Imagining Better Futures

Whenever we make changes, we affect the lives of people in the future — and that responsibility can feel enormous. In this talk, Devon Powers will share some of her research into people who forecast the future for a living, revealing their strategies as well as their pitfalls. She will also discuss how you can engage in research with a sense of responsibility for tomorrow.

Building a Product Insights Team

Today data science, market research, and UX research are predominantly locked up in individual silos. This is a problem because companies are missing out on the full picture, research is repeated, and good insights are going to waste.

In this session, Andrew shares how to build a product insights team that enables you to build bridges and tell more holistic narratives about your customers.

The talk will cover how to set up the team, the different structures we see, and how you can get started today by getting the teams to work more efficiently together in the interim.

Looking Back…to Look Ahead

Over the past 25 years, Steve Portigal has seen tremendous growth in user research as a community of practice, as an industry, and as a career. Steve will look at some of the changes that he’s experienced and observed—positive, negative, or otherwise. He’ll share some of the potentially overlooked opportunities to advance our field, issues that demand our limited attention and concern. He’ll also share his perspective on the directions we can drive towards.

Beyond Insights: Researchers as Organizational Change Catalysts

Researchers must adeptly navigate a dual remit in organizations. The initial challenge involves delivering insights that matter. The subsequent task requires discerning the necessary adjustments the organization must undertake to effectively act upon those insights. In this presentation, we’ll talk about a model of change and a theory of power to enable researchers to embrace and fulfill their dual mission. It is at this intersection of meaning and action that research can impact lives.

Designing with Outcomes in Mind: Transformation in the Enterprise with Lada Gorlenko

Lada Gorlenko, Director of UX Research at Smartsheet in Seattle, is the lead curator of this year’s Enterprise Experience conference.

Lada began her career in prison, spending lots of time with murderers and drug dealers! Not what you think, though: she was a psychologist researching the personality changes caused by long-term imprisonment. The experience led her to a better understanding of how universally transferable the principles of research and design are, whether in a prison or at an enterprise. In this episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Lada shares her career path and the story of how she ended up in UX, and the themes she’s developed for the upcoming Enterprise Experience conference.

Do we need more design conferences? Chris Avore and Lou Rosenfeld say yes.

Chris Avore and Lou Rosenfeld talk about their upcoming conferences: Pro/Design in New York City on January 30 (hosted by Nasdaq) and Enterprise UX in San Antonio on May 13-15(hosted by Rosenfeld Media and Rackspace).

Pro/Design will be held on Friday, January 30, 2015. There are currently no more tickets available. However, Nasdaq will be releasing live stream information on Monday, January 26.

Scaling a Design Team Across the World with Wendy Johansson

What’s it like to build out a design organization that spans many countries, languages, and culture? Wizeline co-founder Wendy Johansson discusses the insights she gleaned when opening a second Wizeline office in Guadalajara, then a third and fourth in Vietnam and Thailand. From different societal norms to language barriers, her story can inform your own ways of collaboration with new people and cultures, whether abroad or just within your own team.

Wendy recommends:
• The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer
• David Hoang’s Career Hype Doc

Design is the Differentiator: Bringing New Design Innovations to a Very Antiquated and Very Large Industry

Technology and design are at the heart of the innovations Compass delivers to thousands of real estate agents. Compass Founder and CEO Robert Reffkin and Sr VP of Design & UXR Greg Petroff chat about the industry and the opportunity for design to make a difference.

• Learn how technology and design make Compass stand out and deliver digital innovations in a massive industry.
• Hear about the Compass culture of learning and collaboration that is at the core of high-performing design teams.
• See how design scales its efforts with the help of product and engineering partners and a powerful set of entrepreneurial principles.

Through the Looking Glass—The Outsider’s Perspective on the Enterprise with Dan Willis

Dan Willis is Director of Customer Experience at the General Services Administration’s Centers of Excellence, and the mastermind behind past Enterprise Experience conferences’ wildly-popular “Storytelling Sessions.” At this year’s Enterprise Experience conference, Dan will be leading Theme 3: “Through the Looking Glass – The Outsider’s Perspective on the Enterprise” on Wednesday, September 3. Considering Dan’s extensive government experience means he’s all too familiar with large, slow moving and bureaucratic enterprises. In this wide-ranging episode of the Rosenfeld Review, Dan shares anecdotes from his career and offers some sneak peeks into the six sessions he’ll be leading on day three of Enterprise Experience 2020.

Co-Creating Operating Models for Design Teams with Daniel Orbach

The best operating models for design orgs are mission-driven, evolving, and team-developed. Those criteria might seem daunting, but Daniel Orbach, Lou’s guest and a speaker at the DesignOps Summit (taking place virtually September 23-25), explains how he facilitates a dynamic culture of co-creating with his team at JP Morgan Chase. Daniel outlines his framework, one where the whole team is involved. It’s a dynamic, fluid process that builds teamwork, creates buy-in, and establishes a framework of periodic review, which encourages continual evolution.

Lou and Daniel discuss the impact of rituals and mission statements on both teams and individuals. They also explore the impact of a team’s operating models on the broader organization and how interactions with various teams can foster shared understanding within the broader context of the organization.

What You’ll Learn from this Episode:

• How mission statements can inspire and drive operating models
• The power of organic rituals and the unusual, unifying ritual of Daniel’s team at JP Morgan Chase
• How cross-pollinating between teams can create a shared vocabulary and increase understanding

Quick Reference Guide:
2:36 – Introduction of Daniel
3:14 – Co-creating operating models with a team
4:33 – On mission and operating models
7:19 – Quarterly impact retrospectives
9:16 – Rituals and mission
12:55 – Co-creating operating models
15:34 – Why you need the Rosenverse
18:39 – Operating models’ effects on broader organizations
21:00 – Shared vocabulary
23:07 – Cross-pollinating in organizations to facilitate shared understanding
25:05 – Operating models and the individual
28:09 – Daniel’s gift for the audience