Recently, a few members of the Axian team had the opportunity to attend the WebVisions 2016 conference here in Portland, Oregon. It included a delightful variety of topics which expanded our view of the future of design from many different perspectives, including: design values in business, inspiration from real world materials, practical creativity, the business of beacons, creatives for science, adapting to agile, training designers, artificial sentience, new design tools, development of personal creative projects, activism through technology, website personalities, and how to share economics with the world through our technology.
It was encouraging that many of these design and business values are already being applied to our client projects here at Axian, especially the “Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus” talk (and book by Douglas Rushkoff) which argues that growth has become the enemy of prosperity. Axian has long held this view as well, and we have striven to share our technological success with our employees, clients and business partners.
In addition, there were many inspirational and informative talks that have increased our design knowledge and future vision, enabling us to share these practices with our co-workers, clients and business partners in the form of greater efficiency, creativity, and scalability that will help make their businesses more relevant, sustainable and successful.
Here are some reflections from the Axian team attendees:
“We’re living in a time of rapid change, both for the design profession and humanity as a whole, and it was refreshing to hear so many of the speakers passionately confronting the status quo, challenging us to expand our understanding of what design can be, and what problems it can be applied to. I walked away with a better understanding of how design can transform business and the user experience, but also how we can use it to live more fulfilling lives and make the world a better place.”
– Alex Wyrick
“My favorite talk, from a copy-writer who took a four year journey exploring an alternate career in paleontology, highlighted the exciting fact that design/UI/UX are needed everywhere (as we have all known) but also that this need is FINALLY beginning to be realized by people in all sorts of fields, such as the very non-aesthetic pursuit of scientific research. We are reaching a place in this industry where our skills and experience are desired in non-traditional places, and that, to me, is incredibly exciting.”
– Gabe Harris
“I really enjoyed this conference overall, and was equally inspired to create new things, use my skills to help the world around me, and generate more creativity within everyday constraints. I am very grateful to Axian for caring enough about professional development to sponsor my attendance. I know I’m going to be a stronger, more creative, well-rounded and forward-thinking designer because of it.”
– Melissa Vu
You can read more about each of these talks, speakers, and the conference itself here: http://www.webvisionsevent.com/