Madeleine Paige

Madeleine is a senior UX researcher at YouTube and spends her time researching how technology can facilitate creativity. Her work on YouTube's creator tools is informed by her own experiences as a musician and songwriter, giving her firsthand insight into artists' needs. 

With a background in clinical psychology, she is also keenly aware of the importance of social connection and belonging, and is highly invested in applying her design thinking skills to the concept of community.

Maddy (along with colleague James) 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. 
 

← Back