AI and the Future of the User Experience

Not all AI is created equal. AI is not a "tool." It's a body of knowledge and a field of study that has been around for about 75 years.

In this presentation, I will be discussing three topics:

1. What it's like being in the UX field, from the standpoint of someone who has been providing UX research, design, strategy, and consulting since the mid-1980s.

2. How AI has been part of my work during my career so far. Having worked on several successful non-generative AI projects since the 1980s, I distinguish between generative and non-generative AI. I address whether it's important to understand the math "under the hood" when it comes to AI. I also share information about five different AI-related projects I have worked on.

Then, I focus on one particular non-generative AI project that I worked on, in detail, presenting this case study as an example of the types of results that can be achieved. I also discuss the actions I took as a human factors engineer and UX researcher for this project.

3. Real-world advice. I will provide some suggested strategies for navigating through the current challenging employment market.

We'll conclude with some questions and answers, which I hope will be abundant and lively.

Agenda
7:30 pm - 7:45 pm Welcome and Announcements
7:45 pm - 8:20 pm Presentation
8:20 - 9:00 pm Discussion and Remarks
9:00 pm Closing

About Our Speaker
Josephine M. Giaimo is the Founder of User Experience Research, LLC. With degrees in psychology and engineering, she has been working in the UX field since the 1980s. Clients and employers have included ADP, AT&T, NJIT, IITRI, Google, Medidata, Vital Decisions, and others. Her UX research at NJIT was funded by IBM, The Annenberg Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the State of New Jersey. Her original research as part of her masters degree proposed a framework for evaluating the performance of neural networks and statistical approaches in predicting project profits.

She taught college-level courses in general psychology and the dynamics of group processes for several years at Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, New Jersey.

Josephine is also a certified career coach who has mentored and coached numerous UX and other professionals over the years.

In her spare time, she works in her garden, cooks, participates in "craftivism", and listens to Indian ragas.

Thank you to Professor Rupa Misra and Rutgers University for their continued sponsorship and support of our UXPA NJ chapter.