ALAN COOPER

Cooper Co-Founder, Repeat Author, Father of Visual Basic, 40-Year Industry Leader

Alan Cooper co-founded Cooper in 1992. He is widely known for his role in humanizing technology through his groundbreaking work in software design. He is also the author of the books About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design (editions 1-4) and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum: Why High-Tech Products Drive Us Crazy and How to Restore the Sanity. Widely recognized as the “Father of Visual Basic,” Alan also created the goal-directed design methodology and invented personas as practical interaction design tools to create high-tech products that delight users’ sensibilities.

“The future,” Alan reminds us, “is right in front of us, unobscured by anything other than our inability to recognize it.”

Alan attended the College of Marin to study architecture.

Company: Cooper
LinkedIn: Alan Cooper
Twitter: @MrAlanCooper
Tumblr: MrAlanCooper
Medium: medium.com/@mralancooper
Wiki: Alan Cooper Biography

Location: San Francisco, CA

GRACE HWANG

VP of Design & XD Carrot Sense, Faculty Stanford Medicine + Former Assoc. Partner IDEO

As the VP of Design and Experience at digital health start-up, Carrot Sense, Grace is combining technology and behavioral science to help people stop smoking. Grace has spent over two decades helping start-ups, non-profits, Fortune 500 companies, and the public sector use design for bettering lives and growing business. Prior to Carrot Sense, Grace spent 12 years at the global innovation consultancy IDEO, most recently as the Executive Director of Health. There, she led multi-disciplinary teams to craft physical and digital experiences, products, services, and brands in the Health, Food and Beverage, Consumer Electronics, Retail, and Aerospace industries. This included significant work with Planned Parenthood, recognized by Fast Company with the 2016 Innovation By Design award in Health.

Grace graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Product Design and Mechanical Engineering. She teaches a course in Stanford’s School of Medicine focused on creating presence between clinicians and patients, and re-thinking the human experience in medicine.

Company: Carrot Sense
LinkedIn: Grace Hwang

Location: Grace resides in Menlo Park with her husband, also a designer, and two kids, who can’t seem to escape from their parents’ incessant push for prototyping.

ITAI VONSHAK

GM & VP Wearables Intel + Former Head of Product Pebble, Head of Design LG, VP Design HP/Palm

Over his 20-year career, Itai has been a forward-thinking expert in design focused on bridging the gaps between design, engineering and business. Itai serves as the General Manager and Vice President of the Wearables Business Unit at Intel. Previously, he worked as Head of Product at Pebble and as the VP of Product and Design of webOS at HP\Palm (acquired by LG Electronics) to deliver webOS TV. Itai was also the co-founder of elements, a UX design and strategy firm focused on consumer products.

Itai holds a BA in Computer Science from The Academic College of Tel-Aviv, Yaffo.

Company: Wearables Intel
LinkedIn: Itai Vonshak
Twitter: vonsh

Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA

JENNY LAM

Design Dir. Amazon Devices + Former AIGA Board, Founder Jackson Fish Market, Creative Director Microsoft

She was previously co-founder of Jackson Fish Market, a small software startup having shipped dozens of software products in addition to partnering with small and large clients. Before Jackson Fish Market, Jenny worked at Microsoft from 2001–2007 as Creative Director of the Windows User Experience team shipping two versions of the Windows OS and 2 versions of MSN Explorer.

Jenny has served on the national board of directors for the AIGA and mentors national & local organizations like TechStars and Startup Weekend to foster the next generation of creative design talent headed for the tech industry. She was named one of the Top 100 Most Influential Women in Technology by the Puget Sound Business Journal and was honored on the 40 under 40 list of Seattle Business Leaders.

Jenny attended the University of Florida to study Advertising and the Portfolio Center for Design.

Company: Amazon, Jackson Fish Market
LinkedIn: Jenny Lam
Twitter: @helveticagirl

Location: When Jenny isn’t shipping product, she’s figuring out this parenting thing with her husband Adrian Klein and wrangling her twin 3-year-old girls, Sawyer and Seneca from beautiful Bainbridge Island, Wa.

KELLY CLARK

VP of Design at Smart Design, Formerly VP of Design + UX at Originate, Sr. Director Design College Board

Kelly is a seasoned creative leader with over 20 years of experience in user-centered design and brand experience. She leads the New York studio’s interaction design discipline to develop impactful and engaging digital products. Kelly has expertise in financial services, technology, retail, media and education. She has worked with a variety of clients, including Apple, Bank of America, Capital One, Discovery Channel, HP, Intel, Oracle and Williams-Sonoma.

Prior to joining Smart, Kelly served as VP of Design at Originate and ran her own award-winning digital design studio in San Francisco. She is a member of IxDA and AIGA, as well as UX mentorship programs. Her work has won numerous awards, including SxSW and Webby Award nominations, One Show Awards finalist, W3 Silver Award, WebAward Standard of Excellence, Forbes Best of the Web and others.

