Ryan Wu

🍫 + 🥜 When two independent UX consultants combine their strengths, they create something neither could offer alone... In this new episode of The UX Consultants Lounge, I talk with Steve Portigal and Justin Dauer about their recent decision to collaborate — not “partner” — while keeping their solo consulting practices alive and well. 👇🎬👇 HIGHLIGHT CLIP BELOW: They share: ✅ Why they’re so values-aligned, from healthy culture to business beliefs ✅ How the “chocolate and peanut butter” analogy became part of their collaboration story ✅ Why they intentionally avoid the word partnership and what “collaboration” allows them to do instead ✅ How their complementary skills create a broader, more impactful offering for clients Hearing them describe how they’ve found a way to work together without giving up their independence is inspiring, and a great reminder that there’s no one “right” way to structure a consulting career. 👉 🎧 Listen Now: You can find The UX Consultants Lounge on your preferred podcast platform or visit the podcast website: uxconsultantslounge [dot] com. #ux, #uxdesign, #userexperiencedesign, #uxresearch, #uxresearcher, #uxconsulting, #uxfreelancing, #consulting, #freelancing, #uxconsultant, #uxfreelancer, #consultant, #freelancer, #freelancerlifestyle, #freelancerlife, #consultantlife, #consultantlifestyle, #consultinglife

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The #Value of #UX in less than 5 minutes With our strategic thinker Clemens Lutsch Clemens Lutsch, CEO of swohlwahr GmbH & Co KG and scientific head of the International Accreditation Program for UX Professionals for UX, emphasized that UX is a strategic discipline that goes far beyond product design. He explained that effective UX requires organizational maturity and impacts various core areas such as risk management, portfolio planning, employee experience, and corporate culture. On a strategic level, UX helps organizations design services and products that people genuinely want, rather than manipulating people into wanting them. This approach supports sustainability, accessibility, innovation, and resilience in fast-changing markets. Lutsch highlighted that UX isn't about ownership of specific roles but about enhancing collaboration across departments. UX professionals bring a human-centered lens to business, quality management, product design, and more, focusing on evidence-based decisions, reducing risk, and addressing real user needs. His final message: Despite fears that AI may render UX obsolete, he believes we're entering a renaissance where UX can thrive and focus on what truly moves us forward. Thanks to all speakers: Clemens Lutsch, Ahmad ALhuwwari 🇵🇸🇵🇸, Stefan Barac, Klaus Hofer, Verena Seibert-Giller, Benedikt Salzbrunn, Ranjeet Tayi

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Peter Merholz recently wrote that design leaders are failing the next generation. Figma's State of the Designer 2026 quietly confirms it — the designers doing the deepest strategic thinking are the least recognised and least satisfied. The invisible work stays invisible when leaders don't illuminate it. So here's what I'm doing about it with my team: → North star designs: creating a shared vision of excellence before delivery pulls us in. Something to problem-solve toward, not just execute against. → Talking craft regularly: in all-hands, in team chats, as a live conversation. Not a value on a wall. What does good look like here? What made this better? → Naming excellence publicly: when someone asks the question that reframes everything, I call it out. None of this needs a big budget. It needs intention. If we only celebrate what ships, we're only teaching people to ship. What are you doing to make space for craft? Link to Peter's article: https://lnkd.in/e4jx4iXq #DesignLeadership #Craft #UXDesign #DesignCulture

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Want to learn how to create Figma variable themes for multi-platform? 📣 Thrilled to announce Franziska Haaf and Vincent Schlothauer from REWE digital as speakers at our conference! 📌 About this session: In this talk we’ll show you how to get the most out of Figma variables. What if you could use them not just to change colours and fonts, but scale entire interfaces for different devices and platforms? Learn how to set up a design tokens architecture in Figma that will allow you to introduce additional themes and modes – whether you’re already serving multiple brands or platforms or simply want to be prepared for the future. We‘ll also show you how to keep structured, tidy UI kits and be ready for any question during dev hand-off. 📖 What you will learn: - How we’ve structured our UI kits and optimised our hand-off-ready design specs - How to set up your Figma variables structure for flexibility in terms of modes, platforms or brands - How to introduce additional themes and modes without breaking existing structures, and what pitfalls to avoid Join us and learn hands-on 📐 Into Design Systems, 3 day Conference 🗓️ May 28-30 Online ✅ Recordings, files, certificate included 👉 Limited tickets: https://lnkd.in/gnCF4zCx This is not an ordinary conference! 👉 Our conference has been rated ⭐️ 5/5 by hundreds of attendees: https://lnkd.in/dxtpFAJx We can't wait to learn with you! #designsystem #figma #uxdesign

