November 14, 2019 — Chris Ford, a project manager at Reaktiv Studios, likes to think of the process she’s been developing at Reaktiv Studios as “Practical Project Management”. Most of Chris’ project management experience was learned in the School of Hard Knocks, using trial and error to learn what works (and more importantly what doesn’t) through 13 years of running a freelance design business.

In this 10 minute lightning talk she’s going share 10 practical project management tips you can put into action as soon as you get back to work.

June 12, 2018 — For the past eleven months, Chris has been working on refining the project management system at Reaktiv Studios.In this talk she’ll share how our team’s project onboarding checklists, Asana templates, Freckle time tracking budgets and reports, Harvest Forecasting tools are used to eliminate repetitive tasks, giving them more time to focus on doing what they do best: bringing out clients biggest ideas to light.

April 20, 2017 — Product companies are keenly aware of how important user experience is in the success of their theme or plugin. Designers and developers debate the merits of the hamburger icon, talk about content hierarchies, and strive to create an experience that surprises and delights their end users. We carefully craft, test, and iterate because usability is a make or break component of any digital product. One of the most difficult user experience hurdles to overcome is teaching people how to use them. An intuitive user interface, well defined hierarchy of information, and clear calls to action are a vital component of a positive user experience–but what happens when your product is more complex than you can describe in a five screen on-boarding animation? Bridge the usability gap with education. By educating your users, you’re creating a positive, empowering experience. Education empowers them to use your product without waiting for a response to a support ticket. There’s instant gratification. Who doesn’t love that? Whether it’s written documentation, video tutorials, or hands-on workshops and webinars, explaining complex concepts in a way anyone can understand can be the difference between a product people love and one they…don’t. In this presentation Chris will walk you through how your company can leverage education as a powerful force for improving the user experience of your product.

April 18, 2017 — Product companies are keenly aware of how important user experience is in the success of their theme or plugin. Designers and developers debate the merits of the hamburger icon, talk about content hierarchies, and strive to create an experience that surprises and delights their end users. We carefully craft, test, and iterate because usability is a make or break component of any digital product. One of the most difficult user experience hurdles to overcome is teaching people how to use them. An intuitive user interface, well defined hierarchy of information, and clear calls to action are a vital component of a positive user experience–but what happens when your product is more complex than you can describe in a five screen on-boarding animation? Bridge the usability gap with education. By educating your users, you’re creating a positive, empowering experience. Education empowers them to use your product without waiting for a response to a support ticket. There’s instant gratification. Who doesn’t love that? Whether it’s written documentation, video tutorials, or hands-on workshops and webinars, explaining complex concepts in a way anyone can understand can be the difference between a product people love and one they…don’t. In this presentation Chris will walk you through how your company can leverage education as a powerful force for improving the user experience of your product.

July 11, 2016 — How to apply the lessons I learned in project management.

April 28, 2016 — Chris Ford has recently tackled a transition she never expected to make – a career change. Yet every person thinking of going out on their own, or making the call to stop working for themselves and join a larger agency has struggled with this kind of transition. Come hear her thoughts.

January 6, 2016 — There are four ways to give back to the WordPress community that don’t involve writing code. Learn how writing, speaking and teaching can not only help you share your knowledge and grow the community, they can also help you gain a better understanding of your beliefs and values.

December 16, 2015 — Design is everywhere: including in the films of Baltimore’s filthiest person alive, John Waters. Chris Ford explains what Divine, Domino Sugar and dog poo can teach you about becoming a more confident, creative and effective designer. Let your freak flag fly!

June 15, 2014 — Why working with a designer or user experience expert before you develop your product will help you stand out from the pack. If two products do exactly the same thing, the one that’s pleasant to use will win. Don’t be the developer with a great product that nobody likes to use.

December 27, 2013 — This presentation discusses the move to using an agile design process, how to translate the agile manifesto for software development to the WordPress design process and introduce the audience to tools used to facilitate the move to a more modern way of designing WordPress websites.

Presentation Slides »