Becoming Yin & Yang - How Top Product and UX Teams Work Together

LIVESTREAM
https://www.youtube.com/c/NoVAUXMeetup/live

AGENDA
6:30-7:00PM Pizza and socializing
7:00-7:05PM Admin Stuff & Introduction
7:05-8:00PM Ben's Talk
8:00-9:00PM More socializing...

ABOUT THE TALK
Too many organizations think about design as merely execution: they prioritize a product enhancement and afterward pull design in to "make it look pretty and easy to use". The best companies do things differently, though, recognizing UX design as an essential strategic function critical to the overall success of the product and ultimately the company. Ben will draw upon his decades of experience managing both product and UX teams and share the inside scoop on how UX design can best work alongside PM as a true yin and yang to ideate, prioritize, and develop software customers love. He will dig deep into real-world solutions to problems the UX community is all too familiar with and share real-life examples of the innovative practices, actual internal presentations, and team dynamics that have been used to elevate the UX function to new heights at hyper-successful companies such as Opower, GoCanvas, and many of the top DC-based companies he's advised. Q&A to follow the presentation.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ben Foster is one of the foremost experts in product management and design in the DC region. He has been a formal advisor 50+ startups, including several noteworthy companies such as Contactually, FiscalNote, and Aquicore. Ben is currently the Chief Product Officer at GoCanvas, empowering workforces through mobile technology, while continuing to advise companies that are focused on delivering the very best products to their customers. Previously, Ben was VP Product and UX at Opower during its rise from a 40-person underdog to a $1B publicly traded company, and he was the mastermind behind major product innovations during eBay's earlier days, which contributed to his portfolio of 15 patents and counting. He's always eager to share his strong beliefs about the essential role UX can play and discuss best practices with the broader tech community.

ABOUT THE SPONSOR
GoCanvas (https://www.gocanvas.com/) is a mobile platform that makes it simple for business to automate how work is done, replacing outdated process and expensive paperwork. The GoCanvas App works on smartphones and tablets, helping companies easily collect information across their organization, share it instantly with others and gain real-time insight on their business operations. GoCanvas can be easily customized by any type of business to empower their workforce, unleashing the value in data across the organization to help them connect better with colleagues and engage more effectively with customers.

GoCanvas is trusted by thousands of firms throughout more than 70 countries, automating millions of workplace activities, making it one of the fastest growing mobile platforms in the world.