If you’ve ever heard the phrase “just design for the happy path” you know on the flip side of that statement there’s an unhappy path lurking below the surface, just waiting to surprise your user. Unhappy paths, or the unintended, less-than-ideal workflows, are often an afterthought in the development lifecycle. Product teams rush to finish a product and only upon release do your users discover issues. This was true for the entire state of Hawaii last year.

Imagine the following appearing on your phone lock screen: “Emergency Alert: BALLISTIC MISSLE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” How would you react? For those in Hawaii on January 13, 2018, they had no time to imagine the scenario; they lived through it. This message was designed to keep people safe, yet instead provided an unfortunate venue for unnecessary panic and worry.

Accounting for unhappy paths in the beginning of the design process will create a more robust experience and build loyalty with your users. In this talk, Lauren will provide methods of integrating this thinking into implementation. She will cover best practices for alerts, errors, and other communication strategies using elements such as language and tone, color, timing and context, recovery, escape, and more.

Lauren is a Senior User Experience Designer at Cerner and former UXPA Board Member. She strives to create experiences and products that improve the lives of users, particularly those within the healthcare space. With a focus on medications, data visualizations, and nursing, Lauren works to solve difficult problems through research and design. After graduating from the University of Kansas Industrial Design program, Lauren designed medical products for Bayer HealthCare Diabetes Care in Tarrytown, NY. Since relocating back to Kansas City and joining Cerner, Lauren has enjoyed cheering on KC sports teams and exploring new parts of town.

Food and drinks provided.

• Networking & Happy Hour - 6pm

• Talk - 7pm

Reserve your place early. Ticket sales end 48 hours before the event to head count for security.

Location: Cerner Innovations Campus, 8779 Hillcrest Rd, Kansas City, MO 64137