During this year’s UX Days, we covered topics such as inclusion, accessibility, sustainability, health, and ethics. All of these topics are highly relevant to UX, to Visma, to the tech industry, and to the world. We ideated on how we might make a positive impact in these areas through our work. And, we took part in activities that helped us gain new perspectives.
What is UX Days?
Every year, we gather all the designers in Visma for two days of knowledge sharing, learning, and inspiration. It’s one of the most inspiring and collaborative events of the year!
To fit more closely with the theme, we tried out a new concept this year. The first day, all events were held onsite in six locations: Copenhagen, Haarlem, Oslo, Stockholm, Tampere, and Timișoara. The second day was an online event. This way, we could consider both environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and mental health in the planning of the event.
Take a look at this promo video to see what all the excitement was about:
How designers can contribute to a better world
On day one, each location held themed workshops, created by local organisers. These workshops at the onsite events included accessibility testing of Visma products, a talk on ethics in design, persona creation using AI, persona and user journey creation with sustainability taken into account, and much more.
In addition, the activities in each location included impaired mini golf, accessibility assessments of museums, visits to city archives, team building exercises, and photo challenges.
On day two, we met up online to round off UX Days with internal and external speakers. Our talented roster of keynote speakers talked about the biggest challenges in sustainability, inclusive design and the future of accessibility, inclusion and health, and sustainable UX. And we all walked away with some inspiring answers to the following questions:
- How can I further incorporate sustainable design in my everyday work?
- How can I make accessibility part of my design process?
- How can we create inclusive products?
- How can we build more sustainable digital experiences?
Some really great lessons learned
After the event, we talked with one of our brilliant designers, Gillian McGee, about what she learned. As the UX Lead, Service Owner, and Group Manager for Visma.net, she knows the importance of creating great user experiences. Here’s what she had to say:
Gillian, what did you enjoy most about the UX Days 2023 event?
“The theme of this year’s UX days was very thought provoking. It showed us that, with the right focus, we can make effective and important changes that will really change our users’ daily lives and the communities we work in for the better. I enjoyed taking the time to pause and creatively think and work on solutions to make this happen with my inspiring UX colleagues in Visma.”
What was your biggest takeaway that you will or already have applied to your job?
“I’ve really begun thinking and analysing how we can make our product more sustainable. We’re already looking for changes that will cut down on our energy usage in my team, and I find that encouraging as I already see a mindset shift spreading quickly. We all want to make changes for the better.”
Did you learn anything that surprised you?
“I’m grateful to say I learnt a lot of surprising things, for example a new ideation technique to quickly work on solutions I hadn’t tried before and details such as the energy a single email uses. Besides the great material over the days, I also met a rich, friendly community of colleagues that really gave me fantastic energy and lots of positivity.”
“I’m always so impressed by the creative minds in Visma’s UX community that love to support and inspire each other – it’s wonderful!”
Gillian McGee
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