Paula Stepinska
Paula Stepinska — Lead Agile Coach at Elsevier. Talks and sessions delivered at UXDX.
Past talks
2 talks · 1 eventHow to Align UX Teams for Impact: A Hands-On OKR Workshop
Are you struggling to align your UX team's efforts with broader business goals? Many UX and product teams face challenges aligning their work with company objectives, leading to fragmented focus, unclear priorities, and reduced impact. In this interactive workshop, you'll learn how to craft meaningful OKRs that drive focus and collaboration across UX, product, and development teams. Through real-world case studies and practical exercises, you’ll leave with the tools to apply OKRs in your own work, ensuring your team's design efforts contribute directly to strategic outcomes. Drawing from over 10 years of experience implementing OKRs, Laura and Raif will demonstrate how this framework fosters alignment, focus, and measurable progress across cross-functional teams. - Overview of OKRs, their origins, and relevance to UX teams - Real-world examples of OKR implementation in UX, focusing on how they improved alignment and outcomes - Hands-on group exercises—participants will develop OKRs based on scenarios or their own team challenges, with guided feedback - Group reflection—sharing insights, discussing challenges, and addressing participant questions to solidify understanding
The OKR Dilemma: Aligning Teams Without Losing Autonomy
OKRs promise alignment, focus, and measurable impact—but for many teams, they can feel like an imposed structure that limits autonomy. How do you craft OKRs that serve both business goals and team needs without creating unnecessary bureaucracy? In this interactive forum, Laura and Raif will facilitate a candid discussion on the challenges teams face when implementing OKRs. This is a highly participatory session where attendees can share experiences, ask questions, and debate: - When do OKRs work, and when do they hinder creativity? - How can UX teams balance strategic alignment with bottom-up innovation? - Common pitfalls in OKR adoption and how to avoid them - How to get buy-in from teams who see OKRs as a top-down mandate Whether you're struggling with OKR adoption or looking to refine your approach or just talk through it, this session will give you real-world insights from peers and experienced practitioners.