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Designing conference experiences that matters to your audience
Raven Chai, UXSG community
I’m a
UXperson
who is involved in a…
consulting biz ground-up community non-profit professional association
Organiser of 4 conferences in Singapore, Shanghai and London
Share 3 stories of my personal journey in event organising
Reference: http://www.fastcompany.com/52831/creating-design-centric-culture
How the idea of organising a conference came about in the first place (year 2011)?
1Story
The triggers…
“Why do I started to feel indifferent about attending these events and the experiences are kind of similar; uninspiring,
impersonal and unfulfilling?”
… after attending a few hundreds of events
Started the habit of taking notes, observations on fellow attendees’ reactions and engage in meaningful discussions in every event I have attended or spoke in
Having a sense (and validates) whether a conference is needed in the first place
what if no one buys the ticket???
Implications > fears, anxiety and stepping into unknown
Live with no regrets. Life’s too short, take a chance.
Making the dream a reality, turning thoughts into action.
2Story
Assemble a team of like-minded leaders and supporters
Understand your users (audience) - What they hope to learn, what are their challenges.
Conduct user research to validate hypotheses, gather honest opinions and feedback from attendees.
Curate a holistic experiences as if you are inviting your loved ones and best friends to attend the event
Think about content, speakers, marketing, operation, f&b etc Yes but design it from a human-centric point of view
Marketingseek to inform and educate, not to sell.
17 personalised eDMs from pre to post event
Welcome pack for your speakersHelp them to understand your audience and perform to their very best
OperationTransmit the passion to the venue ‘landlord”, and what it means to have a win-win partnership
Food & BeveragesImagine yourself as one of the attendees, what would you love to have for food & beverages
Community SpiritWhen you do the right thing with sincerity and authenticity, your audience will response with unconditional love and support.
Reward your volunteersThey are the people who makes things happen
Most importantly - you must have fun!! despite how difficult it is to run a conference event
Define success as how much we learnt from the experiences
3Story
De-brief to learn from each other and identify areas for improvement
One of our most successful experiments: “Super Garang Early Bird Ticket” concept
Continue to engage with your audience to add value to their professional lives
Keep the things that are successful, find ways to improve others.
7Design Principles
Making conferences feel personal again1
“Theorganiserstreateduslikepeople,notnumbers.Ihadfunlearningwithotherattendeesandwasabletonetworkwiththerightpeople.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameotoko/4334357860/
Investing in things that matter to people2
“Itfeelsgreatwheneverythingworkswell–Wi-Fi,goodcoffee,deliciousfood servedfast,slidesavailablequickly&keynoterecordings.WhatelsecouldIaskfor?”
http://www.ifood.tv/blog/tips-for-planning-a-food-photo-shoot
I feel at home3
“Itwassoawesomemeetingotherswiththesamepassionorexperiencesasmyself.IamnotaloneinthejourneytobetterUX.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cyromasci/9872083473/
I know what I signed up for4
“Ihadsufficientinformationtomakeaninformedchoiceonworkshopsandfeltconfidenttheyweregoingtobeworthpayingfor.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/comode/2420378711/in/photolist-4FT5gr-dNgPKa-5CRsuP-5KVtSt-Bu5oM-8puUm-dUjaP-dt2a1D-5D1E2X-9d7Lwu-dt29RK-5uNfgC-8em1zq-7MvT8r-5noFd7-x1YQo-ecSnBf-adnuwZ-c5jgoj-gHqCpf-dgKsnQ-k9Jh5-
I feel guided all the time5
“NeverdidIoncefeellost.Therewasalwaysclearsignageorsomeonearoundtohelp.IknewwheretogoforhelpifIneededit.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameotoko/4334357860/
Approachable, inspiring, engaging6
“IfeltlikeIcouldchangetheworldaftertheconference.Thespeakersjoinedusfordrinks,itwasnicetoseetheyarehumantoo.”
http://www.theworldspeaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/group-of-happy-people-2.jpg
Delight in the details7
“Lovedhowmuchthoughtwentintotheconference–thereweremanynicesurpriseswhichIdidnotexpect.”
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jirka_matousek/9419564765/in/set-72157634894819171
Conclusions
Always organise a conference event from a human-centered perspective.
Assemble a multi-disciplinary team to run the event with a product life-cycle mindset
Always focus on your users - audience, speakers, partners, volunteers
Create impact beyond the event itself, focus on what people can take away from your event.
Evolve the team’s thinking into “To go fast is to go slow"
Start . Stop . Continue
So the answer is “YES”, conference experiences can be designed
