IDSA Oregon presents: 3BY10 - A chance to see what creative professionals and design students in Portland are up to, ten minutes at a time.

Doors at 6pm, and it's all wrapped up by 7pm.

This month's speakers:

Recent RISD grad Kevin Quale gives a quick overview of The Useful Object Series: a studio project that creates a collection of products carefully designed to have no specific function, leaving the user to invent a use.

Local IDSA organizer and Ziba writer Carl Alviani gives a quick summary of the recent IDSA 2010 International Conference, focusing on the impact of DIY on professional design. Plenty of photos, observations and coverage from the first such event to be hosted in Portland.

Corey Pressman of Exprima Media will give a ten minute talk on the future of mobile devices in the classroom, based on his extensive research and work with educators and major textbook publishers. What's anatomy look like on the iPad? Come and find out.

Happy hour to follow at Someday Lounge - 125 Northwest 5th Avenue btw Couch and Davis

Come see why Core 77 says “Crowd Supply is Kickstarter for product designers.”

Join Crowd Supply, Portland’s own crowdfunding platform, on Wednesday, June 19 from 6:30 to 8:30PM at ADX to learn about crowdfunding and launching your product.

Crowd Supply's Director of Projects (and ADX member) Josh Lifton will share tips and tricks from the trenches of preparing, launching, and successfully funding your product. This workshop will give you an overview of how you can use Crowd Supply to launch a successful product campaign, from planning and production, to marketing and fulfillment. The Crowd Supply team will be on hand to talk with you about crowdfunding in general and answer your specific questions.

Been toying with crowdfunding your latest project? Crowd Supply Co-Founder and Director of Projects, Josh Lifton, will share tips and tricks from the trenches of preparing, launching, and successfully funding a wide variety of products. This workshop will give you an overview of how you can use Crowd Supply to launch a successful product campaign, from planning and production, to marketing and fulfillment. Come see why Core 77 says “Crowd Supply is Kickstarter for product designers.” Join us for this free event on Tuesday, September 17 from 5:30 to 7:30PM at NedSpace 1400 SW 5th Ave., Third Floor (the Fifth Avenue Building) between Columbia and Clay.

If you build it, they will come.

Maybe.

How many times have you seen a product or app and thought to yourself, “Who would ever use that,” or dealt with the frustration of trying to operate something that feels like you need a degree in rocket science to figure out.

Or maybe you don’t interact with the product much, but the noise it emits, or vibrations its function causes, drives you batty.

Now, imagine that your company designed that product, built that website, deployed that app… and countless users are muttering your name under their breath. Hundreds and thousands of hours and dollars have been wasted and you have to go back to the drawing board.

Did you do the research to ensure your product or technology would appeal to human wants, needs and desires? Factoring in the human element seems like common sense, but that piece of the equation is often left out.

If you’re involved in building a product or developing a technology that is or will be used by humans, you’ll want to join us for the March 31st Tech Tuesday. We’ll have Marcelino Alvarez, CEO of Uncorked Studios, a local product design agency doing awesome things, talking with us about the importance of incorporating human factors and intuitive use into the design of products and digital environments.

We’ll also have Renny Gleeson, Global Director, Interactive Strategy, and Oonie Chase, Director of Experience Design, from Wieden+Kennedy talking about brand building and failing harder at the intersection of strategy and human-centered design.

The evening's discussions should provide some interesting and engaging conversation. We look forward to seeing you there!

• Doors open at 5:45pm, Speakers start promptly at 6:30pm

• The main lobby doors lock at 7pm. Someone will be available to let you in, but please plan accordingly.

• Pizza and non-alcoholic beverages will be provided.

Allowing those with disabilities to experience your product or website effectively can be crucial to its success. As creators of experiences for others, we need to take responsibility and make sure the content we are generating is consumable by as many users as possible. Silas will share tools and tips that will help you evaluate the current state of your project and its accessibility, along with ways to change the way you think about design, allowing you to target a broader range of users. Come network with Portland's top digital marketing, design and optimization professionals at Buckman Public House located at Washington High School on the first floor. Don't forget to RSVP and spread the word. First round of drinks is on us with an RSVP!

What is Camp Optimization? Camp Optimization's mission is simple: provide a casual, fun and informative forum for digital marketers and technologists to share optimization best practices, challenges and wins.

