FutureGov Thoughts: Two talks from the frontline of change

Join us for an evening of insights from Ben Holliday, Executive Director at FutureGov & Tricia Lee, Senior Design Researcher at FutureGov
****
Agenda:
Intro
Talk 1: How to make User Research more strategic by Tricia Lee - 20 Min
Talk 2: Asking design questions by Ben Holliday - 35 Min
Q & A session
****
Talk 1: 'How to make User Research more strategic' by Tricia Lee

This talk will discuss challenges that might make it hard for user researchers to look at the bigger picture and be more forward thinking, and will show you how to change this by focusing on techniques to make user experience research more strategic. Whether you’re a solo user researcher or part of a larger team, you’ll leave with a better understanding of strategic research and practical tips on what you can start doing today for your user research to be more proactive and support informed decision making, based on users, for your product and organization.

*About Tricia: Tricia is a software engineer and designer by training but in practice a user experience researcher with over 10 years of experience. She has worked in 5 countries across agency and client side, private and public sector and as a contractor and permanent employment. She is currently a Senior Design Researcher at FutureGov and her previous employers or clients in the UK include JP Morgan, Google, and the MOJ. Tricia’s focus is on supporting agile delivery teams to embed user research as well as making research more proactive and strategic to inform product and business roadmap and priorities.
*Twitter: https://twitter.com/TriciaLeeUX
****
Talk 2: 'Asking design questions' by Ben Holliday

Is everyone a designer? This question has been hotly debated in recent years as many of us think about how more people can meaningfully participate in the design of products and services. Whatever the answer to ‘is everyone a designer’, in this talk, Ben Holliday will explore how anyone can start to ask design questions in the places and situations that they work in.

Design questions can be the real practical superpower of impactful UX and design work in all parts of an organisation. Ben will talk about how we can support and work with people as they start to ask design questions themselves. This includes frontline staff, operational, management, policy, technology and digital teams. This means starting with the right questions to frame the problem, then better understanding and tracking the progress we’re making, as well as the outcomes and impact of our work in people’s lives.

*About Ben: Ben Holliday is a designer and leader with 20 years of experience, focused on supporting organisations and teams to deliver great products and services. He is currently an Executive Director at FutureGov, previously leading teams in public sector design and research in roles with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the Government Digital Service (GDS) in the UK. In the private sector, Ben worked for FreeAgent until 2013, and before that he worked extensively in digital, product and service delivery with not-for-profit, charity and arts organisations.
*Twitter: https://twitter.com/BenHolliday

*** Please note this is an online event ***