Agenda
Note: All times Pacific (PT)
Monday 9/18/23
9–9:30 AM: Welcome
9:30–10 AM: Less persuading, more influencing
10–10:30 AM: ADHD and in-product discovery
10:30–11 AM: Break
11–11:30 AM: Let’s talk shop
11:30–12:30 PM: Dear future self: making dreams a reality
Tuesday 9/19/23
9–9:15 AM: Morning reflection: Where we are
9:15–9:30 AM: Improv skills for prompt writing
9:30–10:30 AM: Content design and engineering: Better together
10:30–11:30 AM: Break
11:30–12:30 PM: AI-deas for an AI future
Wednesday 9/20/23
Thursday 9/21/23
9–9:30 AM: Morning reflection: Where we’re going
9:30–10:30 AM: Building trust quickly with partners
10:30–10:45 AM: Break
10:45–11:45 AM: 50 shades of content design
11:45–12 PM: Break
12–12:30 PM: How tips from famous writers can help us design better products
12:30–1:30 PM: Drawing stuff with Zip
Friday 9/22/23
9–9:30 AM: Morning musings with Dave Talach
9:30–10 AM: Outside Voice: Stop the presses
10–10:45 AM: Demystifying D4D
10:45–11:15 AM: Break
11:15–11:30 AM: A love letter to content design
11:30–12 PM: Kind words for word nerds
12–12:30 PM: Lorem Endum
Sessions
50 shades of content design
Jeff Carlson
Senior Content Designer, VEP
Ali Oligny
Senior Content Designer, VEP
You’ve just met someone at a coffee shop or at the gym. How do you explain what you do for work? We’re all content designers, but each of us has a unique skill set and perspective. Join us for an honest chat about our multifaceted identities. Find some common ground with your peers and embrace your own exceptional individuality.
ADHD and in-product discovery
Natalie Houchins
Senior Content Designer, Mailchimp
As fate would have it, I was diagnosed with ADHD the same time I joined the Mailchimp team that handles in-app discovery (IPD). Pop-ups, banners, and tooltips, oh my! Come hear what I’ve (maybe) figured out about designing effective IPD for folks with ADHD and other cognitive differences.
AI-deas for an AI future
Julia Falkowski
Principal Content Designer, Intuit Futures
Zip Lehnus
Senior Content Designer, SBSEG Apollo
Nicolle Merrill
Principal Product Designer, SBSEG Customer Success
Patricia Swesey
Content Design Manager, Platform Design
Great AI experiences need great content designers like us. In this session, we’ll get hands-on with the latest and greatest strategies for content-based generative experiences. We’ll explore this rapidly-evolving landscape and work together with prompt settings and strategies to get great generative outputs.
A love letter to content design
Adam Beasley
Senior Product Designer, QuickBooks Online Advanced
Designing content across working teams can be challenging and sometimes product designers don’t show content designers the love! My goal is to make sure everyone knows how deeply valued their work is, and how lost we are without you.
Building trust quickly with partners
Heather Parrish
Content Designer, SBSEG Business Tax
Content designers often move from team to team and project to project quickly. That’s why we have to build influence—and trust—at speed. In this session, we’ll discuss and apply some specific strategies that can help you hit the gas on a short on-ramp with a new team—or even accelerate with the one you’ve got.
Content design and engineering: better together
Moderator: Brooke Hatfield (Principal Designer, Mailchimp)
Panelists: Milica Mijatović, Maxwell Reich, Lee Anna McGuire, and Isaac Kwon
We often talk about how to work with interaction or visual designers, but engineers are vital partners and powerful advocates for our work too.
Come listen to a couple of content designer/engineer duos talk about what successful collaboration has looked like for them. They’ll also share tips on how you, too, can increase your impact through relationship-building.
Dear future self: making dreams a reality
Sara Hayden
Senior Content Designer, QuickBooks Online Advanced
It’s the year 2033. You’re on the cover of a magazine. What’s your story, and what does the world know you for? By the end of this session, you’ll have a goal and steps to help you achieve it. Bring a few sheets of paper and something to write with.
Demystifying D4D
Jennifer Christian
Principal Content Designer, Intuit Innovation Practices
We all know we’re supposed to use D4D, but sometimes it seems time consuming, or outside the realm of the normal workday, or like we need some special expertise. This session will show you how anyone can use D4D quickly, daily, and easily.
Drawing stuff with Zip: season 2
Zip Lehnus
Senior Content Designer, SBSEG Apollo
Back by popular demand! Zip will show how sketching can fuel problem solving. Learn how to say “I’m drawing this banana for work!” Dust off your sketchpad—there will be an activity.
How tips from famous writers can help us design better products
Jessica Torres
Senior Content Designer, SBSEG Workforce Solutions
“Kill your darlings.” “Write backwards.” “Write drunk, edit sober.”
During this talk, we’ll dive into tried-and-true tips, controversial tricks, and misattributed quotes on writing to understand how we might apply them to product design.
Improv skills for prompt writing
Elizabeth Beasley
Senior Content Designer, Platform Design
Did you know writing AI prompts is exactly like directing an improv show? Find out how to use the power of “yes, and” to put a different spin on your prompt-writing when you get in a rut.
Joyful scripting: Empowering your craft with language models
Vivek Srinivasan
Principal Design Technologist, SBSEG Design Technology
Nicolle Merrill
Principal Product Designer, SBSEG Customer Success
Have you ever wished for tools to simplify and accelerate the routine aspects of your work? Would you like to create these tools yourself? Learn how to use language models as a tool and a tool creator to streamline your work, so that you can focus on the creative aspects. Together, we’ll explore how to add joy and script away the boring.
Kind words for word nerds
Christine Yoo
Content Designer, QuickBooks
Flex your most valued muscle (word-noggin) to build people up. A feel-good game to play with teammates with one goal: call out the greatness in each other.
Less persuading, more influencing
Sarah Mohs
Principal Content Architect, SBSEG Content Systems
The most successful designer in the room isn’t necessarily the most experienced, the most senior, or the most charismatic. You can lead and influence from wherever you are. We’ll chat about what influence really is (and isn’t), and identify 3 ways you can start flexing your influence muscle with your colleagues.
Let’s talk shop
Meet up and break out! We’ll gather into small groups to chat about hot topics. Your group chooses which subjects get you most fired up.
Great convos + new content pals = half an hour of awesomeness.
Lorem Endum
Vidhika Bansal, Elizabeth Beasley, Lauren Jackson
Alas, all good things must come to an end! Join your organizers and hosts for a final closing session with reflections, prizes, and maybe even some words of wisdom.
Morning reflection: Where we are
Vidhika Bansal
Group Manager, SBSEG Content Design
How does what you’re doing these days compare to what you’d like to be doing?
We’ll do a super easy exercise to help you take stock of just that. You might even be inspired to start bridging any gaps you notice!
Morning reflection: Where we’re going
Vidhika Bansal
Group Manager, SBSEG Content Design
If you could share some words with future you, what would they be? In this session, we’ll take some time to find out. (Zero prep required! Sharing will be 100% optional.)
Outside Voice: Stop the presses
Facilitator: Rob Jacques (Content Design Strategist, TurboTax)
Breaking news: we don’t have enough fun. But today you will. Sharpen your writing skills for the who, what, when, where, and wtf?
When poetry and content design walk into a bar
Paul Hoy
Senior Content Designer, QuickBooks Online Advanced Mid-Market
Poetry and UX content are both about communicating human experience, so let’s explore where poetic forms and content design elements overlap. We’ll do some fun exercises to see how deep and insightful you can get with your craft (whether it’s poetry or UX!).
