Human-centered

2026-10-20 Where AI Helps, Hurts and Why Humans Still Matter

Hosted by CapCHI, Hediyeh, & Miti 

CapCHI October 2026 event image

Join us for a talk to learn about what an AI-enabled workflow actually look like

Where AI Helps, Hurts and Why Humans Still Matter

by Mandy Hui, UX Designer, Outwitly
and Roxana Maria Barbu, Senior Service Designer, Outwitly

AI is now part of our process, from early discovery to prototyping, analysis, synthesis, and delivery. That shift can come with growing expectations: move faster, produce more, and stretch budgets further.

But what does an AI-enabled workflow actually look like? Where does AI genuinely make our work better? Where does it introduce new risks? And what gets lost when we don’t listen, whether that means listening to participants or across the different roles shaping the work?

DATE TIME: Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 6:00-9:00 pm.

LOCATION: In-Person Event at Impact HUB Ottawa (123 Slater Street, 7th floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 5H2).

  • NOTE: The venue is in a high-rise building, and the entry doors on the ground floor/street level lock automatically at 7pm.

REGISTRATION: (Free!) https://www.meetup.com/capchi/events/316890078/ 

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2026-03-17 Designing Influence: Leveraging Your UX Power

Hosted by CapCHI and Anna Lena-T

 

You’ve designed the interface, built the prototype, and listened to users. Now what? How do you make sure those user‑backed insights are heard and actually influence decisions within the organization?

The UX Design and Research team at Nokia faces this reality every day. In this session, they’ll share how they advocate for users at every stage of product development, even when working with teams that have different levels of UX maturity.

By building trust, creating space for UX at the table, and showing what’s possible, they turn insight into action and prove that influence at scale matters as much as the work we design.

DATE TIME: Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 6:00-8:00 pm.

LOCATION: In-Person Event at Impact Hub Ottawa (123 Slater Street, 7th floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 5H2).

  • NOTE: The venue is in a high-rise building, and the entry doors on the ground floor/street level lock automatically at 7pm.

REGISTRATION: (Free!) https://www.meetup.com/capchi/events/313683011/

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2026-02-17 Someone stuffed AI into your product – Now what?

Hosted by CapCHI and Anna Lena-T

CapCHI February 2026 event image

It’s the moment every UX person dreads: AI hype hits your product roadmap, and suddenly there’s a chatbot nobody asked for popping up in your app.

AI features often get shipped without the user testing they desperately need. So what do you do when you inherit a product or service that needs a UX reality check? Generic usability heuristics weren’t built for LLMs, probabilistic outputs, or collaborative interactions.

Join us for a practical, hands-on session where you’ll learn a specialized heuristic framework designed specifically for evaluating AI applications. Then test it out on a real LLM-powered chatbot.

DATE TIME: Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 6:00-8:00 pm.

LOCATION: In-Person Event at Impact Hub Ottawa (123 Slater Street, 7th floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 5H2).

  • NOTE: The venue is in a high-rise building, and the entry doors on the ground floor/street level lock automatically at 7pm.

REGISTRATION: (Free!) https://www.meetup.com/capchi/events/313222912/ 

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2025-11-18 From Ploughs to Pixels: Designing for the Off-Road World

Hosted by CapCHI and Anna

Join us one more time this year for an exciting glimpse into designing for the off-road world with Cristina Ilenescu.

What happens when you bring design thinking into a world of engines, mud and mechanical precision?

This talk looks back at the experience of introducing a user-centered approach to the design of off-road vehicle interfaces. It explores how a human perspective was brought into a highly technical environment and how collaboration helped make complex tools easier and safer to use. It is a story of UX with mud on its boots that illustrates how design thinking can adapt and bring value to places that were unaware of its existence.

DATE TIME: Tuesday, November 18, 2025, 6:00-8:00 pm.

LOCATION: In-Person Event at Impact Hub Ottawa (123 Slater Street, 7th floor, Ottawa, ON K1P 5H2).

  • NOTE: The venue is in a high-rise building, and the entry doors on the ground floor/street level lock automatically at 7pm.

REGISTRATION: (Free!) https://www.meetup.com/capchi/events/311864809/ 

Continue reading →