Paul Sherman

Paul Sherman has worked in user experience since the days of dial-up. He is the founder of ShermanUX, a user experience research and design consultancy. He has conducted user research, usability testing and UX design for mobile, web and desktop in many domains including accounting; banking; e-commerce; financial planning and portfolio management; healthcare; mobile gaming; mobile device hardware and software; network, server and cloud application security; tax preparation; and travel, among others. He also creates and teaches graduate courses in user experience research and design at Kent State University, where is he an Assistant Professor and Program Coordinator for the User Experience Design Master’s program. During the 2000’s he was Senior Director of User-Centered Design at Sage Software in Atlanta, Georgia, where he led efforts to redesign the UI and workflow for Peachtree Accounting and several other business management desktop and web-based products. He was also a User-Centered Design Manager at Intuit. In the 1990s he was a Member of Technical Staff at Lucent Technologies. Paul received his Ph.D. in 1997 from the University of Texas at Austin.

Get Strategic: Plan To Embed User Experience More Deeply Into Your Organization

3 hrs Workshop | Categeory: Business Design | Target Audience: Designers, Product Owners, Managers, and Developers who are mid-career or senior.
As UX practitioners, managers and leaders, we all know how hard it is to stop, think about and plan a strategy for embedding user experience processes more firmly in your organization. This workshop is designed to give attendees the opportunity to do just this. In this session, attendees will: - Learn about strategic planning for UX, - Be provided a framework for creating a plan, - Draft a plan for their organizations' UX practice, and - Get the opportunity to receive feedback and guidance on their plan from workshop peers and the facilitator.

Three key takeaways

• Attendee benefits: In this workshop, attendees will receive a grounding in strategic planning, discuss how to identify and cultivate UX champions, and how to leverage small tactical UX wins to drive toward a strategic UX approach.

• The workshop will culminate in a strategic planning exercise, where each attendee will use a simple template to craft strategic goals, as well as identify 30-60-90 day objectives, half-year objectives, and first-year+ objectives. Attendees will have the opportunity to share their plan with the facilitator and attendees for feedback and critique.

• Learning outcomes: Workshop attendees will...
  - Receive a grounding in strategic planning.
  - Discuss with peers and the facilitator how to identify and cultivate UX champions, and how to leverage small tactical UX wins to drive toward a strategic UX approach.
  - Create a strategic UX plan and receive critique and feedback from peers and the facilitator.

User Research at the Speed of Business: A Field Research Primer & Toolkit

30 min Case study | Categeory: Professional Growth | Target Audience: The target audience for this talk is UX researchers and designers at the beginning and middle levels of experience, as well as UX leaders who are in charge of guiding junior and mi-career researchers.
Field research: to many it's the gold standard of user-centered design. Want to learn more about how your current or prospective customers think, work, live and play? Go observe them. If you're early or even mid-career, organizing, carrying out and analyzing the results of field research can seem daunting and time-consuming. This presentation will provide you with information and resources you can use immediately to start conducting insightful and effective field research. How attendees will benefit: Attendees will be provided with an overview of how to advocate for, carry out, and drive organizational decision-making with field research.

Three key takeaways

Attendees will be provided with tangible take-aways, including:
- A field research project planner
- Data collection document
- Sample visit profile
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