Creating a Legacy: the ultimate experience
Summary
The ultimate user experience is the one that's invisible—it's unexplained magic—like a gift without a special occasion. When the magic lasts, retained in the heart, beyond the memory of who created them, that's a true legacy. As we know, lasting experiences are few and far between. This keynote will share the UX journey of Citrix—through the successes, failures and stories of the company's former CEO. This session will wrap up our conference with the goal of expanding your insights and sparking inspiration as you take away the professional value and fun of Enterprise UX 2017.
Key Insights
-
•
Legacy should be seen as gifts of insight and leadership that last beyond personal memory, not just a personal story or endowment.
-
•
Citrix’s purpose centered on authentic human outcomes—helping people work flexibly and live better, not just on technology.
-
•
Design thinking is more about reframing problems and ideas than just aesthetics or craft.
-
•
Embedding design thinking deeply into an organization requires training diverse ‘catalysts’ across departments, not just designers.
-
•
Consumer technology shifts like the iPhone and iPad accelerated user expectations, forcing enterprise UX to become table stakes.
-
•
The ‘virtual workplace’ vision from 2001 anticipated many trends in device independence, collaboration, and user metaphors decades ahead.
-
•
A culture that puts employees and customers first, grounded in values of humility, respect, integrity, and conviction, creates pride and drives business success.
-
•
Leadership balance involves trusting your team, clarifying your own decision boundaries, and empowering others.
-
•
Legacy moments can be as simple and immediate as making genuine personal connections, not just grand achievements.
-
•
Competitive differentiation in enterprise software is now about holistic customer experience (CX), beyond just UX design.
Notable Quotes
"Legacy is a gift: gifts of insight, leadership, experience that last long beyond anyone remembering who gave them."
"If you want to receive value, you have to create value first; expecting it before contributing is a mistake."
"We believe in being a rock band, not rock stars—success comes from the team, not the individual."
"User experiences and customer experiences are feelings—we design those feelings more than features."
"The post-PC era has had more impact on enterprise UX and computing than any other factor in all history."
"The hardest thing for any tech company to do is move from technology-out thinking to customer and business outcome thinking."
"Every person in a company has a customer, whether internal or external, and should focus on the experience they deliver."
"Culture plus empathy equals pride—and pride powers the most successful organizations."
"You can leave a legacy in three minutes by giving a connection or sharing an insight—it doesn’t have to be grand."
"Don’t dress for the job you have, dress for the job you want—this applies to people and companies alike."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Trying to force one preeminent model for the company is a recipe for disaster—embrace models and understand why people are using them."
John CutlerOxbows, Rivers, and Estuaries: How to navigate the currents of change (without burning out)
December 3, 2024
"It takes at least one member of a team to choose to set healthy standards for collaboration."
Darian DavisLessons from a Toxic Work Relationship
January 8, 2024
"We’re all in this together and figuring it out — making it up as we go along."
Dave GrayGroup Activity: Making Sense of DesignOps
November 7, 2017
"These aren't linear; every circle or box has multiple lines into it—our work does not fit neatly into trees or pyramids."
John CutlerThe Alignment Trap
November 29, 2023
"Simplicity is not always the answer to complexity, but understanding often is."
Abby CovertStuck? Diagrams Help
October 27, 2022
"Side-pav proposals answer what’s going on, why it matters now, what you propose, what action to take, and what benefit comes from it."
Mark InterranteCollaboration Flows in Product Development
June 9, 2017
"The future is not a toy. Accountability matters deeply in how we construct futures."
Devon PowersImagining Better Futures
March 9, 2022
"You should not be struggling with best practices, recruitment, or documentation when conducting your own research as a designer."
Prayag NarulaHow to Empower Your Designers to Do Good Research – And Why You Want To
June 10, 2022
"Cloud code wasn’t programmed to do this; it’s a very lightweight system where the model does most of the work."
Peter Van DijckHands on AI #3: Claude Code for UX people
October 22, 2025