The buzz was mostly about Lean, and moving beyond Lean to additional processes like Kanban and Cynefin. UX practitioners have always placed an emphasis on data collection, which meshes well with Lean’s focus on validated results and the scientific method. In workshops, we learned multiple new ways of looking at old problems – new methods of defining personas, feature ideation, and experience mapping that lend themselves to the Lean/Agile iteration oriented style of product development. The lectures were a mix of real life stories from practitioners in the field, and process oriented discussions of new methods.

My takeaway was that the core of Lean is the scientific method – hypothesize, test, analyze, repeat. If you keep sight of that core, there will always be new and better ways to collect new and better data. Rather than focusing on a dogmatic framework, a good Lean practitioner focuses on taking the absolute best possible information around the feedback loop, which in turn makes the results and learning that much more useful.

Other highlights from the conference included a lecture by Will Evans of TLC Labs about how new language and vocabularies encourage innovation in mature companies, and a lecture by Ellen McGrath and Josh Wexler on the influence of psychology and human connections on rapid business development.

Some Slideshows, Notes, and Videos from the Conference: