What we're about

The Vancouver User Experience Group is a diverse community of practitioners and students who are passionate about building better experiences and honing our skills. We meet regularly to share innovative research, diverse perspectives and inspiring real-world examples.

Organizing team 

This group also meets 2 times per year to plan and execute the monthly event series. This team is responsible for planning the monthly event calendar, balancing the types of events held (presentations, workshops, panels, lightning talks, tours, etc), venues and logistics. Each event requires publication on Meetup, ticket management, on-site logistics and speaker coordination.

Finances
The financial mandate of VanUE is to run revenue-neutral events with the help and generosity of sponsors and volunteers. OXD manages the VanUE account for funds collected at the door for events. We have kept access affordable (typical monthly sessions cost $5-$10). Funds from these events are used to invest back in future events or speakers, or occasionally used to cover a portion of a social activity after the event. From time to time, when we bring in an out of town speaker or have a special event, tickets can be up to $20, but only to cover expenses of venue, catering and our speaker.

Sponsors
Founding sponsors include:
Habanero Consulting Group
OXD
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor to provide a venue or help with travel or costs for an out-of-town speaker, please contact one of the organizers via Meetup or at info@vanue.com.

Communications
Via Meetup, the organizers share announcements of official VanUE events (and sell related tickets), UX related job postings and occasional cross-posting of related, local UX events and activities. There are usually 4-6 announcements per month.
Meetup members have access to a moderated VanUE community message board and can post messages directly to vanue-list@meetup.com. Messages must be posted using the email account associated Meetup.

Speaker/event suggestions
Suggestions for UX related topics are always welcome by contacting us at info@vanue.com or by contacting the organizers on Meetup.

Volunteer opportunities
If you are a local UX practitioner or student and would like to help out with VanUE events, please contact info@vanue.com.

Upcoming events (1)

[HYBRID] How to be a mentor (and why we can't help you) - a fireside chat

725 Granville St suite 700

CA$7.35

Have you ever thought about finding a mentor? Or ever thought about being a mentor? It's frequently mentioned in business books, articles, and podcasts on career growth, but is sometimes avoided due to a variety of completely understandable reasons.

It doesn't have to be scary. It can actually be kinda fun. A healthy mentoring relationship is much more than just meeting someone who gives you advice. It's an organic relationship where the benefits and efforts flow both ways; from the mentor to the mentee and from the mentee back to the mentor.

Meet Jarell Alvarez and Eric Joseph Lee, founders and organizers of the Vancouver Design Check In community on Slack. They have been instrumental in building an active, online community that brought (and continues to bring) designers together. This was immensely needed during the pandemic, which was both a challenging and isolating time for all of us. While building this community, they also became engaged in mentoring through ADPList, a global mentoring community.

In this fireside chat, Jarell and Eric will dispel myths about mentoring, talk about the importance of building community and giving back, and maybe convince you that mentoring is worth getting out of your comfort zone for.

When*:
• 5:30pm to 6pm - Networking and mingling
• 6pm to 6:45pm - Fireside chat
• 6:45pm to 7pm - Q&A
• 7pm to 7:30pm - Networking

*- all times are in PST

Where (if attending in person):
The Microsoft Campus, downtown Vancouver
Suite 700 - 725 Granville St
Vancouver BC
V7Y 1G5

Where (if attending remotely):
This event is a hybrid event, if joining remotely, you will receive a link if you have RSVP'd to the event to join remotely.

About our speakers:

Eric Joseph Lee
Based in Vancouver, BC, Eric is a UX designer building digital finance platforms at Central 1. With experience in interaction design, UX research, UI prototyping, and design thinking, he’s running Vancouver Design Check-In, an active design community aiming to empower new designers. Eric founded the first UX club at Simon Fraser University, led a team hosting Canada’s first UX hackathon, and worked as a design lead and product designer at startups. He has taught UX/UI design to over 400 students worldwide.

Jarell Alvarez
Jarell is a product designer and career coach based in Vancouver. He’s worked at companies like Copperleaf and mentors at ADPList, BCIT, and Pathrise. Jarell founded Vancouver Design Check-In, connecting local designers. Now freelancing, Jarell hosts the podcast Design Doesn’t Exist, does photography and videography, branding and pursues other creative design work.

Cover photo attribution:
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Past events (75)

[ONLINE] Panel Discussion: Perspectives on Design Ops in Practice

This event has passed

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