The summer is here and that meant it was time for our third UX Bournemouth – a sell-out event that’s attracting UXers and other professionals not only from our local area, but far-flung places such as Milton Keynes.
We love seeing people from our UX community interact and chat, so we’re really pleased to see that UX Bournemouth has really taken off and that word is spreading further afield. We’re already looking forward to our next event on 7 November!
We had another stellar lineup of speakers, kicked off by a bonus presentation from our very own Damian Rees who took a look at the last decade of UX and digital to mark our 10th birthday as a business.
A glance back at UX 10 years ago – Damian Rees
He pointed out that while there have been a number of shifts in terms of the technology we use, the fundamentals are still the same and user research is still king.
Our three main speakers – Tara Land, Joe Leech and Katy Arnold – then took us on a journey into UX for public services, the importance of psychology in solving design issues, and designing for those with access needs.
Public services that meet user needs – Naintara Land
Tara started out by giving us an overview of life with GDS and how it was formed by undergoing a revolution rather than an evolution. She talked us through some of the government’s digital service standards and provided us with some fascinating examples of the design patterns she’s been working on with the NHS.
UX, Psychology and the Power of 100 – Joe Leech
Joe brought a touch of audience participation to proceedings, asking us to choose which half of his presentation he delivered – how psychology can identify problems with design, or how to use psychology to help solve those problems – we picked the latter.
Wikipedia’s layout provided the ideal example to introduce us to the concept of design axioms, and why you can’t ever hope to please everyone, even when you’re changing things for the better. All of this was supported by the psychological concepts of procedural knowledge vs declarative knowledge; which led to an explanation of why humans are rubbish at remembering birthdays and why Never Eat Shredded Wheat helps us remember the points of the compass.
Design inclusion at the Home Office: public services for all – Katy Arnold
Katy Arnold rounded the evening off by talking us through digital inclusion and how the Home Office is putting accessibility at the heart of everything it does. She strongly believes you’ll be a better designer if you design for everybody and pointed out that in the government you can’t leave anybody behind.
She even gave us a sneak preview of the new online passport application process, while also providing the perfect example of why accessibility should be on your mind from day one, not an afterthought to the design and testing process.
If you missed out and want to find out more – or if you’d just like a refresher of our speakers’ fascinating presentations – we’ve made their slide decks available to download.
Our next event
Don’t forget to see what the UX community thought of our latest event by taking a look at Twitter (#uxbournemouth). The winner of best Tweet, who will receive a signed copy of Joe’s excellent book, is David Allison with this great tweet…
.@uxbournemouth #uxbournemouth and @mrjoe is looking very sassy 😉 pic.twitter.com/48R099XRKe
— David Allison (@DavidsThinking) July 3, 2017
Make sure you let us know if you’d like to hear more from us or be kept up to date with future events. Our next UX Bournemouth will be on 7 November – get your tickets early to ensure you don’t miss out. We’d also love to hear from you if you’d like to speak at one of our UX Bournemouth events.
