Educators should expose students to a variety of tools and tactics.
• The end goal of design is to achieve something, be it a conversation, an agreement, or a solution.
• Provide designers with the flexibility to mix and match their approaches.

The Importance of Sharing Ideas

• Even if you think you have a "weird" idea or approach, share it.
• You never know how your contributions could spark interest or become beneficial to someone else.
• Shannon shares an anecdote about how sharing her favorite design tools led to engaging conversations and new opportunities.

Takeaways:

• Don't overlook the power of accessible and common office tools for UX deliverables.
• Always prioritize clear communication and inclusivity in the design process.
• Be open to "boring design" if it effectively serves the purpose.Context matters in design, both for tool selection and approach.
• Flexibility and an open mind can be your greatest assets in UX design.
• There's value in sharing your unique approaches and methods with the community, as it fosters innovation and collaborative growth.
• Embrace the variety of design tools and methods available.
• If you're new or transitioning into the field, dive in, experiment, and make your mark.
• Don’t hesitate to share your unique perspective; someone out there will find it valuable.

Memorable Quotes:

• "It was all about what can I do to meet a need now in the moment."
• "It made them feel like they had a seat at a table that they did not usually understand."
• "We will eventually get to the beautiful, polished, high fidelity stuff, but on the path to that, oh yeah, I will bust out an ugly thing if it helps us make a decision."
• "It's less about the tool and it's about relationships, and it's about communication."
• "It's about balance because yeah, there's a time and place to use a prototyping tool."
• "How I ended up getting us unstuck was I made a really crappy wireframe of a couple key screens where we got stuck."
• "These things are not in competition with each other. Again, they're complementary to each other."
• "It's to achieve something. There's a conversation you need to have. There's agreement you need to reach with somebody."

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Billie Mandel focuses on the well-intentioned yet harmful behaviors people exhibit in tech workplaces that contribute to toxicity. She outlines the top 5 such behaviors and offers tangible solutions for each, from avoiding complicit bystander tendencies to fostering transparent communication.

Top 5 Well-Meaning Behaviors That Create Toxic Work Environments

Complicit Bystander: Often rooted in people-pleasing or conflict avoidance, this behavior can have detrimental effects on teams and individuals.

Workplace Gossip: Though often unintentional, gossip can have a corrosive impact on work culture, especially in startups where roles and power structures are fluid.

Perfectionism: Aiming for flawlessness not only hampers individual growth but can also make leaders the "creativity ceiling" of their teams.

Lack of Role Clarity: A nebulous definition of roles and decision-making processes can lead to workplace stress and confusion.

Listening to Criticize: When people listen with the intent to appear smart, rather than to genuinely understand or connect, communication breaks down.

Deep Dive Into Perfectionism

• Perfectionism stifles authenticity and induces fear of failure, keeping team members from reaching their full potential.
• Leadership that enforces perfectionism can lead to employee attrition.

Effective Communication

Inviting Criticism: Leaders should use open-ended questions like "What am I missing?" to invite team input.

Counteracting Power Dynamics: To build a culture of transparency, leaders should model vulnerability and invite team members into their problem-solving processes.

Strategies for Navigating Complex Relationships

• Personal anecdotes from Billie illuminate the complexities of relationships that are both professional and personal. The key takeaway is to set clear boundaries and be acutely aware of the potential impact on your professional roles.

Approaching Difficult Conversations When You're the Problem

1. Acknowledgment: The first step is admitting to the mistake.
2. Framework: Use the "Situation, Behavior, Impact" model to discuss the issue.
3. Actionable Steps: Sometimes an apology isn't enough, especially in DEI contexts. It's essential to take steps to do better.

Strategies for Inclusivity and Anti-Toxicity

• If you're privileged, use your platform to amplify underrepresented voices.
• Focus on continuous improvement, particularly through actions, rather than mere apologies.

Additional Insights from Billie Mandel

Leadership and Vulnerability: Inspired by Brene Brown, Billie recommends showing your own mistakes as a way to establish trust within the team.

Gossip Trap: Be cautious with who you vent to. Gossiping, especially to a boss, can be destructive.

Backstabbing Dilemma: When receiving feedback about someone, it's responsible to ask, "Have you talked to them about it?"

Recommended Reading and Resources

• "Mindset" by Carol Dweck
• Billie Mandel's coaching practices

Actionable Tips for Improvement

Set Boundaries: Clarify roles and boundaries, particularly in complex relationships.

Choose Vent Buddies Wisely: Keep professional and venting relationships separate.

Encourage Open Dialogue: Create an environment where team members can directly communicate with each other.

Be Cautious with Feedback: Redirect negative feedback to the concerned individual.

Acknowledge Mistakes and Learn: Take actionable steps to improve, particularly in DEI contexts.

Quotable Quotes

"Critique is 100% that for creative teams. The hardest thing to teach people, but the most valuable thing to teach people, is to crave that discomfort."

"Sometimes you've just got to forgive yourself but do better."

"I seek my own consent first. Somebody asks me to do something at work. Am I willing to do this thing with the amount of knowledge that I have and the amount of support that I have?"

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Jenae Cohn titled, “Design for Learning:”

Design Philosophy

Jenae emphasizes that learning should center on the needs, motivations, and concerns of the learners, not just content delivery. Variety in learning methods, social interactions, and alignment of goals with activities form the core of her philosophy to foster a more effective learning experience.