Kelly received her BFA in Graphic Design from California State University, Fullerton

Company: Smart Design
LinkedIn: Kelly Clark

Location: New York, NY

NICK FOSTER

Head of ID at X (Google X), Near Future Lab Partner + Former Designer Google, Nokia, Sony

Nick Foster is Head of Industrial Design at X (formerly Google X), and is a partner at the Near Future Laboratory, pioneering work in the field of Design Fiction embracing the future with all it’s wrinkles and bumps. He has been a designer and futurist for 20 years and has worked in advanced design roles for Sony, Nokia, Dyson amongst others. Nick is a co-author of “TBD Catalog: The Near Future’s Normal Ordinary Everyday”. His work has been published in the Alpine Review, Core77, Blueprint, BoingBoing, Wired and Stylus.

Nick holds a BSC in Product Design from the Brunel University London and an MA in Design Products from Royal College of Art.

Companies: X Company, , Near Future Laboratory
LinkedIn: Nick Foster
Twitter: @fosta
Website: HelloFosta.com

Location: Oakland, CA

SKYE LEE

Founder Stealth7, Advisor Pear VC + Former Head of UX at FB/OculusVR

Skye Lee is currently the Chief Design Consultant at Stealth7, which fittingly enough is currently in stealth mode. Before that Skye brought her UX design and product leadership to Oculus VR, where she led a team of world-class specialists in visual design, interaction design, audio design, Unity prototyping, user research and content strategy to sculpt new products and features.

Previously, she served as portfolio director and lead at IDEO, where she helped design the new digital voting machine for Los Angeles County. Before that, Skye has worked at some of the most successful companies in Silicon Valley such as Facebook, Netflix and PayPal to name a few. She also works with seed VCs as an advisor, executive coach and angel. In all of these roles, Skye’s overarching goal has been to help steer things towards the light side of the force, and be a change agent for good.

Skye holds a BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University.

Company: Stealth7, Pear VC
LinkedIn: Skye Lee
Twitter: stealthskye

Location: San Francisco, CA

THOMAS MARZANO

Global Head of Brand Experience at Philips, Blogger

As an all round creative Thomas’ goal has always been to create memorable experiences through imagination and design. He firmly believes that putting people at the center of the imagination is the only sustainable way to create a meaningful experience for people and achieve long term business relevance. During his 20 years as a professional creative, Thomas has developed many skills and gained a wide experience in different creative disciplines such as user experience, interaction design, product & service design, strategic & innovation design, communication, brand design and digital.

At Philips, Thomas has contributed to some of the award-winning strategic projects such as Living Memory, La Casa Prossima Futura, and Next Simplicity. The last few years he has been driving the design strategy of the global digital presence of Philips and most recently directed the refresh of the Philips Brand which was launched in 2013.

Thomas attended Fontys Hogescholen for his Post HBO in New Media.

Company: Philips
LinkedIn: Thomas Marzano
Twitter: @ThomasMarzano
Blog: marzano.nl

Location: Amsterdam Area, Netherlands

ADAM GLAZIER

Google Daydream UX Lead, Chromecast, IDEO, UX Awards Finalist

Adam Glazier leads UX and sound design across AR/VR projects at Google. While at Google, Adam has been the lead UX designer on Google Earth VR, Street View VR and other Daydream apps and system projects. Adam also helped bring Chromecast from conception to launch. Prior to Google, Adam was at IDEO designing products, services and sounds.

Throughout Adam’s career, he designed/directed sound and music with a UX lens for all of products he’s lead.
After hours, Adam is a passionate composer of experimental music.

LinkedIn: Adam Glazier
Twitter: @AdamGlazier,
SoundCloud: adamglazier

Location: Oakland, CA

ALESHA UNPINGCO

Google Daydream UX Designer, Google Ads & Commerce, Rubin Postaer and Associates, UX Awards Finalist

Alesha Unpingco is a VR/AR UX designer working on Google Daydream’s VR and AR Publishing team. Prior to Daydream, she designed interactive experiences for various Google Ads & Commerce tools, Honda, Acura, Intuit, startups, nonprofits, and higher education institutions. Finding innovative ways to use design and technology to mobilize communities, inspire education and empathy, and bring about positive social change has been the common thread in her experiences.

As a virtual reality prototyper, immersive design enthusiast, and Cardboard Expeditions Ambassador, Alesha continues to embrace her curious nature, love for limitless learning, and passion for using virtual and augmented reality to elevate the way people learn, connect, and create with each other.

LinkedIn: Alesha Unpingco
Twitter: @aleshalesha

Location: Mountain View, CA

ALEX FAABORG

Design Lead, Daydream Ecosystem, Google, UX Awards Finalist

Alex Faaborg is the design lead for Google Daydream’s VR and AR Publishing team. He has led the design of Android Wear, Google Now, and the Android System UI for KitKat. Prior to joining Google, Alex served at Mozilla as the principal designer on Firefox for five years. Alex has a masters degree from the MIT Media Lab where he researched artificial intelligence, intelligent agents, and context aware computing. Alex’s interactive design work is based on fundamentals of human cognition and perception, from his background in Cognitive Science and Information Science at Cornell University.

