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IxDF St. Louis, MO
Speaker Series: What IT Leaders Want When Working with UX

Speaker Series: What IT Leaders Want When Working with UX

Date and time: Thu, May 28, 2026; 23:00 – May 29, 01:00 UTC
Location: Online

About the Meetup

Join us for a practical conversation with Stan Leong, VP of Modern Retailing Engineering at CDK Global, as we explore a topic every UX practitioner needs to understand:

What do IT and engineering leaders actually want when working with UX?

UX teams often focus on research quality, design craft, usability, and user advocacy. Those things matter. But successful collaboration with technology leaders also depends on trust, timing, clarity, tradeoff thinking, business alignment, and the ability to work inside complex delivery environments.

Stan brings a rare perspective across engineering, product, IT, cloud transformation, SaaS platforms, emerging markets, global delivery, and executive leadership. His career includes leadership roles at CDK Global, Mozilla, DXC Technology, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and HP, where he has led large cross-functional teams, launched new products, grown technology organizations, and helped drive business transformation at scale.

In this session, we’ll discuss how UX professionals can build stronger partnerships with engineering and IT leaders, including:

What technology leaders need from UX during product development
How UX can earn trust with engineering partners
Where UX teams sometimes create friction unintentionally
How to communicate design decisions in ways leaders can act on
How UX can better connect user needs, technical feasibility, and business outcomes
What separates a good UX partner from a strategic one

This session is part of our local IxDF Speaker Series, where we invite leaders from different business disciplines to share what they need from UX, how they work with design teams, and how UX professionals can increase their impact across the organization.

This is a strong session for UX designers, researchers, product managers, design leaders, engineers, students, and anyone interested in improving cross-functional collaboration.

Bring your questions. This will be a grounded, real-world discussion about how UX can work better with the leaders responsible for building, scaling, and delivering technology.

Register Here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ixdf-st-louis-speaker-series-what-it-leaders-want-from-ux-tickets-1990064458366?aff=oddtdtcreator

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Hosted By

IxDF Local Leader distinction: Local Leader of an IxDF Local Group
IxDF Community Leader distinction: Awarded for serving as an influential IxDF community leader
IxDF Connected Professional distinction: Attended 10 or more IxDF Meetups
IxDF Top 10% Course Taker distinction: Completed an IxDF course with a score of 90%
+5

United States

Stanton Brooks

Founder at Active Twist

Why Join

Meet people who love design as much as you do. Together we learn new skills, grow our networks, and discover new job opportunities.

Questions? We've Got Answers

An IxDF Local Group connects you with people in your city who are building and applying design skills in their work. Together, you'll strengthen your craft, expand your network, and put theory into practice.

IxDF Local Groups meet regularly in person at cafés, company offices, or creative spaces to share ideas, give feedback, run workshops, and learn from each other. Many groups also organize IxDF Design Dinners, where the conversation goes deeper over a meal. These aren't just social events. Members find collaborators, clients, job leads, and future teammates through them.

You'll also have access to a private online forum where you can get career advice, honest feedback, and support from people who understand the work.

You don't need to have a "designer" title to join. If you care about how design shapes products, careers, and organizations, you belong here.

Join and you'll discover new skills, explore job opportunities, and build relationships with people who understand the power of great design.

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Your IxDF Local Leader organizes meetups based on what members want most. As an IxDF member, you can also plan and create your own meetups. Sessions range from hands-on and structured to relaxed and informal.

Some examples of what you'll find:

Presentations from local designers, followed by Q&A
Lightning talks where members share lessons learned from real projects
Workshops where you work through a real design challenge together
Portfolio reviews where you get honest, practical feedback
Coffee meetups and design dinners with open conversations about where the industry is heading

Any member can propose, organize and post a meetup. You don't have to wait for your Local Leader to take the initiative.

What stays consistent is the people. You'll find designers and professionals who ask good questions, share what they know, and show up for each other between meetups too.

Yes, absolutely!

Design skills make you more effective in any role. Product managers, developers, marketers, researchers, and founders all work better when they understand how to think like a designer.

IxDF Local Groups reflect that. Members come from all kinds of professional backgrounds, not just design. What they share is an interest in how design shapes products, decisions, and careers.

You'll fit right in regardless of your background.