Summary
Bria Alexander welcomed attendees to the 2021 Design at Scale Conference and served as the guide through a vast, well-researched, and diverse program. She thanked the audience for their engagement, speakers for their preparation, and facilitators for managing cohorts. The conference spans three days: Day 1 focuses on craft at scale with Uday Gahender leading the theme, Day 2 on tools for success and enterprise design, and Day 3 on keeping people centered in an expanding enterprise. Bria explained time zone management on the conference site for seamless attendance. She highlighted 17 high-quality sponsor sessions running without overlap to the main events, encouraging attendees to invite colleagues as these sessions are free. Sponsors include companies such as Adobe Design, Verizon Design, and JP Morgan. Engagement is promoted through Slack channels—including a general discussion channel, support-focused #DAShelp, and private cohort channels—helping attendees network and discuss content. The Rosenfeld Media team provides session notes and recordings within hours to ease note-taking. Lastly, Bria stressed the importance of a respectful community as outlined in the code of conduct, assuring attendees that support is available for any issues during the event.
Key Insights
-
•
The Design at Scale Conference spans three focused days covering craft, tools, and human-centric enterprise design.
-
•
Uday Gahender is the theme lead for the first day, emphasizing craft at scale.
-
•
Sponsor sessions are free, high-quality, run during breaks, and never overlap with main programming.
-
•
The event offers flexible time zone settings on the website to reduce confusion for attendees worldwide.
-
•
Slack is the primary platform for discussion, technical support, and cohort interaction throughout the conference.
-
•
There are 11 private cohort channels grouping approximately 130 participants for deeper engagement and networking.
-
•
Rosenfeld Media provides professional sketchnotes and session notes, reducing the need for attendees to take personal notes.
-
•
Conference recordings and slide decks are made available within hours after each session for on-demand review.
-
•
A digital swag bag with exclusive sponsor offers is accessible via QR code or URL to enhance attendee experience.
-
•
A strict code of conduct is enforced to maintain a respectful and safe virtual community for all participants.
Notable Quotes
"It is my honor and pleasure to welcome each of you to the 2021 Design at Scale Conference."
"Day one of Design at Scale is going to be about ensuring craft on a massive scale."
"Sponsor sessions are not sales pitches but truly high-quality content that you won’t want to miss."
"You can change the time zone to whatever works for you on the conference site to avoid ambiguity."
"If you want to talk about the things you’re learning, use the hashtag DAS 2021 on Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn."
"Slack is where most of the conversation about the content of the conference is going to be had."
"If you signed up for a cohort, please make sure you’re in your private cohort channel to meet and discuss with your group."
"There is no need to take notes because we have sketch note makers capturing the sessions for you."
"Recordings and video decks will be shared on the conference site within hours of each presentation."
"Even virtually, we are a community obligated to treat each other with kindness and respect."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Don't be cool, be good—work hard at managing your teams because they need you to nail it."
Adam Cutler Karen Pascoe Ian Swinson Susan WorthmanDiscussion
June 8, 2016
"UXers are less satisfied than their peers because we have failed to set expectations about the real work of UX in organizations."
Peter MerholzThe Trials and Tribulations of Directors of UX (Videoconference)
July 13, 2023
"In the automotive industry, most safety standards only became mandatory after governments intervened."
Lisa WelchmanCleaning Up Our Mess: Digital Governance for Designers
June 14, 2018
"Investing in sustainability today will yield dividends for future generations."
Vincent BrathwaiteOpener: Past, Present, and Future—Closing the Racial Divide in Design Teams
October 22, 2020
"Design your processes around learning, have blameless post mortems and celebrate failures especially."
Brenna FallonLearning Over Outcomes
October 24, 2019
"We are all experiencing a spatial collapse, a disruption of our mental models of how we navigate physical and virtual spaces."
Tricia WangSpatial Collapse: Designing for Emergent Culture
January 8, 2024
"Delivering research in small, lean increments allowed us to iterate fast and reduce bias."
Edgar Anzaldua MorenoUsing Research to Determine Unique Value Proposition
March 11, 2021
"Service lines bridge the gaps between product lines through information flows to provide the right knowledge at the right time."
Designing Systems at Scale
November 7, 2018
"Ethics evolve faster than law; just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s ethical."
Erin WeigelGet Your Whole Team Testing to Design for Impact
July 24, 2024
