I had the privilege of both speaking and attending the Big Design conference this past weekend, a two-day event filled with keynotes and workshops targeting designers and developers that are obsessed with the user experience. Being that I’m neither a designer or developer, I was a bit cautious rolling into this event, figuring much of it would be well over my head.

I was right, of course. I have to say, there were some really, really smart and gifted people at this event. But it was refreshing. I took on the attitude to soak up as much knowledge outside of my comfort zone (which, with web, normally falls in the content and marketing management zone) and really tried to gain what I could from topics that I’m pretty green in.

Overall, the approach was quite profitable. There were definitely some real sleepers in the midst, but there were certainly more peaks than valleys, especially once Day 2 was over. With that said, here are my highlights.

Highlights and Takeaways from Big Design Conference 2010

• Chris Bernard, Lessons in Big Design from John Hughes: This Saturday morning keynote was probably the best part of the conference for me. Again, keep in mind that I was a little out of my area of expertise here, so I have to admit I hadn’t heard of Chris before. However, everyone was abuzz that he was there. He didn’t disappoint. His presentation weaved together lessons from John Hughes movies like Ferris Bueller and 16 Candles, as well as Hughes’ life, in a way that made great high-level points on design but also kept me engaged. I learned just as much about concocting an attention-grabbing presentation as I did design, and I found myself wanting to grab a Hughes biography immediately after the conference.
• Brian Sullivan and Ryan Plesko, Design Studios – Sketching User Experiences: Brian and Ryan are the real brains and brawn behind the Big D conference. However, they’re also great presenters. I walked out of this workshop with a whole new level of respect for those who find ways to really push and organize the creative process. Listening to how detailed and thought out they both treat their sketching process was truly eye-opening. The presentation was extremely resourceful, and it inspired me to go out and grab a sketch book, even though I’ve always been Mr. College-Ruled regardless of the application.
• Susan Weinschenk (aka The Brain Lady), Psychology of Online Behavior: Susan kicked the event off with her keynote on Friday morning. I think I took the most notes during her session. Part of it was because her presentation was very interactive, and I know I’ll be stealing some of her examples to create some a-ha moments in my own. One of the tidbits I took away was Susan’s proof that people actually want to click more. Which is refreshing, considering I get bombarded every day with power users counting clicks for every experience they have on my sites. Another great stat Susan shared was that, at any given moment, we humans have 40 million sensory inputs at work per second, but we’re only conscious of about 40. Her presentation impressed me enough that I grabbed her book, Neuro Web Design: What Makes Them Click.
• Amy Buckner, Understanding the Why Behind Analytics: What a great session! Amy presented us with analytics for several different scenarios, then simultaneously showed us how analytics alone don’t give you the info you need and the techniques and approaches to use to get the info you need. Between eye-tracking to 1:1 usability tests, her tips were very strong, and her style was refreshing.

I also have to mention just how much of a pleasure it was to sit in on the For-Profit/Non-Profit Panel, sharing the stage with the likes of Jim Carlson-Landy from Sabre, Christian Caldwell from American Heart Association and Laura Humpries who freelances for the Boy Scouts of America. We had a great time “preparing” for our time off stage (and I use that phrase oh so loosely), and a pretty dang good discussion on stage. I’ll probably blog soon about my thoughts on the lessons that can be learned from the other. And huge props to Ben Smithee for superb moderation.

Were there some disappointments? Sure; what conference doesn’t have ‘em? There were a couple dud presentations in the mix, and I was really disappointed that both Erica O’Grady and Ryan Merket were no-shows (but huge tip o’ da hat to Mike D. Merrill for jumping in at the last minute with a stellar presentation on the Brandividual). And I have to admit, I feel like I’ve been overwhelmed with social media workshops over the past six months, so I’m sure my opinion of those workshops is skewed.

But that’s really the only bad thing I can say about it. It was a great conference at a great location (SMU), and it was awesome seeing such a local group of true usability professionals.

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Some other attendees’ reviews (and video and slides coming soon):

• Brief Reactions to Big D Conference, MadMacGirl.com
• Mike Merrill’s Age of the Brandividual Slides
• Russ Unger’s Opening the Kimono slides (sorry I missed this one)
• Baxie404.com review
• Deran Shillings Recap

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