LinkedIn: Alex Faaborg

Location: Mountain View, CA

ANDRE LE

Google Earth VR UX Lead, Director of UX at Parsable, AR Design at HP, UX Awards Finalist

Andre Le currently leads UX on Google Earth VR, an award-winning immersive VR exploration application that allows people to experience the world from impossible perspectives. Andre has spent the last 6 years designing for immersive technologies—having worked extensively on an AR/mobile platform that brought real-time collaboration to industrial field workers as well as consumer AR applications that allowed people to replay their memories embedded in photos.

Andre holds a BS in Graphic Design from AICASD and a Masters degree in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University. His multidisciplinary background allows him to lead, research, design, and prototype for emerging technologies and cross-functional teams.

LinkedIn: Andre Le
Twitter: @andre_le

Location: Mountain View, CA

ANDREW ZANONI

Student at Savannah College of Art and Design, UX Awards Finalist

Andrew is a senior from Carol Stream, IL, pursuing degrees in both Industrial Design and Service Design. His passion for designing and building products began as a young boy designing cars for the future. It was only natural for Andrew to take his talents to the Savannah College of Art and Design to polish his skills. There, you will find him leading team projects that have become the standard the other students should follow. He leads by example and skill from both the design of a project to the building of the final product. Andrew recently lead a team that won the school’s Foam Core competition.

Finally, Andrew is a passionate designer who strives to learn new skills and methodologies to help him be even better at his craft. Outside of school, you will find Andrew’s design and user experience mind working to improve the customer experience at his part-time jobs.

LinkedIn: Andrew Zanoni

Location: Carol Stream, IL

BEVERLY MAY

Columbia Faculty, Digital Specialist for State of CA, Principal of Oxford Tech & the Concepts Lab, UX Awards Exec. Director

Beverly is the Executive Director of the UX Awards. She has 2 decades of experience in tech, product development and UX and has helped define and launch hundreds of new tech initiatives at agencies, publishers, startups, and in Peacekeeping at the UN. Beverly is faculty in Digital Analytics and Product Design at Columbia University and also teaches at U.C. Berkeley and General Assembly; is Senior Digital Specialist for the State of CA Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development; and has led The Concepts Lab theconceptslab.com and her own UX & product strategy consultancy, Oxford Tech since 2008, with a jaunt to Europe in 2015 as CTO & Head of Product at a social video mixing company in Berlin, Germany.

Beverly has an Executive MBA from the University of Oxford, a Master’s degree from NYU’s ITP Program, and a BA from University of Toronto. She is a triple EU- Canadian- US citizen and a regular educator and public speaker on UX, product management and analytics.

LinkedIn: Beverly May
Twitter: @uxawards, @oxfordtech

Location: New York NY and San Francisco CA

BRIAN BRAUNLICH

Product Manager at Springshot, UX Awards Finalist

Brian Braunlich has been a Product Manager for three years. At Springshot, he works with design and engineering to develop tools for blue-collar workers in the airline industry, with a goal of increasing efficiency and employee happiness. Prior to working at Springshot, he was the lead Product Manager at VigLink, focusing on increasing ad revenue for online content creators.

Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts Field Of Study Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California.

LinkedIn: Brian Braunlich

Location: San Francisco CA

BUSRA DEMIRCI

Senior UX Designer at Modernizing Medicine, UX Awards Finalist

Busra Demirci is a Senior UX Designer at Modernizing Medicine with over seven years of experience in the areas of User Experience Design, Information Architecture and Visual Design. Through her diverse experience, she has conducted user testing sessions with hundreds of users and gained in-depth knowledge of human computer interaction principles.

Busra currently focuses her work on leading Modernizing Medicine’s Mobile UX, Patient Engagement, EHR system and strategic initiatives. She has her degree in Computer Science, Marketing and Management Information Systems from Florida Atlantic University, in addition to multiple UX certifications such as Human-Computer Interaction and UI Animation. Busra is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Interaction Design and Information Architecture at the University of Baltimore.

LinkedIn: Busra Demirci
Twitter: @cmd_shiftbusra
Company LinkedIn: Modernizing Medicine
Company Twitter: @modmed
Company Facebook: Modernizing Medicine

Location: West Palm Beach FL

CAROLYN CHANDLER

Director of User Experience at Eight Bit Studios, Former Faculty at DePaul University + The Starter League, Repeat Author, UX Awards Finalist

Carolyn Chandler has been working in the field of User Experience Design for over 20 years, as an interaction designer, strategist, practice director, and educator. She co-authored “A Project Guide to UX Design” with Russ Unger and “Adventures in Experience Design” with Anna van Slee – an activity-oriented book uses games and short, playful lessons to take beginners through the experience design process. She has defined UX and UI related curricula for DePaul University, Northwestern University, DeVry University, The Starter League, Ascend Training, and experimental programs within high schools in Chicago. At Eight Bit Studios, Carolyn uses her background in Anthropology and experience in digital design to dive deep into complex problems and facilitate the crafting of powerful and elegant solutions.

