1. What I Learned and Why You Might Attend UX STRAT
Megan Ellinger
October 14, 2014

2. 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

3. I stayed in a historic hotel.
It was haunted.

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

5. Reasons You Might Attend UX STRAT
 The Perks
Travel
Historic (Haunted)
Hotel
Great People
 The Content

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

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

8. 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.

9. Strategic Directions
Jon Kolko | Director and Founder, Austin Center for Design
Jon 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.

10. Every case study kept
talking to The Seat.
Inspiration
Tactical Methods
Strategic Directions

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

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

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

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

15. 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.

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

17. Reasons You Might Attend UX STRAT
 The Perks
Travel
Historic (Haunted)
Hotel
Great People
 The Content
Inspiration
Tactical Methods
Strategic Directions
 The Logistics

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

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

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

21. Reasons You Might Attend UX STRAT
 The Perks
Travel
Historic (Haunted)
Hotel
Great People
 The Content
Inspiration
Tactical Methods
Strategic Directions
 The Logistics
Single Track
400 Attendees
Speakers Stick Around

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

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

24. Convinced? I hope to see you next year!
Megan Ellinger
Speaker Slides | http://www.slideshare.net/UXSTRAT