Who is roboboogie? roboboogie is a Portland-based digital experience optimization agency partnering closely with brands to improve conversion rates, nurture brand advocacy and increase customer value.

Discoverability: UI Design, Usability best practices, user adoption, discoverability, GUI best practices

Discoverability is one of the most important user experience design goals, yet one of the most difficult to master. The biggest symptom of users glossing over, missing or ignoring valuable design features is poor discoverability. In this seminar you will build a Discoverability Plan and come away with practical strategies to tackle discoverability- everyone's biggest user adoption challenge.

Agenda

• What is Discoverability?
• Why Discoverability?
• Designing Discoverability: Web, Web App, Product
• The ROI hit from poor discoverability
• What good discoverability buys you
• Q & A

Frank Spillers is a distinguished speaker, author and internationally respected Senior UX practitioner and UX Master Trainer. He is a world expert in improving the design and user experience of enterprise sites, web applications, desktop, VR/AR and mobile apps. Frank has successfully applied 20 years of advanced knowledge of Usability Engineering skills and User Centered Design methodology in Fortune 500 and corporate environments globally.

We'll have two 20-minute talks, each followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. We'll have plenty of time at the start and end of the meetup for tasty beverages and networking.

Speakers

Impacting Product Development with Net Promoter Score & Customer Data
Camila Morrison, Product Manager

As a product manager, you may have different types of feedback and data from product users/customers. Some of that could be Net Promoter Score (NPS) results, e-commerce data, community media verbatims, or other survey information. Learn what’s going on with NPS and other customer data to look at it from a product use perspective. Then see how to translate that into making changes to your product to better connect with customers, improve your value proposition, and make more revenue.

Camila Morrison is a product manager in tech who has worked across a variety of areas in product management from concept/market/UX roles to managing a team in the development arena. Also in her experience, is running a Net Promoter System to drive improvements across the customer product lifecycle. She was in marketing management for companies that included utility control center software. Her background includes leading marketing research projects for tech, utility, transportation, ad/media, healthcare, retail, tourism, and non-profit industries.

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The Product Manager Career Lifecycle
Mike Kruse, Product Manager

After spending many years as a product manager in both large and small organizations, Mike would like to share the application of a tool we use in our day job to our career.

Mike began in software development and fell into the product manager role – initially informally and then formally. He has worked in a number of B2B and B2C markets including graphics processors, networking systems, digital media, educational software and currently fintech. One item on his bucket list is to master all 37 activities on the Pragmatic framework or to visit all 50 states in the US.

Mike is also one of the ProductCamp Portland co-founders, an annual product management un-conference that began in 2012. It provides him with the opportunity to create a new product every year and in doing so, apply a wide range of product management skills that he rarely gets to exercise.

Hey Portland.

We had so much fun at our first Happy Hour in Portland, we’re kicking off 2019 with another!

Come join us for beers/wine as we do a hardware “Teardown”, and connect with other professionals & makers here in greater PDX hardware community.

You can RSVP through our Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/friends-of-fictiv-happy-hour-tickets-54304854281

Cheers to a New Year!

The Fictiv Team

We're re-booting UX Book Club in the new year with something a little different!

Fan favorite Amber Case will be hosting us (address will be sent to attendees) and giving a presentation on her new book Designing with Sound (and likely her other recent book Calm Technology).

Questions and discussion included.

Doors at 6:30. Presentation at 7:00

Pre-order a hard copy of the book at Amazon (release date is Dec. 13): https://www.amazon.com/_/dp/1491961104

Or read on O'Reilly's online learning platform, Safari: http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920051923.do

About the book:

Sound can profoundly impact how people interact with your product. Well-designed sounds can be exceptionally effective in conveying subtle distinctions, emotion, urgency, and information without adding visual clutter. In this practical guide, Amber Case and Aaron Day explain why sound design is critical to the success of products, environments, and experiences.

Just as visual designers have a set of benchmarks and a design language to guide their work, this book provides a toolkit for the auditory experience, improving collaboration for a wide variety of stakeholders, from product developers to composers, user experience designers to architects. You’ll learn a complete process for designing, prototyping, and testing sound.

