James Lang

James is a researcher by background, but wears several hats: coach, strategist, product manager & social designer. Since 1997 he’s worked on digital products across virtually every sector. He was UX research director at YouTube/Google, product strategist at eBay, and head of research at cxpartners. 

James now works as a fractional UX leader & consultant alongside his personal project: Designing Communities a collective which seeks to support people (particularly those with a design background) in creating healthy communities.

James (along with colleague Maddy) from Designing Communities Collective is here to share good news... if you can design an app, you already have the skills to design community.  

Many people in UX are demoralised about their work right now. They’re in roles that under-utilise their skills, uncertain about the value they bring, or working on products they don’t love. At the same time, there are many big challenges we can, and should, be helping to address, such as climate change, social isolation and political radicalisation. That’s where a focus on designing communities comes in. 

Historically, UX hasn’t paid attention to community as a solution space. And yet…  at a business level: products, brands and creators build community to deepen their bonds with users and customers. At an organisation level: the best teams are modelled on communities. At a personal level: community brings meaning to our world, in our neighbourhoods and our personal interests.  

In this session, we’ll explore what's involved in creating and sustaining healthy communities. We’ll draw on the wealth of knowledge in fields as diverse as economics, network theory, social work and the design of cities, and on case studies of communities efforts like Burning Man, Parkrun and Meetups.

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