John Schrag has been designing software tools for designers for over 30 years. Specializing in interface design for artistic users with open-ended tasks, John has helped create 3d graphics tools for graphic artists, typographers, industrial designers, automotive stylists, animators, filmmakers, sculptors, game designers, and architects. John has presented at UXPA, SIGGRAPH, SIGCHI, UXStrat and other conferences on the design of interactive 3d UI, user research methodologies, Agile UX, and virtual reality.
In the early 2000s while working for Alias, John and his colleagues Desiree Sy and Lynn Miller developed the dual-track method to adapt UX practices to work in an Agile framework, which has since been widely adopted and adapted. At Autodesk John was the lead coach for his own division's Agile Transformation.
Currently John is the Director of Experience Design for Autodesk's Entertainment products - the software used to create computer graphics animation for film, special effects, television, video games, virtual reality and architectural visualizations.
Past Talks
25 May 2022
Why is process change so hard? Even when there is no outright resistance, sometimes a new process just doesn’t seem to take, or doesn’t deliver the expected value. In this session, John explores how cultural norms and beliefs can derail process improvements, even when everyone seems to be onboard, and talks about how to shift those norms.
8 October 2019
In software there are two key types of work - discovery and delivery. However, that doesn't mean there are different people doing those jobs. If the whole team is responsible for product success, not just getting things built, then the whole team needs to understand and contribute to both kinds of work.
Dual track agile and the UXDX model both convey the approach of design and development working together.