In two parts, this guide includes:

・Past, present, and upcoming advances in sound design ・Principles for designing quieter products ・Guidelines for intelligently adding and removing sound in interactions ・When to use voice interfaces, how to consider personalities, and how to ・build a knowledge map of queries ・Working with brands to create unique and effective audio logos that will ・speak to your customers ・Adding information using sonification and generative audio

About the authors:

Amber Case studies the interaction between humans and computers and how our relationship with information is changing the way cultures think, act, and understand their worlds. Case has spoken, performed and written about the future of sound design at conferences and events around the world. Case is also the author of Calm Technology (O'Reilly, 2015). She lives in Portland, Oregon and online @caseorganic.

Aaron Day (who will not be in attendance) has been designing sound experiences and interfaces since 1998. He has worked for clients including Bruel & Kjaer, Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, Wire, Mozilla, Qoros, Telefònica, Bosch, Vodafone, Sprint, Siemens Audi and Samsung. Aaron lives with his family in Berlin, Germany.

All participants must read and abide by the Event Code of Conduct.

Event Code of Conduct (Short Version):

Be respectful of other people, respectfully ask people to stop if you are bothered, and if you can’t resolve an issue contact organizers. If you are being a problem, it will be apparent and you’ll be asked to leave.

For a full Code of Conduct please see: http://cyborgcamp.com/code-of-conduct/

Additionally, we respectfully ask that you do not tag the venue on social media.

We'll have two 20-minute talks, each followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. We'll have plenty of time at the start and end of the meetup for tasty beverages and networking.

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Using Wireframes to Communicate Product Vision
Amy King, Software Product Manager at Digimarc

Over the past year, I learned how designing, creating, and sharing wireframes greatly facilitate communication both for the overall product vision that impacts multiple teams, and prepping smaller product features for engineers. For product managers that did not have a graphics background like me, "design" is an intimidating skill to tackle, but one that is valuable when working with engineers, designers, and marketing teams. In this presentation, I will share:
1) How I got started
2) A couple examples of how I used wireframes to align multiple teams to work towards the same product vision
3) Recommendations and pros/cons of different wireframing software to help people get started

Amy King is a software product manager. she likes learning about different industries and how people use technology in their jobs, then figure out how her team can build software to help people be more efficient with their work

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Supercharging User Engagement by Supporting Autonomy: Practical Motivation Science for Product Managers
Jahed Momand, Head of Product Management at Conversa Health

The talk of the town in theories of behavior change in technology center on centuries old behaviorism, such as BJ Fogg's Behavior Model or Nir Eyal's Hook Model.

But, what if you're trying to precipitate a user behavior that's complex? That happens over long time domains? That isn't immediately rewardable?

How do you support users in finding the motivation to interact with your product, when push notifications just won't do the trick?

I'll talk about how we applied the science of motivation, Edward Deci's self-determination theory, to product design at Conversa Health, for outsized gains in patient engagement, retention, and NPS.

Jahed heads up the product team at Conversa Health, an automated care management chatbot for health systems, leading them to successful A and B rounds of funding during his tenure.

Before, he led the product growth team at Zoomcare, where he increased revenue and visits 240% over 18 rapid fire months, leading up to their acquisition by Peace Health.

Before that he worked with Dan Ariely of Predictably Irrational fame on applying behavioral economics to projects within Google, and worked in the adtech industry applying behavioral science to ad units (he's not proud of this work).

Way before then, he played poker professionally for a few years after grad school, where he completed an MS in Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Cvent, in partnership with InVision, is hosting a special screening of the InVision-produced documentary DESIGN DISRUPTORS for Portland Design Week with snacks and networking beforehand, and a panel with design leaders after. Join us for this free event during Design Week Portland April 9th, 5:30–7:30pm! Register at http://tinyurl.com/yygxjjkm.

We'll have two 20-minute talks, each followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. We'll have plenty of time at the start and end of the meetup for tasty beverages and networking.

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Leveraging product principles to drive better decision making
Ami Murthy, Head of Product - Mobile at eBay Classifieds Group at eBay

Product principles can serve as a strong complement to the product vision and strategy. I will share examples of our product principles and how we have successfully used them as tools to drive better and faster decisions.

Ami Murthy is a product leader who is excellent at building teams that create experiences which millions of customers LOVE and USE on a daily basis. She has experience leading diverse, global teams from product conceptualization to launch, with a proven track record of building scalable customer-centric products including 5-star apps, a multi-million dollar mobile product, and market-leading e-book solutions. She is adept at driving business results and has helped companies like eBay, Intel and Amazon grow their bottom line performance.

