The UX Intelligence Association ~Promoting ethical UX design~
■Self Introduction
I’m Handa from the MCO (Market Creation Office) and MD (Market Development).
In the MCO, I handle the operations for the UX Intelligence Association while in the MD team, I am in charge of marketing the services we provide.
It’s a pleasure to ‘meet’ you!
My hobbies include baseball (I played from elementary school to college), golf (I’m no good, but I enjoy it), basketball, and sports in general.
(I’ve been attending some of beBit’s basketball and baseball outings as well!)
I have been working with beBit as a co-worker for about two years, and It has been exciting to work with so many extremely talented individuals. The culture that values teamwork is wonderful as well.
(For example, the amount of comments and atmosphere of the employees during the all-staff meetings is amazing! In addition, the team sports outings are fantastic.)
As I was offered a chance to write an issue of the open newsletter, I wanted to take this opportunity to write about the UX Intelligence Association.
日本語の記事はこちらから
■Objective of the UX Intelligence Association
The UX Intelligence Association was cofounded by beBit and Dentsu Digital in May of 2021, and since October of the same year has been actively hosting meetings and social events with the member companies.
The purpose of establishing the association was,
to promote and study “UX Intelligence” as a basic ability
for DX personnel in the new era.
We strive to realize
A society overflowing with ethical UX, through the awareness and improvement of “UX intelligence”
and a society in which users have the choice to decide on which UX they prefer.
(The association defines “UX Intelligence” as “the necessary competence and spirit that every provider must possess in order to create an ethical society in an era with digital as a premise.”)
You can find out more about the establishment of the association in the article below.
■Board Members
The board members of the association are led by Endo-san, CEO of beBit, and consists of the following individuals.
Chairman: Naoki Endo (beBit, Inc.)
Vice Chairman: Daisuke Kobayashi (Dentsu Digital Inc.)
Director: Seiko Shirasaka (Graduate School of System Design and Management, Keio University)
Director: Toshikazu Shinohara (HCD-Net / Toyohashi University of Technology / Sociomedia, Inc.)
Director: Masaki Hamura (Boston Consulting Group / The Advanced Research Laboratories, Tokyo City University)
Director：Takayuki Fukatsu (THE GUILD)
When I first learned about the members, I exclaimed “Wow!” - a word without a shred of ‘intelligence.’
The administration is led by Yasufumi Fujii, CCO of beBit, Inc. and Hironobu Konami from Dentsu Digital Inc. The other members of the admin consist of individuals from both beBit and Dentsu Digital. (Everyone is very friendly!)
■Main Activities
Currently (as of June 2022), the two main activities hosted by the association are the monthly “subcommittee meetings” and the “community gathering” (social gathering for members, directors, and administration)” that take place once every 3 months.
The details are as follows.
●Subcommittee Meetings
UX Organization Development Subcommittee (Organizers: Naoki Endo, Masaki Hamura, Hironobu Konami)
This subcommittee discusses how to spread awareness of UX throughout organizations. Recently, a reference book that includes a roadmap to normalize UX is being created.
The UX Organization Development Subcommittee includes many CMO’s, directors, and managers from the member companies. Not only do the organizers create content, but the members also contribute content as well, resulting in an environment for high quality discussions.
(I participate as a member of the administration as well, and the discussions between Endo-san, Hamura-san, and the members are so rich with information that I have difficulty taking minutes!)
Case Study Research Subcommittee (Organizers: Seiko Shirasaka, Yasufumi Fujii)
The subcommittee is led by Shirasaka-san and Fujii-san and studies examples of UX cases from both Japan and overseas, in addition to examples from members of the association as well.
This subcommittee has the largest number of participants, and the case studies focus on hearing the voices from within the companies. There are special guest speakers, introductions of new businesses (sometimes the new businesses ask for ‘strict’ feedback!), and overseas cases from the members as well.
Qualification and Training Subcommittee (Organizers: Toshikazu Shinohara, Yasufumi Fujii, Hironobu Konami)
This is a closed subcommittee for experts to discuss and implement certifications such as the “UX Certification” exam scheduled to launch this summer.
(Even Fujii-san was unable to answer every question correctly during the prototyping stage of the certification test…! It will be a good opportunity for those who have just joined beBit. I too will be taking this test!)
Learn more about the “UX Certification” exam from the link below.
●Community Gathering
The community gatherings take place offline once every three months to allow individuals involved in UX to network and create new connections.
The programs consist of sessions and networking. The members are very satisfied with the event, as they get an opportunity to “talk and connect with people who share similar issues,” and “find relations with individuals in the same industry.”
(The lunches provided are selected by the MCO’s Matsugami-san! Very tasty!)
■Participating Members
Please check the link below to see the participating members.
Membership is currently limited to companies.
There are many member companies that represent Japan, and we receive a large number of inquiries from companies interested in joining the association as well.
■Conclusion
beBit is a Special Member of the association and has 20 slots available for subcommittee participation!
We still have slots available, so if you are interested in joining a session or are interested to see what it's like, feel free to contact Fujii-san or myself.
We hope this article helps you understand what the UX Intelligence Association is, and that it engages your interest!
Thank you for your continued support of the UX Intelligence Association.