Upcoming Events
None! 😢
So please drop me an email if you wanna chat about speaking opportunities 😊
💌 lex@loftio.co.uk
My Talks
Think like a user: practical UX design tips for developers
Ever built something you know is perfect, only to watch your users click the wrong thing, skip the important content, do the complete opposite of what you intended, or invent a completely new way of breaking something? Congratulations, you’ve experienced the thrilling world of UX design and how users really think.
Previously spoken at
In this talk, we’ll run through some practical UX design tips that make a difference without needing a design degree. We’ll cover keeping interfaces clear, reducing cognitive load, using consistent design patterns, giving users meaningful feedback, using inclusive plain language and more.
Through helpful examples, you’ll see how small improvements can make a big difference in how users experience your product. You’ll leave with actionable knowledge to bring to your next project, helping to reduce frustration for your users, and maybe preventing a few support tickets on the way.
Video coming soon!
“Design for Developers”
Have you ever found yourself not just having to build the product, but in the absence of an actual designer, you’re the one who ends up having to throw together a design for it too? Want to gain the magic design powers to transform that average screen into a beautiful interface?
People have often told me they’d never be able to design interfaces because it’s too subjective and a completely different mindset to coding. Well I’m here to tell you that UI design isn’t as complex as it looks when you’ve got the right tools to hand – and it really isn’t a magical dark art, I promise!
In this talk, I will help you understand some of the main design principles that you can apply across UI design. Such as Typography, Emphasis, Hierarchy, Layout, Spacing, Size, Depth and Colour.
We’ll be discussing these principles and, through visual demonstrations and examples, show how you can implement these principles across typical UI components such as forms, cards, dashboards and other interface elements.
Whether you’re the ‘dev-signer’ or you’re just somebody who would like to learn some fundamental design skills to widen your knowledge – you should then leave feeling well equipped with new design skills to apply day to day!
Speaker Bio
Lex Lofthouse is a Senior Designer at Nzime, a digital agency in Nottingham. She has been working in the design industry for over a decade, where her career took her from the cold regions of Scotland to the sunny streets of Nottingham. She specialises in digital design. Her skillset also includes branding and print design as well as UX design and most recently, illustration and animation. She’s even semi-competent at some basic HTML and CSS she’ll have you know!
In her spare time Lex is a massive Pokemon fan, from the TCG to the anime. Plus despite being a professional designer she is also an advocate for Comic Sans, the world’s most misunderstood typeface (come and ask her why).
“Why you need to start giving a damn about accessibility”
Accessibility – a word we’ve all heard a lot over the past few years surrounding the web, but why? Some of us might understand why accessibility is so important, but some of us might have never even considered it. That’s ok… let’s talk about it.
Lex Lofthouse discusses why it’s so important to have an accessibility-first approach when making stuff for an audience online and some tips on how we can do it in practice.
Previously spoken at
“Don’t Set Yourself on Fire to Keep Others Warm”
Am I doing enough? Am I even doing it right? How can I do it better? What the hell is Imposter Syndrome and why do I have it? What’s a Work/Life Balance? Huh, now I’m having a breakdown…
After putting her career first for the best part of a decade and then having a minor breakdown, Lex Lofthouse was compelled to make herself a number one priority.
In her talk Lex will discuss Imposter Syndrome and how she learned to fail correctly. We’ll discuss negative feedback and how to deal with it, toxic environments, burnout and ‘crunch’. Plus we’ll finally figure out that work/life balance thing once and for all.
Lightning Talks
Why Whitespace is Important
Tech Nottingham
“I <3 Comic Sans”
PubConf Notts & Tech Nottingham
“Should Designers Code?
Digital Lincoln WiT Takeover
“Handling Negative Feedback and Critique”
Women in Tech Nottingham
I would love to speak at conferences, and local meetups 😊
Please drop me an email if you’re interested in having me speak at your event.
Header photo by Ard Jongsma for NDC Conferences