Free Videoconference: The Trials and Tribulations of Directors of UX

Directors of UX are navigating an overwhelming set of explicit and implicit expectations in their work, leading to frustration, anxiety, burnout, and leaving the field altogether. In this freewheeling discussion with guest Peter Merholz, organizational consultant and leadership mentor, we’ll address how we got into this situation (layoffs requiring those who remain to manage more people; botched agile transformations requiring UXers to lean into product management; immature organizations not knowing how to value the work), and identify paths forward out of this mess.

About our speaker:

Peter Merholz has worked at the intersection of design, technology, and humans for over 25 years. Currently, he’s an independent consultant focused on improving the effectiveness of design organizations. His clients include JP Morgan Chase, Ceridian, The New York Times, Roblox, and Starbucks.

He co-founded Adaptive Path, the premier user experience consultancy, acquired by Capital One in 2014. After leaving Adaptive Path, served as a design executive, leading teams at Groupon, OpenTable, Capital One, Snagajob (now Snag), and Kaiser Permanente.

He co-wrote Org Design for Design Orgs, still the premier book on building in-house design teams, and co-hosts Finding Our Way, a podcast exploring design leadership.

Oh, and, yeah, he coined the word “blog.”