Session Title
In Camera: Learning from Failure
Presenter
Kaleem Khan
Session Type: Discussion
We all fail.
It’s painful, disappointing and humiliating. We don’t like to think about those moments.
Yet the best lessons are learned from failure if we can get past our shortcomings and bruised egos and focus on what we did right and what went wrong. Most conference sessions tell us how to succeed by examining the outcomes of successful projects. This is not one of those sessions.
A case study will be presented to begin the discussion. Participants will bring their own tales and war stories to share.
This session is an opportunity for all of us to learn from each other about our failures in a candid way, whether they are in design, business practices, political and process battles, product launches and others.
Knowledge will be captured, distilled and anonymized so our community can learn from our collective failures without professional risk to the participants.
Please note that this session will be an in camera session to encourage participants to share their stories in a free an open manner.
Biography
Kaleem makes things simple.
As a strategist, consultant and designer, Kaleem helps global companies, agencies, startups and governments create great experiences and solve complex problems.
Over two decades, he has worked with clients that include leaders in consumer electronics, mobile technology, Internet services, software, health care, financial services, telecom and security.
Kaleem is a member of an alphabet soup of professional user experience groups including ACM SIGCHI, IAI and IxDA. He is a UXnet ambassador, local leader of the UX Book Club, and steward of the UX Irregulars, a Toronto-based UX group with members around the world.
He is a founding partner of strategy and research consultancy True Insight.
6 Comments
I like that you’re saying out loud what so many folks keep to themselves: Failure is a great teacher. It’s an excellent starting point for a presentation. One thing: I don’t know what an “in camera session” is. (Probably MY failure.)
Thanks for the feedback, Dan. And it’s MY failure that I used a jargonish phrase to describe what’s an otherwise clear concept.
IN CAMERA means that the session will be private and outside of the view of the general public. Only the participants themselves will know who was in the session. Typically the discussion at an in camera session is not shared outside the room (eg. a judge’s chambers) but the purpose of the session is to learn, which is why I suggested capturing and anonymising knowledge.
The inspiration for this session comes from realising the parallels between conversations that I’ve had with peers and morbidity and mortality peer review sessions that medical staff use to identify errors to improve patient care. These sessions are also important in identifying systemic issues that affect success.
This might be of use:
http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2008/why-designers-fail-the-report/
Includes a link to the presentation I gave at UI13 on the subject.
This is a refreshingly candid approach that I fear might scare some people off. Failures are not something that most of us do not want to admit to (especially if we’re used to success). Emphasizing that participation is private and anonymous would likely increase attendance at this presentation. I would love to see a session like this.
THIS SESSION WILL BE PRIVATE AND ANONYMOUS.
Thanks, Scott and Trevor for your feedback and insights.
I should have made it clear at the outset (instead of at the conclusion) that participation in this session will be private and anonymous.
Organizers: Is there a way to edit the proposal itself?
We have all had failures. Hopefully the scale of them diminishes as our experience grows. This would be a great session to share client reactions and our solutions. Everyone would have a story to tell. I too like the fact that the session will be private and anonymous.