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What can theater teach us about software delivery
David Van der Merwe, Senior Product Manager at Radar

I've been thinking about the similarities between software development and the process of producing theater for a while. My wife runs a theater company and I'm constantly picking her brain about the creative process and theater production as a project that actually has a deadline (opening night). My hope is to share some learnings about this process and how it may apply to product managers when we need to deliver a full solution to a customer problem by a committed date.

I'm currently a Sr. Product Manager working at RADAR building privacy incident response management solutions. Like many pm's, I grew into a product management role somewhat through circumstance, some curiosity, and a desire to improve customer experiences. I was born and raised in South Africa and then immigrated to the US where I've worked in web marketing, and e-commerce solutions that served both b2b and b2c enterprises for the last 20 years.

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Also, thank you to our host, Jama Software. And thank you to Opal for sponsoring the food. Check out their job postings here:

Jama Software: https://www.jamasoftware.com/company/careers/

Opal: http://jobs.workwithopal.com/apply/Vbraj5qtQV/Senior-Product-Marketing-Manager

In May, IDEO.org and +Acumen will once again be offering their highly regarded free 9-week online course, Design Kit: Course for Human-Centered Design. As we do regularly, Portland Community Design Thinkers will be hosting a special meetup on May 6, where we'll explain what the course is about and what you can expect from it. And for those interested in participating, we'll help you form teams of local colleagues with whom you can work, which we've found vastly improves both completion rates and the experience as a whole.

Created by IDEO.org for those who are relatively new to design thinking, +Acumen's free Design Kit: Course for Human-Centered Design is probably one of the best and most immersive resources anywhere for getting up to speed on the nuts and bolts of HCD. This meetup is specifically for those interested in learning more about the course and helping to form working teams. Please note PCDT is not managing this course -- you'll be on your own for that. But we're keen to give anyone interested a leg up in getting off to the best possible start with a group of other eager local participants, and you're welcome to use our own Slack channel for course communication and organizing, as many groups have previously done.

Read more about the course at the below link.

In brief, it's a nine-week online FREE curriculum that will introduce participants to the concepts of human-centered design and how this approach can be used to create innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions.

During those nine weeks, you'll work online (and off) with a group of 2-6 people, learning the HCD process by applying it to one of three pre-crafted real world design challenges. (You'll also have a choice to craft your own challenge.) Each week you will explore the fundamental concepts through readings, case studies, and short videos. Then you'll meet in-person with your design team to get your hands dirty practicing the relevant human-centered design methods.

Let's get as many teams together as we can for the next course! Read more at this link: http://www.plusacumen.org/courses/introduction-human-centered-design

In January, Portland Community Design Thinkers gathered to examine how mobile devices and apps are designed to hijack our attention in ways that are not aligned with users’ best interests but, rather, mainly with the interests of advertisers. In that session, we explored how “engagement,” the chief currency of Silicon Valley, has become inextricably linked with the hidden design practices that prioritize user time on platform above all other considerations.

Managing our own ability to ignore these digital distractions is difficult enough; but it becomes vastly more difficult when we must do so for our children as well, who are growing up in a world in which these device mediate nearly every aspect of their social, psychological (and, increasingly, their educational) lives. How do parents and families take back control of their homes -- and their children's futures -- from the Silicon Valley tech giants whose primary concern is maximizing "time on platform" and delivering users' eyeballs to advertisers? There is so much at stake. Cyber bullying, inappropriate texts, social anxiety, depression, ubiquitous porn, and screen addictions are just a few of the issues that might affect our children.

There are certainly benefits to using mobile devices. But how can parents and young children assure they remain the masters of these devices rather than servants to them? How do parents assure they are leading by example to create tech-healthy families?

On May 21, we'll reconvene to consider just these questions. We'll be joined by two Portland subject matter experts, both of whom provide counseling, workshops and proven strategies for parents to help children manage screen time and find balance in the digital age.

Richard Halpern is a Portland-based Parent Educator and Counselor, and the founder of Coach4Parents, providing workshops and parenting strategy sessions to help manage screen time, and to reduce screen dependence, for kids of all ages.

Andrea Davis and her husband, Tyler, are the parents of five kids. Together, they've created BetterScreenTime, a resource for any parent who believes screen time can be a positive experience and who wants to prepare their children for that privilege in the best way possible. It’s for the parent who knows screen time will never be perfect, but believes it can be better.

Join us on May 21 for an interactive discussion. As always, we'll have food and drink on hand from our sponsor, LUMA Institute, some door prize giveaways, and some networking and socializing time prior to and after the presentation.

