For the past couple of years, we have had a user research track at WebExpo. As there is a growing demand for this topic, we are inviting even more amazing speakers from international and local scenes. Get ready for a great mix of methods, case studies, and best practices this year. Here are my personal tips on what not to miss.
I attended Caroline Jarrett’s workshop on surveys in 2016 in Prague, and it was one of the best workshops I’ve ever participated. I also remember Caroline’s engaging talk full of stories about designing for gov.uk. That’s why I am so excited that we managed to get Caroline to come to WebExpo again this year. She is a renowned expert in forms and surveys and has written books on both. Make sure you go see her talk on How to save money by fixing forms. I also highly recommend her premium half-day workshop Four ways to make a better survey, to anyone who didn’t study surveys at school but needs to create them at work.
Have you heard of research democratisation? This is when someone other than researchers conducts user research in an organisation. Usually, this research is carried out by designers or product managers, but not always exclusively. There are very different opinions on this practice. Some love it, while others hate it. At Heureka, they have figured out a nice way to distribute research responsibilities. Romana Trusinová, who leads user research there, will share their best practices and case studies together with product manager Michal Pour in their talk Product & Research as partners in crime. I know this is going to be a great one!
I am also excited that the Head of Research at Miro, Dalia El-Shimy, will be joining us this year at WebExpo. Miro is one of my favourite tools, and the topic of Dalia’s talk is my bread and butter. Hosting someone who has built a research practice from scratch at such a great company is a pleasure. I hope to see you at Dalia’s talk From hesitation to confidence: Leveraging insights towards better decision-making.
And last but not least, I am looking forward to Michal Kříž’s talk How can a design thinking approach be useful within the public sector? Service design in the public sector is not very common in the Czech Republic yet. But as the Head of Service Design at the National Pedagogical Institute of the Czech Republic, Michal is proof that we’re entering a new era—and one that will also inspire future talks from the public sector.
These are just a few of my top picks, but there will be many more incredible speakers and fascinating topics at WebExpo 2023. And of course, don’t forget about the parties! Let’s meet there and chat — I’ll be interested to hear which talk you liked the most.