Company: Eight Bit Studios
LinkedIn: Carolyn Chandler
Twitter: @chanan
Website: dhalo.com

Location: Chicago, Il

CHRISTIAN ERVIN

Design Director of Tellart, UX Awards Finalist

Christian Ervin is Design Director of Tellart, and is based here in the company’s Berkeley office. At Tellart, Christian works alongside architects, filmmakers, software developers, industrial designers, strategists, graphic designers and fabricators to imagine, prototype and develop early-stage prototypes and experiences of transformative future products and services. As Design Director, Christian guides the work of multidisciplinary teams crafting experiences that deftly bridge the physical and the virtual across screens, products and spaces. Tellart’s work has been featured in international publications and received numerous awards, including notably the 2016 National Design Award in Interaction Design from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Christian holds a MDes in Technology from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a BArch from Rice University School of Architecture.

LinkedIn: Christian Ervin

Location: Berkeley CA

CODY REPPERT

Project Manager and UX Designer for UBER Elevate collaboration with Savannah College of Art and Design, UX Awards Finalist

Cody is pursuing a degree in UX Design at Savannah College of Art and Design. SCAD was the first university in the United States to offer a B.F.A. in UX Design and it has the added benefit of having Google help with the curriculum. Over the summer he interned with Intuit as an interaction designer where he learned about internet security. His projects and club involvement (UX Club & Colleges Against Cancer) have fostered leadership and determination. Cody is a strong future thinker with a drive to change the world. He values problem-solving and helping others, which UX allows him to do. Cody also has a strong knowledge of futuristic technologies that he applies to all his projects.

Outside of work, Cody is an avid photographer and runs a side business for portraits and lifestyle photography.

LinkedIn: Cody Reppert
Website: Cody Reppert
Instagram: Cody Reppert

Location: Savannah, GA

DANIEL STERNFELD

Google Daydream Software Engineer, Former Principal Software Engineer at Zynga, UX Award Finalist

Dan Sternfeld is a software engineer on Google’s Daydream team who is passionate about the intersection of design and technology. Throughout his time at Google, he has worked on enabling creators to construct quality VR and AR experiences by building development tools and exploring solutions to new design challenges that come along with new technology.

Prior to Google, Dan developed multiple games at Zynga where he received the “Innovator” award. Before that, he earned a BSA in Game Design & Development from Rochester Institute of Technology.

LinkedIn: Daniel Sternfeld

Location: San Francisco, CA

FIONA MURPHY

Co-Founder and Director of Frontend.com, UX Awards Finalist

Fiona Murphy is a co-founder and Director of Frontend.com, a leading international UX design consultancy based in Dublin, Ireland. Founded in 1998, Frontend.com was one of the first UX design firms in Europe and over the last two decades she has worked for some of the world’s top brands. Her vast experience ranges from delivering UX solutions for finance & banking systems, pharma to FMCG consumer websites. Fiona co-founded Frontend.com because she believed there was a real need to provide design and innovations that work for end users and has spent at least 20 years advocating this.

More recently, Fiona has been heavily involved in a philanthropic project examining how UX design can help in the provision of healthcare to displaced people caught up in the current European migrant crisis. Fiona is a multi-award winning designer, having picked up accolades all over the world – including the Grand Prix at the 2015 IxDA Awards on her last visit to San Francisco.

Fiona holds an MA IMM, Interactive Multimedia from Dublin Institute of Technology

LinkedIn: Fiona Murphy

Location: Dublin, Ireland

GONZALO GELSO

UX Designer, Recent Graduate from Savannah College of Art and Design, UX Awards Finalist

Gonzalo Gelso is a UX Designer from Buenos Aires, Argentina , who recently graduated from SCAD. His background lies in graphic design and soccer. He’s currently working as a UX Designer at a design studio in Boca Raton, Florida.

LinkedIn: Gonzalo Gelso

Location: Boca Raton, Florida

HWANGHAH JEONG

UX Design Intern at Microsoft, Student at Savannah College of Art and Design, UX Awards Finalist

Hwanghah is a student from South Korea, pursuing a degree in UX Design and Graphic Design. Through moving around different countries in her life, she’s gained unique perspectives on cultures and people. She is a curious learner, and always willing to take tackle new opportunities, even when it’s beyond her comfort zone. She is currently interning at Microsoft and is excited to see how artificial intelligence will shape people’s lives in the future.

