Defining, Developing and Exploring UX in Indonesia

Defining, Developing and Exploring UX in Indonesia

A colourful visual chart of Matt's presentation
Summary:

Last week Matt travelled to Indonesia to explore the age-old question: What the @#$% is UX?

He got answers; he also got a stomach bug. It was all worth it in the search for how to craft a good experience.

Last week I was honoured to give the opening keynote presentation at the inaugural UX Indonesia conference, the first conference focussed on User Experience to be held in the country.

I’d been to Indonesia just once before. At the age of 21, I began what is a common rite of passage for young Australians: six months of solo world travel with an enormous backpack strapped to my back. My first port of call on a six-month solo journey around Europe was Bali, and during that week I caught three things: a monster wave, a love of Indonesian spices, and a severe case of Bali Belly. Fun times.

17 years later, here I was returning to Indonesia to deliver a presentation titled What the @#$% is UX?, and teach a workshop on Sketching Experiences. In the same vein as the video on this topic, I spent 30 minutes unpacking the term “user experience”, what it means for newcomers to the field, and how to best navigate a career in this exciting, nebulous industry.

My slides from the presentation are below; there’s a lot missing from the context, but you may find them interesting to flick through as I reflect on some of my past projects (and shine the spotlight on some former workmates!).

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It was a real honour to be invited to speak at UX Indonesia, and the conference team and their enthusiastic band of volunteers did a fantastic job. Logistics ran smoothly, and as a speaker I was spoiled with gifts, fine food, and hospitality. It was also a great opportunity to chat with the other distinguished speakers (including the lovely Turi McKinley from Frog Design, Dan & Jo from Apogee HK), Andrew Mayfield from Optimal Workshop, and mingle with attendees and hear about some of the amazing UX work happening in Indonesia.

And while Jakarta is not necessarily a must-see destination (it’s a difficult city to get around—you haven’t seen gridlocked traffic like this!) it is a convenient jumping-off point to mind-bogglingly beautiful beaches, islands, and tropical wonders. I did have some time after the conference was over to take advantage of being in a remarkable part of the world …

… unfortunately, in keeping with tradition, instead I spent my final couple of days in Jakarta clutching my stomach, unable to venture far from a restroom. Whether it was a gulp of swimming pool water or something else that got me, Indonesia had the last laugh. Again.

I’ll still be back.

Sketchnote of Turi McKinley from Frog Design Sketchnote of the panel discussion at UX Indonesia

Sketchnote of Dan and Jo's talk Matt with Imawan, the UXID graphic recorder

Matt presenting at UXID 2014 Matt and Turi pose in front of the larger-than-life conference banner

Written by
Matthew Magain
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