Recently we joined forces with Adobe XD to host a mini, virtual conference titled, "Your Future In UX Starts Here". This immersive live event served as a place for attendees to jump-start their career in UX design by learning from and networking with other UX design professionals.
Attendees discovered what it’s like to work in UX design from industry experts, learned about our UX Academy program from alumni and mentors, and learned how Adobe XD could help them to get started.
If you missed out, no worries! You can now watch the event on-demand over on our YouTube channel, or through the videos below. Check it out...
All About Project Cycles & Key Stakeholders with Poyi Chen, Lead UX Designer at Chegg
During this breakout session, you hear from Designlab mentor, Poyi Chen, who discusses project cycles and key stakeholders in the UX design process.
Poyi is a Lead UX Designer at Chegg. With over a decade of experience in the design field, Poyi has worked with companies of various sizes to improve their product experiences. In his spare time, he is passionate about design consulting, writing about UX, and mentoring designers.
Team Designlab
How to Sell Your Design Solutions with Courtney Leonard
During this breakout session, you hear from Designlab mentor, Courtney Leonard, who discusses communication, specifically how to speak to both internal and external teams when describing your design decisions. Courtney has been mentoring students at Designlab since 2015, with a focus on strengthening communication skills and preparing new designers for successful collaboration.
She is designer based in Austin with in-house and agency experience in branding, UX, experiential, research, and advertising. She's worked remotely for eight years and has helped her teams build more efficient and inclusive processes while launching projects for brands like The Verge, Vox, Eater and The Cut.
UX Academy Journey: Hannah Cunningham, Product Designer at Aptible
In this session, we hear from Hannah Cunningham, a UX Academy graduate who started her product design career at Royal Carribean Cruises in Miami and now works at Aptible in Denver. We’ll be talking about her UX Academy journey, her work experience thus far, and advice she has for those looking to make a career switch.
UX Academy Journey: Erik Gartzke, UX Designer at Space CAMP
In this session you'll hear from Marine and UX Academy graduate, Erik Gartzke, who is now a UX Designer at Space CAMP, where he works with Agile teams to design and develop software products for the US Space Force and Air Force.
Erik's journey began by serving in the US Marines as a geospatial analyst, followed by providing enterprise IT support to the Department of Defense, then participating in two earth observation startups, before landing at Space CAMP.
Darren Jxn: Black is Future in Design
During this breakout session, you hear from Darren Jxn. Darren is the CEO of All Black Creatives where he focuses on designing pipeline programs, partnerships, and strategies that help to increase Black talent into the tech and creative workforce. In this video, Darren speaks about how All Black Creatives is working to address the workforce development gap with mentorship, strategic partnerships, and search services
Previously, Darren served as the Executive Director of Create a LOOP, which equips over 200 youth every year to code, and works with them until they can pass an AP computer science exam. Darren also was on the founding board of Coder Vets, a grassroots organization that helped to equip veterans with coding skills and place them into jobs in companies such as Mastercard, before it merged with a larger organization that supports veterans.
All Black Creatives: Designing Community with Danielle Elise
In this session, you hear from Danielle Elise, Founder & CCO of All Black Creatives. Danielle designs experiences for people to create, be inspired, be celebrated and find community.
Through All Black Creatives she has designed community programming with brands like Adobe, Instagram, Google, and Facebook. In her session today, she’ll be talking about how her and her husband Darren built the All Black Creatives community and are able to connect, celebrate and accelerate their creatives through brand partnerships and intentional design.
Live Portfolio Reviews with Ivelisse Capellan, Product Designer at Alaska Airlines
During this breakout session, you hear from Ivelisse Capellan, Product Designer at Alaska Airlines, as she reviews UX Academy graduate Brooke Christy's portfolio.
And here is Ivelisse reviewing Julio Hoyos' portfolio...
Take Your Designs to the Next Level with Adobe XD
In this session, Jamie Nuzbach, Strategic Development Manager at Adobe XD, will be talking about how you can take your designs to the next level with Adobe XD.
Did you know that you can open your Sketch, Photoshop and Illustrator files right into Adobe XD? You can then get started taking those designs to the next level by prototyping interactions and even sharing them with your stakeholders and developers. Join this session to get helpful tips and tricks to get you started in XD.
Get the Must-Have Adobe XD Plugins
In this session, you hear about the must-have Adobe XD plugins. Plugins are a great way to enhance your workflow in XD from integrations with your favorite platforms to helpful design tools, the options seem endless!
Learn more about UX Academy, an intensive online program that equips you with the UX/UI design skills you need to land your first product design role.