Whitney Hess has spent the past 15 years evangelizing the principles and philosophy of Empathy and User Experience at conferences and in boardrooms around the world.
Her presentations have been attended by more than 15,000 audience members in 30 cities across 4 continents, and have been viewed more than 450,000 times on Slideshare.
Whitney is currently speaking on the following topics:
- Nonviolent Communication
- Empathy in the Workplace
- Emotional Intelligence and Mindfulness
- Cultivating Compassion for Customers and Colleagues
- Resolving Conflict at Work
- Designing Organizations
Are you an event organizer?
If you are interested in having Whitney speak at your company or event, please get in touch at [email protected]
Whitney’s talk captured the audience’s attention and got superb feedback. Some said it was the best talk in the entire conference. She was eloquent and confident on stage, obviously an experienced speaker.” — Barak Danin, conference organizer, 800+ person audience
Pulled out my @whitneyhess FOWD notes a bunch of times in the last week. Made me look like a #genius.
— Josh Wigod (@JoshWigod) January 18, 2012
UX genius @whitneyhess, discussing #design principles. Best #ignite talk ever. http://t.co/oc18GQlTZT
— Shawn Linn Davenport (@shawndaven) August 18, 2013
Past Appearances
Google – UX Team Event
Online | January 25, 2023
Workshop: “Empathy Activities for Teams”
M&T Bank – Customer Experience Team All-Hands
Online | November 9, 2022
Workshop: “Happiness and Fulfillment at Work”
Ad Hoc LLC – Staff Engagement Event
Online | August 21, 2020
Webinar: “Empathy is an Inside Job”
New Ventures West certified coaches
Online | September 25, 2019
Webinar: “What Am I Worth?”
Leading Design New York
Brooklyn, NY | June 19-21, 2019
Talk: “Exercising Empathy to Resolve Conflict at Work“ (video)
Workshop: “Practicing Nonviolent Communication“
McKinsey Design Research & Insights Practice – Senior Design Leadership Offsite
Online | May 31, 2019
Interview: “Design Leadership Coaching”
Society for Information Management – Fairfield/Westchester Chapter
Darien, CT | January 17, 2019
Conversation: “Effective Management and Work Relationships for Technology Managers”
International Coach Federation – Ohio Valley Chapter
Online | December 5, 2018
Webinar: “What Am I Worth?”
International Coach Federation – North Florida Chapter
Online | October 25, 2018
Webinar: “What Am I Worth?”
Appnovation & Pfizer Annual Team Meeting
South Wales, UK | October 10, 2018
Keynote: “Do You Speak Jackal or Giraffe? Resolving Conflict at Work”
Workshop: “Practicing Empathy with Nonviolent Communication”
UX Week 2017
San Francisco, CA | August 29, 2017
Featured Talk: “Exercising Empathy to Resolve Conflict at Work” (video)
International Coach Federation – Converge 17
Washington, DC | August 25, 2017
Workshop: What Am I Worth?
2nd Annual NYC ACM Celebration of Women in Computing at Google NY
New York, NY | March 31, 2017
Panel discussion: Where Do I Fit In?
Hillel at Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA | March 5, 2017
Workshop
Carnegie Mellon University Alumni Association
Online | December 9, 2016
Webinar: Do You Speak Jackal or Giraffe?
CO-OP Financial THINK 16
San Diego, CA | May 3-6, 2016
Keynote
University of Illinois Web Con
Champaign, IL | April 27-28, 2016
Keynote and Workshop
O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference
New York, NY | April 11, 2016
Ignite talk
Fluent Conf
San Francisco, CA | March 10, 2016
Do You Speak Jackal or Giraffe?
Sustainable UX Conference
Online | February 9, 2016
Webinar/em>
Interaction South America
Córdoba, Argentina | November 18-21, 2015
Keynote and Workshop
Society for Technical Communication, Central New York Chapter
Online | August 13, 2015
Live Webinar and Q&A
DrupalCon 2015
Los Angeles, CA | May 13, 2015
Opening Keynote
World IA Day 2015
San Diego, CA | February 21, 2015
Lightning Talk: “Self and Belonging”
UX Philippines
Manila, PH | November 15, 2014
Opening Keynote and Workshop
TMP Worldwide
New York, NY | November 7, 2014
Corporate Event
Future of Web Design
New York, NY | November 5, 2014
Closing Keynote
SAP’s UX Day — The Intersection of User Experience, Emotional Intelligence, Mindfulness and Creativity
Palo Alto, CA | June 25, 2014
Keynote, Panel, Interactive Exercise
UX Design Therapy — Vancouver, BC
Online | April 29, 2014
Group Q&A
Digital PM Summit
Philadelphia, PA | October 14, 2013
Outside In: Can Independents Be Managed?