When it comes to selling yourself and your work, it can be a daunting task. Learn from the experts at Cvent how you can apply storytelling skills to your UX portfolio--even if you are just starting out.

We'll discuss what makes a portfolio stand out, the keys to building one from scratch, and common pitfalls to avoid.

Then we'll break out into small groups for individual portfolio reviews with experienced UX leaders in Product Design, Content Strategy, and User Research.

Come prepared with your own portfolio in any of those disciplines, or listen in as we work through how to make a portfolio shine.

This event is part of Design Week Portland.

UX Book Club PDX is back! Tell your friends and colleagues! This will be a good one for practitioners of all experience levels.

Joe Leech, author of Psychology for Designers, will be joining us for Q+A and a lunch-hour virtual discussion.

Joe has generously offered his book as a free download: https://mrjoe.uk/download-the-book/

At 69 pages, it's a quick read. So give it a gander and come with questions!

Portland Design Thinkers is excited to invite you to our first 2023 in-person event of the year. Join us in person on May 18th, 5:30-7:00p and meet your fellow PDTers! Light nibbles and drinks will be provided.

Space is limited, so please register early!

EVENT FAQ

Q: What is the in-person event capacity? A: 50

Q: Is the space ADA accessible? A: Yes

Q: Will there be food and drink at this event? A: Yes.

Q: What is the parking situation? A: The building has a large, free parking lot.

Q: Is there any special information that might help me find the entrance? A: The main entrance is clearly visible from the outside near the building address, the doors are secured but will remain open until 6p for event arrival. Event time 5:30-7p, 2nd floor.

Q: Is there secured bike parking? A: There is a bike rack by the picnic table.

Q: Should I consider using public transportation? A: The building is on the 56 bus route.

Q: Can I bring my dog? A: Sadly, no.

Portland Design Thinkers are thrilled to announce another Rooftop Happy Hour! Join us for lively conversation, networking, and real, live, face-to-face time with your fellow Design Thinkers!

Food and beverage provided. Please RSVP and also let us know if your plans change, so we can plan accordingly.

Accessibility: Elevator that includes roof access and the bathrooms are ADA accessible

Parking: Free two-hour parking is located around the building on Stark St, 9th Ave, Sandy Blvd, etc.

Please be advised that photographs will be taken at the event for use on the website, our social media, and PDT-related publications. By entering this event, you consent to the PDT photographing and using your image and likeness.

PDT is a volunteer-run organization, and as you can imagine, organizing events can be expensive. We rely on sponsors and donations to help us offset these costs.

If you're able to contribute, we will be collecting cash donations at the event. We suggest a $10 cash donation, but we're grateful for any amount that you're willing to donate.

If you have any questions or would like to join the PDT Slack you can do so at this link: https://bit.ly/2JuQ2V6

Enterprise SaaS Product-Design-Code Stephen Cussen (Product Designer) will walk through a real world (faults-and-all) example of how a product feature was designed and developed with particular focus on how to achieve designs that best help the dev process.

Come hang out, talk shop and network with other PDX developers!

Please RSVP here: https://www.meetup.com/portland-reactjs/events/296557649/

Join 2000+ other members in our Slack channel https://pdxreact.com

To new and existing members, please take a look at the code of conduct (https://github.com/portland-react-js/meetup/blob/master/code-of-conduct.md) for our group.

Portland Design Thinkers is thrilled to announce our next event with Damon Gaumont: Turning Empathy into Action – This Is How Digital Products Attain True Success

Turning empathy into action in digital product experiences is crucial for creating products that resonate with users, provide value, and foster positive relationships between users and businesses. It not only leads to better user satisfaction but also contributes to the success and reputation of the product and the company behind it. In this talk, Damon will cover why it is so important, various methods to achieve it, how to measure it, and how to ensure it is continually improved.

About our speaker: Damon currently guides brands accountably through the creation of digital experiences by tapping his extensive background and expertise in brand building, creative strategy, and experience design. His belief that all brand extensions start best with a clearly articulated vision is the first step in an accountable process that culminates with beautifully usable and inherently humanized branded digital experiences.

If you have any questions or would like to join the PDT Slack you can do so at this link: https://bit.ly/2JuQ2V6

PDT is a volunteer-run organization, and as you can imagine, organizing events can be expensive. We rely on sponsors and donations to help us offset these costs. If you would like to help, we accept donations through Venmo @PortlandDesignThinkers.

