Design thinking is familiar to many designers as a framework in a product development process. Did you know that design thinking can help community managers solve their toughest challenges? From growing the membership base to standing out among hundreds or even thousands of other communities, to sustaining the community with sponsorships or monetization, design thinking is the secret sauce to growing our niche community. In this talk, you’ll learn how we overcame the biggest challenges for 'Ladies that UX Amsterdam' with design thinking, and how to put design thinking into practice.

1. @jennyshen
Design Thinking
The secret sauce to growing our niche group to the largest
women in tech community in The Netherlands
Design Thinking @jennyshen
#CodemoBLN
October 2017

2. @JennyShen

3. @JennyShen
A welcoming and collaborative community of women,
that aim to push the boundaries and promote women in UX.
W I N N E R O F . N E T G R A S S R O O T S E V E N T O F T H E Y E A R 2 0 1 5

4. @jennyshen

5. @jennyshen

6. @jennyshen

7. @jennyshen
Ladies that UX Amsterdam Oct 2015

8. @jennyshen
Ladies that UX Amsterdam today

9. @jennyshen

10. @jennyshen

11. @jennyshen
1400 30Members New members pw
4co-organisers
11volunteers
1+city in NL
325active members pm

12. @jennyshen
Challenges of
organising a community

13. @jennyshen
⏱
👥
🏆
💸
Not growing; people stop joining;
community stalls
Not able to standing out; competition with
similar communities
Not able to monetise or sustain the
community
Not having enough people/time to organise

14. @jennyshen
Design Thinking

15. @jennyshen
IS NOT
just sticky notes

16. @jennyshen
Design Thinking is a
method of meeting
humans’ needs and desires
in a technologically
feasible and strategically
viable way.
“
Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO

17. @jennyshen

18. @jennyshen
Humans need to find a
product delightful in order to
develop a desire to purchase
and to own it.
“
Bert Brautigam, Writer at TheNextWeb

19. @jennyshen
Humans need to find a
community delightful in order
to develop a desire to join,
participate and contribute.
“

20. @jennyshen
APPLYING
Design Thinking

21. @jennyshen
#1
“What do users want?”

22. @jennyshen
🍕➕🍺

23. @jennyshen
🍕➕🍺(

24. #betterthanpizza

25. @jennyshen
How could we make sponsorship info
appealing & easily digestible?

26. @jennyshen

27. @jennyshen
#2
Empathy for users

28. @jennyshen
Target Users
)*+,-

29. @jennyshen
)*+,-
I need to be a UX designer
to join LTUX meetups…

30. @jennyshen

31. @jennyshen
#3
Ask your users

32. @jennyshen

33. @jennyshen
#4
Measure data

34. @jennyshen
Wednesdays Thursdays

35. @jennyshen
#5
Know your USPs

36. @jennyshen
friendly & welcoming
😇

37. @jennyshen
It's such a friendly and open minded community. But it's
not just that, the level of kindness in this Meetup group is
as high as the complexity and professionalism of the
subject they talk. —Ewa
Asides from valuable content, the event is always well-
organised, the atmosphere is always welcoming and
people are good. —Rachael
Very nice atmosphere, friendly and well organized, these
ladies know how to do it, super recommended. —Mirko

38. @jennyshen
Don’t be afraid
to pick a niche

39. @jennyshen
Don’t be afraid
to be different

40. @jennyshen
#6
Teamwork

41. @jennyshen
Vaiva Roxanne Nadia Jenny

42. @jennyshen
Put yourselves
in users’ shoes

43. Danke!
jenny@jennyshen.com / amsterdam@ladiesthatux.com
@jennyshenJenny Shen