In this talk, I’ll introduce design researchers to concepts that will help them grow their confidence in working quantitatively. I’ll show that even people who think they’re “bad at maths” already think quantitatively. I’ll give some basic criteria that quantitatively inexperienced design researchers can use to judge the quality and usefulness of numerical approaches. And I’ll show how to use quantitative approaches to win arguments with engineers, persuade managers, and create space for design.

Design Research 2021 Day 1 - Ben Kraal - Maths for Design Researchers

Exploring Health Sector Complexity through Design Research

Being adaptive in approach is key in research, especially when it comes to facing complex scenarios in an increasingly complex world. More and more, we are seeing governments and organisations opting to apply research and design-led approaches to decision making. As design researchers, it is our responsibility to provide clear, representative foundations from which these decisions will be made. This talk discusses a design-led approach to looking at policy within the health sector, by considering the people it impacts.

Design Research 2021 Day 1 - Olivia Kirk & Belinda Tobias

Trauma-Informed Design Research

Trauma is common within society at large and is particularly prevalent amongst vulnerable populations, First Nations peoples and people with Lived Experience of mental health issues. Trauma informed practice is a strengths-based framework that supports responsiveness to the impact of trauma, enabling physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors. In this presentation Jax will discuss the five guiding principles of trauma informed practice; safety, choice, collaboration, trustworthiness and empowerment and consider how they may apply within design research contexts.

Design Research 2021 Day 2 - Jax Wechsler

Design Research 2021 Day 2 - Laura Ryan

Reporting your User Research Findings like a Psychologist

Our user research findings lack gravity when they are reported poorly.

Oftentimes, we negate key pieces of information or unwittingly breach ethical guidelines. Despite the various benefits of having some creative freedom, as it stands, the user research report comes in too many shapes and sizes. This impacts both our ability to quickly consume previous research conducted by fellow researchers and more importantly, denies us the ability to appraise its quality; a fundamental function of research.

Albeit presenting our research insights with long slabs of text and convoluted words is a far cry from the desired objective, we have a lot to gain from leveraging the structure that psychologists turn to when presenting their findings - the academic journal. 

The design of the academic journal is very intentional, with each section devoted to addressing a key aspect of the scientific method. Insofar as user research is to be legitimate in guiding large-scale product decisions, we are not exempt from holding ourselves to high standards of rigour - but we also don’t need to be terrified by them. What we need is a standard that works in our unique context - a context where time is money, deliverables are created in a hurry and budgets are minimal.

In this talk, we will hone in on the architecture of the academic journal and explore what we can borrow from it to raise the bar on our research reporting, ultimately maximising the weight and longevity of our insights.

Design Research 2021 Day 2 - Styliana Sarris

Succeeding in Design 2022
Innovative Storytelling: Better than TikTok!

SID2022 Manami Ray

Succeeding in Design 2022
The power of ‘No’: Confessions of a former people pleaser

SID2022 Benaz Irani

In a complex and uncertain world,  businesses have focused on the importance of 'telling a good story' to cut through the noise. 

But how can designers use storytelling to inform their day-to-day work? Not just when crafting presentations or communicating to clients, but within the DNA of our digital products.

In this talk, we'll take proven narrative structures and apply them to the new world of websites, apps and emerging technologies.

UXA2022 Day 2

UXA2022 Joel Perlgut -The Narrative Design of Everyday Things: Storytelling and Digital Products

Democratization is something few of us would choose if we had alternatives. We would want budget and headcount to grow the UX Research department. A team stretched thin is told not only to let anybody do some or all of their jobs, but that they will need to train and oversee this work.

DR2023 Debbie Levitt - Don't Democratize UX Research - And Governance For Those Doing It

Scattered research write-ups, a heap of new employees, and everyone is WFH. When even the researchers are saying “hey, where’s that report about xyz we wrote last week?”, it’s time to get organised with a research repository - though we have no budget and no new tools. I’ll be sharing the story and pitfalls of how we built a repository on a shoestring, to raise awareness and improve access to research in the business, with minimal admin overhead (the real holy grail).

DR2023 Naomi Civins - More than a filing cabinet: building a flexible, useful research repository

When tackling complex problems it can be difficult to know where to begin but usually we want to start with what will deliver the most value. Unfortunately value can be difficult to pinpoint often due to lack of data but this is where design research can shine.

In this session we will explore a structured approach to valuing opportunities, making it easier to calculate and communicate value to your stakeholders.

DR2023 Jessica Crisp - So What? Connecting Research to Value

We crave connection at every age – including our golden years. Technology has amplified our ability to connect on a global scale, but older users have been largely left behind. We’ll share what Ryman Healthcare and Journey Digital learnt when designing an app for a diverse group of users with an average age of 80.

UXA2023 Emily Underwood & Eilish Out-O'Reilly - Designing for the overlooked user we will all become

How to deliver a design project that gets results.

Design can make or break a digital transformation project, so it's well worth getting right. Sarah Heimeier has led dozens of successful transformations for some of Australia’s largest financial institutions and leading FinTechs, and in this talk she'll share her winning framework. You'll leave with practical, actionable steps to deliver your project in a way that aligns with your business goals, enables new technology, and has the whole team celebrating.