LinkedIn: HwangHah Jeong

Location: Atlanta, Georgia

JAE PARK

Executive Creative Director for the Amazon Devices and Service Group, UX Awards Finalist

Jae Park is the Executive Creative Director for the Amazon Devices and Service group. Since 2012, Jae has led a team of over 50 UX professionals focused on innovating and delivering the overall UX for all Amazon devices including Fire Tablet, Fire TV, and Alexa devices such as Echo Show and Echo Spot. Prior to joining Amazon, Jae worked at Microsoft and was one of the design leaders who created Windows Phone UX and Metro design. In his other life, Jae has also worked at startups leading UX for a web-based investment bank system and designing augmented reality headsets. Jae received his BFA in Industrial Design from RISD in 1994.

LinkedIn: Jae Park

Location: Seattle, WA

JAMES SIMMONS

Student at Savannah College of Art and Design, UX Awards Finalist

James is a small town Kansas native with global aspiration. His passion for laughter and individualism led him to the design community where he is driven by the possibility technology presents in improving the human condition.

LinkedIn: James Simmons

Location: Savannah, Georgia

JONATHAN JUDAL

User Experience Designer in SAP’s Design & Co-Innovation Center, UX Awards Finalist

As a User Experience Designer with SAP’s Design and Co-Innovation Center, Jonathan Judal works directly with customers to transform their user experience. His project experiences include redesigning a city’s neighborhood development portal, improving a company’s revenue forecasting process, and simplifying the way stats are consumed on nhl.com/stats. Prior to SAP, Jonathan received his BFA in Graphic Design at San José State University.

Company: SAP
LinkedIn: Jonathan Judal

KAREN CHENG

Professor of Visual Communication Design at the University of Washington, UX Awards Finalist

Karen Cheng is a professor of Visual Communication Design at the University of Washington, where she teaches information design and data visualization. Her research and practice focuses on making complex information both more understandable and more compelling in a wide variety of contexts—for example, making recycling/composting easier (and more pleasurable) for users.

Karen has an M.Design from the University of Cincinnati College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning; she has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Penn State University. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Washington, she worked in Brand Management at the Procter & Gamble Company.

Company: University of Washington Division of Design
LinkedIn: Karen Cheng

Location: Seattle WA

KENT EISENHUTH

Former Creative Director: Products & Services Infragistics, Interaction Designer Google, UX Awards Finalist

Kent has been working in the field of UX design for nearly ten years. During that time, Kent has led project teams in adopting user-centered design methods to solve complex business and consumer problems. He specializes in user interface design, interaction design, and data visualization. His work has appeared in many publications, including Fast Company and UXmatters. He also has ties to the academic community in Philadelphia. He currently teaches an interaction design class at the University of Pennsylvania. Finally, he has had the privilege of presenting at international conferences such as IxDA’s Interaction, and he is a frequent guest lecturer at the universities in the greater Philadelphia area.

LinkedIn: Kent Eisenhuth
Twitter: @KentTheHuth

KEVIN RICHARDSON

Director of User Experience of Infragistics, Former Director of Research of Electronic Ink, UX Awards Finalist

Kevin has been working as a user experience professional for more than 25 years. With a PhD in Cognitive Psychology, he has researched, evaluated, designed, mentored and managed teams as they create innovative, user-centered solutions to complex business problems. Kevin’s experience crosses business verticals focusing on enterprise software and custom business applications. As an advocate for the practical application of UX Design, Kevin is a manager, hands-on practitioner, author and speaker.

Outside of work, Kevin tempts fate, risks long-term disability, and tests his wife’s patience by racing motorcycles.

Company: Infragistics
LinkedIn: Kevin Richardson

KRISTINE MATTHEWS

Associate Professor of Visual Communication Design, University of Washington and Owner/Director, Studio Matthews, UX Awards Finalist

Kristine Matthews is a leader in the sustainable design of communication in the environment, including exhibitions, installations, wayfinding and environmental graphics and interpretation. She established Studio Matthews in 2008 and is the former co-director of thomas.matthews, the award-winning studio she co-founded in 1998 and led until 2008 in London, England.

Matthews is also Associate Professor of Design and Chair of the Visual Communication Design program at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dovetailing professional practice with education, her advanced Exhibition and Installation Design course creates cutting-edge design in the environment with a focus on audience engagement and sustainability. Her work has been published around the world.

Company: Studio Matthews, University of Washington
LinkedIn: Kristine Matthews

Location: Seattle, WA

MATT GLIBBERY

Senior Experience Designer in SAP’s Design & Co-Innovation Center, UX Awards Finalist

Matt leads design engagements for SAP’s Design & Co-Innovation Center with some of the world’s most successful brands. He works at every level of the business; from crafting future customer experiences with C-level executives, to developing holistic, human-centered design solutions with fork-lift operators. He uses photography throughout his work to humanize end users, build empathy for their needs & create buy-in for the design process. Prior to SAP, Matt was the Chief Design Officer for a cooking start up. Matt learned human-centered design through Northwestern’s Engineering Design & Innovation program, where projects took him from suburban laundry rooms to rural India.

