UX Design

**Important! Please register on [Luma Page](https://luma.com/n7h7ynr4)** This event is organised by Projector Institute community and Ukrainian Tech Space DC MD VA Join us for an exclusive evening dedicated to exploring what it truly means to be a Product Designer — and how to manage this role more effectively in today’s fast-changing digital landscape. ​ During this session, we’ll dive into: • The pros and cons of working in product vs. non-product companies • Communication as one of the main design tools • Business-oriented approaches to product design • Practical insights for both junior and senior designers • The use of AI tools and workflows — backed by real-world examples ​ Speaker: [Misha Rybachuk](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-rybachuk/) — Co-founder of [Projector Institute](https://prjctr.com/en/about), Art Director at [Lezo.io](https://lezo.io/en), and former designer at Accenture. With over 10 years of experience in interface design, Mike has helped build impactful digital products by merging creativity, strategy, and technology. ​ This event is your opportunity to connect with fellow professionals, gain hands-on insights, and see how design bridges creativity, communication, and business success.

HYBRID EVENT, VIRTUAL SPEAKER In this talk, Sean Hoar will explore the transformative journey of AI’s role in modern software engineering, from rapid prototyping (“Vibe Coding”) to strategic AI integration by skilled practitioners. It clarifies the distinctions between AI-assisted, AI-enabled, and practitioner-led approaches, offering insights into how developers can effectively adapt to and harness AI tools. The presentation also highlights recent advancements and practical strategies for leveraging AI in daily workflows and long-term development.

**\*This is an in-person event\*** Most people hold their ideas too tightly. They refine too early, hesitate to share half-formed concepts, and wait for “perfect” before putting anything in front of a user. Frankie Abralind works the opposite way and that mindset is a big part of why his projects succeed. In this session, Frankie walks you through his real creative process: messy drafts, discarded versions, surprising user reactions, and the moments when he threw out something he loved because the evidence pushed him in a new direction. You’ll see firsthand how treating ideas as *disposable, not precious* accelerates learning and leads to better outcomes. You’ll also get to examine real artifacts from the development of his games **BrainSpin**, **DIEKY**, and **eckso**. Explore prototypes, dive into design dilemmas, and hear candid stories of iteration, failure, and breakthrough that have earned former DT:DC director Frankie Abralind a reputation as an “entrepreneur who ships.” **What you'll learn** • What you need to test an idea quickly • Where to find real users (beyond friends and family) • How to ask non-leading, non-biasing questions • User-testing methods that uncover meaningful insights • Best practices for rapid iteration • How to log feedback, share modifications, and track updates • How to receive feedback with openness and use it productively • How to build, and reward, a network of testers and supporters **Agenda** **6:00pm** – Snacks & connection **6:30pm** – Case Study 1: *BrainSpin* — finding user testers **6:50pm** – Case Study 2: *DIEKY* — play tester appreciation **7:10pm** – Case Study 3: *eckso* — rapid prototyping **7:30pm** – *Zenmo* — live user testing **8:00pm** – Debrief & questions **8:30pm** – Adjourn **About our presenter** **Frankie Abralind** is an experience designer, artist, and neurodiversity advocate. He earned his MBA from the University of Maryland, where he has taught “Innovative Thinking” to graduate students since 2014. He also served as co-director of the Innovation Hub at Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital. In 2018, Frankie co-founded **The Good Listening Project**, a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening psychological safety in healthcare. He is the inventor of the bestselling game **BrainSpin**, which showcases the power of divergent thinking and collaboration. Today, he leads the stealth startup **Zenmo**, which helps people connect through color. He’s Autistic (and proud!)

We will be meeting at Starbucks to learn together. Come with an online class you're already going through or an interest and we will try to connect you with a course where you can learn it. Already have a skill you want to contribute to a Kaggle Datascience competition? We will work on these too! Laptop required :)

Gaming, AdTech, EdTech, Media Streaming, and FinTech are just a few of the workloads where high-availability cloud infrastructure matters. Whether you’re doing battle daily in one of these spaces or are just curious about ways to improve performance, meet us in Reston for an in-person discussion on bare metal cloud architecture. You’ll meet our product lead, James MacKenzie, who will walk through how modern bare metal serves as a control plane for hybrid and private cloud architectures. **What we will cover** * Ways to leverage bare metal, containers, and orchestration for better performance and predictable economics; * Real-world hybrid, disaster recovery, and data-intensive architectures; * Our approach to eliminating ingress and egress fees. **Who should attend** * Cloud architects and platform engineers; * DevOps professionals and infrastructure leads; * FinOps stakeholders managing data-heavy or hybrid workloads. **Why attend** This is a technical, architecture-first conversation. You will leave with a clearer understanding of high-availability cloud infrastructure and how organizations are scaling cost-effectively. Food and drinks will be provided. Space is limited to keep the discussion interactive.