Join us for an insightful panel discussion at the next Portland Design Thinkers event, exploring Surprises and Speed bumps When Practicing Design Thinking.

As a design-thinker, you might often find yourself collaborating with individuals who may not fully understand the value of your approach. How do you effectively advocate for design thinking and demonstrate its impact on your projects and organization? Learn from seasoned experts on how to thrive (or survive) in a dynamic, multi-function workplace. Whether you're an experienced pro or just starting out, bring your questions and gain valuable strategies to adapt, innovate, and lead.

Meet the panel:

Shashi Jain: Shashi Jain is a Technologist, Entrepreneur, and Teacher who believes in the power of deep-tech literacy and youth entrepreneurship. He began his journey at Intel incubating frontier technology into new business models, with partners. Over the course of 24 years, he’s delivered concepts in AI, the Internet of Things, Mixed Reality, Space, Healthcare, Additive Manufacturing, and Blockchain. He’s been mentor to deep tech startups (orbital observation, silicon photonics) and has sponsored translational research in AI for Space applications with NASA Frontier Development Lab. He currently serves as Principal at the Portland Seed Fund, advising and evaluating deep tech startups. When he’s not dreaming about quantum computers and neuroscience (in space), you’ll find him teaching innovation and entrepreneurship to high school students through TiE Young Entrepreneurs and serving on the Board of Directors at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. Shashi is also the author of “Creating Unstoppable Innovation” (coming in 2024)

Jamie Sherman: Jamie Sherman, PhD is a cultural anthropologist and user experience researcher. She has been working in the technology and UX space since 2012 when she was fortunate to join Intel, working on a range of existing and emerging technologies from virtual reality to gaming, content creation, and AI. Today she is Principal UX Researcher at ESRI focusing the UX of data and analytics in Geographic Information Systems.

Mike Premi: Mike Premi is an accomplished professional with a track record of success in sales and business development leadership, healthcare product management, and product marketing. With extensive experience in managing clinical trials of new technology solutions and driving global service innovation, Mike has cultivated strategic partnerships with prominent organizations such as the VA, American Medical Association, and American Pharmacists Association. His contributions extend beyond corporate realms, with multiple patents issued in healthcare software. As a co-founder of a healthcare startup business at Intel, Mike led partnerships with the AMA and APhA, resulting in the acquisition by a market segment leader. Transitioning to his third career, following roles as a US Naval Officer and Intel Business Development Leader, Mike's passion lies in leveraging computer technology to improve lives. He is currently dedicated to enhancing the lives of US Military Veterans through his work with SoldierStrong.org.

Paul Sorenson: With over 40 years of Human Factors Engineering/UX Research experience and a background that includes roles at Facebook, IBM, Lockheed, Hewlett Packard, and Intel, Paul Sorenson is an expert in user experience research. Specializing in user-centered, mixed-methods research, Paul's recent focus has been hand-held, wearable, and augmented/mixed reality technology and products. His expertise in experimental design, sensory perception, cognition, and human factors engineering has significantly influenced multi-sensory experience research and design.

We're back for another Happy Hour, this time at Wayfinder! Our newest organizers, Victoria Dower and Anatoliy Dzhuga will be your hosts for the evening. Victoria is a strategy, marketing, and operations wizard with tons of hardware experience, particularly in civic tech. Anatoliy is a stellar mechanical design engineer specializing in product development, and informal member.

Our monthly Hardware Meetups happen in 25+ cities around the world, bringing together hardware professionals to show projects, talk their businesses, and network with other engineers, entrepreneurs, designers, suppliers, and more. Whether you're a hardware pro or just hardware curious, we hope to see you there.

Bring demos! We'll have tables ready for you.

Thank you to our partners Kickstarter helps creative projects come to life. Backers have pledged over $6B to projects on our platform, helping artists, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and other creators make their ideas a reality.

informal is a freelance collective for the most talented independent professionals in hardware. Whether you're looking for a single contractor, a fractional consultant, a full-time employee, or an entire team, informal has the perfect collection of people for the job.

If you want to help support the next meetup, please reach out to [email protected] for sponsorship inquiries.

See you soon!

Gear up for a lively discussion on Advanced Manufacturing at Autodesk for another Portland Hardware Meetup!

