Getting Your Buy-In: Speaking to Stakeholders & Winning Them Over

Getting buy-in seems like an endless battle. It's especially hard in a wave of re-organizations. Now, more than ever, it's imperative to get buy-in to ship value quickly and get out of our own way to improve experiences. We will discuss how to effectively communicate with key stakeholders, how to apply design thinking and user-centricity outside of Product, and we will apply some UX laws / psychology influence our interactions with budget-owners and our tech peers. What really works and why?

September 19, 2024

6:00 am

7:00 am

PST

TRACKS:

Career Growth & Leadership

ALL SPEAKERS

Kevin Hawkins

Director, Head of Design & Research, Amenitiz

Kevin Hawkins is a Product Design & Research Director based in Barcelona after living & working across the USA, Europe, and Asia. With over 17 years of experience in product design, UI engineering, and data visualization, he leads multidisciplinary teams of designers, researchers, front-end engineers, and product marketers to deliver intuitive, high-converting solutions. Previously, Kevin was the Global UX Director at Glovo, Director of Product Design at BookClub, and UX Team Lead at Booking.com, where he managed award-winning design teams of up to 105, launched innovative products, and scaled customer-centric strategies. He is also a seasoned instructor and global public speaker with courses at GrowthTribe, General Assembly, and Georgetown University. As a gay, Liberian-American, he is passionate about building diverse and inclusive teams, and he enjoys traveling to learn from different cultures.

MORE SESSIONS

Navigating AI Transformation: The Why, What, and How

This session will share key insights from leading our company's AI initiatives, focusing on four core pillars: Enablement, Empowerment, Enhancement, Envisioning. Drawing from practical experience, the presentation will outline strategies for integrating AI to streamline operations, enhance product functionality, and prepare for industry shifts. A central framework of this approach is the iceberg model from systems theory. This model emphasizes the unseen drivers—such as underlying processes and attitudes—that are crucial for impactful AI integration. We'll explore how this model informs each of the four pillars, creating a comprehensive approach to AI transformation. Join us to learn how to not just adopt AI, but to create a culture and infrastructure that maximizes its potential in your organization.

Jacky Ma

Director Data Science, Remerge GmbH

See details

AI & Emerging Technologies

Unlock Your Team's Potential with Coaching

In this insightful session, explore the transformative power of utilizing professional coaching techniques as part of successful design leadership. We will delve into the essentials of professional coaching, how they are both distinct from and complement traditional mentoring or managing, and how these techniques can significantly elevate your team's performance and innovation. This talk will equip design leaders with practical strategies to foster a culture of continuous growth and empowerment in their organizations. Whether you're leading a small team or a large design department, learn how to apply these coaching principles to not only enhance individual capabilities but also drive organizational success.

Jim Lane

Sr. Director of Product Design, CNN

See details

Groundbreaking Work

The 3 main design careers you can have in a big company and how they interoperate

Product (including spatial), Content and Service: let's explore these three different but connected design domains that coexist in the creative space of big companies. We will cover: - What makes them unique? How do they interact with each other? - Which skills fits most for these tracks VS other supporting roles (UXR, PM, Engineer)? - What soft skills you should also have or improve to make yourself a good candidate?

Federico Francioni

Head of Digital Experience & Content, Meta

See details

Career Growth & Leadership

Design Leadership Unplugged: Leading Teams, Shaping Futures

Top design leaders share insights on guiding creative teams, fostering innovation, and driving impactful change in the dynamic world of design leadership.

Kevin Hawkins

Director, Head of Design & Research, Amenitiz

Wolfgang Bremer

Design Executive, Fortune 500s & Global Startups

Carlsson Chee

VP/Digital Solutions UX Lead, Standard Chartered

Mario Van der Meulen

Design Innovation Consultant, mvdm designs

Megan Dell

Senior Director of UX, Vista

See details

Groundbreaking Work