Chicago Camps Podcast

Carmen Medina, a former CIA officer, shared her experiences and insights on being a 'rebel' within a bureaucratic setting during the Tent Talks session. Medina spent 32 years at the CIA, starting her rebellious journey in the mid-90s when the digital revolution sparked her interest. Despite facing resistance, she continued to advocate for digital adoption within the organization. Her narrative provided a wealth of advice for those keen on driving change within their organizations, emphasizing the importance of empathy, patience, and understanding organizational dynamics.Heretical Change and Organizational Resistance:Initial efforts to introduce digital adaptation at the CIA met with resistance due to the organization's contrasting ethos around secrecy.Encountering resistance led to a realization of the importance of aligning change proposals with organizational orthodoxy or finding overlapping interests.Approaching Change through Adjacency:Using adjacent areas of interest to bridge the gap between new ideas a

In this Tent Talks session, Chicago Camps engages in a rich conversation with Donna Lichaw, discussing the essence of leadership impact and how leaders can assess and enhance their impact within their organizations. Donna shares insights from her new book and her experiences coaching leaders, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness, interpersonal dynamics, and creating an environment conducive for growth and productivity.Assessing and Improving Leadership Impact:Leaders often face challenges when their teams expand rapidly, and issues arise that can lead to blaming others for performance gaps.It’s crucial to self-assess and gather feedback from team members to understand the leader’s impact on the organization.Engaging in conversations and assessments helps in discovering the good practices and amplifying them rather than focusing on the negatives.Meaning and Importance of Leadership Impact:Leadership impact is about understanding the results and reactions that follow a leader’s actions or decisions.It’s

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Amy Bucher titled, “Personalizing Behavior Change: The Intersection of AI, Ethics, and Team Collaboration:”Session Introduction:Amy Bucher discusses personalization in behavior change.Highlights the importance of tailoring communication to each individual's context and needs.Explores the use of reinforcement learning in personalization.Distinguishes between broad, AI-driven approaches and audience-specific design.Defining Personalization:Personalization involves communicating with individuals as if you were talking to them one on one.It requires understanding an individual's context, preferences, and history.Goes beyond segmentation and adapts to changes over time and across contexts.Acknowledges that personalization should account for situational variations in behavior.The Role of Reinforcement Learning:Lirio employs behavioral reinforcement learning, a subset of AI.Reinforcement learning involves designating outcomes to reward the algorithm for achie

Shannon Leahy explores the importance and versatility of using common office tools for UX deliverables. She shares her experience as a self-taught designer, the benefits of democratizing design processes, and tips for effective team collaboration.  She also offers a candid perspective on the ever-evolving world of UX and design. She addresses the hesitancy some professionals feel about stepping away from brand names or expensive tools, and also speaks to emerging designers and educators about fostering a resourceful and adaptable mindset.The Genesis of NecessityShannon emphasizes that her journey began from a need to adapt due to budget constraints.Working at smaller companies initially, she couldn't afford "fancy design tools," so she relied on accessible office software.Democratizing DesignUsing common office software makes design more approachable for non-design team members.These tools are familiar to people across various departments, reducing intimidation and making it easier for them to participate in

Billie Mandel focuses on the well-intentioned yet harmful behaviors people exhibit in tech workplaces that contribute to toxicity. She outlines the top 5 such behaviors and offers tangible solutions for each, from avoiding complicit bystander tendencies to fostering transparent communication.Top 5 Well-Meaning Behaviors That Create Toxic Work EnvironmentsComplicit Bystander: Often rooted in people-pleasing or conflict avoidance, this behavior can have detrimental effects on teams and individuals.Workplace Gossip: Though often unintentional, gossip can have a corrosive impact on work culture, especially in startups where roles and power structures are fluid.Perfectionism: Aiming for flawlessness not only hampers individual growth but can also make leaders the "creativity ceiling" of their teams.Lack of Role Clarity: A nebulous definition of roles and decision-making processes can lead to workplace stress and confusion.Listening to Criticize: When people listen with the intent to appear smart, rather than to ge

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Jenae Cohn titled, “Design for Learning:”Design PhilosophyJenae emphasizes that learning should center on the needs, motivations, and concerns of the learners, not just content delivery. Variety in learning methods, social interactions, and alignment of goals with activities form the core of her philosophy to foster a more effective learning experience.Challenges in Online Learning DesignThe design of online learning must break away from the traditional linear approach, focusing instead on achieving the end goal through consultation and creative insights. Jenae also highlights the multitasking required in online design and the limitations of available tools, offering practical solutions to overcome these obstacles.Feedback and Assessment in Online LearningJenae argues for the importance of formative feedback through informal progress updates, quizzes, and reflective exercises. She also stresses the need for summative feedback that emphasizes skill demo

