Brynn is a UX Director at YouTube.
I’m a product designer and workshop facilitator. I spent years researching how people interact online, which kickstarted my career as a UX designer. Today I’m the UX Director for YouTube’s “Living Room” team — the YouTube app on TV and connected home devices. Previously I led design teams at Google, including Google Fi, Android Phone & Messages apps, Google Voice, and Google+.
I co-founded Hexagon (formerly XX+UX), SketchCamp, Overlap 2011, and the Awesome Foundation's SF Chapter.
I start every day with green tea.
Speaking
Here are a few of the talks that I’ve given. Visit Speaking to see more.
Talent & Hiring
I talk with designers on how they approach recruiting & building an overall culture that keeps their teams happy.
Panelists: Daniel Burka (Google Ventures), Mia Blume (Pinterest), Shalin Amin (Uber), Soleio Cuervo (Dropbox)
Hosted by Brynn Evans (Google)
FORM (Google’s 1st Design conference), 2014
Data-Driven Design vs. Design Intuition
Panelists: Bradford Cross (Prismatic), Brynn Evans (Google), David Gauquelin (Prezi)
Hosted by Braden Kowitz (Google Ventures)
Accel Design Conference, 2014
The Beauty of Ordinary Design
Inspired by the book The Beauty of Ordinary Things, this talk is about appreciating ordinary moments in life. These problems may be unpopular or tricky to solve, but the right solution(s) would have a huge impact for the populations affected. I give perspectives that designers can take to have more impact in their work, even if they don't work in one of these areas directly.
Web Directions, 2015. Industry Conf, 2015. (Slides)
Workshops
I’ve done design thinking workshops at Google, Apple, McAfee, and Estée Lauder. My go-to style is called “Gamestorming,” which are short exercises to help you think creatively — like brainstorming, but also for ice breakers, defining pros/cons, thinking through problems, and coming to a decision. My Gamestorming Guide has all the exercises from the Gamestorming Book, but organized thematically by their intended use.
I co-created the +20 Design Lab Workshop, a partnership between Google + Semi-Permanent.
This workshop taught design thinking skills and gave insights into how cross-functional teams actually work at Google.
Workshops in Mountain View ('2012), Los Angeles (2013), and Sydney, Australia (2013)
Gamestorming, not Brainstorming
Gave this workshop to a group of startup founders at True Ventures, 2014. Includes my top 3 exercises:
Bootcamp for a UX Team of None
This is the largest workshop I’ve ever run, to ~700 people, in partnership with several extremely talented designers: Fred Beecher, Krista Sanders, Russ Unger, and Todd Zaki Warfel.
SXSW, 2012. (Slides)
Writing
I used to maintain a blog, but it fell to the wayside after I joined Google. These are a few selected published pieces from the early 2010s. Visit Writing to see more.
When Facebook comes to Work: Understanding the Work Practice of the Digital Native (Chapter 1). in Dancing with Digital Natives. CyberAge Books, 2011.
Social Search can't be Solved by an Algorithm. in Designing Search: UX Strategies for eCommerce Success, by Greg Nudelman. Wiley, 2011. (Buy the book!)
An Elaborated Model of Social Search. B.M. Evans and E.H. Chi. in Information Processing and Management, 46(6), pp. 656-678, 2010. (PDF)