UXA2023 Sarah Heimeier  Digital Transformation – A Framework For Success

Interested in how government + design + sustainability experts came together to co-design a "world-first" tool to tackle global warming? If so come along to this talk for an up-close look at how we managed to achieve the impossible —> getting agreement on a way forward when all of the experts told us this was NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

UXA2023 Nova Franklin, James Elks & Katie Eyles - Collaboration!! Reducing embodied carbon together.

Regenerative design. What’s that mean and why should I care? How do I design for regeneration in my own life and design practice? Let's explore practical ways we can design regenerative business, product, and service ideas that customers love - and increase our wellbeing while we do it.

UXA2023 Ben Pecotich - Regenerative Design & Innovation… for Happier Communities.

The lack of a moral framework in the design disciple, let alone a set of ethical guidelines, put designers at great risk of doing more harm than good in the world.

UXA2023 George Aye - That Quiet Little Voice: When Design and Ethics Collide

When were diamonds first used to describe the design process?

When was the first 'how might we' question asked?

What were the original steps of 'brainstorming'?

Some answers to these questions can be found in a 30 year period in America after the end of World War 2, when parallel intellectual movements centred around creating scientific methodologies for creativity and design thrived. Many of the ideas, principles, and design processes of that age are still with us today.

Other answers are much, much older.

In this talk, we will do more than describe yet another design process model. Instead, we will explore the historical and cultural origins of the design and creativity methods that are still common in design, and we will explore how they were both informed by and developed in reaction to the emergence of computing and large-scale data management. By the end of the talk, you will have a new perspective on how the origins of our methodologies can embed biased assumptions in the work we do today.

UXA2023 Zoë Rose - Creative thinking methodologies: a lost history

Going smaller, to go bigger: A design system evolution. 

Over the past 2 years the Atlassian Design System team have been reimagining how a design system needs to evolve to be a force multiplier for good - good for our own team, good for our designers and developers and good for our customers. They’ll share their journey towards unlocking a thriving design system which supports the past, the present and the future all at the same time and how they evolved it to drive both purpose and impact at scale. In a time of economic uncertainty, different design models of what good looks like not only become necessary but essential to fuel the next decade of design system’s growth. We’ll share the highs and lows and wisdom we have gained by going smaller, to go bigger.

UXA2023 Eva Plaisted, Klaus Paiva & Maria Christley - Going smaller, to go bigger...

As a UXR I spend a lot of time note-taking and would love to share a note-taking strategy that saves my team and I a HEAP of time (and money). The new strategy is visual (which clients love) quick to synthesise (which researchers love) and easily translates findings into design recommendations (which designers love). You can thank me later.

UXA2023 Amelia Purvis - Your new cheat sheet for note taking and synthesis

With the worldwide population of adults over the age of 65 growing faster than any other according to the United Nations, considering their voice in designing the 3D embodiment of the internet (the Metaverse) is necessary for moving away from the deficit model of ageing, especially coming out of the pandemic. This presentation advocates for an ethnographic, co-design approach with older adults for those looking to design in a fully immersive space.

UXA2023 Yasamin Asadi - Designing for a post-lockdown metaverse

What we learnt about service design living in France

UXA2023 Karina Smith & Alexandra Almond - What We Learnt About Service Design Living In France

Information Architecture (IA) is foundational for great usability and user experience. But for IA to become embedded in the product development process, we must use the language of product: what user problems does IA solve and what are the commercial/ organisational benefits? 
 
In this talk I will share ideas and approaches on:
- A better way to explain IA to product people/stakeholders
- How to frame IA work in terms of stories, strategy and metrics

UXA2023 Penny Goodwin - Information Architecture and product development

On most objective measures, the design industry is thriving. Our skills are in high demand, our salaries are rising, and companies can’t fill roles fast enough (recent blip notwithstanding). Design leadership has come of age, we’re seeing companies invest in team development, and more and more designers are earning that hallowed “seat at the table”. So why, when I talk to designers, do so many of them feel burnt out and despondent; like all their hard work and effort has been for nothing. It’s as though the design industry is going through some sort of mid-life crisis.

In this session design leader, start-up advisor, speaker and coach, Andy Budd, takes us through some of the reasons why we’re experiencing this sense of collective Ennui, and what we can do about it. This talk may make for awkward listening at times. However, unless we can have an open and honest conversation about the behaviors that are holding us back, we’ll never unlock the full potential of what design has to offer.

UXA2023 Andy Budd - Design's Mid Life Crisis

Making the complex simple for World Vision Australia

Designing experiences nobody cares about

STREAT service design: Converting customers into advocates for social good

UX Australia 2017

No one wants to SUX: A focus on inclusive user experience techniques

Lauren Currie - Opening Keynote Day 1

D2 - R3 - S2 10 Min Talk 3

Karina Hickey -  Putting together your UX research portfolio: how to make post-it notes sexy

Design Research - Day 2

We, along with our stakeholders, are all susceptible to many cognitive biases that can affect the outcome of our projects. Bias is unavoidable but it can also quickly derail our projects if they're not recognised and addressed. In this presentation, we will present a number of biases that we have identified in our experiences working with stakeholders across government, academia and industry. We will share tips on how to spot these biases and encourage stakeholders to be aware of these biases when making decisions based on user research. Being able to identify these biases will help you to support better relationships with your stakeholders to create better service and product outcomes.

Michelle & Ruth -How not to let stakeholder bias derail your user research findings

Cyril Secourgeon - How to successfully onboard into a Design Leader role

User experience, service design, customer experience and related conferences. 

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