Determining Organization Maturity: Start assessing during interviews. Consider the clarity of decision-making in research paths.Supporting Research Team Growth: Align with goals, involve in maturity determination, foster collaboration, and share insights.Handling Hybrid Lead/Manager Role: Recognize challenges, support researchers, keep focused one-on-ones, and track time.Reporting to Non-Research Leaders: Understand stakeholders, seek clarity, and educate on research challenges.Working with Stakeholders in UX Research: Understand needs, establish relationships, and provide support as needed.Hiring UX Researchers Responsibly: Trust in expertise, emphasize collaboration and transparency.Good User Research Planning: Utilize frameworks, include stakeholders, define outcomes, and align expectations.Explaining UX to Stakeholders: Align understanding, use accessible terms, and develop an "elevator pitch."Addressing UX Research Maturity Variation: Consider nuanced evaluations, understanding differences within the org

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Dan Brown titled, “The Information Architecture of Products:”Embracing Change in DesignAcknowledges the inevitability of change in design and the importance of flexibility.Emphasizes the alignment of understanding within a team, even if there's no agreement.Outlines a script and story arc for future-oriented design, akin to TV show creation, without filming every episode in advance.Future-Oriented Design ApproachDiscusses the impossibility of creating unchangeable designs.Advocates for understanding and appreciating underlying structures without rigidly defining every bit of a product.Compares product design to TV show production, including high-level mapping and teasing out definitions.Clarifies that it's abstract but provides a common language for the product team.Conceptual Modeling vs Object MappingShares the idea of using a conceptual model as a flexible tool for understanding a domain.Prefers the term "concept" over "object" because it doesn’t pr

Introducing Wireframing to Everyone: Wireframing is a technique often reserved for designers, but a new approach seeks to make it accessible to everyone, including product people, developers, managers, entrepreneurs, and non-designers. The goal is to teach these individuals not only to visualize business concepts but to understand the entire process of user experience (UX) design and the importance of human-centered design.The Value of Wireframing: The value of wireframing for non-designers lies in its ability to explore and test ideas early on. Wireframes are easy to create and discard, allowing teams to find the best ideas without fear of wasting resources. The goal is to teach more than just the use of evolving tools; it's about mastering essential skills and techniques.Essential Skills in Wireframing: These essential skills include fostering a fearless approach to visualizing ideas and championing the process itself. A basic understanding of user interface (UI) design is needed, but the focus is on simpli

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Andrea Mignolo titled, “Getting Started in the Coaching Leadership Style”:Evolution of Coaching Leadership- Emphasizes deepening the practice, moving from having answers to embracing uncertainty.- Encourages curiosity, creativity, playfulness, and reduces stress.- Recognizes the complexity of humans and organizations and leverages collective sensing for innovation.Integration of Realization Process and Dreamtending- Realization Process: An embodied approach enhancing presence and awareness, helps in releasing body constrictions.- Dreamtending: Works with dreams and subconscious levels to tap into deeper information and creativity.- Both methodologies deepen leadership presence and enhance coaching practices.Developing Coaching Leadership Skills:- Learning Container: Create daily structures for mindfulness and reflection.- Daily Practices: Five minutes of morning awareness, end-of-day reflection questions, and trying small practical changes.- Addressing

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Lou Rosenfeld titled, “The Rosenfeld Media Approach to Curating High-Quality Content”:Role of IA and UX in Content Curation: Lou Rosenfeld highlights that his approach is to use IA and UX skills in an untraditional manner to curate high-quality content.Considering the User's Journey in Event Planning: Rosenfeld emphasizes the importance of considering the user's journey, energy levels, and narrative arc in the planning and sequencing of conferences, deriving inspiration from Donna Lichaw's book "The User's Journey".Keeping Content Relevant and Engaging: Rosenfeld Media focuses on evergreen topics for their books that are not highly dependent on the technology du jour. When technologies are referenced, they are placed within an evergreen framework. Conference programs attempt to be timely but also maintain recurring themes that reflect the maturing field. Rosenfeld views the evolution of a conference program as a way to define a practice or field.The Ro

Here are the main points from the Tent Talks session with Natalie Dunbar titled, "Health, Wellness, and Self-Care: Maintaining a Strong UX Practice Core":Health, Wellness, and Self Care in UX Design: Natalie defines health in UX design as how a system is performing, similar to the way heuristic evaluations are done. Wellness involves having the freedom and control to accomplish tasks without unnecessary obstacles. Self-care involves the flexibility to fulfill individual needs, which she relates to her yoga practice by asking, "What do I need in this moment?"Parallels between UX Design and Healthy Lifestyle: The practice of asking what one needs at the moment serves as a personal heuristic in her UX practice, helping to assess situations, course correct if needed, or keep going if things are working well.Incorporating Health and Wellness Principles in UX Practice: Natalie advocates for slowing down to assess situations when things seem to be getting out of control. This approach involves taking a step back, ev

On Tuesday, April 11th at 5:00pm CDT, Jonathan McFadden joined us for a live Q&A session: “It’s Okay to Be Inflexible in Content Design.” Jonathan McFaddenJonathan McFadden is a senior content designer at Shopify, where he partners with a team of designers to create better experiences for users on the Shop app. Outside of his daytime gig, he runs his own content writing business, Jon Writes, and teaches a weekly Bible study. He enjoys spending time with his lyrically gifted wife, reading comic books, and bingeing reruns of his favorite cult classic, Xena: Warrior Princess. About Tent TalksChicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway–If it’s a cool idea, we’d love to hear about it and share it! What is a Tent Talk? That’s a great question, we’d love to tell you. Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format–we like to think of them as “