GOOD/Corps & Carnegie Corporation’s 100Kin10
STEM Teachers’ Recruitment Communications Lab
New York, NY | August 8, 2013
Cultivating Compassion and Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
USI Paris
Paris, France | June 24, 2013
Empathy in Business: Learning to Relate
edUi Conference
Richmond, VA | September 24, 2012
KEYNOTE: What’s Your Problem? Putting Purpose Back into Your Projects
NYC User Experience Professionals Association
New York, NY | September 18, 2012
Party of One: Surviving The Corporate Jungle As A Solo UX Practitioner
An Event Apart
Chicago, IL | August 27, 2012
What’s Your Problem? Putting Purpose Back into Your Projects
hackNY Summer Series Lecture
New York, NY | July 16, 2012
Everything you always wanted to know about user experience but were afraid to ask
An Event Apart
Boston, MA | June 18-19, 2012
What’s Your Problem? Putting Purpose Back into Your Projects
Northside Festival
Brooklyn, NY | June 14, 2012
Panel discussion: Design the Company, Not the Product
MinneWebCon
Minneapolis, MN | April 16, 2012
KEYNOTE: What’s Your Problem? Putting Purpose Back into Your Projects
An Event Apart
Seattle, WA | April 2-3, 2012
What’s Your Problem? Putting Purpose Back into Your Projects
SXSW Interactive
Austin, TX | March 9-13, 2012
Panel discussion: Hunt or Be Hunted: Get the Design Job You Want
UX Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China | February 17-18, 2012
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
Workshop: Creating a Culture of UX
WebVisions NYC
New York, NY | January 19, 2012
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
World Usability Day
Bogota, Colombia | November 11, 2011
KEYNOTE: Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
Carsonified’s Future of Web Design
New York, NY | November 8, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
An Event Apart
Washington, DC | October 25, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX [slides]
UX Web Summit
Online | September 28, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX [slides]
UX Israel Live
Tel Aviv, Israel | September 7-8, 2011
KEYNOTE: Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX
Workshop: Creating a Culture of UX
Philly CHI
Philadelphia, PA | July 14, 2011
Whit Hour Live
Wharton Web Conference
Philadelphia, PA | July 14, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX — Higher Education version [slides]
Atlanta Web Design Group
Atlanta, GA | June 23, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX [slides]
UPA International
Atlanta, GA | June 23-24, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX [slides]
Evangelizing Yourself [slidecast]
Frontiers of Interaction
Florence, Italy | June 21, 2011
When I Speak My Mind
Ignite NYC XII
New York, NY | June 8, 2011
Interlink Conference
Vancouver, Canada | June 2-4, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX [slides]
An Event Apart
Boston, MA | May 2, 2011
Design Principles: The Philosophy of UX [slides]
SXSW Interactive
Austin, TX | March 11, 2011
Core Conversation: “Breaking Taboos: Pros Get Real About Money Matters” with Marc Hemeon
An Event Apart
San Diego, CA | November 1, 2010
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)” [slides]
An Event Apart
Minneapolis, MN | July 26, 2010
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)” [slides]
PENN UICONF: Higher Education Web Symposium
Philadelphia, PA | July 22, 2010
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)” — Higher Education version [slides]
IxDA DC
Washington, DC | June 18, 2010
Panel discussion: “Interaction Design: Making the Complex Seem Simple”
UX London
London, UK | May 21, 2010
Workshop: “Creating a Culture of UX” [slides]
UK UPA
London, UK | May 20, 2010
Panel discussion: “The UX Clinic”
STC Technical Communication Summit
Dallas, TX | May 3, 2010
“10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design”
[slides]
“Evangelizing Yourself: You Can’t Change the World If No One Knows Your Name” [slidecast]
IA Summit
Phoenix, AZ | April 11, 2010
Closing plenary: “Transcending Our Tribe” [slides]
Infragistics – Private Library New York
New York, NY | March 24, 2010
Panel discussion on design and user experience
Econsultancy Roundtable: User Experience – the good, the bad and the customer journey
New York, NY | March 18, 2010
InterLab
Long Island, NY | November 18, 2009
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)”
BarCamp Philly
Philadelphia, PA | November 14, 2009
“QUIT YOUR JOB — Pick my brain about going independent. Ask me anything.”
An Event Apart
Chicago, IL | October 12, 2009
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)”
The NYC Customer Development Process Meetup
New York, NY | August 20, 2009
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)” [slides]
Ultra Light Startups
New York, NY | July 1, 2009
Panel discussion: “Ultra Light User Experience” [video]
An Event Apart
Boston, MA | June 22, 2009
“DIY UX: Give Your Users an Upgrade (without calling in a pro)” [slides]
140 Characters Conference
New York, NY | June 17, 2009
Panel discussion: “Designing User Experiences for Twitter”
RedUX DC
Washington, D.C. | May 9, 2009
“Evangelizing Yourself: You Can’t Change the World if No One Knows Your Name” [slidecast]
NYC IA Summit Redux
New York, NY | April 28, 2009
“Evangelizing Yourself: You Can’t Change the World if No One Knows Your Name” [slidecast]
Web Design Day
Pittsburgh, PA | April 4, 2009
“10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design” [slides]
boxee NYC Meetup
New York, NY | March 24, 2009
“Features to expect in the beta” [slides]
IA Summit
Memphis, TN | March 22, 2009
“Evangelizing Yourself: You Can’t Change the World if No One Knows Your Name” [slidecast]
IA Summit
Memphis, TN | March 22, 2009
“The Courage to Quit: Starting, Growing and Maintaining Your Own UX Business” [slides]
SXSW Interactive
Austin, TX | March 14, 2009
Panel discussion: “From Freelance to Agency: Start Small, Stay Small” [podcast]
IxDA NYC – Interaction 09 Conference Recap
New York, NY | March 10, 2009
“Twitter at Interaction 09” [slides]
BarCamp Philly
Philadelphia, PA | November 7, 2008
“QUIT YOUR JOB — Pick my brain about going independent. Ask me anything.”
Are you an event organizer?
If you are interested in having Whitney speak at your company or event, please get in touch at [email protected]
