An Appreciative Coffee Talk - Designing from strengths, not just problems

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We as UX professionals have a problem. We have lots of problems in fact. We're accustomed to reflexively looking for what problems exist as a path to improvement and that in itself, is a problem. By focusing so much on what's not working and then designing from there, is it possible that we're only finding and solving problems?

What's possible if we dream and design from a place of what is alive and working for people?

We're excited to share with you our experiences incorporating techniques from Appreciative Inquiry into our research projects. Appreciative Inquiry is an evidence-based innovation system that assumes and maintains a positive bias from the beginning and looks for what strengths exist as a foundation for design. It's not just more enjoyable to do so; there's lots of neuroscience behind the benefits of creating from a positive orientation. We've found from experience that shifting the conversations in this intentionally positive direction has dramatic, far-reaching effects on the resulting interactions and solutions.

Join us for an enlivening coffee chat where we'll introduce the method and provide some experiences to try it out for yourself. Hang out after for some live acoustic music!