#29 Jun 27 2019

As creators of products and services, we’re pretty good at thinking we’ve got it all sussed. We map user journeys, we create roadmaps, we write user stories. We know what we want people to do; what actions we want them to take. But do we really know who these people are? Do we really know what they need? Do we take the time to find out, or are we building products and services based on our own assumptions and biases?

And what about those who lack our digital privilege? Digital exclusion is a reality for many people. It’s our responsibility to look out for everyone, not just those who are the most visible or the easiest to design for. As designers, we have the power to massively hinder or improve lives; not those of ‘users’ but of people. This talk looks at what it means to be digitally excluded and how by adopting a practical user research-led attitude to design, we can create products that are not just appealing to us, but life-changing to those who use them.

About Helen

Helen Joy is a UX consultant and user researcher at SPARCK with a focus on universal and inclusive design practices. She's an organiser of Women in Tech Nottingham, working to promote inclusivity within the tech industry and raise the profile of talented female and gender minority speakers. When not consulting or speaking at events, Helen is an avid coffee drinker and hot yoga fan.

The CSS Grid specification is one of the most exciting additions to CSS, pretty much ever. And, much like Bill & Ted’s music did, it has the potential to create a “web” utopia in the future.

Kirsty will take you on a most excellent adventure exploring how to use CSS GRID in a production environment. Taking a tour of some of the new properties and units now available in the GRID Specification, how to create complex layouts and ensuring it is not a bogus journey by explaining some of the gotcha’s and how to get around them.

By the end, hopefully you will agree that CSS Grid really is Excellent!

About Kirsty

Kirsty is a WordPress engineer / frontend developer at Human Made working on Enterprise level WordPress projects. She has a geeky fascination with CSS and has been working with CSS Grid in production pretty much since it shipped to modern browsers back in 2017.

She lives in Shropshire in the UK, with her partner, three cats and two house rabbits (also known as destrocto-bunnies!), occasionally goes running, and has a slight obsession with Stormtroopers. All of which are well documented on Instagram!

Taking you on his adventure in the hope of inspiring others. From sedentary, unfit, borderline alcoholic to running lunacy. Not your usual Couch to 5k. Join Christian as he speeds you through the last 100 weeks of getting healthier both physically and mentally, all with a smile on his face and no shoes on...

About Christian

Christian is an over enthusiastic Geek with over 20 years experience. Working as a geek for hire, he helps business & charities solve business problems with proactive IT solutions.

Alan will introduce the results of a 2-year programme of research about social exclusion and inclusion in the smart cities. The Smart Cities in the Making team at the OU produced a toolkit, engagingsmartcities.org, to help smart city practitioners avoid inadvertent exclusion and get more people participating.

About Dr Alan-Miguel

Dr Alan-Miguel Valdez began his career as a software engineer, went on to become a technology journalist, and is currently working as a Research Associate in the department of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University. Through his career, his research has focused on how the experimental spaces in Milton Keynes have facilitated the development of new knowledges about sustainable innovation, and on how such knowledges coalesce and travel. Through this research Miguel has developed an interest in the different ways in which different actors make sense of innovative technologies and develop their own narratives about the future of their city.

Kelly will discuss how Domino’s vision of making it ‘ridiculously easy’ to order a pizza is coming to life. How the team are tackling challenges in an ever competitive quick service food market and some strategies for you to keep ahead of the game. Domino’s is innovating on how to meet their customers needs better through digital products and channels - and also wants you to get involved in the process…!

About Kelly

Kelly is a Digital Product Owner at Domino’s Pizza - and her favourite Domino’s pizza is “The Cheeseburger” in case you were wondering! She previously worked as Head of Digital Fundraising at Oxfam and as a Producer at the BBC. Looking at new ways to engage audiences and drilling down into their unmet needs is what drives her work. Kelly works in Milton Keynes but lives down the road in Oxford.