Michigan UXPA helps coordinate User Experience related communities, groups and events across the state by maintaining relationships with a wide variety of organizations. Some groups have a broad participation of people who are interested in the topic of UX, others focus on practitioners (people who have a “UX job”), and some tackle issues at a professional level. (See the bottom of the page for more on the types of communities.)
These Michigan UX community organizers met regularly (3rd Sunday & Monday of the month) in 2020 to:
- Stay in touch, share information & resources, and collaborate
- Better serve both those interested in UX and practitioners
- Advance the profession within Michigan
Participating Communities & Contacts
| Community | Type | Representative(s) | Website | Meetup | Online Hangout | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Customer Experience of Michigan | Professional Association | Tom DeWitt | cxofm.org | |||
| IxDA Grand Rapids | Local Chapter | Christy Ennis-Kloote | IxDAGR | |||
| IxDA Detroit | Local chapter | Patricia Machado | ||||
| AIGA Detroit | Local Chapter | Dylan Box | detroit.aiga.org | |||
| IDSA Detroit | Local Chapter | Jody Ingle | idsa.org | |||
| Ladies that UX Detroit | Local Chapter | Jackie Wolf | LTUX_DET | |||
| Ladies that UX Grand Rapids | Local Chapter | Christy Ennis-Kloote | Ladies-That-UX-Grand-Rapids | |||
| STC Michigan Great Lakes | Local Chapter | Katherine Baeckeroot-Pavlovic, Lynette Pryce, Peggy Frizzo, Shannon Lewis-Hillstrom | stc-mgl.org | |||
| Michigan CHI | Local Chapter | Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus | michichi.org | |||
| U of M SOCHI | Student Chapter | Matt Garvin | maizepages.umich.edu | |||
| Detroit UX | General Meetup | Jodi Bollaert | Detroit-User-Experience | |||
| Lansing Experience Design | General Meetup | Jesse Woodruff | lansing.codes | Lansing-Experience-Design-Meetup | Lansing Codes Slack | |
| Michigan Automotive & Mobility UX | Specialized Meetup | Mike Nunnery, Parrish Hanna | MichiganAutomotiveUX | |||
| Ann Arbor UX Happy Hour | Social | Dan Cooney | ||||
| WIAD Ann Arbor | Event | Matt Garvin | worldiaday.org | |||
| Ignite UX Michigan | Event | Jessica Beasley, Neha Singhal, Namita Nisal, Gabriel Pompilius | igniteuxmi.com | |||
| WUD @ MSU | Event | Sarah Swierenga | uarc.msu.edu | |||
| College for Creative Studies | University Program | Jody Ingle | collegeforcreativestudies.edu | |||
| U of M Stamps | University Program | Kelly Murdoch-Kitt | stamps.umich.edu | |||
| U of M SI | University Program | Mustafa Naseem | si.umich.edu | |||
| MSU CXM | University Program | Tom DeWitt | broad.msu.edu | |||
| MSU XA | University Program | Casey McArdle | xa.cal.msu.edu | |||
| MSU UX | University Program | Michael Stern | gradstudies.mi.msu.edu | |||
| GVSU Visual & Media Arts | University Program | Vinicius Lima | gvsu.edu | |||
| Michigan Tech C&LS | University Program | Erich Petushek | mtu.edu |
We have a mailing list to help us all stay in touch. We also encourage everyone to join the UX Michigan Slack team as another tool to help us collaborate.
Other Participants
Representatives above and others who have a history of leading UX communities and events in Michigan also participate to help us continue building upon the strong legacy of UX in the state.
- Dave Mitropoulos-Rundus (Michigan UPA, Internet User Experience Conference)
- Darren Hood (“The World of UX” podcast on CX of M Radio)
- Jessica Beasley (Michigan UPA, History of UX in Michigan, interviews)
Michigan UXPA Volunteers
Board members and other volunteers for Michigan UXPA collaborate with the other community organizers. MiUXPA board members need to be UXPA International members (any level), but volunteers just need to be willing to donate time and energy. Contact us to learn more.
- Mike Wojan
- Keith Instone
- Sarah Swierenga
- Katie (Licht) Oeschger
- Ali Saleh
- Max Nicholson (MSU XA intern)
- Jameson Staneluis
- Jesse Bandfield
- Tara Hasouris
Additional Communities
There are more communities that service UX practitioners or cover UX as a topic in Michigan. Contact us to tell us about more communities or to help us connect with these.
- Oakland University ACM SIGCHI Student Chapter.
- IDF: Detroit & Ann Arbor.
- The Midwest UX conference has been held in Grand Rapids twice and is a popular destination for Michigan UX practitioners even when it is in other states.
- Experience Design With Agile & Lean UX: Lansing & Ann Arbor.
- Agile Alliance: Mid-Michigan, XP West Michigan. Also: Ann Arbor Agile Groupies.
- Design West Michigan.
- Detroit Design Network & Design Core Detroit.
- AIGA West Michigan, including WM Design Week.
- HFES Student chapters: Michigan Tech, University of Michigan, UM-Dearborn
- Creative Mornings, Detroit
Types of Communities
- Professional association: An organization committed to professional development, such as certification (based in Michigan)
- Local chapter: A Michigan-based group that is part of a national or international organization
- Student chapter: A group of students at a local university, part of a national or international organization
- General meetup: A grassroots, independent organization for social interaction and broad, introductory education (often hosted on meetup.com)
- Specialized meetup: A grassroots, independent organization with a focus, like an industry
- Social: A group organized for social interaction (only), such as lunches and happy hours
- Event: A regularly occurring event (usually annually), such as a conference
- Online: A group that only hangs out online (such as a Facebook group, email list, or Slack team)
- University program: An area of study, a source of students and academic knowledge
- Trade association: A group of businesses organized to promote an industry
Michigan UXPA 