The ITX Product + Design Conference returned to Rochester June 27 & 28, and while the deep learning and camaraderie between product managers, UX designers, and more didn’t change, we saw several differences that elevated this event.
Held at Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery, attendees experienced hands-on workshops, in-depth keynotes, intimate live podcast recordings, and casual fireside chats from our largest-ever lineup of speakers.
Artificial Intelligence Takes Center Stage
The topic this year – to the surprise of no one – was artificial intelligence. But we weren’t treated to excessive commentary on how to use the technology (although our speakers provided plenty of real-life applications.) Rather, the speakers leaned into the human side of AI.
“All of the speakers spoke from the human-perspective,” shared Emma Rizzo, ITX Content Strategist. “There was more emphasis on being a human with a job and using AI as a tool, instead of assuming AI will take our jobs.”
John Maeda, VP of Engineering, Head of Computational Design & AI Platform at Microsoft, spoke outright about people’s fears with using AI. During his live recording with Product Momentum, he made the case that it is our lack of understanding AI as the reason we fear it. “We think too often about the negatives,” Maeda said, “and we forget about the great positives that new technologies bring.”
Patricia Reiners and John Haggerty shared their insights around AI during their workshops on Day 1 of the conference and on Keynote Day’s fireside chats. With each leading a workshop in both the design track and product track, respectively, attendees experimented with tools that can help us in our everyday tasks.
Patricia Reiners advocated for designers to embrace AI and the help it provides. About her workshop experience, ITX UX Designer Natania Allan said, “Patricia Reiners empowered us as the users. She presented AI in a more approachable manner, citing that AI can only do what we tell it to do.”
Also, from ITX Senior UX Designer Mimi Ace, “Patricia said in her workshop about how AI will not replace humans – but it will replace designers who don’t use AI correctly. It made me realize that there’s a whole area to experiment with that doesn’t mean solely relying on AI or not using it at all.”
“We think too often about the negatives, and we forget about the great positives that new technologies bring.”
Patricia shared similar thoughts during her fireside chat, discussing the future of our work. It was a fitting conversation the host of the Future Of UX podcast. She placed great emphasis on embracing the future and preparing ourselves for it, and our attendees felt the call. “Patricia said ‘everything you’re working on today is static. But our work in the future is not, and we have to be ready for it,’” said Travis Texido, ITX Senior Business Analyst. “I immediately thought about the work that I do, and I know that change will come and the best thing I can do is be ready for it.”
Haggerty’s product-management-focused fireside chat echoed similar sentiments. In his conversation, John presented more perspectives to understand AI, rather than through a negative lens. “Yes, we have machines that can do the machine work. But there are parts of a Product Manager’s job that can be automated, and should be automated, because otherwise it’s humans acting as machines.”
As the world ventures further into AI, John Haggerty stressed the importance of taking a step back and ensuring we’re doing things right. And by right, he means ethically and fairly. “AI is a big part of our lives, but we don’t know how ethical people are being about it.” ITX Product Manager Matt Bush said, “We’re basing a lot off biased history, and we have to make sure we’re not embedding those views into our AI models. It was an important topic that John [Haggerty] spoke about in his workshop.”
Trends In Product Practices
Another major topic at the Product + Design Conference was the idea of Product Operations. From Denise Tilles, co-author of Product Operations with Melissa Perri, attendees were given an in-depth analysis during her keynote, Product Momentum recording, and fireside chat.
Setting the baseline in her keynote, Denise explained the main goal of Product Operations, which is to provide cross-functional visibility and the insights needed to define winning product strategies. While Denise thoughtfully explained how Product Operations works, she was also vocal about what Product Operations doesn’t do.
For one, it doesn’t take away jobs from the Product Managers, nor does it seek to undermine them. Product Managers and Product Ops Leads work together to create products, and responsibilities attributed to them remain with them. Those in the Product Operations field are striving to bring clarity around business & data insights, customer & user insights, and best processes & practices – by doing so, they empower the Product Managers and Product Owners to make informed decisions about the products they’re creating.
Speaking of customer insights, product workshop attendees took a closer look at how to gather customer insights from Prerna Singh. In her workshop, attendees worked through four discovery methodologies, working to understand which was the best for different scenarios. More than theory, Prerna made sure that the tools attendees learned would be applicable to their current roles and help get deeper insights into their customers’ minds.
Thinking Outside Of The Office
Over two days, our heads filled with new ideas and ways of working. But the practical and theoretical information about the work we do wasn’t all that we learned.
In an informative and colorful keynote, Ryan Rumsey took us on a journey through his career. Not as a history lesson, but more of a cautionary tale – one that could happen to anyone who gets too deep into their work and forgets to think about the person doing that work. Our growth is not limited to the work we accomplish, but also to the way we build our personal and emotional skills.
Ryan’s keynote wasn’t the only one discussing topics outside of practical work. Cliff Gilley, a VP Research Analyst from Gartner, spent the first portion of his keynote explaining why product managers are unhappy in their work (a notion that resonated strongly with our attendees.)
His talk may have begun on a bit of a downer, but Cliff quickly brought the energy back up when he shared different ways in how we can find the joy in our work again. We can decide to change the way we approach our work, and we can rethink how we personally define the jobs we perform.
With frequent reminders that designers and product managers are more than our jobs, conference keynotes marked a refreshing change of pace from the practical knowledge gained.
Even in the simple moments, our speakers found ways to make significant impacts on our attendees. One of these moments came during the Panel Q&A with our Keynote speakers. An attendee asked about something that a speaker gave up to be where they are today, and Denise Tilles answered: “I gave up my dream job at a non-profit that helps people on the spectrum. It wasn’t the right fit, and the environment was not what I anticipated, so I had to make the difficult choice to leave. But by doing so I’m able to be here with everyone.”
“The last comment from Denise about leaving her dream job really stuck with me,” ITX Product Owner Brandon Pierce said. “As someone on the spectrum, I respect her for choosing to go somewhere that will make an impact in people’s lives. But I also relate to the empathy of others, and I can only imagine how hard it must have been to leave that role behind.”
This conference brings so many people together. Whether we’re product- or design-focused, local or out of town, seasoned in our careers or just starting out – there’s power in sharing our stories and knowledge with each other. There are more opportunities for us to strengthen our communities; as our tools and practices evolve, we will only grow stronger.
Find your next product and design community.
Connect with others at Upstate Product Meetup and Upstate UX Meetup.
Megan Lawson is a Marketing Content Specialist at ITX. She focuses on creating content that solves problems and engages audiences. Megan received her BA in Communication from the State University of New York at Geneseo.
