Farai Madzima Returns to CanUX in 2022

Another Candian design leader joins our 2022 lineup.

 The Only One of Your Kind in the Room: Perils and Opportunities
} Nov 5, 2022   2:30PM / 40 MINUTES

We are solving the challenges of building and maintaining diverse teams. Slowly. As a result we find people from minority groups being the only ones of their kind in a team, project, or company. For some this is an opportunity to stand out and excel. Yet for others, particularly from under-represented minorities, it is a position of vulnerability. Being “one of a kind” stops them from bringing their whole authentic selves to work.

“I’m the only __ person here, if I say it, they won’t understand.” “If I say the wrong thing will they think it’s because I’m a __ person.” “They only invited me because I’m a __ person.”

In this talk, Farai traces his career journey from contributor to lead, during most of which he was the only one of his kind in the room. He also shares insights from interviews he’s conducted with tech contributors and leaders around the world. The result is a session filled with tactics that can leaders can use immediately to better understand, mentor, and sponsor the “one of a kind” folks in their teams to their full potential.

 Speaker Bio: Farai Madzima

An interaction designer originally from Zimbabwe, Farai works as UX Manager at Shopify, hanging with the Shopify Balance UX leadership team as they’re building next-generation ecommerce tools that make commerce easier for everyone. He is also the organizer of the Pixel Up! meetups and conferences, events that connect African designers and developers with their peers in the rest of the world.

Farai spent the last 14 years helping design and build products and teams in the UK, South Africa and Canada. Previously, Farai led Standard Bank South Africa’s team of designers and researchers in Johannesburg. There, he designed banking apps used by many across the continent, while grappling with some unique design challenges because most local internet users have never used a laptop or desktop, and some buy data by the megabyte.

An interesting tidbit about Farai is the he was originally studying to be a doctor, but he didn’t get the grades. In our opinion, that’s medicine’s loss. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll become a Doctor of Design. He also has an appreciation for words (irrespective of the language), is a fan of township jazz and nerdy hip-hop, and likes the number 127. Although we, at CanUX, have no idea why.

For more info, you can follow Farai on on Twitter @heyfarai

Prior Presentations:

CULTURAL BIAS IN DESIGN(ERS) (CanUX 2019)
Nov 3, 2019 2:00pm / 40 min / Slides

*Image credit: Farai Madzima