On Thursday, April 6 at 5:30pm Central, Joie Chung joined us for a live Q&A session “Hey New Design Manager.” Joie ChungJoie Chung is a senior product design leader based in Austin, TX, who’s passionate about mentoring future leaders and helping designers achieve their best work. With over 17 years in the design industry, Joie has gained a deep understanding of what makes a great user experience. She’s led top-performing teams in both agency and in-house settings, working with a wide range of companies across various industries. Joie approaches design and leadership with empathy, creativity, and a growth mindset. She loves collaborating with others to create impactful change and push the boundaries of what’s possible. 

On Friday, March 10 at 5:00pm Central, Ian Smile joined us for a live Q&A session “Leadership & Community.”Ian SmileIan Smile is a Principal UX Designer at Veritone in Orange County, CA working with AI in the Enterprise Synthetic Voice and Ad Tech spaces. A lifelong learner, teacher, thinker, and community builder, his purpose in life is to bring people together through design, education, culture, and skateboarding.About Tent TalksChicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway–If it’s a cool idea, we’d love to hear about it and share it!What is a Tent Talk? That’s a great question, we’d love to tell you.Tent Talks are short-form in nature, generally lasting from 10-20 minutes (ish) in a recorded format–we like to think of them as “S’mores-sized content” because that’s pretty on-brand. Tent Talks can be a presentation on a topic, a live Q&A session about the work we do, or the work ar

Tent Talks Featuring: Christina GoldschmidtOn Wednesday, March 8th 3:00pm CST, Christina Goldschmidt joins us for a live Q&A session: “Key Business Concepts Design Leaders Need to Know.”Join this live session for free and take part in the conversation with Christina. We’ll have our questions to ask, and questions from attendees are welcome, as well.Christina answers the questions:Let’s start with you - tell us about yourself and your background, because the next question’s a doozy.Should designers get an MBA to help further their careers? Why or why not?What’s the allure of an MBA?What are some of the biggest things designers tend to not know enough about as they climb the career ladder?As you get to executive leadership levels, how much of what you learned as a designer do you think will be applied to the job?As a design executive, do you have a portfolio, and if so, what's in it?

Tent Talks Featuring: Emily ParcellOn Thursday, February 23 at 5:00pm Central, Emily Parcell will join us for a live Q&A session “Design Management vs. Individual Contributor Leadership” and we’re very excited!Emily ParcellDriven by a passion to make the workplace more human, Emily’s work as a leadership coach and facilitator focuses on how strong leadership, process, and culture support teams to do their best work. She specializes in helping leaders navigate work with confidence by applying design skills such as creative thinking and an experiment-oriented mindset. Her approach is informed by a decade in user experience design, having led teams to design digital products for DIRECTV, Macy’s, Verizon, and Automation Anywhere.About Tent TalksChicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway–If it’s a cool idea, we’d love to hear about it and share it!What is a Tent Talk? That’s a great question,

On Wednesday, February 15th at 6:00pm CST, Fred Beecher joined us for a live Q&A session: “Getting Started in DesignOps.” 

On Wednesday, January 25th, 2023 at 5:00pm Central, Meena Kothandaramn joined us for a live Q&A session called “There is More to Research than Asking a Question.”Meena KothandaramanWith 30 years of experience, Meena has consulted to emphasize the strategic value and positioning of qualitative research in the design of product, space and service. Meena is fascinated by the complexity of human behavior, and applies a credible, structured and transparent approach to integrating human stories and anecdotes into mainstream processes. This ensures that research activities provide the best service to the organization, and that learning objectives are addressed to maximize potential.Meena is a founding member of twig+fish, a research and strategy practice based in Boston, MA, that espouses these research beliefs, while maintaining a utopic work-life balance. She is also a key Lecturer in the Bentley University Human Factors and Information Design (HFID) graduate program. Over her 20-year tenure, her capstone qual

Tent Talks Featuring: Dani Nordin On Tuesday, November 29th at 5:00pm Central, Dani Nordin joined us for a live Q&A session called “Your Brain & Your Next Job.” Dani Nordin Dani Nordin works for athenahealth as the Product Design Architect for athenaClinicals. There, she uses her superpowers in user research, pattern recognition, and snark to help the organization unpack big, gnarly problems related to EHR configuration, clinical content, and specialty support. She also serves as the chair of the Clinician Experience Working Group for the HIMSS EHR Association. She lives in Watertown MA with two fire-cracker daughters, a delightfully supportive husband, and an adorable golden retriever named Larry. About Tent Talks Chicago Camps hosts irregularly scheduled Tent Talks with people from all across the User Experience Design community, and beyond. Who really likes limits, anyway–If it’s a cool idea, we’d love to hear about it and share it! What is a Tent Talk? That’s a great question, we’d love to tell yo