Company: SAP
LinkedIn: Matt Glibbery

MEGAN RICHARDS

Executive UX Producer for Alexa Devices at Amazon, UX Awards Finalist

Megan is the Executive UX Producer for Alexa multimodal devices at Amazon. In this role, Megan leads a team of producers partnering with UX, engineering, and product management to deliver ground breaking UX solutions for Alexa devices including Echo Show and Echo Spot. Since joining Amazon in 2007, Megan has developed UX for new advertising programs on Amazon.com, Kindle, and Fire tablets and also led digital and social media advertising for Amazon devices. Megan received her Bachelor’s degree in Marketing in 1995.

LinkedIn: Megan Richards

Location: Seattle, WA

MICHAEL MELNICK

VP, User Experience, Klick, Inc., UX Awards Finalist

Michael has been with Klick Health for over 12 years and was a key component in the founding of the User Experience Design (UX) practice at Klick, which he now leads.

Michael has had the opportunity to lead user experience design work directly with clients such as Sony, Johnson & Johnson, Biogen-Idec, American Medical Association, Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Takeda, among others. His breadth of experience spans web, application, mobile app and responsive website deliveries in addition to having a deep focus on DSA design. Michael is constantly striving to design elegant solutions to balance the needs of both clients and their customers through thoughtful and empathetic approaches.

Michael continues to drive innovation and provide leadership within the stellar UX Design team at Klick.

Company: Klick
LinkedIn: Michael Melnick

Location: Toronto, Canada

NADAV ASHKENAZI

Google Earth VR Software Engineer, UX Awards Finalist

Nadav Ashkenazi is an engineer on ‘Google Earth VR’, where he worked on key features of Earth VR including search and the first-run experience. Prior to Google, Nadav completed his education in Informatics at the University of Washington, where he studied computer science and human-computer interaction.

LinkedIn: Nadav Ashkenazi

NATHAN KENDRICK

Co-founder and Partner at DesignMap, UX Awards Finalist

Nathan Kendrick, Co-founder and Partner at DesignMap, provides the real driving passion for our team. He has a deep love of the craft of design and fervor for doing the right thing, no matter what it takes.

Nathan trained with Paul Kahn and Krzysztof Lenk, leaders of the information architecture discipline. He has 20 years of web-based application design experience, starting at a small design studio then moving on to the design team at Netscape. He was a lead designer for web services at Eazel, a startup founded by the Apple engineers responsible for the original Macintosh user interface. He also consulted at Loudcloud (later Opsware) where he helped create interaction design standards for this industry-leading, web-based monitoring and code change management system.

Leading DesignMap, he is compelled to hire and develop incredible designers who are capable of raising the bar at any client they find themselves.

Nathan has BFA in Graphic Design from Rhode Island School of Design.

Company: DesignMap
LinkedIn: Nathan Kendrick
Twitter: @natekendrick

Location: San Francisco CA

PERTTU PÖLÖNEN

Founder & CEO of MusiClock, Composer, Disruption Analyst Consultant, UX Awards Finalist

Perttu Pölönen is a walking example of an interdisciplinary person. A musician who turned into an entrepreneur, a composer turned into an inventor. Creativity, technology, education and disruption are things Perttu is passionate about. As a 15-year-old music student Perttu got so frustrated with the complex music theory that he wanted to re-invent it. He created MusiClock, a teaching aid including both hardware and software products, to disrupt the centuries old way of teaching music. The invention has won multiple awards, including EUCYS, the biggest invention competition in Europe.

Perttu has graduated from Singularity University (2016), one of the most prestigious institutions in the world focused on leveraging exponential technologies to solve world’s most pressing problems. The Global Solutions Program (GSP) gathers future leaders, entrepreneurs, and technologists around the world to work on team-based technology solutions to widespread global challenges. It is located at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and sponsored by Google.

Company: MusiClock
LinkedIn: Perttu Pölönen

Twitter: @PerttuPolonen

Location: Helsinki, Finland

PHIL BALAGTAS

Design Director GE Aviation, Founder Design Futures & PRIMER, UX Awards Advisory Board

Phil has been a Visual & UX Designer since 2001 and has experience designing across a variety of devices and platforms within non-profit, retail, advertising, and enterprise software organizations. He is currently a Design Director for GE Aviation Digital Solutions working with airlines to use big data to improve operational & fuel efficiency. An educator and futurist, he also organizes and leads design skill programs and is the founder of Speculative Futures and the PRIMER conference which focuses on cultural and social impact of design for the future.

Company: GE Aviation
LinkedIn: Phil Balagtas

RICH MAINS

Creative Director for Alexa Devices at Amazon, UX Awards Finalist

Rich Mains is the Creative Director for Alexa multimodal devices at Amazon, most recently leading UX, visual, and motion design for Echo Show and Echo Spot. Prior to Amazon, Rich worked at Microsoft where he designed UX for a range of products including Xbox, Zune, and Bing. Earlier in his career, Rich was at R/GA where he helped shape digital experiences for numerous Fortune 500 firms including IBM, Verizon, Nike and others.

