Presentations

I love presenting and am always interested in doing more. My previous presentations give you an idea of what I usually talk about, though my long experience means I can present on a wide range of design topics.

    Please let me know if you’re interested in me presenting for your organisation or event.

    Upcoming presentations

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    Previous presentations

    Designing for web 3

    Designing for web 3

    As more companies look at opportunities to use web3 to achieve business goals, designers will increasingly need to understand how to design for it. Of course, web3 isn't just one thing - you might need to design for the metaverse, finance applications, NFT projects...

    Designing the right thing

    Designing the right thing

    When we have a good idea, we often just want to dive in and get started. But how do we know the idea is actually good? Learn some design thinking methods to help you ‘design the right thing’ instead of ‘designing the thing right’. We’ll explore some simple ways to make sure you are on the right path, and be confident that it is the right path.

    User research: Interviews and beyond

    User research: Interviews and beyond

    There are many ways to learn about users. The technique we hear most about is interviews, but there are other ways. Join this fast-paced, highly interactive session to experience three other ways to learn about users (and yes, we'll talk about interviews as well).

    Planning design thinking workshops

    Planning design thinking workshops

    In this talk Donna will cover what it takes to plan a great design thinking workshop – from goal setting, structuring and choosing activites. Then she’ll talk about what it takes to manage the room itself – getting people warmed up, making them feel safe, encouraging contribution and making group decisions.

    Communicating design

    Communicating design

    Design is becoming fairly mainstream, a part of many projects, and frequently discussed in the business press. But still many people think it is all about making an interface look better. Why is this still happening? Donna believes that there are many reasons this...

    What designers do

    What do designers do? This talk examines the spectrum of design skills - from tactical visual design through to strategic design. It describes what kinds of problems we can solve, what we deliver and who other than designers has these skills.

    Journey mapping for content experiences

    Journey maps usually describe a person undertaking a set of tasks with a product. Content strategists and information architects work less with tasks and more with research and learning.    In this session, we'll talk about what...

    UX, UI, CX, SD, PD: Does it matter?

    UX, UI, CX, SD, PD: Does it matter?

    Designers often complain that other people don't know what they do. Let's explore why this happens through the lenses of social identity theory, category theory and linguistics to help understand why it happens and what we can do about it.

    The FAQ of IA

    The FAQ of IA

    In this presentation, Donna will talk about the questions that she's been asked over and over again in her 15 years of information architecture work. And she won’t only talk about the questions...she'll answer them too! Information architecture work is full of...

    The materials of design

    The materials of design

    There are a wide range of design disciplines, all with surprising similarity in how they are practiced. But with such similarity, why is it almost impossible for us to move from one to another - why can't a digital designer move to architecture or a print designer to...

    Information architecture patterns

    Information architecture patterns

    This presentation will describe a wide range of commonly-used information architecture patterns, including hierarchies small and large, different types of database structure, hypertext, subsite models, sites with multiple entry points and ways of combining these (and more that I discover before April).

    Getting content right

    Getting content right

    Web content can be vibrant, interesting and fun. It can draw you in, fill your head and make you learn without having to think. And it’s not really hard to write. This presentation covers three simple tricks to make your web content great.

    Getting content right

    Getting content right

    Web content can be vibrant, interesting and fun. It can draw you in, fill your head and make you learn without having to think. And it’s not really hard to write. Three simple tricks can turn poor content into a great experience – remember that readers care more about themselves than you; write in real words with authentic voice; play show and tell.

    Wireframes for the Wicked

    In this panel, three experienced designers will share their tried and true tips for making wireframes really work. We’ll talk about how to sketch a wireframe on the fly to demonstrate an idea and how to create a standalone wireframe deliverable; when to show a concept and when to describe nitty-gritty detail; how to make a narrative wireframe and how to make a specification wireframe

    Information architecture: Beyond the hierarchy

    n this presentation we’ll discuss when hierarchies are most useful and when an alternative approach is better. We’ll look at deliberate approaches such as metadata-driven databases and faceted classifications; and emergent approaches such as organic structures and tagging. We’ll examine good examples of each and learn what to consider for our own projects.

    Ethical issues and information architecture

    Ethical issues and information architecture

    This presentation examines some of the ethical issues that we face as information architects, including:

    • The myriad of effects of our design decisions on users
    • Working with clients and peers
    • The consequences of creating categories and classifying objects
    • What inclusive design really means
    • Personal beliefs and their role in projects
    • How can we design for sustainability

    Information architecture: Beyond the hierarchy

    This presentation describes different structures available for information architecture. It examines hierarchies; database structures such as metadata-driven databases and faceted classifications; and emergent approaches such as organic structures and tagging. It examines good examples of each and what to consider for our own projects.

    Deconstructing design: How did we get from there to here

    In this presentation, I showed a number of completed site designs that I had been involved in. For each ‘deconstructed’ each design – pulled it apart to show how various inputs (such as research, activities, politics, guidelines, previous experiences) informed the design. The presentation highlighted that each design element is informed by more than one input; and that each input contributed to more than one part of the design. It also showed how important it is to undertake a range of research activities and not rely on just one or two inputs.