UX Pakistan 2019 was the 3rd iteration of the annual design conference held by the Design Society at LUMS in collaboration with the Department of Computer Science, Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) and the Computer-Human Interaction Lab at LUMS. The event was directed by Dr. Suleman Shahid with workshops conducted on the April 20 and talks on the April 21.
The event took place with full attendance as people excitedly looked forward to a stellar line up of speakers and workshop hosts working around this year’s theme of ‘Modern Creatives’. The conference aimed to open conversations about new innovative ways good design could help solve major problems in Pakistan such as digital literacy, public awareness about key issues and addressing diversity through various mediums including applications, virtual and augmented reality, games and storytelling through digital and non-digital channels.
The speakers and workshop hosts spanned a wide spectrum and discussed the skillsets designers in Pakistan will need for the modern age. UX Pakistan this year included experienced professionals from companies like Jazz, Foodpanda, and Designist, along with newer up-and-coming companies like Marham and Mitti Ghar. However, one of the key parts of the event was the team of speakers from Google including researchers, developers and designers that gave insight into emerging and developing markets for ‘The Next Billion Users’.
The event gave students the opportunity to engage with the speakers, hosts and other professionals attending the event and discuss a common vision for designing meaningful user experiences as well as the trends, techniques and resources available. Awards were also handed out to students who excelled in design thinking and problem-solving in the UX Pakistan 2019 Design Awards.
UX Pakistan 2019 was bigger and better than its previous iterations and the roadmap continues to grow with more ambitious projects including Lahore Design Week 2020. Lahore Design week 2020 will include the Lahore Design Festival 2020, UXPakistan 2020 and the HCI Pakistan 2020 conference. Moreover, the team plans to run UX Camps all over Pakistan to increase awareness about design driven innovations.
