08-16, 14:05–14:40 (US/Eastern), East Balcony (capacity 80)
As a developer, you already know how to build functional software and how to build it right. Research and design that focuses on the end user throughout the software development lifecycle can help you know how to build the right software. Data-informed design, based on well-accepted research practices, ensures that your software products and services not only provide necessary features and functions, but also address the pain points and expectations of your target users. A small investment in research and design conducted throughout the development process leads to more satisfied users and saves you time and money from refactoring code after it’s been released.
We’ll talk about:
- What user experience, user interface design, and information architecture are, and why you should care
- How UX research and design support software development
- How you can use PatternFly, an open source design system, in your work
- How you can use this new knowledge to improve the software you develop
With an undergrad in psychology, Amber worked in healthcare software for fifteen years. During that time, she made a shift from blaming users for getting confused, to realizing that the software system itself needed to be consistent and user-friendly to meet their expectations. She pursued dual master certifications, one in UX Research and Design, and a second in Interaction Design and UX Management. Amber believes that we should not be blinded by what we can see, and should always seek the perspective of our users before making decisions that impact them. As an associate manager at Red Hat, she supports researchers and the Design and Research Operations team.
Vince is a Principal Interaction Designer on Red Hat’s user experience design team. He started his professional life as an electrical engineer and worked for six years before making the enlightened decision to attend graduate school to study what was then called human factors. He earned a Masters and Ph.D. in psychology from North Carolina State University. His twenty-plus year career has spanned both hardware and software UX design along with some research and consulting. He is currently a UX designer on Red Hat’s OpenShift AI product, which provides a platform for creating, managing, deploying and monitoring AI and Machine Learning (ML) models.