User experience is a booming field, but what exactly is it? Does it only apply to startups or tech companies? (spoiler alert: nope!) In this presentation, Emily will talk about what UX is, what the latest trends are in the UX field, and why it all matters. She’ll also discuss specific UX techniques that even the smallest businesses can use to improve their outcomes by adopting a more user-centered approach.
Emily is the director of User Experience for the innovation team at Hobsons, a global education solutions company that provides tools to 6 million K-12 students in more than 80 countries. A Lean UX advocate, she believes in the power of design thinking and collaborative, rapid design. Over the past 6 years, Emily built the first UX team at Hobsons, introduced user research into the product development process, and brought Lean UX methodology into the corporate culture. In her current role, she is responsible for ideation, research, design and prototyping of new business initiatives within the company’s Discovery Lab. Using Lean Startup, Design Thinking and Lean UX methods, the Discovery Lab team rapidly generates and tests potential business ideas for market viability within the K12 education space.
A visual designer and entrepreneur, she has previously been an exhibit and graphic designer for an interactive children’s science museum; a professional singer; an IA and front-end developer for a Fortune 5000 company; the founder and partner in a successful web consulting business; a fire juggler; and the proprietor of a stained glass studio that designed, produced and sold glass giftware to galleries and catalog companies around the world.