Explore

UX Design Leadership: Insights from Industry and Academia

Senior Series Date: November 19 Time: Doors open 5:30 pm Location: J5 Offices Expected participants: ~40

Target demographic:

Entrepreneurs, Industry Leaders and Hiring Managers so they can understand the importance of leadership in UX and benefits of having clear parameters for incorporating design roles in their teams.

Senior UX Designers and Researchers so they can be inspired by successful leaders to take leadership roles and gain more influence in their fields, as mentors, UX evangelist and thought leaders.

Anyone interested in pursuing or advancing their influence in UX design leadership in Industry and Academia. E.g. Product Owners, Tech Leads, etc.

Event description:

Curious about the journey to becoming a leader in UX design? Join us for an insightful event exploring the diverse pathways to UX leadership in both industry and academia.

Our speakers,

Janet Bird⁠

, Lead UX Digital Design at Porter Airlines and

Robert Andruchow⁠

Chair of the Department of Digital Experience Design at MacEwan University, will share their personal journeys, highlight essential skills for aspiring UX leaders, and discuss how industry trends and educational advancements are shaping the future of UX design.

Sessions

Time: Each session Approx. 45 minutes including Q&A

⁠

Session 1:

Title: The Journey to UX Leadership Speaker: Janet Bird, Lead UX Digital Design at Porter Airlines

Description: The journey of a UX Designer from entering into the field to becoming a senior or in leadership. Janet Bird will share lessons learn from mentoring many designers recently on the growth path and debunking the mysteries of the differences between a junior and senior UX Designer. Bio: Janet Bird is a passionate advocate for human-centered design with over 15 years of experience in the field. Beginning her career in architecture, she worked on diverse projects, including single-family homes, hotels, universities, and retirement communities. This experience sparked her interest in human behavior and how people navigate through the world. Janet also has a keen focus on enhancing organizational culture and internal processes, examining how team members engage with and experience their professional environment. Today, she is a UX Design lead at Porter Airlines, with a mission to continually support her teammates’ growth so they can be innovative and work at their best.

⁠

Session 2:

Title: Introducing the first UX Major between Vancouver and Toronto Speaker: Robert Andruchow, Department Chair and Associate Professor, MacEwan University Description (WIP):

Join the Chair of the Department of Design at MacEwan University, Robert Andruchow, to learn about the first degree-level UX major between Vancouver and Toronto and the first university-credit user experience design certificate in Canada.

The Digital Experience Design (DXD) Major is a 4-year program within the Bachelor of Design at MacEwan University where students learn to design digital products such as websites, apps, video games and wearable interfaces. Students learn how people interact with digital products, research real-world problems and create digital solutions that are useful, usable and desirable.

The year-long DXD Certificate is an upgrade path for designers without digital design training or those that already have a degree or diploma - in any field - that would like to transition to the digital industry. Students develop the same skills as the DXD Major but without the specialized graphic design training.

In the presentation, Robert will summarize the research and industry consultation that went into creating a ranked list of skills that are taught in the DXD Major and DXD Certificate. Robert will also provide an overview of the 14 unique DXD courses providing over 500 hours of hands-on training.

Bio: Robert has been the head of Design at MacEwan University for 10 years, a period in which the department tripled in size becoming the largest between Vancouver and Toronto, while launching an innovative Bachelor of Design degree (

macewan.ca/design⁠

) and the first and only UX major in the prairies (

macewan.ca/dxd⁠

). Robert serves extensively on industry boards and committees and for 8 years has been co-lead of UX Camp, the largest annual UX conference in western Canada. He has 15 years of experience as a practicing UX designer and owner of a digital agency and has research specializations in digital transformation and design education

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.