What I Learned and Why You Might Attend UX STRAT Megan EllingerOctober 14, 2014

I went to Boulder, Colorado! It was a drug free conference.“I suggest you stay away from the dispensaries, which are open until 7PM. Especially the ones located here…” – Paraphrasing Paul Bryan’s opening remarks

I stayed in a historic hotel. It was haunted.

I met a lot of interesting people who love UX too! Developer working with the Mutual UFO Network to make their website responsiveFormer comedianBurlesque dancer(Not necessarily pictured in that order.)

Reasons You Might Attend UX STRAT

The PerksTravel

Historic (Haunted) Hotel

Great People

The Content

InspirationFabio Sergio | Vice President of Creative, frogFabio Sergio dared me and everyone in the audience to, “develop solutions that let people dream what they can be.”

Tactical MethodsDan Klyn | Co-Founder, Information Architect, The Understanding GroupDan Kyln taught me new ways to resolve strategic tension in the design process.

The Need for Dumb Models…and he demonstrated that the movie Zoolander had profound hidden messages on why wireframes (and other models) suck if you introduce them too early.

Strategic Directions Jon Kolko | Director and Founder, Austin Center for DesignJon Kolko, the single reason I gave UX STRAT a go, helped me discover that when I grow up, I might want to be a product manager.

Every case study kept talking to The Seat.

InspirationTactical MethodsStrategic Directions

(Not like this.)Clint Eastwood talked to an empty chair at the 2012 Republican National Convention

You could bring your own…Ashley Halsey Hemingway | Associate Director of User Experience, AppNexus

You could win it...Dr. Laura Granka | Head of UX Research, Google Search“Data driven to data informed to data inspired.”

Claim it! Crash the meeting.Matthew Holloway | Vice President, User Experience Design, Shutterfly

The Seat was in the boardroom.To succeed, UX needs a seat at the highest level. Once you have the seat, you have to keep proving the value of UX.

Digital Winners Deliver Great Experiences

Theo Forbath | Global VP, Innovation Strategy, Cognizant“One thing I can tell you about innovation: It is uncomfortable.”

Reasons You Might Attend UX STRAT

The PerksTravel

Historic (Haunted) Hotel

Great People

The ContentInspiration

Tactical Methods

Strategic Directions

The Logistics

It’s single track.You don’t miss any great speakers.

It’s small.Capped at 400 people so you can get to know people and have meaningful conversations.

And speakers stick around.Because they are contractually required to be there.

Reasons You Might Attend UX STRAT

The PerksTravel

Historic (Haunted) Hotel

Great People

The ContentInspiration

Tactical Methods

Strategic Directions

The LogisticsSingle Track

400 Attendees

Speakers Stick Around

+ 2 BONUS REASONS

Premium Content! You just had to be there.“Sometimes people don’t get my style…” - Ronnie Batista

Premium Swag! You could win a T-shirt and coffee cup!I did!

Convinced? I hope to see you next year!Megan Ellinger

Speaker Slides | http://www.slideshare.net/UXSTRAT