Some time last year, a post on Linkedin by Peter Boersma announcing the first Dutch Enterprise UX conference in Utrecht. It was dead cheap with a bunch of interesting speakers, but they had me at “Enterprise UX.” …and I knew…this is my crowd.
“Enterprise UX is what we design for our colleagues, it’s designing the software that they use to do their work. It is very gratifying because you get to improve a persons workflow and that’s user delight for you.“
Organizing committee Enterprise UX
After a few hugs, waves and handshakes, I sat for the first speaker. Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing Vitaly Friedman. The man behind Smashing Magazine, after all these years, is still one of the most influential online magazines. He was great, ever so much the nerd I thought he was. It was a great start to the day; I felt right at home, geeking over tables, forms, and weird breadcrumb trails.
The speakers and discussion panel from NS, Politie Nederland and PostNL all revealed some of the struggles we all feel on a day-to-day basis and were great conversation starters amongst the crowd. Another topic that was much discussed is the “Design needs a seat at the table”. I will create a post dedicated to this topic, it is not very straight forward.
This day turned out to be a massive UX reunion with former colleagues and all the familiar faces from the Dutch UX scene.
The highlight of the day was – for many – Astrid Poot (Goedmaken.org). Thinker, maker, and blue-collar philosopher (and a bit punk). A few weeks later I am still buzzing from her words. On philosophy, ethics, anger and the imposter syndrome (which led to a collective sigh of the crowd). I was nice to meet her and received my copy of her DIY Ethics Manual (you can order your own here goedmaken.org/index.php/2023/11/02/diy-ethiek-handboek-gedrukt/).
Thanks for reading. You are amazing, you know that, right?!