March 2022 – Encouraging Diversity in UX
24
Mar
2022
18:30 - 20:00
Online Event - Zoom
As UX professionals we need to ensure our products and services reach an incredible range of users who have different experiences and backgrounds. Empathy and understanding will always play a part, but we also need to surround ourselves with colleagues who have different backgrounds, perspectives and opinions.
How can we ensure that our industry reflects the diversity of our users? How do we encourage a greater range of diverse voices and backgrounds into UX and build diversity in design teams?
This month we have two speakers who are going to look at how we can encourage those from diverse backgrounds to enter the industry and then how we can design teams that are inclusive and diverse.
All times are London, GMT. Timezone converter.
- 18:30 – 18:40: Introduction and welcome
- 18:40 – 19:10 : Encouraging Diverse Voices – Jayde-Olivia Sandy, Product Designer, Seera Group
19:10 – 19:40 : Designing Diverse Teams – Dan Healy, Head of User Centered Design, Satellite Applications Catapult
19:40 – 19:45: Final Q&A & Close
Encouraging Diverse Voices
Jayde-Olivia Sandy
Jayde-Olivia Sandy is going to explore how we can encourage more diverse voices to enter the UX industry and how organisations can create an environment and culture where people from diverse backgrounds feel comfortable and want to stay and develop long term.
Jayde-Oliva, a Product Designer, speaker, educator and mentor, currently living and working in Dubai at a travel company called Seera Group. Previously working at Sky, she was involved in diversifying the design team and working with senior leadership to create an environment where people from diverse backgrounds could feel comfortable and valued as a member of the team.
During the 2020 lockdown, she launched an initiative on Instagram called @ollyandfranc, with her close friend and Partner in Design. This was started in response to the lack of representation of Black women in the design industry and they felt it was important to get their voices and experiences out there. Today, you can visit www.ollyandfranc.com to read blog posts, watch videos and find out about the services they offer – including mentoring.
Jayde-Olivia is also a long-standing member of BYP Network and a part of this featured in will.i.am: The Blackprint on ITV during Black History Month 2021, speaking about her experiences being a Black professional woman in the UK.
Designing Diverse Teams
Dan Healy is going to share his story of how he has managed to design and grow a highly talented and diverse design team in the midst of a global pandemic.
Dan has been solving problems through design since 2000. He’s designed, tested, built, delivered, and managed websites, intranets, software, apps, and information systems for some of the UK’s biggest names, including Sophos, Nationwide Building Society, Lloyds Banking Group, Scottish and Southern Energy, and the UK government.
These days, Dan’s job is all about designing, growing, mentoring, and managing the best user-centred design teams.