User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play

As part of our Impact by Design events series, Artefact welcomes UX designer and journalist Cliff Kuang to the studio for the Seattle launch of his new book User Friendly.

The term "user-friendly" is so common that it rolls off the tongue, yet few of us know the startling, inspiring, and sometimes terrifying story of how that concept was invented. UX designer and journalist Cliff Kuang finally tells that story in his new book User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play, which the New York Times called "a tour de force” and was recently named a Top 100 Book of the Year by Amazon.

Cliff will share key moments from his book, including the lethal failures during World War II that seeded the field of design thinking, and the surprising origins of the idea that the products we design should always make our lives better. He’ll also provide a few insights about the challenges design must solve in a world shaped by technology and artificial intelligence.

The talk will be followed by an in-depth, open Q&A. Come with questions!

Lunch will be provided.

About Cliff:

Cliff Kuang is both a user-experience designer and an award-winning journalist. For many years, he held a number of senior roles at Fast Company, most recently as head of UX and product. Before that, he was an editor at Wired and Fast Company, where he founded its design site, Co.Design. Under his leadership, Co.Design won the National Magazine Award and became a source of insight and inspiration for a generation of designers. Kuang’s writing has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek, and The Economist. Today, he works in Silicon Valley.

About Artefact

Artefact is a strategy and design firm. We help companies and organizations create products and services that benefit business, customers, and society.

Impact by Design is Artefact's community event series for people on a mission to design a better future. Join us to inspire and be inspired, exchange and challenge ideas, and evolve methods to create positive change. From book releases and art installations to lectures and methodology workshops, sign up here to learn about events and opportunities near you.