During this event, we'll have a great panel of experts sharing their thoughts on lasers, robots, and how Advanced Manufacturing is evolving.

We have a great panel for you:

Alex Kingsbury (Panelist) - Alex is a well-known additive manufacturing technical expert and has worked in metal additive manufacturing in technical, leadership, and advisory roles for the last ten years. She is currently the Market Development Manager for nLIGHT, a leading provider of high-power semiconductor and fiber lasers.

Alana Mongkhounsavath (Panelist) - Alana is a Strategic Development Manager on the Autodesk Research team. She engages with companies to shape projects and research activities within the Autodesk Technology Centers Outsight Network. Alana started her career as a mechanical engineer where she actively led and designed for real-time solutions in manufacturing and future product programs.

Connor Shimamoto (Panelist) - Connor is a Product Designer and the Additive Manufacturing Application Manager at Sherpa Design. He leverages additive manufacturing technology and methods to deliver innovative solutions for clients, from manufacturing prototypes to finished production parts.

Matthew Claudel (Moderator) - Matthew is the founder of Field States, a benefit company whose mission is to create civic value using strategic design. He previously co-founded MIT’s designX program, where he was the Head of Civic Innovation. Matthew has co-authored two books, Open Source Architecture and The City of Tomorrow, and focuses on the issues of technology, design, and cities.

Agenda 5:30-6:00 - Arrival, mingle, grab refreshments 6:00-6:45 - Panel discussion with audience Q+A 6:45-8:30p - Mix + mingle

Don't miss out on the chance to make new connections, share ideas, and get inspired. See you there!

Our monthly Hardware Meetups happen in 25+ cities around the world, bringing together hardware professionals to share projects, talk about their businesses, and network with other engineers, entrepreneurs, designers, suppliers, and more. Whether you're a hardware pro or just hardware curious, all are welcome.

PDT is thrilled to bring our community together for a special in-person event! Connect with fellow Design Thinkers for an evening of networking, engaging ideation activities, and the opportunity to share ideas in real-time, face-to-face.

We’re especially excited to host this event at the Architectural Heritage Center. Located in the heart of Portland, the AHC is a key part of preserving the city’s architectural heritage, offering a setting that reflects the creativity and history of our community. It’s the perfect spot to connect, share ideas, and meet your fellow Portland Design Thinkers.

Enjoy delicious food and beverages as we dive into creative conversations and build connections.

Please RSVP and let us know if your plans change, so we can plan accordingly.

Suggested Donation: $15 at the door to help cover food and beverage costs. If you're facing financial constraints, feel free to contribute whatever you can. Every little bit helps and we would love to see you there!

If you have any questions or would like to connect with other members of PDT, join our Slack community.

PDT is a volunteer-run Oregon nonprofit organization, and as you can imagine, organizing events can be expensive. We rely on sponsors and donations to help us offset these costs. If you would like to help, we accept donations through Venmo @PortlandDesignThinkers.

Portland Design Thinkers is excited to announce our next event with Danielle Green: Where to Start with Strategic Product Research

Strategic Product Research is in high demand, but Product and UX professionals are often set up to fail. What exactly does strategic research entail? And how does it differ from discovery research? Learn why showing conceptual designs to users doesn’t work and explore better ways to evaluate whether you are building the right product or feature. Geared toward product managers, designers, product leaders, and entrepreneurs, this framework is designed to empower UX and Product professionals to make strategic decisions confidently.

Delivering products, services, and experiences that truly delight and inspire people requires human-centered designers, researchers, and product managers to have a huge influence on the strategic business decisions made by their leaders. Learn proven ways to draw C-suite and other key stakeholders into your design process at the right moments to help them build empathy and invest in innovations that maximize customer and business impact. Our session will use case study examples to introduce techniques you can apply now to design for influence.

About our speaker: Jed Cahill has spent the majority of his career driving strategic initiatives at the intersection of business planning, strategic design, and innovation in both management consulting and corporate strategy leadership roles. With a passion for creating inclusive work environments that promote empathy, creativity, and future thinking, he empowers people across all backgrounds and organizational levels to push the boundaries of what's possible.

Jed and his teams have led the strategic design of new experiences and digital products rolled out to tens of millions of customers, transformed business operations to drive efficiency and better employee experiences, and generated hundreds of patented inventions at the intersection of emerging technology and human needs. A graduate of University of Oregon's Lundquist College of Business (MBA), he now lives in SE Portland.

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