LinkedIn: Rich Mains

Location: Seattle, WA

RICHARD BAKER

Global Director of User Experience & Innovation at GE Transportation, UX Awards Finalist

Currently leading the user experience team within GE Transportation, creating a user-centered culture and growing design thinking within the organization. Richard Baker has been in the UX industry for over 15 years, with experience ranging from non-profit, international sports, mobile, government, and digital-industrial. His team built an award-winning UX team for GE Transportation in just 18 months. Now he is teaching a 100-year-old industrial company how to fuse business strategy and design thinking to drive innovation

Company: GE Transportation
LinkedIn: Richard Baker
Website: Richard Baker Blog

Location: Chicago, Illinois

RYAN LEVEILLE

Global Design Manager at Innovation Lab at GE Transportation, UX Awards Finalist

Strategic thinker and conceptual problem solver who innovates through user centered design thinking and lean innovation frameworks.

Ryan has 15 years of experience as an Olympian & World Champion gold, silver and bronze medalist representing Fortune 500 companies, serial entrepreneurship, digital product management, UX design strategy and innovation for a Fortune 10 company, pro-bono work for a global non-profit and continuous learning through new experiences.

For inspiration, Ryan has traveled to over 30 countries and over 35 states, studying new cultures and synthesizing how innovation influences and enhances a user’s experience. Ryan believes that taking one out of a familiar environment provides insight and perspective that is crucial to ideation and creativity.

Ryan enjoys time with friends and family, golf, tennis and pretty much any adventure that involves nature at it’s finest.

Company: GE Transportation
LinkedIn: Ryan Leveille

Location: Atlanta, GA

SALLY LAWLER KENNEDY

Director on Innovation and Design Research, SAP AppHaus, Workshop Moderator

Sally is a design thinker and creative problem solver working in the User Experience field. She started her career studying and practicing mechanical engineering and later moved into nursing. Along the way, she fell in love with user experience design because it brings together her background in engineering and nursing. Sally’s team is responsible for delivering amazing and unforgettable customer experiences which contribute to the growth of SAP. Sally has led numerous SAP customers in their transformation into design-led organizations. It was at SAP where she was trained and immersed in design thinking methodologies. Sally has taught and led Design Thinking workshops for some of the largest global companies, in a variety of industries from consumer products, to automotive, to oil and gas, to retail.

Sally is energized when faced with a challenge or problem to solve. She is passionate about helping companies create a design-led culture, and people discover their creative abilities.

Company: SAP Design
LinkedIn: Sally Lawler Kennedy
Twitter: @SLawlerKennedy

Location: Sally works in Palo Alto, CA and lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

SAM YEN

Chief Design Officer SAP, MD SAP Silicon Valley, Faculty Stanford d.school + Former Co-Founder Covigna

Sam is Chief Design Officer at SAP, where he has overseen major initiatives including SAP Fiori, SAP Screen Personas and SAP ́s UX design services. Under his stewardship, SAP has won over 20 design awards, including multiple UX Awards and Red Dot awards. In 2015, Sam also became Managing Director of SAP Labs in Silicon Valley.

Sam is also an Associate Consulting Professor at the Stanford d.school where he co-teaches courses helping large organizations scale creativity and innovation in their organizations using design thinking and an advisor to the Innovative Technology Leaders program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB).

Before joining SAP, Sam was co-founder of Covigna, Inc., an enterprise software company that delivered project management solutions. At Covigna, he led design, engineering, and strategic customer engagement.

Sam has a Ph.D. in Design Theory and Methodology from Stanford University.

Company: SAP
LinkedIn: Sam Yen

Location: San Francisco CA

SCOTT MCDONALD

Digital Consultant, UX Awards Advisory Board + Former MD Modus Agency, Strategist Scient, Supervisor Y&R

Scott is an Inc. 5000 entrepreneur and co-founder of New York-based digital innovation and UX consultancy Modus. Prior to founding Modus, Scott was a strategist with the New York office of Scient Corporation and creative supervisor at Young & Rubicam’s Brand Dialogue interactive group.

An expert in customer-centered business innovation, he has led high-profile strategic initiatives for Morgan Stanley & Co., SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Sony Electronics, Comcast Corporation, InterActiveCorp, Major League Baseball, Cleveland Clinic and other leading brands.

Scott is a member of the Customer Experience Professionals Association, the Digital Analytics Association and the User Experience Professionals Association. He is a co-founder of the Digital Analytics Association’s New York City chapter and serves on the board of advisors of two Internet start-ups.

