February 2020: The UX of tubes: Building a UX research practice in a traditional, physical-product industry

User experience research (UXR) is commonplace in digital design. But, what happens when you add UXR to the product development process for physical products—and in a traditional and regulation-filled industry? What are the similarities vs. differences for those practicing UXR? And, how might you integrate a brand new UXR practice/role with pre-existing processes and teams?

Nicole Strong is a consumer anthropologist who, for the past 2.5 years, has been establishing an Insight and Ideation practice at the leading manufacturer of thermoplastic pipes and fittings in North America. These “tubes” she works with can be small enough to fit in her hand or large enough to stand inside. And, the fittings that attach to them can be complex, multi-part assemblies. On a given day, Nicole could be travelling the continent with top-secret prototypes, facilitating an ideation workshop or training session, working on a survey, posting hundreds of sticky notes, meeting with inventors, or giving out prizes for the company-wide product idea submission program that she runs. This summer, Nicole even spent two weeks in India working on a digital project for a sister company there. Prior to her current role, Nicole was a founding member of a customer insight consulting practice. She did UX and CX projects for both digital- and physical-product companies; they made server hardware, server farms, stock market software, ecommerce software, loans, insurance, auto parts, tractors and more. Join us for this session to learn more about her journey and explore the world of UXR with physical products.

Please register for this free event

Thursday February 20, 2020
5:30 to 7:00 pm
Communitech Hub, 2nd floor
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