UX-experts at ProfsoUX-2015

This spring was eventful: NIX Solutions experts visited some of the best-specialized conferences to hold ThinkPHP #11. Just as they schedule the second ThinkJava meeting.

One of the most memorable moments for our experts was the ProfsoUX conference – a relatively new event. It held the very first time in St. Petersburg in 2012 as a meeting of UX-pros, project managers, and analysts.

Yet, this year St. Petersburg welcomed NIX Solutions’ delegation with pleasant weather. Thus our ladies had a chance not only to broaden their professional horizons at ProfsoUX-2015.

ProfsoUX-2015

The format of the conference encouraged making acquaintances and lively communication with colleagues and our experts made the most of it. Presentations were held simultaneously in two halls and lasted only 20 minutes each. As well, it included 5 minutes allotted for questions from the audience. During the 15-minute breaks, speakers who had just finished their reports continued to answer questions. The event organizers had even reserved that special time for that purpose. The crowd did not want to let the most interesting speakers go even after the next report began.

Subjects ranged from usability testing to Smart TV and the usefulness of ugly icons. A huge list of unfamiliar words and books to read and apply in life and at work filled our experts’ notepads.

Any trip is an interesting and exciting adventure. When I was offered to go with the ladies to the UX-conference and moreover, to St. Petersburg, I gladly agreed and immediately started planning interesting lectures and places to visit.
Night-time Northern Capital greeted us with cold wide streets and the silent majesty of the architecture. This city immediately puts you in a very special mood. It seems like every detail of the buildings, every lamp post keeps the imprint of interesting and exciting stories full of contradictions.

Needless to say, St. Pete is a city with an identity. We even took a peek at some parts of it — thanks to the excellent sunny weather the next day.

Though the conference was meant mainly for business analysts, I still found something very useful for myself as a designer. Likewise, communication with managers, analysts and developers. The lecture on icons design was very interesting. However, the information regarding the intricacies of teamwork was even more useful. Well-established communication is rather important in our profession, as it gives a clear vision of tasks and helps to improve the quality of the product. Sometimes, it is very hard to explain why some button should not be in one place, but in the other instead. So the conference has definitely expanded my knowledge.

The trip brought us all a lot of pleasant emotions, useful contacts and great impressions.

Eugenia, NIX Solutions expert

Afterparty

After the reports, we still had some time left for the after-party, so our delegation walked around the downtown embracing the beauty of the city, the grandeur of its architecture, the romance of the sea, and the raising of the bridges. Further, the ladies went to the ProfsoUX-2015 after-party.

Informal interaction with the other delegates was really inspiring. UX-pros discussed many conferences, courses, our experts told about their work. Similarly, we shared interesting cases and problems, received expert advice/answers.

The conference and the trip have left a lasting impression.
First, the conference venue – fabulous St. Petersburg–appeared to be even more beautiful than I have imagined: wide streets, incredible architecture, Neva, bridges… We were staying in St. Pete for just 2 days and spent most of that time at the conference and workshops. However, our mornings and evenings were devoted to long walks around the city and enjoying its majestic beauty.

Second, the conference theme – UX – is one component of our work. Though we, business analysts, have some experience and knowledge in this area, we still wanted to get advice. For example, we found out how to make our products user-friendly and able to solve customers’ problems. An array of speakers and the workshop gave us a boost, in the same way pointed the direction to go and to guide our colleagues at NIX Solutions.

At last, there was the third, perhaps the most important part of the conference. It included communication with the speakers, master classes’ presenters and participants. We met UX-pros and analysts, found out how to get a solution through the “out of the box” approach, how not to frighten users with errors. As well, they share opinions what can be done in order to avoid filling in gigantic forms in mobile apps.

To cut the long story short–it was awesome!

Tatiana, NIX Solutions expert

User Experience Design

The second day of the conference was dedicated to the eight-hour workshop «User Experience Design».

Here, participants practiced analysis of real-life users, created empathy maps, proto-personas, Experience maps, and the Impact map. They designed and tested the prototype. Later, our attendees transfer all that knowledge to colleagues. NIX Solutions is going to hold a master class summarizing the results of the conference.

I really liked the fact that before the master class guys had interviewed all the participants. In brief, they were asking what they were expecting, and decided collectively whether they reached the goal. The guys promised to address those goals that were not achieved remotely via Skype and email.

So many thanks to NIX Solutions, ProfsoUX and St.Pete for the knowledge got and for the wonderful weekend!

Irina, NIX Solutions expert