Company: Modus
LinkedIn: Scott McDonald

SEAN O’CONNOR

Partner at Smart Design, UX Awards Finalist

Sean champions the power of design to solve real-world challenges for Smart Design’s clients. He’s been a leading authority on using brand strategy and technology to transform consumer experiences, bringing to market dozens of integrated products and platforms over the last decade. A whiz at helping companies of all sizes grow their in-house design capability, over his twenty-year career Sean has globe trotted from San Francisco to Barcelona and many points in between. He is a frequent contributor to Brandweek and Fast Company on design, healthcare innovation and marketing.

Company: Smart Design
LinkedIn: Sean O’Connor
Twitter: @DesignTherapist

Location: London, United Kingdom

TALIN WADSWORTH

Lead Product Designer Adobe + Former Senior Designer Volume

Talin Wadsworth is the lead product designer for Adobe XD, a new design tool for UX/UI and mobile app design. Adobe is a winner of a 2012 UX Award and is a premier supporter of the upcoming 2017 UX Awards. As a designer at Adobe, Talin has led many 1.0 product initiatives, including the launch of Creative Cloud and Adobe Sketch for the iPad, with over five years’ experience at Adobe. Talin has a BFA from California College of the Arts. You can find him online @mrtalin on Twitter and Instagram.

Company: Adobe
LinkedIn: Talin Wadsworth
Twitter: @mrtalin
Instagram: mrtalin

Location: Los Angeles CA

TAN MA

UX/UI Designer, UX Awards Finalist

Tan has been a UX/UI Designer since 2012. At Springshot, she leads the design of complex web products and mobile apps. She focuses on helping users solve the problems and create a better experience for them to complete their job. Prior to Springshot, Tan worked in Adsnative, Samsung, Harman Kardon etc. Her projects include a music player app, a chatting app, a mobile and TV multiscreen game, and data visualization.

Tan graduated from NYU and she is a technology enthusiast. She loves pushing the envelope and utilizing technology in new visual ways.

LinkedIn: Tan Ma

Location: San Francisco CA

TODD LEFELT

Managing Director UX Huge, UX Awards Advisory Board + Former Design Director Ecos, Time, Kozmo.com, R/GA

Todd Lefelt is Managing Director of User Experience at Huge in Los Angeles. Since joining Huge in 2006, Todd has been instrumental in building the agency’s user experience team and helping to define the philosophy and process applied to user-centric design. In 2010, Todd joined Huge’s Los Angeles office, where he has played a key role in the development of the company’s West Coast presence. Todd has directed interactive design and research for some of Huge’s largest engagements and has worked with clients including Clear Channel, National Geographic, NBC Universal, Samsung, Toyota and Warner Music Group. With nearly two decades of industry experience, Todd held senior positions at a number of other companies prior to joining Huge, including Time Inc. Interactive, Ecos Technologies, Pathways Flandrau Science Center, Wave Technologies, Kozmo.com, R/GA and Ultra 16.

Todd received a BFA from the University of Michigan and an MA from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University. He currently lives in Silver Lake with his wife Holly, son Ira, and cat Pippa.

Company: Huge
LinkedIn: Todd Lefelt

Location: Los Angeles CA

TOM NELSON

Senior UX Designer for Alexa Devices at Amazon, UX Awards Finalist

Tom is a Senior UX Designer for Alexa multimodal devices at Amazon. Tom joined Amazon in 2013 and spent two years as the lead designer for Kindle eReaders. Since 2015, Tom has been focused on developing and evangelizing new interaction patterns for Echo Show, Echo Spot, and other Alexa products. Tom studied Mass Communication at the University of Utah and Interaction Design at the University of Queensland.

LinkedIn: Tom Nelson
Twitter: @tmnlsn

Location: Seattle, WA

VALTTERI MÄKI

UX Designer at Taiste, UX Awards Finalist

Valtteri has made a long career specialising in UX, 3D graphics and animation. He is also the responsible for the UI and UX design of Musiclock, a game-changing app that seeks to change the way music theory is traditionally taught.

Company: Taiste
LinkedIn: Valtteri Mäki

Location: Turku, Finland

VILLE KAISLA

Design Director & Partner at Taiste, UX Awards Finalist

A Design Director at the mobile-driven design & development agency Taiste, Ville is a versatile designer and entrepreneur with a decade of experience in designing a wide of array digital products – especially for mobile environments. In his work, Ville is inspired by constant change, fresh views and simplicity.

Company: Taiste
LinkedIn: Ville Kaisla
Twitter: @vkaisla

Location: Turku, Finland

WILLIAM J. ZHOU

Co-Founder and CEO of EvoEco, UX Awards Finalist

William Zhou is the Co-Founder and CEO of EvoEco, a technology company that provides sustainable solutions for enterprises. EvoEco has made Smart Bins commercially available in North America, and is the Smart Bins hardware and software supplier for Starbucks, Pinterest, ABM, Columbia Property Trust, and the University of Washington, among others.

Company: EvoEco
LinkedIn: William Zhou

Location: Seattle, WA