Program

Maria Giudice

AUTHOR, DESIGN LEADER, EXECUTIVE COACH

For three decades, creative teams and business leaders have sought the provocative vision and mentorship of Maria Giudice. After founding the pioneering experience design firm Hot Studio and leading global teams at Facebook and Autodesk, Maria’s mission today is to build the next generation of creative leaders. Through one-on-one coaching, group coaching, and team-building workshops, Maria unlocks the potential hidden in executives and the people they lead. A popular speaker at design and business conferences, Maria is the author of four design books, including “Rise of the DEO: Leadership by Design”, and “Changemakers: How Leaders Can Design Change in an Insanely Complex World.” 

  • Becoming a Changemaker by leading with design

    Although the progress has been slow and steady, design leaders have risen from the ranks of being responsible for the execution of design concepts, to having a seat at every level of the business — from management, to leadership, to executive leadership, to the Board room.

    And at every level of that career ladder, roles have changed and new skills need to be developed. From designing products to designing culture. By treating every problem like a design problem, we can use design as a vehicle for change in any organization.

    As changemakers rise in the ranks of business, there have been many successes and failures as these new sets of skills are developed while “learning on the job.” In our effort to share these experiences with others, and in collaboration with over 40 leaders in multiple industries, our new book, Changemakers was written to provide a playbook for designers and non-designers looking to drive change at work, at home, and in their communities.

    This presentation will cover the common mistakes made by changemakers as they navigate the messy processes and people issues involved in driving change in organizations.

    Key topics will include:

    Determining the ground conditions needed for success,

    How to build supporters, and minimize detractors

    Recommended tools and techniques used for changemaking

  • How to understand and work with stakeholders

    A stakeholder is an individual, group, or entity that has an interest or concern in a particular project, organization, or system. Stakeholders can be affected by or can affect the outcomes of a project and they may have different levels of influence and importance. Common stakeholders include employees, customers, suppliers, investors, government agencies, and the local community.

    Working with stakeholders involves identifying and understanding their interests, expectations, and concerns and developing strategies to ensure that their needs are taken into account in decision-making processes. Effective stakeholder engagement is often crucial for the success of projects and organizations, as it helps build support, manage expectations, and address potential conflicts.

    In this workshop, we will:

    Identify direct and indirect stakeholders

    Learn how to use and create a stakeholder map

    Develop strategies to deepen stakeholder engagement

Katrina Alcorn

GLOBAL DESIGN EXECUTIVE

Katrina Alcorn is a design executive and award-winning author. She has built two highly successful design practices in her 20+ years in the tech industry. The first was the UX practice at Hot Studio, a boutique agency in San Francisco (bought by Facebook in 2013). The second was at Autodesk, where she centralized the digital design teams and drove a 5x increase in global e-commerce, and measurable improvements in customer satisfaction.  

Most recently, Katrina led one of the world’s largest design practices at IBM. IBM’s 3,000+ designers create software, hardware, brand, and web experiences powered by AI and used by millions worldwide. Under Katrina’s leadership, IBM Design drove major improvements to customer satisfaction and won a record number of product design awards.  

Katrina is also the author of an award-winning book, “Maxed Out: American Moms on the Brink,” about the challenges mothers face in the workplace, and she’s an advocate for workplace culture that supports the reality of modern-day families. 

  • Harnessing the Power of Design in Your Business

  • Harnessing the Power of Design in Your Business

    This interactive workshop is for business leaders who want to leverage their design function to become a true strategic differentiator for their business. We will conduct hands on activities to help business leaders understand the specific actions they can take to ensure design success. Topics/activities we will cover:

    • Assess state of design in your business today

    • Identify areas of improvement

    • Create an action plan

Michelle Morrison

SENIOR STAFF UX PROGRAM MANAGER, GOOGLE

Michelle Morrison is a design ops pro who loves helping teams ship ambitious work. She believes that clarity is a gift and a superpower of design operations. 

She cut her teeth in early startup life at Square and went on to build world class design operations teams at various stage companies included Facebook, Dropbox, and Twitter before joining Google. 

Michelle now leads UX Program Management for Generative AI in Search where she and her team are looking to improve the information journeys of billions of people using new large language model technology. 

Outside of the office, Michelle is passionate about community and creativity. She has served on the board and various committees of organizations like Creativity Explored, SFMOMA, and New Museum. She teaches through Design Operations Assembly and has made guest lecture appearances at CCA, RISD, and Academy of Art.

  • The Great AI Redesign

  • The Great AI Redesign — Embracing change in innovative organizations

    We’ve entered a new, fast moving era of innovation. The tools, techniques, and mindsets of the past must evolve as we embrace new technologies and ways of working with generative AI. However, integrating AI into the fabric of established businesses presents multifaceted challenges, spanning technical, strategic, and cultural adaptation. In this workshop we’ll look at various change management strategies to champion change, overcome resistance, and cultivate new practices that make AI an advantage within your organization.

    Themes:

    Managing change
    Strategic alignment and influence
    Process design
    Measuring impact

Kevin Yuda

SR. DIRECTOR OF UX, GE HEALTHCARE

Kevin is the Senior Director of User Experience at GE HealthCare—the largest global healthcare company with revenues of $20.0 billion USD and 50,000+ employees. In his role, Kevin is responsible for leading the Edison Design System and serves as Global Creative Director overseeing software across the company. 

The Edison Design System is a library of validated design, code, and standards for creating consistent, modern, and intuitive health software. This design system is adopted by 150 products and supports workstation software, embedded hardware UI screens of all sizes, cloud, and touch devices. 

Kevin has held leadership positions at Mattel, overseeing brand design for Hot Wheels, and at Nike as design director for baseball, basketball, and volleyball equipment. These companies with their storied histories, provide both challenges and opportunities. Kevin has become proficient at navigating these to bring compelling design change to organizations. 

  • Managing and driving adoption of a design system in a complex org structure with legacy products and processes.

  • What your team and organization needs to take into account when managing and driving adoption of a design system in a complex org structure (with legacy products and processes).