Innovation and boundaries: UX and the spaces in-between

Boundaries are interesting places. In the field of Ecology, natural boundaries are called ecotones – areas of transition between two locations. Literally, the word means, “a place where ecologies are in tension.” Our focus, as UX professionals, should (because we don’t always do it) be identifying, understanding and resolving areas of tension. Too often UX professionals focus so intently on the task they’ve been given, collecting requirements as if they were seashells washed up on the beach, that they ignore the purpose of UX Design: uncovering, coordinating and creating innovative and useful solutions that go beyond what users are able to describe or request.

There are two reasons why it’s difficult to see beyond the immediate problem and allow the spaces in between to drive our designs:

• It’s an advanced skill that’s difficult to master.

• Clients are satisfied with much less.

Whether we are designing websites, mobile applications or complex business software, the true value of our work rests in our ability to understand the nuances that underlie areas of tension. Our speaker, Kevin Richardson, will focus on what it means to look beyond the obvious, person-interface interactions and allow that understanding to drive innovative design.

Speaker

Kevin Richardson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/khr03/) is an award winning user experience professional with more than 25 years’ experience. With a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, he has researched, evaluated, designed, mentored and managed teams as they create innovative, user-centered solutions. Kevin’s experience crosses business verticals focusing on enterprise software and custom business applications. As an advocate for the practical application of UX Design, Kevin is a manager, hands-on practitioner, author and speaker. Outside of work, Kevin tempts fate, risks long-term disability, and tests his wife’s patience by racing motorcycles.

Host

Albelli (https://www.albelli.com/) are specialists in personalized photo products since 2003 and experts in building intuitive software to create them. They started selling photo books in the Netherlands where they are the market leader and soon expanded into other markets and broadened their portfolio to include other products such as wall art, cards and calendars.

Schedule
19:00 Welcome: food & drinks
19:30 Talk by Kevin
20:30 Drinks & networking

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