Calgary’s Meghan Armstrong joins the 2016 lineup

The first Canadian speaker of 2016 is revealed.

 Making the Invisible Visible
} Time: TBD / 20 MINUTES

User experience design has always involved thinking at different altitudes, from the small interactions on interfaces to the larger more complex relationships between systems, people, geographies and beyond. We do this through our creative ability to making the invisible visible. Visualizing flows and the complexities between systems and people uncovers unseen dependencies, limitations and opportunities. Using empathy maps and personas to visualizing the emotional and human side of an experience helps us design for the people using a system and supporting a system. We connect disparate and complicated people and organizations.

It is no surprise that design thinking is becoming the choice approach to solving wicked and complex problems and why our industry is evolving to include even higher altitude problems like systems and services. As these systems and services become more complex our ability to make sense of them requires contributions from a larger group of people. The value of a sketch is exponentially increased when you engage the larger team to build it. To be successful in this space we need to find inventive ways to facilitate and create as a group, across geographies, exposing findings earlier and building change momentum throughout the process, like primary research and pre- analysis, co-creation and sharing.

 Speaker Bio: Meghan Armstrong

Meghan Armstrong is a user experience consultant who focuses on creating exceptional and engaging work experiences with Habanero Consulting Group‘s team in Calgary, AB. She investigates design strategies and works with project teams creating collaborative sketches and solutions that fulfill the goals of both stakeholders and end-users. Meghan is also one of the instructors of the popular Habanero UX Masterclass professional development course.

Meghan is also one of the organizers of Calgary UX, a series of periodic events that bring together Calgary’s experience design community.

Previously, she worked for telecom giant Shaw and was a design instructor in the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Schulich School of Engineering. Meghan holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts and master’s degree in environmental design (industrial design) from the University of Calgary where she was the faculty’s gold medal recipient.

Outside of work, she enjoys curling, running, field hockey, printmaking, and drawing.

For more info, you can follow Meghan on on Twitter @shedio

*Image credit: Meghan Armstrong