Senior Web Developer Josh reports back on this year’s Canvas Conference, attended by our development team. In its 6th year, Canvas Conference brings product-makers together to hear insider stories from people on the front line developing the most popular global products and services.
(image: https://assets.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/31102119/canvas-crowd-1024×768.jpg alt: Canvas Confernce)
We were blown away by the quality of this year’s (link: http://canvasconference.co.uk/ text: Canvas Conference), which gave us a real insight into some of the world’s biggest companies. The line-up included talks from industry giants such as Facebook, Netflix, Spotify, Deliveroo, Skyscanner and more.
Here’s a look at some of the talks we enjoyed the most:
**Netflix**
(image: https://assets.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/31102136/Canvas-Netflix-1024×768.jpg alt: Canvas Conference | Netflix)
(link: https://twitter.com/navin_?lang=en text: **Navin Iyengar**) (Product Designer) started the day by talking us through the different stages of design for Netflix’s sign up page, as well as other elements of the Netflix interface.
He explained that Netflix uses many methods to get feedback of their users. The feedback from user surveys and research sessions was that people wanted to browse the video catalogue before signing up to a one-month trail.
Netflix A/B tested this theory but found that in reality users who had access to the catalogue were less likely to sign up for a 1 month trail, and sign up numbers went down.
So Netflix did the right and tested the theory rather than going straight into production. The data showed that people’s behaviour doesn’t always follow what they ask for. Navin summed it up with: “observe what people do not what they say”.
Navin went on to describe how A/B testing and trends in their data have helped mould other areas of the website – a running theme throughout the day.
**Spotify**
(link: https://twitter.com/dariuszdziuk?lang=en text: Dariusz Dziuk) from Spotify explained how studying the trends in user data and activity led them to develop the running section of the app. He went into how adding activity playlists naturally led to them releasing a tempo-detecting running aid. It was a brilliant insight into their product development process.
(image: https://assets.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/31102145/Canvas-Spotify-1024×768.jpg alt: canvas-spotify)
**Facebook**
The last talk of the day came from two members of the Facebook team (link: https://twitter.com/christauziet?lang=en-gb text: Christophe Tauziet) (Product Designer) & Brian Perone (UX Researcher). The guys went into how Facebook are currently experimenting with VR and the things to consider when creating your own VR environment. One example was how adding a nose into VR can help prevent motion sickness! As it is something we subconsciously see all the time, adding it in normalises the experience.
(image: https://assets.superdream.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/31102129/Canvas-Facebook-1024×768.jpg alt: canvas-facebook)
We also had talks from Skyscanner, Slack, Deliveroo, Just Giving, Moo, Future Learn and Intercom. A lot of these talks focussed around how data science and A/B testing is being used to make decisions on products but we also had talks on building a great team.
**The verdict**
Overall it was a powerful day, which was brilliantly run and organised by the Canvas team. Each talk was 30 minutes long which meant they were concise and to the point. Every speaker was really engaging and came prepared with interactive presentations – definitely no death by PowerPoint here. There was plenty of coffee to keep us wired and we thought the Birmingham Library was a great location for this kind of conference.
Like any good event, the day ended with an after-party. Over the road at Rub Smokehouse we were spoilt with drinks, food and beer pong! It was a great way to unwind after taking in all that information. Well done Canvas. Roll on next year.