Sophia Prater reminds us that we’re all pioneers in a field that is changing every minute. She encourages us to use forcing functions by getting the gig first, and then figuring it out. She introduces us to a design philosophy she pioneered called Object-Oriented UX which is all about taking really complex problems, and breaking them down into parts and organizing them. She also reminds us that in order to be successful in this field, we must become lifelong learners.
Sophia Prater is the Chief Evangelist of Object-Oriented UX (OOUX), a methodology she started popularizing in 2013. She teaches OOUX methodologies at conferences, within companies, and through 1-on-1 coaching. She loves mentoring— She leads the Atlanta chapter of Ladies that UX and she created the UX Hustle Summit Conference and she hosts the UX Hustle Podcast. Before starting Rewired, she led UX efforts for clients such as AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Athena Healthcare, Coca-Cola, the IRS, and the Australian Tax Office. As a UX designer at CNN.com, she designed the responsive 2012 election night experience viewed by over 200 million. In 2016, she returned (as a consultant) to do it again. Today, she focuses on bringing the magic of OOUX to companies and teams around the world. Fun fact: She’s super into city planning and urban design for walkability and public transit (the UX of a city!) — she’s been car-free in Atlanta for about 10 years!
Jessica Ivins schools us on the critical value of a growth mindset in UX Design. She teaches us how to learn how to learn. She enlightens us as to why it’s always better to generalize before specializing. She reminds us introverts that we can only truly succeed by extroverting. She also reveals how the best tool recommendations can only come when it’s clear what one is trying to learn.
Jessica Ivins is a user experience (UX) designer and faculty member at Center Centre, the UX design school in Chattanooga, TN, where she prepares students to be industry-ready UX designers.
Jessica dedicates much of her time to the UX community. She founded the Chattanooga UX Design Meetup, the first community organization for UX design in Chattanooga. She speaks internationally at conferences such as SXSW, Midwest UX, IA Summit, and UX Cambridge (UK). She publishes UX articles on her blog and on Medium. She’s also a voracious reader of design books, business books, and novels.
Before joining Center Centre, Jessica worked in the Philadelphia area as a senior experience designer at Happy Cog and the lead UX designer at AWeber. While in Philadelphia, she spoke at dozens of meetups and local events. She taught classes for Girl Develop It, led UX Book Club, and served on the board of Philadelphia’s UX community, PhillyCHI.
Fun fact: She’s loved unicorns since she was a small child, long before they were hipster cool. 🙂
