Amazingly, we were able to cover all of this in just under an hour!
Thanks to the co-founders of An Event Apart, Jeffrey Zeldman + Eric Meyer for letting me share a stage I’ve revered for over a decade now, thanks to Toby, Marci, Mike & company for the amazing work behind the scenes at every AEA event. Also, very special thanks to Todd Libby for capturing this amazing 4K video on his new iPhone he got just to do this for me. 🤗
Braden Kowitz reveals how human-centered design has everything to do with the humans we design and build with every day. He advocates for a genuinely supportive environment where it’s okay to be who you are, and where you’re encouraged to speak up, and openly share how you’re truly feeling. He reminds us to acknowledge that life isn’t perfect, and neither are we…and that’s also okay. He articulates the origin story and evolution of design patterns and explains why ‘ugly’ may sometimes appear to win. He also challenges us to consider how the metrics we typically depend on, may not be telling us the complete story.
Braden is a Product Designer and Co-Founder at Range Labs, where he makes software that helps teams work better together. Prior to starting Range, Braden was a design partner at Google Ventures, where he founded the first design team at a venture capital fund and co-developed the Design Sprint process. Braden was also an early designer at Google and led the design of several products including Gmail, GSuite, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Trends. He’s really into bicycle advocacy lately.
