7 Reasons Why You Should Attend UXCamp Switzerland

 

UXCamp is an ad-hoc event that takes place in several countries around the world, including Switzerland. The focus of the event is on user experience (UX), and anyone with an interest in UX is welcome to attend.

I had the pleasure of attending UXCamp in Zurich, Switzerland. My first time was so memorable, I came back the next year and brought friends! Here are a few reasons why I think you should attend UXCamp Switzerland.

 

1. It breaks the conventional format of a conference.

UXCamp is an "unconference," which means that it is loosely structured and does not follow the conventional format of most conferences. More specifically, it is a "BarCamp," which is an event led by the participants.

There are numerous benefits to attending an unconference. For one, it fosters creativity and innovation. By creating an open environment, participants are more likely to speak up and engage with others.  Not to mention, the casual atmosphere makes participants, such as myself, feel more comfortable.

But don't worry, the event isn't completely unstructured. Otherwise, it would be chaos. At the start of the conference, participants pitch an idea for a session. These elevator-style pitches are limited to 1-minute.

After each pitch, organizers turn to the audience and ask, "How many of you would be interested in attending this session?" Audience members indicate their interest by raising their hands. Finally, the session topics are written on a piece of paper and added to the event schedule.

 
 

Sessions are 45-minutes in length and span across the day. Because sessions overlap, participants must choose which ones to attend and plan their schedule accordingly. Session topics range from user research, design strategy, product design, front-end development and more. However, the overarching theme is still user experience.

If you ask me, anyone who influences the experience of a product or service belongs at UXCamp, and this is not exclusive to designers. I want to see more people from business, marketing, sales, or customer service attending UXCamp.  Believe it or not, these people also contribute to the user experience and have some perspective to offer.

 

2. It encourages active participants.

At UXCamp there are no spectators allowed. Otherwise, who would jump out of their chair and pitch a session topic? It is up to the participants to craft the schedule of events for UXCamp.

If there aren't enough participants, the organizers will turn to the audience and encourage them to take a chance. At this point, the room becomes very quiet and people look around at each other. Even I whisper to my friends, “Should I do it?” All I need is a few post-its...”

That's the wonderful thing about UXCamp. You don't necessarily need to prepare something beforehand. You can host an impromptu workshop or a discussion, which is something I felt more comfortable doing. There are even prizes for participating! This year, my husband won a license to Axure RP and kindly gave it to me.

 

3. You get valuable feedback from experts.

Perhaps you have a design framework you want to experiment with or a business idea you want to test. What better way to get feedback than presenting your ideas in a session? UXCamp attracts many experts in the UX field and if you're lucky, some might even attend your session.

There are several session formats to choose from:

 

Presentation Format

This session format may include slides, video, or even a live demo. One presentation I particularly enjoyed was The Big Shift, which provided a glimpse into future of design and suggested the role UX designers will play.

 
 

I also enjoyed this demonstration about augmented reality, where the entire auditorium was transformed into Smurfs: The Lost Village.

 
 

 

Workshop Format

This year I decided to host a workshop about the steps for a successful customer journey.  My goal was to make the workshop as interactive as possible and give the audience members a chance to participate. In my experience, “showing” and not “telling” is one of the best ways to teach something. 

 
 

My workshop attendees could pick which product or service to focus on. I simply needed a volunteer from the audience to interview about his/her experience with the product or service.

Thankfully a volunteer stepped right up. We created a journey map for her experience booking a flight online, and we evaluated her emotions at each stage of the journey. 

After identifying a number of pain points in her journey, we turned to the audience for creative solutions to these pain points. The key was to think outside of the box and not become biased by the existing product or design.

 

Discussion Format

Another acceptable session format is a discussion. Participants can pitch a topic for a discussion they feel particularly passionate about. My husband led a discussion about collaboration methods between designers and developers.

If speaking in front of people isn't your thing, there are other ways to get valuable feedback. One way is by simply being active in the sessions. Another way is by sharing your thoughts and experiences on social media or by writing a blog post.

 

4. It attracts the right people.

After attending several design events in Zurich, you start to see the same people. Some of them happen to be leading influencers and experts in the UX design community. It’s a good sign when these people attend an event and even better when they return the next year.

UXCamp attracts these types of people and gives others a chance to learn from them. Many of them host sessions and give professional feedback to other participants. This is what makes UXCamp particularly valuable to me.

 

5. It's the perfect place for networking.

The design community is very small in Zurich, and everyone seems to know everyone. So UXCamp is the perfect place to network, especially if you're working in Switzerland.

At UXCamp, there is a very creative icebreaker. On each person's name tag, you will find an interesting phrase.

 
 

Upon signing up for UXCamp on Eventbrite, you are requested to submit a bold or controversial statement you might like to speak about. When I got to the event, I had no idea this would be on my name tag. 

Last year, my statement was:

Including designers in upper-level management and involving them in business strategy. 

And this year:

It is impossible to design a great UX for bad content. Producing quality content is key.

Both started very interesting discussions. Not only was this a great icebreaker, but also it encouraged people to step outside their comfort zones.

 

6. It could land you a job

The chances are high that you will make a valuable connection at UXCamp, which could lead to a job or other business opportunities in the future. You might even make some long-lasting friendships!

 

7. It's completely free.

Thanks to all of the sponsors, UXCamp is completely free. If you're interested in joining, you can check out the event page for more information.

Hope to see you next year!

 
 
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Design, EventsChristy Blumconferences, design, user experience, product design, ux design, ux, customer experience, cx, conference, service designComment