HIVE Agenda

Special Performance by “Charles”

Welcome to HIVE!

Hillel Cooperman, Jackson Fish Market
Professional Software Design. Don't Try This at Home.

Everyone says they understand the importance of design in creating great products? But do they? What is a good designer anyway? Would you know one if it fell in your soup? And would they know what to do given the opportunity? You say you understand the importance of design, but can you do more than repeat that phrase hoping it will make your product great?

Jay Greene, Author
Design is How it Works

Jay zeroes in on the design process at companies that do design well. The companies come in different shapes & sizes. The point is that design is something at which any company can succeed. Jay will talk about how companies that embrace the idea that design is about creating a great experience are the ones that will flourish in the 21st Century.

Kim Obbink, Filter
Tribal Instincts

We’ll go into the wilds of the digital industry and explore the mysteries of the Creative Tribe. How can we, as leaders, keep the tribe vibrant and essential? Where is the UX Tribe hiding and how can we identify them? We’ll take a look at a cross-section of UX portfolios and discuss how to recruit, qualify, and hire some of the most sought after tribe members in the digital industry.

August de los Reyes, Artefact
The Myth of Design Education

We must live differently in the 21st century, and in doing so, we must design differently. This discussion is about the future of design education. August will dissect contemporary frameworks of design instruction, and propose a new path forward. Given the state of design & technology today, coupled with the challenges we face in the coming decades, a new culture of learning must evolve!

Lunch & Networking
12 - 1 pm
Boxed lunches will be provided. Make sure to check out the activities in the Stereo Type Room during this time!

Scott Berkun, Wordpress.com
Feedback Without Frustration: How to Run an
Effective Design Critique

Is it possible for developers, designers and marketers to talk about designs without wanting to kill each other? Yes! And it starts by using the same language, recognizing everyone’s natural biases, and setting smart ground rules. All of which you’ll learn insider tricks for how to do in this short talk.

Jon Bell, Windows Phone
Make it Relevant

We’ve all seen fantastic designs fail in the marketplace. Jon will be reprising his popular talk that explains how this happens, how we can save our products from the same fate, and what in the world Lady Gaga has in common with Arrested Development.

Matt Brown, Facebook
Stop Filling Buckets: Better Design Through Content

Designing without content makes for backbone-less designs. In this presentation, Matt will explain how make your projects more solid by 1) working with content people, 2) acting like an editor/writer yourself, and 3) focusing on the what & why of your designs before you start designing.

Christen Coomer, Valve
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and
Love the Engineers

Do you find yourself spending your work time focused on everything other than the work itself? Do you wonder what it would take to build implicit trust between yourself and your peers? The relationship between designers and developers should be a powerful one, as you are the people building the product.

Conversation Break
2:35 - 3 pm
Snacks & Conversation. Stereo Type Room Activities.

Braden Kowitz & Jake Knapp, Google
How CEOs Can Lead to Great Design

A game plan for leaders who want to build well designed products. We’ll share lessons learned from Silicon Valley about how to build great design teams, how to fit design into your product development process, and how you can help make your whole team more design centered.

Kelly Smith, Curious Office
Mobile Design: The Next Wave of Opportunity

It’s no secret that there is a significant and growing opportunity designing for mobile. But how is this medium different for those who are new to the app world? What common mistakes you can avoid? How is designing for iOS different than designing for Android? And what things can you do to become a better designer of mobile apps?

Enrique Allen, 500 Startups
The Future of Designer Founders in Tech

What do these companies - YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, Tumblr, Blurb, Etsy, Kickstarter, About.Me, Foodspotting, and Instagram have in common? They all have designer founders. What makes these designers special? How are they different from traditional service based design consultants? Can designers be successful entrepreneurs? As part of research underpinning the Designer Fund, Enrique examines patterns across interviews with established and emerging designer founders. He hopes to further entrepreneurial design education by empowering the next generation of designers to think beyond just service roles and create businesses with meaningful impact.

Closing Remarks

Cocktails
4:30 - 5:30 pm
Please use your drink tickets. Cheers!