Challenges in Online Learning Design

The design of online learning must break away from the traditional linear approach, focusing instead on achieving the end goal through consultation and creative insights. Jenae also highlights the multitasking required in online design and the limitations of available tools, offering practical solutions to overcome these obstacles.

Feedback and Assessment in Online Learning

Jenae argues for the importance of formative feedback through informal progress updates, quizzes, and reflective exercises. She also stresses the need for summative feedback that emphasizes skill demonstration over mere memorization, providing space for safe failure.

Concepts and Strategies in Design for Online Education

With a strong emphasis on creativity, Jenae expresses disappointment at the lack of imagination in online courses. She advocates better use of existing technology and social platforms like Discord to create engaging learning communities. While recognizing the potential of AI, she remains skeptical about its ability to replace human connection in learning.

Designing for Shrinking Attention Spans

Jenae encourages educators to critically analyze distraction and cultivate attention by demonstrating relevance to learners. Transparency in setting expectations, acknowledging neurodiversity, and striking a balance with natural distraction all play a part in her approach to keep learners engaged without competing directly with social media.

Key Insights

Jenae's insights underline a shift away from pursuing new technology towards creatively using existing tools to enhance online learning. By connecting personally with learners and setting clear, relevant goals, she presents a vision for a more engaged, effective online learning environment.

Thoughtful Quotes

• “I just think the future of these ideas has to really just tie back to who are the people on the other side of these experiences and how do you better help them connect to each other?”
• “Knowing that occasionally people will drift to Instagram in the middle of something, maybe that's okay. People have doodled for all time... Our capacity to distract ourselves is balance. And that sometimes is part of the process too, is just being okay with a little bit of balance.”

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Determining Organization Maturity: Start assessing during interviews. Consider the clarity of decision-making in research paths.

Supporting Research Team Growth: Align with goals, involve in maturity determination, foster collaboration, and share insights.

Handling Hybrid Lead/Manager Role: Recognize challenges, support researchers, keep focused one-on-ones, and track time.

Reporting to Non-Research Leaders: Understand stakeholders, seek clarity, and educate on research challenges.

Working with Stakeholders in UX Research: Understand needs, establish relationships, and provide support as needed.

Hiring UX Researchers Responsibly: Trust in expertise, emphasize collaboration and transparency.

Good User Research Planning: Utilize frameworks, include stakeholders, define outcomes, and align expectations.

Explaining UX to Stakeholders: Align understanding, use accessible terms, and develop an "elevator pitch."

Addressing UX Research Maturity Variation: Consider nuanced evaluations, understanding differences within the organization.

Training Analysts in UX Research: Explore skills, provide tailored guides for different backgrounds.

Conveying Evidence Over Gut Feelings: Engage stakeholders in research, show process, build trust.

Involving Stakeholders in Research: Assess necessity, communicate directly, build trust.

Research-First Approach with PMs: Offer help, start small with contributions like tests, show value and ease of research.

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Dan Brown titled, “The Information Architecture of Products:”

Embracing Change in Design

• Acknowledges the inevitability of change in design and the importance of flexibility.
• Emphasizes the alignment of understanding within a team, even if there's no agreement.
• Outlines a script and story arc for future-oriented design, akin to TV show creation, without filming every episode in advance.

Future-Oriented Design Approach

• Discusses the impossibility of creating unchangeable designs.
• Advocates for understanding and appreciating underlying structures without rigidly defining every bit of a product.
• Compares product design to TV show production, including high-level mapping and teasing out definitions.
• Clarifies that it's abstract but provides a common language for the product team.

Conceptual Modeling vs Object Mapping

• Shares the idea of using a conceptual model as a flexible tool for understanding a domain.
• Prefers the term "concept" over "object" because it doesn’t prescribe how it might manifest in the user experience.
• Emphasizes framing and the potential pitfalls of object-oriented UX, like unnecessary connections and data associations.

Insights into Object Map Creation

• Acknowledges lack of knowledge about how others create object maps but recognizes potential similarities.
• Stresses a chill approach, listening to others and using the tool for personal understanding.
• Points out the risks of preoccupation with buy-in and making presumptions.

Value of Returning to Basics in UX

• Reflects on three decades of design progress, highlighting continuous thinking on the same topics.
• Revisits the article on design revolutions and the influence of new technology, like cloud-based design tools.
• Distinguishes between learning past lessons and focusing on essential basics such as writing, presenting, and drawing.

Importance of Fundamental Skills in Design

• Emphasizes writing, presenting, and collaborative drawing as core skills.
• Reflects on personal experiences, like college tours, to underscore the universal value of presenting.
• Advocates for building on these basics before adding technical skills of information architecture.

UX Education for the Next Generation

• Acknowledges the progress in UX design, with personal reflections on continuous thinking.
• Discusses the paradigm shift in design processes, such as cloud collaboration and the elimination of file-sharing challenges.
• Stresses the significance of articulation through words, structuring meetings, and drawing pictures.
• Shares the importance of core skills, including writing and presenting, for the next generation of UX designers, emphasizing how these skills are now considered essential in education.

About Tent Talks

Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway--If it's a cool idea, we'd love to hear about it and share it!

What is a Tent Talk? That's a great question, we'd love to tell you.

Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format--we like to think of them as "S'mores-sized content" because that's pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work around the work we do, or really just about anything--we don't want to limit ourselves, or you.

You should send along an idea or topic of your own so we can learn from you, as well! You don't have to be a published author or a professional speaker on a circuit to be good at your job, so please, put yourself forward, and let's have some fun, talk, and share your experience with others!