Patrizia Bertini at #mex15

Patrizia is one of the few facilitators we’ve come across who challenges participants not just with new subject matter, but by introducing genuinely new ways of thinking. At MEX she will use a range of ‘serious play’ techniques to explore how the process of understanding user behaviour must evolve and become more participatory as we seek to build to a new class of digital experiences.

Her session at MEX in March 2015 starts a much-needed dialogue about the degree to which users are active participants within the research process. Patrizia’s background as both a user experience consultant (currently for Wipro Digital) and certified Lego Serious Play professional gives her unique perspective on how changing the way in which user research is conducted can lead to a deeper level of engagement with participants and better design decisions.

I was particularly keen to bring Patrizia’s expertise into the MEX community at a time when the boundaries of what represents a ‘digital experience’ are being pushed ever outwards. The quality of user research is set to have a greater multiplier effect on design outcomes as digital experiences expand to encompass complex, multi-touchpoint systems spanning mobile devices, embedded computing and new classes of movable machines like robots and drones.

I was privileged to have first hand experience of Patrizia’s techniques in June 2014, when she ran at Lego Serious Play session for UX agency Foolproof. Suffice to say I entered a skeptic and left a convert, writing this essay about the value of the session.

Patrizia writes about about user research, facilitation and creativity at legoviews.com and @legoviews. I particularly enjoyed her series of Lego-facilitated interviews with designers and film-makers, including this one with Brazilian architect Ciro Pirondi, in which they discuss Oscar Niemeyer.

Details and tickets for MEX: pmn.co.uk/mex/.