Last year, Margaret gave a 45-minute talk on techniques for managing design teams. It was our highest-ranked session, so we asked her back to offer a 3-hour workshop that provides more opportunity for discussion, activities and feedback.

Introduction
Brandon Schauer, Experience Design Director

David leads the vision and management of design for The Coca-Cola Company. Before Coca-Cola, he built a global brand consulting group within Studio Archetype, then Sapient in New York City. His experience spans between design to purpose and vision development to business strategy to brand-experience innovation.

Scott is a CNBC personality and author of The Myths of Innovation and Making Things Happen as well as an animated contrarian. He writes and speaks on project management, creative thinking and managing people. A two-time MX speaker, we are thrilled to have him back.

Introduction to the Afternoon Workshop
Brandon Schauer, Experience Design Director

In the evaluations we’ve received for prior MX conferences, two things that stood out are a desire for more takeaway tools and techniques, and more opportunities for networking. This year we bring you our first afternoon workshop. It takes a little explanation.We will have 4-5 workshop leaders. Each of them are respected professionals in management and experience design, and they will impart tools and techniques for problem solving. We will pose a single challenge that everyone will address in their workshops. You’ll have nearly 3 hours to work on the challenge, and then we’ll have people share their outcomes. This will allow you to see how different approaches lead to different results.

Neutron mixes elements of management consulting, brand strategy, and communication design to provide the “glue” that holds brand teams together. Neumeier began his career as a brand designer, and later added writing and business strategy to his skills, working variously as a communications director, magazine publisher, and brand consultant.

For seven years, Margret’s work has been instrumental to the development of the TiVo experience. She now leads the groups responsible for user interface and user experience of TiVo’s TV, PC, Mac, mobile, and Web products. And she’s won an Emmy!

We’re excited to bring Sara back into the Adaptive Path fold — we first worked with her in 2003 on our groundbreaking report, “Leveraging Business Value: How ROI Changes User Experience.” With one foot in business and the other in academe, Sara, brings both a practical and research orientation to her understanding of how design drives business value.

Brian Kalma joined Zappos.com in 2003 and is responsible for Zappos.com’s User Experience and Web Strategy. Brian ensures anything that has the Zappos approval stamp in it truly supports the value proposition and is always “Zappos-like.” Brian’s primary project at the moment is the creation and evolution of the Zappos Beta site, where he is planning architectural improvements and new feature roll-out.

Engineering Great Experiences: How Google’s Focus on the User Drives Innovation
Margaret Gould Stewart

Building a design practice with an engineering-driven culture is a challenge; particularly so when it involves iconic products like Google Search. What are the ways in which Google keeps its focus on the user to create innovative products? Margaret will share insights and techniques that keep Google users at the heart of the product development process.

Selling Experience Design to the Corporation - An Experience Design Approach to Designing Teams, Processes and Change
Steven Keith and Kara Taff

Steven Keith (from Capstrat) and Kara Taff (from Blue Cross) will tell the story of how one large organization changed their strategy, process, team and ultimately the whole organization to prepare for the changes in online Health Care.

The Back of the Napkin: Solving Today’s Problems With Pictures
Dan Roam

Dan has applied his business-oriented visual thinking skills while living and working in Switzerland, Russia, Thailand, France, Holland, and the US. His business book The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures was published March 2008 by Penguin Portfolio.