The Design With a Big ‘D’ series digs into the scope and depth of the Dallas-Fort Worth UX/UI industry as the region becomes a hot spot for design talent and companies. To follow the series and get the news on what’s now and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, sign up for Dallas Innovates Every Day.

SERIES: PART 4

LEADING BY DESIGN
Tatiana Miller 
James Helm
Don Relyea
Stephen Anderson

Experiences wash over most of us like waves.

So much so, that an industry has sprung up around them. In the following posts, we interview the ‘surfers’ in the Dallas region who caught the experiential wave early and continue to lead others in harnessing these waves to improve the lives of employees, consumers, and customers.

And it’s not just the tech industries looking at this, Project UX Executive Producer Rob Andrews told us. Every firm and product should be doing the consumer research and surveying its competitive landscape. 

“You want to make sure that experience is good, because you can only make a first impression once,” Andrews says. “Experiences mean more than things. The experience of doing something, or having a memory or a keepsake, means more. There’s a higher intrinsic value. When it comes to customer service, it will make them write a good review. And a bad experience can go the other way.”

Dave Moore talks with four leading “design thinkers” in the trenches:

Users First: An Interview With USAA’s Tatiana Miller

Tatiana Miller, executive director of design at USAA [Photo, logo: USAA]

“We talk to real humans almost every time we kick off a project,” Tatiana Miller says about understanding end-user behavior. The executive director of design at USAA tells Dave Moore how the company invests in design, what she’s most proud of, and how she manages some 60 creative professionals. Read the Q+A.

At the Helm: Intuit VP of Design on Being ‘Design-led, through and through’

James Helm, VP of Design at Intuit [Photo: Intuit]

Intuit has embraced design thinking, says Intuit VP of Design James Helm. He talks with Dave Moore about the thinking that precedes formal design and how the company retains designers who may get multiple recruiting calls each week. Read more.

Money Talks: Don Relyea Takes User Experience to the Bank

Don Relyea, head of design at BBVA  [Photo: BBVA]

Before BBVA’s Head of Design Don Relyea and his crew rolled in, opening an account at BBVA Compass was a relatively slow, complicated affair. Sometimes tellers had to open up numerous windows in the process, increasing the chances for mistakes and delays. This called for an intervention. Here’s the story.

Custom Build: An Acquisition, Ties to Higher Ed Drew UX Thoughtleader to Capital One’s Garage

Stephen Anderson, head of design at Capital One’s Garage [Photo sources: Capital One, Stephen Anderson]

Stephen Anderson, head of design at Capital One’s Garage, (literally) wrote the book on “Seductive Interaction Design.” He talks about finding talent and how design thinking is applied to daily life. Here’s our Q+A — and an excerpt from the book.

A version of this story was first published in Sept. 2018 in a Dallas Regional Chamber brochure: “Design With a Big ‘D'”.

READ NEXT

PART 1: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
The DFW Experience

Part one examines DFW as a UX hotspot. Today, four out of 10 Texas user-experience professionals work in Dallas-Fort Worth.

PART 2: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
How the Big Design Conference Came to Be

Part two looks at the beginnings of the conference. Big Design co-founder Brian Sullivan shares its origin story.

PART 3: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Corporate by Design

Part three shares insights for how design pros help companies such as Walmart, Accenture, Bottle Rocket, Sabre, and more gain competitive advantage.

PART 4: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Leading by Design

Part four covers a few big thinkers who are leading by design at companies such as Capital One, BBVA, Intuit, and USAA. Whether it’s slaying piles of paper receipts at tax time or making shopping an adventure, these Dallas area thoughtleaders are making their marks in their respective industries. The common thread? Dogged persistence.

PART 5: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Meet 6 UX/UI Experts Delivering Solutions

UX/UI designers and experts are integral parts of many company operations and span across almost every industry. The Dallas-Fort Worth region has no shortage of thought leaders who are helping create the solutions for some of today’s most popular products. Here are six you need to know.

PART 6: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Norm Cox, Iconoclast: Creating a Legacy in Design

Tap a menu on your smartphone to pay for your coffee, or edit a Word doc. Either way, you can think of Norm Cox. The North Texan was was on the Xerox team that developed the graphical user interface systems that we still use today.

PART 7: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
XR: The Experience Extended

In the service economy, winners will be companies who can best anticipate customer needs and can provide the best customer experience. Enter Extended Reality. Here are four DFW companies making bets on its future.

PART 8: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
A Look Into the Future:
Industry Leaders Say Universities Provide UX Firepower

From developing autonomous trucks to incorporating science and the arts, universities in Dallas-Fort Worth are churning out UX-perts

PART 9: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Teaching the Next Evolution of UX Design Thinking

Multi-dimensional UX: Preston McCauley has been working to help UX professionals discover new ways to approach the craft.

PART 10: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Societal Urgency:
UTD’s Cassini Nazir on the First-Person Experience

It would make sense that the best education in user-experience would involve a first-person experience. It’s about finding needs and figuring out how to fill them.

PART 11: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
By the Numbers: Tech Roots Give DFW the Edge in UX/UI Boom

The user experience sector is exploding in Dallas-Fort Worth. That’s a good pairing with the region’s history as a high-tech hotbed.

PART 12: DESIGN WITH A BIG D
Creative Vault: Your Guide to Resources for Designers and UX/UI Pros in DFW

There are plenty of area associations, events, organizations, and educational institutions to help designers brainstorm, commiserate, learn, and hone their skills. Here’s our resource guide to get you started.

#DesignThinking #UX/UI #DesignWithABigD

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