May 1 - The Power of Gamification

Gamification is transforming the way businesses engage customers and motivate employees. By applying the same principles that inspire people to play games (achievements, status, and rewards) to websites and other online experiences, businesses can dramatically increase the size of their audience, boost engagement, and increase revenue.

This month, Kasey McCurdy, Director of Engineering at Bunchball, will discuss how game mechanics can engage your fans and users, increase customer loyalty and sales, and motivate employees and partners.

Bunchball is the industry leader in gamification and has provided solutions for customers like Warner Bros., Comcast, NBC Universal, ABC Television, Stella & Dot and LiveOps.

Kasey will cover the history of gamification, why it works and sometimes doesn’t, and how the combination of data, motivation, and gamification can strengthen loyalty. He’ll also discuss customer and employee engagement, how to motivate the unmotivated, and what the future of human motivation looks like.

As always, Design+Tech is free. So just show up, bring a friend, and learn something. You’ll look and feel smarter afterward, guaranteed.

When: Wednesday, May 1 at 7 p.m.
Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

February 6 - User Experience Fundamentals

User experience has become a common term within the design and tech communities, but even if UX isn’t listed in your job title, it’s everyone’s responsibility to make users happy and contribute to their overall experience.

So how do you do that? Well, that’s what we’re talking about this month at Design+Tech.

Amanda Morrow, your enthusiastic Design+Tech leader, is going to walk you through the fundamental elements of user experience. Whether you’re a designer, a programmer, a writer, or manager, we can all take the basic practices of user experience design and apply them to something we’re working on right now.

We’ll cover broader themes like human interaction and psychology, but then drift into user interface topics like information architecture, user needs, scope, sketching, wireframing, and testing.

As always, Design+Tech is free. So just show up, bring a friend, and learn something new. You’ll look and feel smarter afterward, guaranteed.

When: Wednesday, February 6 at 7 p.m.

Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

December 5 - Infographic Workshop

IMPORTANT DESIGN+TECH NEWS:

Beginning this month and extending into next year, we’re switching up the format of Design+Tech a bit. Instead of covering a new topic each month, we’ll introduce a topic at one meeting then follow it up with a workshop on the same topic the following month.

This will give everyone the chance to learn something new, read up on it, then put it into practice. We hope this new format will be helpful and more focused.

DECEMBER MEETING:

This month, we’re going to revisit the topic from our September meeting: Making Data Visual. During this workshop, data sets will be provided or you can bring your own. We’ll break everyone into small groups and create infographics. Feel free to bring a laptop or any other tools you’ll need to make this data visual. The goal is to have everyone walk away with something new they’ve created.

If you missed the September meeting or need a refresher, you can watch the entire thing here:

We were joined by John T. Meyer  CEO and cofounder of Lemon.ly,  and Amy Colgan,  creative director, who discussed how their team approaches the process of converting data into compelling infographics.

As always, Design+Tech is free. So just show up, bring a friend, and learn something new. You’ll look and feel smarter afterward, guaranteed.

When: Wednesday, December 5 at 7 p.m.

Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

September Recap

Design+Tech: Making Data Visual

John T. Meyer, CEO and cofounder of Lemon.ly, and Amy Colgan, creative director, discussed how their team approaches the process of converting data into compelling infographics. Lucky for you, the entire meeting was recorded, so you can watch it right now:

August 1 - Speaking The Language

At one time or another, we’ve all navigated those choppy waters surrounding a conversation with a seasoned programmer. MySQL, Ajax, Scala, PHP. So many acronyms and foreign-sounding tech speak, it’s tough to keep it all straight. 

This month, we’ll be your translator. The BitMethod Crew, mostly Dan Shipton and Neil Roberts, are going to break down the main components of programming and development and define them in easy-to-understand terms. We’ll even provide a printed diagram for you to follow along.

This meeting will cover just the very basics. It will not be an introductory class to programming, but more of a glossary of the tools and outputs used in development. It will be incredibly helpful for those wanting to better communicate with their development team and understand what their jobs entail.

As always, Design+Tech is free. So just show up, bring a friend, and learn something. You’ll look and feel smarter afterward, guaranteed.

When: Wednesday, August 1 at 7 p.m.
Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

July 11 - CSS For Newbies

If you’ve ever tried learning HTML and CSS on your own and have struggled, this month’s Design+Tech will be the lifeboat rescuing you from that ocean of code.

The key to successfully designing websites is an understanding of how they’re going to be built. By arming yourself with the basics of CSS, you’ll not only be able to design something beautiful, but also something useful and functional. 

Our guest speaker this month is Rob Glazebrook, Web Developer at Social Money and Author of CSSNewbie.com. 

Rob will introduce everyone to the basic anatomy of a CSS rule, the CSS box model, challenges of working with a grid, and the modern frameworks that make learning and writing CSS easier than ever been before.

As always, Design+Tech is free. So show up, bring a friend, learn something. You’ll look and feel smarter afterward, guaranteed.

When: Wednesday, July 11 at 7 p.m.
Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

June 6 - One Year Mark

After eleven incredible meetings full of delightful speakers and fascinating discussions, Design+Tech is finally a year old! This month, we’re celebrating our anniversary by reflecting on the past year and what is to come in the future.

This meeting will be pretty light and casual with plenty of beer and other cold beverages. We’ll be discussing design and tech trends, job opportunities, and skills in demand. If you have any burning topics you’d like to discuss, this would be the meeting to ask away. 

Design+Tech is all about sharing knowledge with one another. At some point during the evening, we’ll pause to have a few individuals share something interesting they’ve recently learned or discovered. This can be a book, an article, a cool project, a handy new tool, whatever. These will only be a few minutes long, so don’t be scurred, we’ll only heckle you a little, PROMISE.

When: Wednesday, June 6 at 7 p.m.
Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

May 2 - Publishing For The iPad

If you’ve been interested in publishing a book or magazine for the iPad but just aren’t sure where to start, you’re in luck my friend. Design+Tech has just what you need this month.

Skylar Bergl and Joe Stych, two graduating seniors from Drake University, will discuss the successes and struggles they experienced while creating Urban Plains magazine, an all-digital publication produced by students at Drake.

They’ll talk about what software is out there, the pros and cons of each, file formats, distribution, and they’ll also show off some badass examples of all the cool things you can publish on the iPad. This meeting will be great for designers, writers and marketers.

As always, Design+Tech is free. You can RSVP on Meetup.com or Facebook. While RSVPs are a few of our favorite things, they are not required to attend.

When: Wednesday, May 2 at 7 p.m.
Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309

April 4 - Optimization Tools for Designers (Before and After Launch)

This month, we’re talking about how to get the most out of your designs by measuring their effectiveness and using that information to really knock it out of the park.

Our special guest speaker is Bill Miksich, Director of Design and Channel Integration for Urbandale database marketing firm, RMi. He will discuss the importance of measuring engagement with digital tactics, along with practical tips and tools for doing so. He will also cover scenarios for creating value in post-launch optimization, and how to plan ahead in your budget to accommodate the additional work.

Bill has over 10 years of experience working in marketing and creative strategy. He has worked with most of the top pharmaceutical companies in the US and almost 50 pharma brands. He’s also worked with brands like Sundance, Principal, National Geographic, and The Knight Foundation.

As always, Design+Tech is free. You can RSVP on Meetup.com or Facebook. While RSVPs are one of our favorite things, they are not required to attend.

When: Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m.
Where: BitMethod HQ - 418 6th Ave, Suite 1210, Des Moines IA 50309