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UX research isn’t just for researchers anymore. When every team member can run thoughtful, well-structured studies, you unlock faster decisions, deeper empathy, and products that actually work for real people. This guide breaks down how to democratise research without losing rigor, and how platforms like UXArmy make it possible. Read the full story → https://lnkd.in/g_qMZehh #UXResearch #DemocratiseResearch #ProductDesign #UserInsights #UXArmy

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🔥 Hot Tips on Building a Participant Panel 1. Understand your research panel requirements In addition to sorting out who should be on the panel and how to effectively communicate with them (both big considerations), you should also map out all the technical requirements needed to meet to get a panel up and running. This means: • A professional-looking sign-up form and screeners • A means to get the sign-up form in front of customers (a web page and other marketing initiatives) • Secure storage of participant data • The ability to pull lists of participants, based on specific criteria • A way to delete participants, when requested 2. Define research panel ownership roles and responsibilities A successful research panel is built on strong relationships, and we all know that relationships don’t manage themselves. It takes commitment, attention, and intention to make sure they flourish. Here are just a few of the tasks that fall to a research operations or panel manager: • Recruiting new participants to the panel • Keeping existing panelists engaged with relevant communications • Priming panel members for upcoming studies • Fielding panelist questions before, during, and after studies • Keeping the panel up to date as members are added, leave, or change roles 3. Choose the right users for your research panel  Your research panel should be an accurate reflection of your larger user base. This means you’ll want to recruit for diversity, and not just in terms of demographics.  When building your panel, be aware of all the attributes that can affect how someone might experience your product and respond to questions, including: • Which plan are they on? • Are they a power user or a less frequent user? • Do they have specialized knowledge about your product? • Are they already predisposed to have a better-than-average opinion of your product or organization? 4. Develop your participant incentive plan While cash or gift cards are frequently offered as incentives for user research participants, financial compensation for research panelists is less common and can be less effective than other methods. A User Research Incentive Calculator (https://lnkd.in/gM4tfsak) can help you determine the right incentive amount for your particular study. Source: Building and Managing a Research Panel for Faster, Easier Research https://lnkd.in/gkrrprTy #ux #research #ReOps

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IPAI in Heilbronn is building something truly big — and I’m excited to share that WongDoody is now part of it as the first creative and design agency partner. The Innovation Park Artificial Intelligence (IPAI) is set to become one of Europe’s largest AI ecosystems: a dedicated campus spanning more than 20 hectares, designed to bring together research, startups, corporates, and public institutions in one shared environment. Backed by strong, long-term investment and closely connected to leading universities and industry players, IPAI’s ambition is clear: to create a place where thousands of AI experts work side by side on real-world applications — from industrial AI and mobility to healthcare and smart services. The published vision images give a real sense of scale and intent: open lab spaces, collaborative work environments, and an urban AI district built for exchange and experimentation. This isn’t just about office buildings — it’s infrastructure designed around innovation. I’m particularly proud that WongDoody is joining this ecosystem as the first agency, alongside an impressive group of partners including Dieter Schwarz Stiftung, Schwarz Digits, Aleph Alpha, Telekom Deutschland, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Würth-Gruppe, Ziehl-Abegg, Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, Techniker Krankenkasse, Bechtle AG, Börse Stuttgart, Baier & Schneider, Stihl, IDS Imaging Development Systems, Thyssenkrupp Automotive Body Solutions, Hochschule Heilbronn, TUM, Fraunhofer, and many more. Making this happen took real commitment and persistence — thank you Bianca Mack and Michael Geißler for pushing this forward. Looking forward to what we’ll build together. #AI #IPAI #InnovationEcosystem #AppliedAI #ExperienceDesign #WongDoody #Heilbronn

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